Buick confirms 2011 Regal 2.0T to come with manual transmission. Wait... wha?

by Chris Paukert

Trivia Time: When was the last time a U.S. market Buick was available with a manual transmission? Honestly, we can't recall anything more recent than a buddy in high school having a hand-me-down mid-Eighties Somerset coupe with a stubby, workmanlike five-speed. Even back then its presence in our friend's hooptie was a genuine curiosity and a source of perpetual amusement.

Naturally, we posed this same question to a few Buick PR-types this morning at a first drive event upon learning from vehicle line executive Jim Federico that the reborn 2011 Regal will receive a six-speed manual transmission option (mated to a blown 2.0-liter four, no less). The answer? Shoulder shrugs and sheepish looks. Curiously, nobody even tried to answer our query with a red herring like the ill-fated Reatta coupe (it only came with a four-speed automatic).

So we now know when a Buick will next feature God's Own Gearbox (probably in the third quarter of 2010), but we still can't crack this historical chestnut – so we beseech thee, Autoblog Nation... what year was the last Buick built with a DIY transmission – and what car was it in? Hit us with your best shot in Comments.

Dartz Prombron drops the whale penis

by Jonny Lieberman

First of all, yes – this is pure Mercedes-Benz propaganda. We're fully aware of that fact. Second, despite it all, we're very jealous of what takes place in this video. In order to show off just how much junk you're able to fit inside the new E-Class Wagon -– or "Estate" in Mercedes parlance. How they settled on building a giant slot car track (or more precisely, sneaking it past the corporate money men) is beyond us, but we're glad they did.

So, how much junk? Quite a bit. Specifically, 1,275 pieces of track, including a section that snakes through the E-Class. All told, the track is over 400 meters long (about a quarter mile) and takes the 1/32 scale DTM cars four minutes and forty-seconds to complete. The track layout was designed beforehand on a computer because otherwise, well... they'd still be building it. Watch the full video after the jump.

F1 teams play musical engines as Cosworth emerges the favorite for 2010

by Noah Joseph

As it turns out, the addition of four new teams, the departure of BMW Sauber and a massive game of musical chairs in the driver's market aren't the only big changes in store next year in Formula One. As this year's championship winds to a close, reports emerge that several teams are switching their engine partners for next year.

Following earlier reports that McLaren could fully divorce from Mercedes and acquire arch-rival BMW's engine operations, new reports indicate that both Red Bull and Williams are switching engine suppliers for the upcoming season. Williams announced a couple of weeks ago that it was terminating its deal with Toyota early due to dissatisfaction with the performance of the Japanese engine package. While the independent British team had reportedly been negotiating with Renault, inside information now indicates that Williams will take advantage of the new Cosworth package for next season instead.

Meanwhile, Red Bull could end up with the Cosworth package as well. The team has revealed that it is considering staying with Renault or alternatively switching to either Mercedes, Toyota or Cosworth. Unsatisfied with the Renault package and with McLaren reportedly vetoing RBR's tie-in with Mercedes, it's now apparently down to Toyota and Cosworth. Insiders point out that with the ban on engine development still in place for the returning manufacturers, Cosworth is the only provider capable of developing a new engine.

The two veteran teams would be joining Manor, Campos, Lotus and USF1 under Cosworth power. Ferrari, Renault and Toyota will, of course, continue building their own engines. If McLaren doesn't absorb BMW's engine department in time, it will likely stick with Mercedes, while Brawn and Force India are expected to continue with Mercedes power as well. That leaves Toro Rosso, which has yet to confirm if it will continue using Ferrari engines as it has for the past three seasons. Know all about car finance, car finance calculator, car loan, car loans at lowest rate.

McLaren MP4-12C production plans include retractable hardtop?

by Noah Joseph

Reports emerging from the UK are giving us a hint at what to expect in the near future from McLaren Automotive in its bid to make an assault on the exotic supercar market. The reports stem from plans filed by the F1 team's nascent road car division and its new manufacturing facility next to the current McLaren Technology Center in Woking, England.

According to Autocar, part of the layout for the new facility has been dedicated to "RHT Sub Assembly", indicating that McLaren could be preparing to produce a retractable hardtop version of the new MP4-12C. While the notion of fitting a lightweight supercar with a heavy folding roof mechanism may seem antithetical to its ethos, Ferrari made huge advances with the roof on the California, and McLaren will be looking to show up its chief rival. Insiders suggest the McLaren's folding roof could be made of either aluminum alloy or possibly carbon fiber.

The overall timeline for production, however, suggests that McLaren may have to begin producing the MP4 where the outgoing SLR has been assembled in its current facility. McLaren has ambitious plans for a new factory adjacent to its existing headquarters, but with delivery of the first new supercars scheduled for November, the new underground facility isn't likely to be ready in time.

2010 Nissan Altima leaked online, internet almost fails to notice

by Jeremy Korzeniewski

The image you see above is the updated 2010 Nissan Altima. No, really... it may look eerily similar to the mid-size sedan currently on dealer lots across the country wearing window stickers that say 2009, but the 2010 model is in fact slightly restyled.

Especially noticeable is the reworked front fascia, which now features a slightly more prominent upper grille and a lower intake that's molded in body color plastic instead of black. Flanking that lower opening are new foglights that sit inside boomerang-shaped recesses. We can't make out much of the car's hind quarters, but it seems the tail lamps have grown a in size.

The story of how this image was leaked is also at least mildly interesting. As we reported earlier today, all Altimas and Maximas from the 2009 and 2010 model years were recalled due to faulty upper front strut insulators, despite the fact that a total of zero 2010 Altimas have so far been sold. Automotive News used the image above of the 2010 Altima for its story, but nearly everyone – save the eagle-eyed chaps at Motor Trend

Yes, we made fun of the GT3 RS's pink lips when we saw the PR shots. But in person the Guards Red accents look, well, Guards Red. However, even in the

by Jeremy Korzeniewski

According to a report from earth2tech.com, Ray Lane, an investor with Kleiner Perkins, has let slip news that Fisker is developing a new plug-in hybrid automobile to slot below its planned Karma sedan with a base price of just $39,000. No indication is made whether that price would be before or after the $7,500 federal tax rebate it would likely qualify for.

Kleiner Perkins is one of the major investors in Fisker Automotive, so there's reason to believe Lane has knowledge of the inner workings at the young automaker. Earlier, company CEO Henrik Fisker said that the automaker was looking to the Department of Energy for a loan of an undetermined amount in order to build a lower-cost plug-in automobile.

We haven't recieved word that Fisker's DOE loan was approved, so we're not really sure where the funds to develop the new machine will come from. In any case, the Fisker Karma isn't slated to go on sale until late 2010, so the lower-cost PHEV very likely has quite a ways to go before it hits the pavement to do battle with the likes of the Chevy Volt. Thanks for the tip, Jon!

Porsche to offer proper paddle shifters on all models?

by Sam Abuelsamid

The new Porsche 911 Turbo is packed with sports car goodness, primarily with the inclusion of a new steering wheel with proper paddles for tapping your way through the gearbox. The replacement of the silly up-down switches on the spokes will be an option on the Turbo and it seems like the wiring from the wheel to the column is the same regardless of which style you choose.

That means the new wheel can plug into the connection on any new Porsche steering column including the 911, Boxster or Cayman. So if you aren't content with Porsche's admonishment that the two-switch setup is technically superior, you will soon have another way to pay an absurd premium for an option on your Porsche.

Audi to enter EV race with electric R8 supercar

By MARTON PETTENDY

Plug power: Audi is set to unveil a "very, very sporty" electric car at the Frankfurt motor show. Digital image: Chris Harris.

Electric version of the R8 super-coupe is almost certain to be Audi’s first EV

AUDI has confirmed it will finally enter the electric vehicle (EV) race at next month’s Frankfurt motor show, where the German luxury car-maker now appears almost certain to unveil both plug-in and convertible versions of its R8 supercar.

The Volkswagen premium brand, which has hitherto dismissed petrol-electric hybrid technology as an interim measure that is also inferior to its modern TDI turbo-diesel engines, has previously denied long-running speculation that it is working on an R8 EV.

However, Audi’s global sales and marketing chief has now confirmed the company will enter the electric car arena with a “very, very sporty” model to appear at Frankfurt on September 15, in a “top-down” approach that is expected to see the ‘R8E’ debut alongside the new A5 Sportback and convertible R8 Spyder, which has been spied in testing at the Nurburgring.

“I’m not confirming R8, but at the top end and something very, very sporty, we are going to show in the upcoming Frankfurt motor show in September what we think the right way is of getting into the electric era is,” said Audi AG board member Peter Schwarzenbauer yesterday.

Speaking at the opening of Audi Australia’s new $50 million ‘Lighthouse’ dealership and national headquarters in Sydney, Mr Schwarzenbauer questioned the small EV strategy adopted by its most direct luxury rivals in BMW and Mercedes-Benz.

Left: Audi A1 concept. Below: VW Up! concept.

“If you go back to the past all major new technology was introduced top-down. I have a hard time to understand that now the only discussion about electric cars is very small cars,” he said

“BMW has 500 Minis running around with batteries, Smart on the Mercedes side will have a battery in it and I have a hard time to understand what the business case should be in all of this, because if you look around the current battery package to really drive a car around costs roughly €12,000-15,000 ($A20,700-$25,900) – just the battery package.

“So now if you take a small car, which also costs around €12,000-$15,000, that means you are doubling the price, just by putting a battery (in it).

“I don’t know how much environmentally you have to be convinced that you spend the double of the money to drive electric. So I don’t see that this is a real business case and I think the electric car technology has to be introduced like all the other technologies in the world – top down.

Mr Schwarzenbauer said Audi’s EV rollout would differ markedly from both its premium German competitors and its parent company, which he revealed would showcase a small EV at Frankfurt. Volkswagen has committed to releasing its first EV, likely to be based on the Up! concept, in 2013.

“Our approach (to EV) will be a completely different one – we will start at the top-end,” he said. “We are going a different way.

“Volkswagen is going the direction of bringing a small car to the market and we think for a premium brand it makes much more sense to start a top-down approach, so our approach is to start at the high end.

“The one we are launching in Frankfurt, or showing in Frankfurt, will be for the Audi brand and I’m sure that Volkswagen has also something around electric in Frankfurt.”

Audi’s most senior salesman said the company’s EV plan would not require government assistance of public subsidies because buyers of top-shelf vehicles like the R8 would more readily pay the price premium for a battery-powered vehicle than small-car purchasers.

“I think that the price sensitivity at this end of the market – where we talk about a car which is in the range of an R8 – it is easier percentage-wise to put a battery in for €12,000 to €15,000. It is easier to compensate and accept by the consumer than putting it in at the low end.

“So we think that this might be more successful to introduce such a technology than going on the smaller car. We think it’s safer to go on the high end. We can launch this without any government incentive.”

Mr Schwarzenbauer’s comments came the day after the German government called for financial incentives starting in 2012 to support the sale of electric cars, which are expected to number one million in that country by 2020. Details of the plan proposed by German chancellor Angela Merkel’s cabinet are due to be discussed in the next legislature period in spring.

As we’ve reported, Audi Australia managing director Joerg Hofmann last week fuelled speculation the mid-engined R8, which is now available with a Lamborghini-sourced 5.2-litre V10 in Australia, could come with electric power when he suggested it would be the perfect platform on which to introduce new technologies.

“I believe there is plenty of scope (for further drivetrains to appear in the R8),” said Mr Hofmann at this month’s launch of the R8 5.2 FSI quattro. “With the R8 you can do quite a few things. There is a lot we can do in the future.”

It is unclear whether the topless R8 Spyder will emerge with the coupe’s existing 309kW/430kW V8 or 386kW/530Nm V10 at Europe’s largest motor show, where Mercedes-AMG will debut its all-new gullwinged SLS supercar, initially powered by a 6.2-litre V8 before becoming available as a petrol-electric hybrid.

It is also unknown if the R8 EV will be an all-electric plug-in vehicle, which is unlikely, or whether it will be an electrically assisted hybrid with an engine/generator to charge a battery that provides additional drive to the rear wheels or, as with the SLS, to power electric motors that drive the front wheels.

Mr Schwarzenbauer reiterated Audi’s stance that hybrid is an interim step in the march to the all-electric vehicle that was yet to match the efficiency of its own turbo-diesel engines.

“I think hybrid is a technology where you have to get engaged in it, not because we think hybrid is the solution but hybrid is a step towards fully electric driving, so you need the experience.

“On the other hand if you look at purely the facts of what fuel consumption is all about then you see that some of our competitors, especially here in the Australian market, they have one model offering a hybrid.

“We have currently 21 models in the Australian market with a fuel consumption below 7.0L/100km, so I think it is always sometimes more interesting to write about new technology like hybrid, but the facts are different.

“The facts are that not one hybrid can really achieve what we can do today with a modern TDI engine.

“We have done a mileage marathon in the US driving from New York to Los Angeles driving across the country with hybrid technology and TDI technology and there was not one hybrid model – I won’t mention any names – which even came close to the consumption of what a TDI model can do.

“But of course the public perception is that diesel is an old technology. Maybe we’re not good enough in communicating how modern today’s diesel really is,” he said, adding that conventional internal-combustion engines had still more to offer.

“Not only on the diesel but on the petrol side, we still think that the combustion engine still has additional potential. We have committed ourselves to reducing the consumption by another 20 per cent by 2012, so we still see potential in the combustion engine.”

Multi-million dollar Ferrari 250 TR crashing at Monterey Historics

by Jonny Lieberman

Some of us weren't able to attend the Monterey Historic races over the weekend, but the first thing we heard once the laptop spooled up was that a very expensive Ferrari 250 TR smacked into a bunch of tires at Laguna Seca. This has turned into the crash heard 'round the world for a few simple reasons. Make that thirty four reasons, to be exact. That's right Ferrari only made 34 250 Testa Rossas from 1956 to 1961. Actually, let's just make that 21 reasons, as the 250 TR is the preferred version of the car, and only 19 customer cars and 2 racers were built between 1958 and 1959. And while a 1957 250 Testa Rossa just sold this past May for $12,200,000, making it the most expensive car, well, ever -- the 1958 TR that cashed this weekend is "only" worth about $8 million.

Our own meraviglioso photographer Drew Philips had Nikon in hand near Laguna's famed Corkscrew and was able to capture the tragic off-track excursion -- which is why we have these amazing photographs. In fact, Autoblog reader James Iovino was so smitten with Drew's work that he took all the individual photos and video-ized them. Which is not only a word we just made up, but pretty dang cool to watch. That is if watching a near-priceless Ferrari jump across gravel and slam into a bunch of dirty old tires can ever be cool. But hey, at least the TR got beat up on a race track instead resting in a garage during an earthquake. Besides, everything ought to buff right out.

WaPo blogger wants to buy Camaro, gets dealer runaround instead

by Alex Nunez

For many, car-buying is an experience that rates somewhere between pouring a basket of scorpions into your underwear and a visit to the dentist from Marathon Man. Some dealerships feel like hives of villainy more wretched than even the Star Wars Cantina, though being held at gunpoint by Greedo is likely preferable to enduring the overall auto-buying process at one of those retailers. After all, as Han Solo demonstrated, one can actually "deal" with Greedo in a satisfactory manner.

Dealing with anyone in a satisfactory manner was, unfortunately, not in the cards for Washington Post blogger Vijay Ravindran, who probably would have had better luck negotiating a peace treaty with the Rancor monster in Jabba's palace. Ravindran, guest-posting at WaPo's Achenblog, reports that with his nine-year-old Bimmer beginning to feel a little tired, he was ready to make the move to a new car. Now, Ravindran is one of these people who admits that "domestic sports coupe" is not a thought that had ever tickled his synapses before, but the 2010 Chevrolet Camaro's drop-dead looks changed all that. Ravindran started with a nearby dealer that advertised Camaros in the newspaper, and things pretty much tanked from there. He called the dealer, left a voicemail requesting a test drive, and promptly never heard back. Good thing the auto market is so strong right now that dealers can turn away prospective customers so easily.

Ravindran's efforts were similarly futile as he expanded his search to other area Chevy dealers, each of whom appeared to have an aversion to the general concept of getting him into a car. Or responding to his queries at all. The dealer that did finally engage him excelled only at giving him a slimy runaround. Granted, we understand Camaros are hot commodities right now and that they may be hard to get, but Ravindran's story flies directly in the face of GM's post-bankruptcy spin about great dealers, great service, etc. You can read Ravindran's whole tale at Achenblog. As for Vijay Ravindran himself, he's no dummy: he's pretty much given up on his Camaro quest.

Techco unleashes 600 horsepower Corvette supercharger system

by Drew Phillips

If you haven't heard much about Techco, you soon will. The Anaheim-based aftermarket company launched a bevy of performance products for the Chrysler LX platform and Ford Mustang earlier this year, and recently stuffed its reverse-revolution twin-screw supercharger system underneath the hood of a brand new C6 Corvette. The result? 600 horsepower and 535 lb-ft torque at just six pounds of boost.

Designed and engineered by the same team that created the Series VI supercharger for the Saleen Mustangs, the Techco Corvette supercharger displaces 3.0 liters and features a standalone 8-rib drive system, patented dual A-Frame Intercooler system, high-volume fuel rails with 54 lb/hr injectors, and more. Corvette owners will also be pleased to hear it fits underneath the stock hood.

We recently got the chance to get behind the wheel of Techco's demo Corvette for a short drive, and were simply amazed at the dual nature of the car. From the outside it appears to simply be a stock Corvette - it looks stock, sounds stock, and even drives stock if you lay off the throttle. A unique drive system helps to keep things quiet, muting the sound of the supercharger. Get on the gas, though, and the blown LS3 propels the Corvette past legal speeds in the blink of an eye. With a package price of just $8,500 and an optional 10 psi kit, it's a pretty good bargain as well. Full details in the press release after the jump.

Triumph Daytona motorcycle assembled from Lego bricks

by Jeremy Korzeniewski

Further proof that you can literally fashion anything if given access to enough interconnecting Lego bricks is this Triumph Daytona 1200 motorcycle. The machine has apparently been on display for quite some time at Legoland Windsor in Berkshire, England and is obviously assembled from thousands of individual pieces. We especially like the detailed engine, which is complete with linkages for the carbs and throttle cables.

As cool as this creation is, how much better would it be with a fully functional Lego engine? Of course, having a full-scale building-block motorcycle would also require a matching helmet. May we suggest this one? Click past the break for a video of the LEGO Triumph Daytona on its display stand and click here for more automotive-themed Lego madness.

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