Autoblog

WHY USE BATTERIES IF FLYWHEELS WILL DO?

Formula One could be on to something big. Next year all teams will be allowed to capture the energy that their cars produce under braking, and then re-use that energy at opportune moments, like passing on a straight.

It's really a hybrid system, but they don't call it that. They call it a Kinetic Energy Recovery System (KERS).

The best part of the new regulations is that they do not specify what kind of regenerative energy system the teams have to use. It seems pretty likely that Toyota and Honda will go with a battery-electric hybrid system, since that's the kind of technology they sell in their showrooms. But Formula One is also going to become the testing grounds for a completely different kind of hybrid system that does not use batteries.

John McElroy is host of the TV program "Autoline Detroit". Every week he brings his unique insights as an auto industry insider to Autoblog readers. Follow the jump to continue reading this week's editorial.

Not that BMW's Sauber F1 car has anything more than three letters in common with cars that bear the propeller logo on public streets, but who's going to argue with the opportunity to lay down the tools early? Hotshoe Nick Heidfeld recently treated a crowd of laborer's at BMW's Munich factory to the spectacle of a big-dollar race car being treated like a hand-me-down Reliant, complete with a body-damaging finale. The shriek of a high-strung F1 racer while it slides around doing lurid donuts is a thing to behold, but the smile quickly fades when the front splitter gets tangled up in the curbing and ripped off the nose. Whoops. Video after the jump - Thanks for the tip, Ovidiu!


[Source: YouTube via Zercustoms]

Super Aguri announced today that it would immediately be ending its participation in Formula 1 after funding for the team has all but dried up. The news comes not long after Super Aguri was denied access to the Turkish Grand Prix paddock area due to its mounting financial issues. Honda has been Super Aguri's main source of funding, but is apparently tired of diverting money from its own F1 team despite pronouncing as recently as last December that it would fund the Honda "B-squad" through the 2008 season. The Japanese automaker also wasn't keen on an 11th hour buyout offer for Super Aguri from German automotive firm Weigl. The team hasn't been on sound financial footing for some time, and the breakdown of negotiations with the Dubai-based Magma Group in April certainly didn't help matters. This leaves Anthony Davidson and Takuma Sato without cars to drive for the rest of the season and narrows down the starting grid for the Turkish Grand Prix this weekend to ten teams and 20 vehicles. Thanks to all who tipped in.

[Source: BBC Sport, Photo by YOSHIKAZU TSUNO/AFP/Getty]

This is either the stupidest idea ever or the most brilliant co-promotion for two brands in the history of mankind. Sony Computer Entertainment Europe, the distributor of Gran Turismo 5 Prologue across the pond, and Nissan are joining forces to host a competition that could place a really good gamer behind the seat of a real Nissan 350Z at a very real 24-hour endurance race in Dubai. The competition is called GT Academy, and the first round will be an online GT5 Prologue tournament hosted on the PLAYSTATION Network (for Europeans only, we presume). Based on the picture provided, it appears that entrants will be racing a Nissan GT-R in a special livery when the competition begins later this month. The rest of the competition will span some eight months, at the end of which the winner will receive a four-month training program to earn actual racing licenses. With his or her newfound knowledge of real physics and how actual damage occurs, the winner will then be given a stint behind the wheel of a Nissan 350Z in the 24-hour endurance race in Dubai.

Based on the press release after the jump, we're a little unclear exactly how GT Academy will whittle down all of these entrants over eight months or how much driving the winner will actually be doing in Dubai. Having raced GT5 Prologue online using the PLAYSTATION Network, we can't imagine qualifying is going to be a pretty sight. There are always plenty of jerks willing to brake late in a corner and buddy bump you into the wall regardless of the game's imposed penalties, especially if they know that seat time in a real 350Z is beyond their own reach.

[Source: Nissan, SCEE]

Reports are surfacing that the Super Aguri F1 team has been turned away from the Turkish Grand Prix's paddock. The denial of access occurred because of financial complications. Team supporter Honda contacted Formula One Management and informed the organization that they would not be providing any more assistance to the struggling team. With no one left to pay the bills, Super Aguri was left stranded outside of the track gates.

One potential life vest has already been thrown to the Japanese team by German engineering firm Weigl Group. However, their contribution would not be enough to fully support race operations. The Super Best Friends need more investors to jump aboard in order to make it through the end of the season, let alone the next race.

[Source: Speed TV, Photo by Ryan Pierse/Getty]

Click above for a high-res gallery of the Scirocco racer.

Volkswagen is taunting us again with another shot of its 'Ring-bound Scirocco, and this time, we get to see the race-ready hatch in profile. VW has been testing the Scirocco in the run up to the 24 Hours of Nurburgring race that's set to begin on May 24, and according to VW Motorsport Director, Kris Nissen, the Scirocco is living up to expectations. With 300 hp provided by its 2.0-liter TFSI engine, Nissen says that, "the new Scirocco was in its element from its very first lap around the Nordschleife." It's a grueling test and we're looking forward to how the Scirocco fairs later this month.


[Source: VW via Carscoop]

Professionals earn pockets full of cheese usually because they do whatever it is they do better, faster, stronger than anyone else. Sometimes, though, they get the big bucks because they'll do something again after having nearly killed themselves the first time. That is: they'll get right back on the horse when a lot of non-professionals would instead grab a gin and tonic and watch reruns of I Love Lucy.

Jorge Lorenzo earned his money and a stay in hospital over the weekend during practice for the MotoGP China Grand Prix. On one run the bike bucked under him coming out of a turn, sending the 21-year-old rider up out of his seat like he was riding a bronco, but he managed to keep the bike upright and moving. On a following run he wasn't so fortunate, highsiding, somersaulting, and suffering a fractured left ankle, a painful right ankle, a cut heel, a knee abrasion, and forearm compression.

But here's where Lorenzo really impresses: he still got on the bike to qualify on Saturday, and came in fourth in Sunday's race. Follow the jump to check out the videos of the bucking incident and the highside. And from now on, the word you're looking for to describe Jorge Lorenzo: pro.

[Source: Axis of Oversteer]

Click above for a huge, high-res gallery of Rd. 3 of the '08 SuperGT season.

After previous incarnations of the Nissan GT-R ran away with successive JGTC titles, Japan's GT Association decided to inflict "success ballast" on race winners in an attempt to level the playing field (i.e give Toyota and Honda a chance).

As the current GT-R race car is built to 2009 Super GT specifications, the GT-A handed it a weight penalty of 50kgs added right from the start of the season. After winning Round 1 in Suzuka car number 23 had to carry an additional 50kgs at Round 2 in Sugo, which it promptly won anyway. Then thanks to also setting numerous fastest laps and other speeding offenses it was deemed that Benoit Treluyer and Satoshi Motoyama's ride would have to port an massive 200ks (440lbs) of ballast at this weekend's race at Fuji Speedway.

That presents a couple of problems. Firstly, where the heck do you safely stow 200kgs of lead? And would the car meet GT-A regulations even if Nissan found a way to do it? The ruling body's compromise was to give the car a 115kg penalty and fit a stifling restrictor to the GT-R's air intake. That knocked 30kph off the GT-R's maximum velocity at the end of Fuji's 1.5km straight, and in the words of Benoit, "Gives us no chance at all."

Follow through the jump to find out if he was right, and to find out how Lightning McQueen faired in GT300 after qualifying on pole yesterday.

In case you missed our update on the original post: mere days after rolling out a neoclassic Challenger done up like the lead character in Vanishing Point, Erich Heuschele stuffed it into a tire wall at Road America. Hey, things happen. At least only his ego was bruised; the damaged car was driven 200 miles without incident, proving that the scarring was little more than a flesh wound.

The nice thing about being in an automaker's inner circle is that you can make a phone call and get a car dropped off like a cup of coffee from an intern. Breaking the early morning stillness of a Sunday sunrise, an orange Challenger SRT-8 sporting black stripes rode into the pits at Iowa's Mid America Motorplex. One Lap rules preclude running for points after a vehicle replacement, so co-drivers Heuschele and Gillies are competing for giggles and exposure at this point. Never fear, though, the white-dunked Challenger is currently undergoing repairs, and should resurface for the Targa Newfoundland.

[Source: CarDomain]

Click above to see what the Vanishing Point Challenger looked like before

The Chrysler employees who entered the prototype Dodge Challenger in this year's One Lap of America may have taken the car's Vanishing Point theme a bit too seriously. Just like in the classic film, the stark white Challenger came face to face with a solid object. The car met its demise in Round 2's time trial event at Road America after getting loose through turn 1. It then left the track and came to a stop perched atop a tire-wall. This course of events departs slightly from the original movie plot, where the Challenger did not meet its destructive fate until the final frames. The film version also somehow managed to survive its own slew of off road adventures without much harm, proving that Hollywood doesn't necessarily mimic real life. Fortunately the Challenger driver, Erich Heuschele, came away from his off track excursion unscathed. The crew has reported that the car will be out for the remainder of events, though it was spotted leaving the track under its own power so a return might be a slim possibility. Check out the source link below for more images of the carnage.



5/4/08 - 2:40 PM EST - UPDATE: The team came back today with a second, orange Challenger, but since One Lap rules forbid changing cars mid-campaign, they're out of the running for points. On a related side note: one of the Chrysler employees drove the wrecked Challenger some 200 miles with no mechanical issues. The vehicle is current at a friend's shop, being repaired and prepped for the upcoming Targa Newfoundland Rally.

[Source: Car Domain Blog]