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The premiere episode of The List is here, and the first thing anyone should do if they're considering tackling a must-do roster of automotive things is attend a high performance driving school. We have to make sure that our hosts Jessi Combs and Patrick McIntyre are prepared for everything that's in store for them, so we sent them both to Skip Barber Racing School for a two-day High Performance Driving class. The action takes place at California's Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca, which means they'll have to get good enough to handle serious turns like the famous Corkscrew. Follow the jump to see how they do.

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A Utility Knife For The Sensible Shoes Crowd



There are stories in every culture about a young man or woman who is supposed to marry someone sensible, attractive, a good cook and good provider. But when the protagonist of the story meets the would-be fiancee's more interesting, vivacious, funny and unconventional sibling or best friend, sparks fly and the original relationship doesn't stand a chance.

And so it was when we drove the 2013 Subaru XV through the roads and highways of Tuscany. On Day One, we drove the version the U.S. will get in the third quarter of next year. The first thing to hit us: déjà vu. This is the 2012 Impreza hatchback, albeit with cladding above the wheel wells and a a seriously jacked up stance. It will have the same, brand-new 2.0-liter flat-four as the Impreza hatch we tested a few months ago that is just hitting dealer lots. So what's the verdict? The XV can cook an acceptable pot of tomato sauce and cleans up nicely for Sunday mass. She's a nice girl and good company.

We should have left it there. We should have called it a test after Day One. We should have simply driven off with the girl we came to meet. Why? Because on day two of our drive, we met the cousin with the better personality, the longer legs, the Sophia Loren cheekbones and the killer personality: the 2.0 liter turbo-diesel with the manual transmission. We drove her through the winding back roads north of Florence amidst the Chianti vineyards, villages and Fiat fix-it shops, but she refuses to come to the States. You see, she will only date Europeans.

We've seen some pretty strange legislation crop up when it comes to curbing crime, but Honduras has reached new extremes. According to the BBC, the country has outlawed passengers on motorcycles in an effort to fight a homicide epidemic. Honduras has the world's highest murder rate, with 82 people killed out of every 100,000 per year. Two recent high-profile killings involved shooters who fired at their victims while riding shotgun on motorcycles, and President Porfiro Lobo has responded by asking congress to put a ban on bike passengers for six months as a result.

The country faces a rash of problems as Mexican drug cartels move to expand their influence. Honduras currently serves as a corridor for cocaine traffic from South America, and the presence of violent gangs in the nation has only serve to further destabilize the area. The country began deploying armed troops as police enforcers in November.

Have we told you how badly we want a reboot of the Toyota Supra? One of the iconic cars of Gen X youth, the Supra died an untimely death in the mid-1990s along with the rest of the Japanese sports car market. This was, of course, long before most of us had managed to graduate from college and get decent enough jobs to be able to afford anything more exciting than a used Honda Civic.

So yes, we hang on every word out of Japan, and the latest comes via Motor Trend. It's reporting that a hybrid, 400-horsepower, 3.5-liter V6 powertrain is being tested for possible release in 2015. The new Supra would look a lot like the FT-HS concept that Toyota showed at the 2007 Detroit Auto Show, according to the magazine, which also says that if we really want to see this Supra successor, we'd better hope the Toyota GT 86/Scion FR-S does well.

The IndyCar Series has yet to announce its calendar for the 2012 season. When it does, it may or may not feature any superspeedways, but one thing's for sure: it won't include Las Vegas.

The high-speed track hadn't been used for this kind of racing since the Champ Car series raced there in 2005. Open-wheel racing returned to the Vegas oval for the first time this year, where a massive, tragic 15-car crash took the life of Indy 500 winner Dan Wheldon.

Officials will reportedly be holding test sessions at the Vegas track to determine what, if anything, could be done to make the racing safer. But until then, IndyCar will be racing elsewhere.

Just when you thought the lights were dimming for good over at Saab, the Swedish automaker gets a(nother) lifeline. Reuters reports the company has received a last-minute payment from Chinese partner Youngman. A Swedish daily newspaper has said Youngman handed over around $5 million to cover tax expenses and that a further payment of $26.43 million is scheduled to show up on December 14 to take care of unpaid salaries. Youngman will reportedly also pay Saab a further $13.18 million by the end of the year.

It's unclear whether the cash infusion will persuade Swedish courts to continue to protect Saab from creditors seeking payment from the ailing automaker. Saab has enjoyed government protection since finances dried up earlier this year, and the courts are set to rule on whether or not that protection should continue on Friday.

An administrator within Saab has applied to have the company's creditor protection removed on the grounds that the automaker no longer has any funds. Saab has responded by requesting that said administrator be removed from the proceedings. The courts are set to hand down a ruling one way or the other on December 16.

General Motors has suspended production of the Chevrolet Cruze. The automaker's Lordstown, Ohio facility suspended its third shift entirely and shortened its first and second shifts due to an unnamed supplier issue according to a spokesperson with the plant. Reuters reports GM has declined to elaborate on the nature of the kink in the company's supply chain, but stressed that the automaker hopes to clear up the issue as soon as possible. The Cruze has enjoyed major success this year, becoming the second-best selling vehicle in its class, second only to the Toyota Corolla.

The Corolla leads the Cruze by a scant 4,000 units, but the Cruze has managed to best both the Honda Civic and the Ford Focus without breaking a sweat. Previously, GM CEO Dan Akerson said he hopes the Cruze will become the best-selling vehicle in its segment by the end of 2011, but its unclear just how the new supplier crunch will impact those goals.

Every year, each Formula One team on the grid designs a brand-new car and builds a handful of them for use at grands prix around the world. So what happens to the old ones? Well, the less important ones might get scrapped, unfortunately. The more important ones might find their way into museum collections. But then there's a whole class of collectors who buy them for use at historic racing events or private track days.

Those collectors lust after opportunities like this one: to own a grand prix-winning car driven by a World Champion for a team no less celebrated than Scuderia Ferrari. This 1974 Ferrari 312 B3 was the very same that Niki Lauda drove to the checkered flag at the Dutch Grand Prix and Spanish Grand Prix that year. And while it would have been worth more if those races had helped Lauda secure the championship that year, unfortunately, a series of DNFs relegated him to fourth place in the standings, returning the following year to win his first title.

Just the same, the car is now based in California, has been fully backed and certified by the factory, and is on sale now on eBay Motors with a starting bid of $1.25 million. Check it out in the image gallery and follow the link to the auction page for a closer look. Thinking of bidding? Be quick about it – there's mere hours left on the auction.

According to data acquired by the BBC, roads in Great Britain have played host to 2,396,750 crashes from 1999 to 2010. The Beeb then took that data and plotted every single one of them on a map, represented by a point of light. The resulting graphic looks like a picture from the Hubble Telescope, with major and minor clusters of fender-bender-filled galaxies.

The BBC compiled a large amount of information to go with it, including an in-depth breakdown of the numbers: in those 12 years, more than 36,000 dead – 1,850, or five a day, in 2010 – more than three million injured and more than £15 billion in economic cost.

It goes even further than that, with extra features on things like crash-proof cars, a full day of tweeting from two BBC reporters who spend a day with a London ambulance crew, and time-laps video of when and where accidents happen. So, for any Britons who want to see where and how people are getting hurt on the roads, or for those of you who are just interested in such things, follow the link.

The Detroit Free Press reports that, of the 267 automotive plants that have closed in the U.S. since 1979, 128 have reopened with a new purpose. Astonishingly enough, 40 percent of those reopened sites were purchased between 2008 and 2010 as General Motors and Chrysler underwent restructuring, thanks in part to lower land prices and a larger volume of available properties.

Of those that remain closed, however, 65 percent can be found in Michigan, Ohio and Indiana. They don't call it the rust belt for nothing. Even with so many sites finding new owners in recent years, things aren't necessarily looking better for those that remain closed.

According to the report, of the 128 plants that have closed in North America since 1980, three of every five are currently lying idle. Perhaps even more concerning is that only three of the 45 that have reopened under new businesses have been able offer their communities the same number of jobs as the buildings supplied under the automakers. Head over to The Detroit Free Press for the full report.

After Audi announced Google Earth integration in the 2011 A8, the next obvious question we had was when Google Street View was coming. The only response we got: "Just wait."

Well, the waiting is over. Audi announced today that Street View – Google's relentless outdoor photographing service – will join the high-resolution aerial and satellite images embedded in Audi's Connect infotainment system.

According to Audi, the system pre-loads data for your selected route and then integrates with your smartphone's UTMS module to provide a 360-degree view for the driver – most helpful when looking for a specific business or residence in a congested urban area.

Audi also announced its "music stream" service, which, like BMW's Internet Radio functionality, allows drivers to select from over 4,000 internet radio stations from around the world and stream them through the stereo. Details on both systems can be found in the press blast after the break.

We're just a few weeks away from the 2012 Detroit Auto Show where, among other things, we'll see the all-new 2013 Dodge Dart for the first time. Parent company Chrysler has already released a few teasers of the compact sedan's exterior, and now, we're getting our first look inside the new C-segment offering.

Dodge says that the 2013 Dart's interior is all about customization, and that's immediately noticeable with the gauge cluster. As you can see above, the Dart will have offer seven-inch color TFT display in the middle of the instrument panel, allowing the driver to switch between different display modes with a standard analog tachometer and fuel gauge/PRNDL flanking either side. That red glow you see around the IP? That's an available ambient "racetrack" lighting system that not only outlines the cluster, but works its way over to the center stack, as well. Ambient lighting can also be had in the foot wells, door handles, map pockets, glove box, center console storage and cup holders.

Speaking of the center stack, the 2013 Dodge Dart will be available with Chrysler's speedy and well-regarded UConnect infotainment system, displayed on a large, 8.4-inch touchscreen – the largest screen in its class, might we add. We're also told that the Dart's glovebox is cavernous enough to store an Apple iPad, and there will be the usual smattering of auxiliary input jacks throughout the interior to keep you connected to all of your electronic devices.

Adding to the theme of customization, the Dart will be available in 12 different exterior colors and the interior will have 14 possible color and trim configurations. What's more, there will be three different wheel options, three engine choices and three transmissions, along with available safety equipment like blind spot and cross-path detection systems not normally found in this class of vehicle. We'll have the full details in just a few weeks, but for now, scroll through the galleries above to see the full smattering of Dart teasers, and follow the jump for the official press blast.

A little less than a year ago, the Mustang Club of Poland shocked us with an amazing fan-made video documenting some of the organization's headier hardware. Now the club is back with a different sort of video. The director has managed to direct the entire crowd to craft a Stomp-style musical sound collage made up of the various clicks, chimes, slams, squeaks, roars and honks of a crowd of very stylish ponies. We'd rather watch the cars prowling around the cramped streets and open countryside of Europe, but we still commend the group for what must have been a very challenging video to shoot and edit.

The group says we can expect to see a making-of clip to come along soon as well. In the mean time, hit the jump to check out the new video, and be sure to click back for a little refresher on the club's first cinematic endeavor as well. You'll be glad you did.

It's getting darn near impossible for automakers to keep their latest wares hidden from view until they are good and ready to show them. Such is the case with Mercedes-Benz, who's latest SL has leaked to the internet courtesy of the crew at Autoblog.nl.

If we had to guess, we'd say these images come from a brochure of some sort, and they show the 2013 Mercedes-Benz SL from the front and rear, along with the top up and down. We also get a lone shot of the interior, and though it's all in various shades of black and white, everything looks just as polished and stately as we'd expect from M-B's range-topping non-AMG machine.

We know that the 2013 SL will be a few hundred pounds lighter than its predecessor, but we don't yet know what range of engines will be in the "S-Class of Roadsters." We'd guess a few V8 options with the vestigial V12 hanging around for at least one more generation.

We'll just have to wait until the 2012 Detroit Auto Show to find out all the details, but in the meantime, have a gander at the pics in our high-res image gallery.