Autoblog

Marco Andretti's crew swapping gears, click for more

During the Detroit Grand Prix weekend, we got a backstage tour of the IRL paddock area and learned about some of what goes on. The tour kicked off in the tech inspection area, where every car has to go before and after each on-track session. As the cars are rolled up the ramps to the inspection platform an inspector actually lies on the floor under the ramps to check out the bottom of the car. They look for anything that should be there that isn't, things that are there that shouldn't and signs of damage.

Once the car is on the platform, it sits on four scales that check to see whether the car meets the minimum weight. At this point, ground clearances and wing heights and positions can be checked. Once that's done, the scales are actually lowered and inspectors verify that the car's floor is flat where it should be. Only after a car has passed the tech inspection is it allowed on track.

Continue the backstage tour after the jump.

Any Monster Truck fans out there? You might have noticed a recent change in the look of the legendary Bigfoot. After undergoing a less-than-extreme makeover, the classic Bigfoot blue is back on the truck. Well, not the entire truck, but a good portion of the nose and cab. Sponsor Firestone still has its prominent shield displayed on the hood and its logo across the flanks, but the new red, white and blue scheme looks pretty good on this 30-something-year-old legend. Sure, parent company Bridgestone is primarily Japanese, but the truck is 100% 'Murkin. Bob Chandler created Bigfoot and the Monster Truck phenomenon back in the mid '70s and it has since turned into a billion-dollar enterprise. Nothing more American than that. Bigfoot has used Firestone tires since 1991, and started using Firestone paint schemes a decade ago.

[Source: Edmund's Inside Line]

A federal judge has declared that the public must have access to safety data from automotive OEMs and part manufacturers, even before a recall is officially announced. The ruling comes as the result of a suit filed by Public Citizen, which was claiming that manufacturers should not have blanket protection from Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) filings when it comes to the warranty claim data and other safety-related complaints that must be filed with the Department of Transportation.

The tire industry fought to keep the data confidential, stating that any release of it prior to the announcement of an official recall safety campaign would constitute "competitive harm". When the TREAD Act of 2000 originally passed in the wake of the Firestone debacle, such information reporting was required, and when the DOT's National Highway Transportation Safety Administration (NHTSA) proposed rules on the matter in 2002, it stated that any reported data would be "non-confidential". A final issuing of the rule in 2003 allowed the pre-recall data to remain safe from FOIA filings, however.

[Source: Detroit News]

It's been well over a year since Michelin unveiled its take on the future of the tire, the airless Tweel. The odd-looking invention pairs a replaceable outer rubber layer with a central alloy hub joined by polyurethane ribs. Judging by this video, it would appear that the tire manufacturer is continuing to develop its concept, testing it on a variety of vehicles in a number of different environments. Click on the link to get a glimpse of what might just be in your automotive future.

[Sources: FreshCreation.nl; Michelin]

(Appreciate the tip, Martijn)

 

Goodyear Tire & Rubber has announced plans to slash 1,500 jobs in an effort to save $50 million dollars. The world's largest tire company will reach those goals in part by shuttering plants in Britain and Poland.

Part of its restructuring efforts that began last September, the manufacturer will jettison 585 employees at its UK Goodyear Dunlop facility in Washington, and a smaller outpost in Wolverhampton will shed around 40 employees, leaving about 450 workers.

Additionally, Goodyear's Debica, Poland plant will stop making bicycle tires and inner tubes, pink-slipping 360 employees.

The rubber giant says that it expects to incur charges of around $105-115 million USD in the process of exacting the changes.

[Sources: The Australian; Associated Press]

According to PoliticalAffairs.net, Bridgestone-Firestone employees at the company's LaVergne, Tennesee plant have been ordered to stop collecting donations at the factory's gate for struggling rubber workers in Africa.

The charity drive was intended to help the company's own employees who work in a Liberian plant for about $3 per day. Reportedly the plant's workers recently went on strike after Bridgestone-Firestone elected to withhold in excess of one-third of their paychecks for 'unexplained deductions.' The writer further notes that the company's Liberian facility is under fire for human rights violations--namely making use of child labor and use of toxic pesticides.

Collecting donations for worthy causes has apparently been done before at the plant for years, including on behalf of ill United Steelworkers members, other striking local union chapters and victims of Hurricane Katrina.

Editor's Note: It would appear from the text that the article's author made no effort to contact Bridgestone-Firestone for comment or confirmation, a disconcerting omission.

[Source:PoliticalAffairs.net]