Wednesday, 27 July 2016

Acura NSX GT3 Race Car Making Public Test Debut Tomorrow

Acura NSX GT3 Race Car Making Public Test Debut Tomorrow

Acura NSX GT3 Race Car Making Public Test Debut Tomorrow

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The Acura NSX GT3 race car will make a surprising public test debut in Ohio tomorrow.

The public test debut will take place during the Pirelli World Championship practice sessions at the Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course in Lexington, Ohio. Piloting the race car will be development driver Peter Kox on Thursday, July 28 from 8:50 a.m. to 9:30 a.m. EDT and Friday, July 29 from 4:15 p.m. to 4:45 p.m. EDT. The Acura NSX GT3 is slated for homologation as an FIA GT3-class race car this fall as it gets ready to compete beginning next season.

SEE ALSO: The Acura NSX GT3 Looks Sexy Fully Exposed

Over the course of the race weekend, the race car will also be on display in the paddock of RealTime Racing, Acura's development partner for the GT3 program. The Acura NSX GT3 is powered by a 3.5-liter, twin-turbo V6 engine and uses the same design specifications as the production model.

"Based on a very successful test program, we're taking the next logical step in seeing how we stack-up against the competition," said Art St. Cyr, president of Honda Performance Development. "Mid-Ohio seemed like the perfect opportunity, given the demands it places on a racecar and its proximity to NSX R&D and manufacturing."

Discuss this story on our Acura NSX Forum

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Next Lotus Elise Sticking to its Roots When it Arrives in 2020

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Don't expect to see a revolutionary new Lotus Elise when the next-generation model bows in 2020.

Even though the Lotus Elise concept that debuted at the 2010 Paris Motor Show looked amazing, the next-generation model won't resemble it at all. That's because that concept was part of a wild dream from former Lotus CEO Dany Bahar, who wanted to move Lotus upmarket to compete with the likes of Ferrari, Lamborghini and Aston Martin. Instead, the 2020 Lotus Elise will stick to its lightweight roots and will use the same aluminum chassis originally developed on the Elise S1 that went on sale in 1996. That chassis still underpins all Lotus models today.

Current Lotus CEO Jean-Marc Gales confirmed the Elise will stick to what it does best: "The Elise chassis has often been copied but never equalled. Combine that with the steering feel and you have something truly special. The DNA of that car is its light weight, its steering feel and the balance of power and driveability. At every price point it is sold in, it is the fastest car for the money – and always the most special to drive."

SEE ALSO: Lotus Elise Will Return to US in 2020

The company has already shown that it can lose weight on the Elise, with the Elise Cup 250 tipping the scales at a scant 2,030 pounds. It is believed that Lotus has set a target weight of 1,984 lbs (900 kg) for the new Elise, while making sure it will meet U.S. regulations. That also means that while the new Elise likely won't be longer than the current model, it could get wider in order to accommodate side airbags and extra crash structures.

For now, power is expected to come from a Toyota-sourced engine that has been tweaked by Lotus.

[Source: Autocar]

Discuss this story on our Lotus Forum

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FCA Tries to Explain its Sales Reporting Process After Being Accused of Inflating Numbers

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Fiat Chrysler Automobiles (FCA) is trying to clear its name after being accused of inflating its sales numbers.

The automaker was recently under investigation by the SEC and FBI over its sales practices, presumably due to a lawsuit in which a Napleton dealership group in Illinois alleged FCA of paying dealers to improperly inflate sales. In response, FCA has released a detailed explanation on its sales reporting process, cautiously admitting that it recognizes "the limitations inherent in a process that collects data entered by some 2,600 dealers until midnight of the last reporting day of a month and releases the aggregate data typically within 8 hours of the final data entries."

The company said that its current process hasn't changed for more than 30 years, although reporting was previously made every 10 days before eventually evolving into monthly cycles.

FCA broke down its unit sales data reporting into three main components: sales made by dealers to retail customers, sales of vehicles shipped directly by FCA U.S. to fleet customers and other retail sales including sales by dealers in Puerto Rico, limited deliveries through distributors and a small number of vehicles delivered to FCA employees and retirees, as well as vehicles used for marketing.

SEE ALSO: Fiat Chrysler Under SEC, FBI Investigation Over Sales Practices

What is interesting is how sales reporting is mostly done by dealers, which FCA attributes through a reporting system called the New Vehicle Delivery Report (NVDR). According to the company, the date of sale recorded in the NVDR system begins the retail customer's warranty coverage on the vehicle. The recording of the retail sale also triggers FCA U.S.'s obligation to make any manufacturer's incentive payments to the dealer. Those retail sales are made by dealers out of their own inventory of vehicles.

Now, this is when things get a bit tricky. It is entirely possible for a dealer to "unwind" a transaction recorded in the NVDR system and return the vehicle to the dealer's unsold inventory. If a dealer "unwinds" a sale, any incentives paid by FCA U.S. is returned and the beginning of the warranty period is canceled. FCA said that these unwinds do occur for a number of reasons, such as a customer's inability to finalize financing for the purchase or a change in customer preferences. Although, it's a bit weird that a sale isn't documented when a vehicle leaves the dealership floor. But one key point is that FCA admits it is possible that a dealer may register the sale in an effort to meet a volume objective, but added that there is "no obvious economic incentive for a dealer to do so, since FCA U.S.'s policy is to reverse all incentives due or paid to a dealer that resulted from the unwound retail sales transaction."

The automaker believes that most unwinds are recorded shortly following the time the initial sale is registered, but it has not historically reflected either unwinds or the subsequent sales of these vehicles in its sales reporting. To prevent double reporting, FCA blocks the VIN in its NVDR files so that it can't be entered or counted towards a tally of reported sales in a future report.

As a result, the FCA sales reporting process is being revised and dealer reported sales will be the sum of: all sales recorded by dealers during that month net of all unwound transactions recorded to the end of that month plus all sales of vehicles during that month attributable to past unwinds that had previously been reversed in determining monthly sales. Fleet sales will now be recorded as sales upon shipment by FCA U.S. of the vehicle to the customer or end user. Lastly, other retail sales will either be recorded when the sale is recorded in the NVDR system, or upon receipt of a similar delivery notification.

The company also released an exhibit detailing how the new sales reporting process would have affected its previous reports, revealing that its annual sales volumes under the new methodology for each year in the 2011-2016 period are within approximately 0.7 percent of the annual unit sales volumes previously reported.

Discuss this story on our Fiat Forum

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Judge Grants Preliminary Approval on VW TDI Settlement

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Another important step in the Volkswagen emissions scandal has been reached with the preliminary approval of the 2.0L TDI Settlement Program.

Effectively, this means that U.S. District Court Judge Charles Breyer has looked over the settlement that Volkswagen and government regulators agreed to last month and thinks that it is fair, reasonable, and adequate.

There are a few more steps to go before this saga ends, but the next big one happens in the fall when the agreement goes back to court for final approval. At that time, the agreement will be looked over with a fine-tooth comb and the final judgment on its validity will laid down.

Following the final approval, Volkswagen says it will begin with the settlement program immediately.

ALSO SEE: Volkswagen Confirms it Will Stop Pushing Diesels in the US

The settlement that Volkswagen agreed to will amount to about $15 billion and involves a $5,000-$10,000 for the owners of the TDIs that were involved in the scandal, as well as an option to have their car fixed or bought back at pre-scandal prices.

As it stands, there is no approved fix for the 2.0L TDI engine, so VW would have to buy back all of the roughly half a million TDI vehicles included in the settlement. A VW executive, though, told dealers earlier this month that the automaker is testing a solution that it believes will fix the TDI vehicles. If approved, it could save VW billions of dollars.

Visit www.VWCourtSettlement.com to read more about the agreement and to find out if your car is included in it.

This story originally appeared on VW Vortex

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Every Bit of Trim on Your Car is Fake: The Skinny With Craig Cole

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Exterior design is a serious purchase consideration; for some new-vehicle shoppers, it even comes before safety, fuel economy and pricing. But in the 21st century, has vanity completely overshadowed versatility? Has style totally trumped substance?

One could argue that modern cars and trucks have become little more than costume jewelry because all that glitters is not gold. The frosty metal trim flanking a GMC Terrain Denali? Yeah, it's a polymer slathered in layer of shiny. The "dark chrome" accents adorning your Camry's grille? They were pumped out of the earth's crust and squirted into a mold. Almost nothing is genuine anymore. Even leather "seating surfaces" are often vinyl, another petrochemical.

But it's not just decorative items that are counterfeits. Believe it or not, there was a time when bumpers could actually take an impact and spring back unharmed. Now if you hit something while moving faster than a drunken stagger, you'll likely have cracked trim, damaged lamps and wrinkled sheet metal to contend with. Should these things really be called bumpers if they have less structural integrity than a rickety apple crate? Perhaps façade is a better name…

SEE ALSO: Why Mazda's Miata is the Best Green Car

Back in the day, vehicles had real chrome, or even better, stainless-steel trim. You could pull this stuff out of a muddy field after 50 years, hit it with some metal polish and it will shine like brand new. Try that with a modern chunk of simulated imitation metal. It's not going to happen.

Today's cars and trucks have become completely disposable, throwaways that get kicked to the curb when their owner becomes bored with them or wants more USB ports in the center console. No longer do cars stick around and become a beloved member of the family.

But do you agree with this opinion? Have vehicles become nothing but costume jewelry? For the rest of this rant, make sure to watch the video embedded above and please, leave a comment if you have an opinion one way or the other.

Check out more installments of The Skinny

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Poll: BMW 3 Series or Audi A4?

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Which German luxury sedan would you rather have, the BMW 3 Series, which is aging gracefully at this point, or Audi's all-new A4?

Chances are you'd be smitten with either of these thoroughbred automobiles, but surely one is better than the other, right? Let's explore.

The Audi has been totally reworked for 2017 and features a hybrid aluminum structure that saves 99 pounds on front-wheel-drive variants. Inside and out this sedan is new, with a fresh styling everywhere, even if it looks pretty much like it always has.

Under hood, a familiar 2.0-liter turbocharged four-cylinder engine provides the motivation, a stable of 252 horses and 273 lb-ft of torque. It's matched to a seven-speed dual-clutch automatic transmission that's standard with both front- and all-wheel-drive models. All told, this powertrain provides enough oomph to propel the A4 to 60 miles an hour in as little as 6.1 seconds.

In 328i form, the BMW also features a 2.0-liter force-fed four-cylinder engine. It's good for 240 horses and 255 lb-ft of torque. Differing from its primary rival, this version of the 3 Series offers a six-speed manual transmission, though the vast majority of drivers will opt for the eight-speed automatic.

The 328i comes standard with a 10-way power-adjustable driver's seat, 17-inch wheels, heated, power-folding side-view mirrors and much more.

So, which car do you prefer in this mini comparison, the Audi A4 or BMW 3 Series? Both are solid offerings, but if you can't pick a favorite you can compare them directly right here. After you've made a selection, please vote in our latest poll!

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