Revamp for UK bike test

The current format for the UK’s motorcycle licence test was only introduced in April 2009. Consisting of two parts, the first is conducted away from the roads and includes hazard avoidance and emergency stop exercises. The second element is a road riding assessment, which lasts for at least thirty minutes.



However, the system has received a lot of criticism. In particular, the first module has been slated for its content, as well as the number and geographic spread of the locations where it is carried out. Additionally, there have been calls to make the test a single event, rather than being split into two distinct parts that can rarely be taken on the same day.

In response, the government commenced a review back in June 2010, and the Department for Transport has now announced its initial proposals.



The aim is to return to a single, on-road test. This could mean that the hazard manoeuvre is carried out on the public road, provided the assessment still complied with EU standards. Meanwhile, the slow speed exercises (u-turn, slalom and figure of eight) might be delegated to examiners at training centres ahead of the main test.



Wisely, perhaps, the changes aren’t going to be rushed through. With the details still needing a lot of work, the plan is to trial the proposals in the early part of 2011, followed by a public consultation. The target would then be to introduce the new test during late 2011 or early 2012.

ZX-10R recall explained

A couple of weeks ago, Kawasaki announced a ‘technical hold’ notice for its new 2011 Ninja ZX-10R in North America - in other words, a recall.

Under the notice, all bikes already delivered to customers and those at dealers had to be returned to Kawasaki. The cause was said to be unexpected engine behaviour, but an official reason wasn’t disclosed at the time.

Now, though, it seems that Kawasaki engineers have got to the bottom of the problem. A statement from the company reads:

"It had been discovered that when some examples of the new 2011 Ninja ZX-10R were operated at high rpm under unique riding conditions - such as operating on a racetrack - the intake valve springs could surge. Should this rare incidence occur it could cause one or more intake valves to seat improperly, resulting in poor engine performance.



"Having examined the very small number of machines which exhibited this surge phenomenon, the Kawasaki factory engineers have designed and fully tested a countermeasure which solves the problem without affecting any facet of the new engine’s outstanding performance.



"On the limited number of machines produced so far, the camshaft, valve springs and spring retainers for intake valves are being replaced to prevent the valve spring from surging. The same design update is automatically being incorporated into the ongoing production run of the newest and most powerful Ninja yet produced."

The European launch of the bike, which was delayed because of the technical issues, is now expected to be at the end of January 2011. In the UK, the Kawasaki Ninja ZX-10R will be priced at £11,699, with ABS costing an additional £1,000.

New Bugatti from LeMans Miniatures

New Bugatti Type 57C from LeMans Miniatures.

Gold-plated Tata Nano

The Tata Nano and Ferrari 458 Italia don’t have much in common, but an unfortunate characteristic shared by early versions of both was a willingness to burst into flames.



For the Nano, that might partly explain why its sales figures are in freefall. Tata managed to shift 9,000 units in July, but the tiny car found just 509 buyers in November.



In such a situation, most manufacturers would resort to a special edition to help boost interest. And sure enough, it’s a tactic that Tata is using with the Nano, except the result is a little, well, unconventional.

Produced ostensibly to celebrate the 5,000th anniversary of Indian jewellery, the Goldplus Nano will be gold-plated. It’s named after a Titan Industries jewellery brand which, conveniently, is also part of the Tata Group. Might as well keep things in the family…



The design was chosen following a competition, and the Goldplus Nano is expected to be launched in April or May of 2011. Pricing has yet to be confirmed.

DB9 special editions

Aston Martin has been busy during 2010 creating special editions of its DBS (Carbon Black and UB2010), V8 Vantage (N420) and V12 Vantage (Carbon Black).



Now it’s the turn of the DB9 to receive the ‘let’s see if we can shift a few more units’ treatment.



The DB9 Morning Frost specification is aimed at those wanting a little more luxury. Finished in pearlescent white with a metallic bronze leather interior, other distinguishing features include silver grilles and brake calipers, plus 19" ten-spoke alloy wheels.

By contrast, the DB9 Carbon Black and Quantum Silver editions are intended to be sportier. Named after their body paint colours, both feature Obsidian Black interiors with coarse silver stitching, real glass switchgear and a piano black centre console. They also come with a remapped sports exhaust for a better sound (Aston Martin isn’t claiming any increase over the standard car’s 470 bhp / 350 kW / 477 PS), graphite tailpipes, 19” ten-spoke gloss black alloys and black grilles.

The DB9 Morning Frost, Carbon Black and Quantum Silver will all have Touchtronic II transmission fitted as standard. They are available to order now, although curiously pricing has yet to be revealed.

RECALL : Chrysler and Ford Recall Almost 160,000 Vehicles for Safety Defects S

Chrysler recalled 144,000 vehicles Thursday while Ford Motor said it plans to recall nearly 15,000 2011 models vehicles, the Detroit News reported.

Chrysler is reportedly recalling over 65,000 2009 Dodge Journey vehicles for problems with wires within the front door harness and airbag deployment, according to the company.

The automaker is also recalling over 56,000 Ram 1500 trucks and over 22,000 2008 2011 Dodge Ram 4500 and 5500 trucks. These recalls were triggered by grinding sounds from the rear axle bearing and a loss of steering.

Meanwhile, two unattended 2011 Ford F-150 vehicles caught fire recently at the company's Dearborn, Mich., assembly plant, sparking the Ford recall.

The company recalled 14,737 of its Edge and Lincoln MKX vehicles to inspect the Body Control Module after the reported fires.

In 2010 automakers recalled more than 19 million vehicles, with Chrysler recalling more than 1.6 million vehicles.

Top 5 Super Funny Car Parking Fail Video - Happy New Year

Mercedes SLS AMG to win with Gran Turismo 5

This is a new nature to perhaps move even more sleepless nights before the latest installment of Gran Turismo.

Sony launches in fact a contest whose prize is simply a Mercedes SLS AMG ! For the record, this racing car worth approximately 180 000 EUR has a 6.2 liter V8 to 571 horsepower. Moreover, it is very difficult to resist its charm and its gullwing doors.

The contest, launched Monday, December 27, is reserved for owners of the Signature Edition of the game, it will proceed in two steps. The first is to make the best performance in the B-Spec mode. The 15 regional winners, in 22 countries, will in a second time the opportunity to participate in the contest organized by the Steering Mercedes-Benz.

Special Motorcycle style Porsche by Custom Wolf

German tuning company Custom Wolf presented its original creation - a low, dark and menacing. As they say in the style of cars Porsche. True, not all the machines Porsche arise such associations.
Custom bike is a really very brutal, very low and very dark. Box - the original from the Harley-Davidson. Engine - S & S. Exhaust system - slightly modified LA Chopper. 18-inch wheels with black and gold screws.

Brake calipers - from the Kawasaki ZX-10R. The fuel tank is made by special order specifically for this machine.

New Ranch Design gears

Ranch Design is now offering 64 pitch crown gears machined from billet aluminum. The axle hole sizes available are .085" and .094".
The gear teeth configurations are in two tooth increments from 24 to 36. All have setscrew fasteners.

The major diameters are: 24T = .390", 26T = .420", 28T = .454", 30T = .485", 32T = .515", 34T = .545", and 36T = .578". All have a .250"
diameter hub and a length of .250".

Future Chevrolet Corvette

Sure, Chevrolet Corvette is one of the most famous cars in the world, with a fascinating history, but what awaits him in the future?

At General Motors did not spread much about the future of Chevrolet Corvette, but let's look at the long time before the sketches and sketches of models that appear during the project.

You can say that the next generation Corvette will get the same "language and the proportion of" current version, of course, if designers do not decide otherwise.

Also there is information that the new Chevrolet Corvette will go with the average location of the engine, so the new version will be easier to take advantage of new engines.

Speed camera openness

The UK government’s Department for Transport has announced proposals that could see information being published about the country’s numerous speed cameras.



Under the plan, statistics released might include accident rates at camera sites, recorded vehicle speeds and the number of offenders prosecuted or alternatively offered speed awareness courses.

Road Safety Minister, Mike Penning, said, “Public bodies should be accountable and if taxpayers' money is being spent on speed cameras then it is right that information about their effectiveness is available to the public.



“The proposals I have announced today will help show what impact cameras are having on accident and casualty rates and also how the police are dealing with offenders. This is in line with our commitment to improve transparency of government data so that the public are able to make more informed judgements about the work of local and central government.”



At least the government is now referring to them as ‘speed cameras’, instead of the disingenuous ‘safety cameras’.



While this spirit of glasnost is to be welcomed, such data on its own may be pretty much useless. The number of accidents (and injuries sustained) that occurred before a speed camera was installed would have to be known too, otherwise it’s impossible to judge whether the camera is effective or not. Even then, the actual causes of crashes at the site would also have to be disclosed to see how many were actually speed-related.



One important thing that the proposals seem to ignore is what then happens with the results? Will a camera be removed if it can be demonstrated that it plays no role in road safety? Will a particular speed limit be raised to a more appropriate level if it’s found that there are minimal speed-related accidents? If it’s just business as usual, and nothing is done, then publishing the data in the first place seems rather pointless.



The Department for Transport will be consulting with the Highways Agency, police forces and local authorities to decide exactly what will be revealed. It’s intended that data will be made available to the public from April 2011.

Lamborghini Sesto Elemento is already listed for sale at €2M

The Sesto Elemento concept was conceived as a design study, technology and previewing the styling we might expect to see on the next generation of Lamborghini supercars.A few months back, shortly after it was revealed at the Paris Motor Show, reports began to become apparent suggesting that the Italian automaker could put it into production, however limited.

Now the car is listed for sale by an exotic car dealership in Germany. Although the reported original listing on the mobile.de online marketplace is no longer there to be found, it is still up on Auto Salon Singen's website with an approximately €2 million ($2.63M USD) list price – €1.9m before tax, €2.3m after.

Audi raises prices 2011 - For the new year, the Germans have a new higher prices

Several models of the Audi will be available against the fat amounts in 2011. These include TT, Q7, A8 and R8, whose prices jumped by around 0.9% in Germany. Similar increases are expected in most European countries.


R8 supercar with a 4.2-liter V8 engine will be available at € 110,000, a Spyder version - for € 122,100, an increase of around € 1,000.

In the model A8 3.0-liter TDI engine increase amounted to € 700, the new price will be € 79,900. Similarly, the increase in the Q7 3.0-liter gasoline engine that will get a starting price of € 53,500.

E lowest price surge in the Audi TT. Version with a 1.8-liter gasoline engine and 160 hp will be available at € 30,500, or about € 300 more expensive.


The new prices take effect on January 17, 2011.

LIMITED EDITION NEW 2010 SUBARU LEGACY 3.6R

LIMITED EDITION NEW 2010 SUBARU LEGACY 3.6R 

In the last 23 000 km and the changes we have the impression from our 2010 Subaru Legacy SS were quiet competence. That's not all peace, praises his journal full of meandering interior space for five adults very comfortable and quiet. Those who try to inspire a jog Subaru leave satisfied, but not addictive. fast, talkative steering and suspension systems to promote sustainable bit funny, but loose braces and mushy brake pedal prevent anyone from confusing this with a true sport sedan.

Date: December 2010 

Months in the fleet: 23,212 miles

Current Mileage: 9 months

Fuel Economy rating: 22 mpg

Average Range: 407 miles

Service: $ 285

Normal wear: $ 0

Repairs: $ 68

Tires are our biggest complaint about the Legacy. Bridgestone all-season Turanzas wore it on arrival in our office are a bit louder than expected, they rattle on the highway in order to avoid moments of solitude, or stereo mute. A small steering wheel shimmy through, at a cost as he felt out-of-balance tires, however, remained after the first few balance our $ 68, but the tire store is the second free to regulate tire of all evil. Many other owners have mentioned earlier the same problem in different forums,

Funny and Creative Car Logos - Ferrari - Jaguar - Lamborghini - Maserati

Ferrari

Jaguar

Lamborghini

Maserati

I had not seen these forms created by Dentsu Brazil for Minichamps (those miniature cars almost perfect). In them, four logos of famous cars (Masserati, Ferrari, Jaguar and Lamborghini) are presented in their ways "children"

Truck destroys parked Ford Explorer on Brooklyn street snow video

Out of control city tow truck destroys parked SUV on Brooklyn street video shows

A dramatic YouTube video showing a city tow truck crunching a parked SUV in snowbound Brooklyn Heights.

The caught-on-tape slam-a-thon shows a stuck front-end loader bashing into the parked vehicle as a tow truck tries to yank the loader out of a snowy parking spot.

The yellow snow-mover careens into the city owned Ford Expedition, then strikes it several more times as it lurches out of the spot.

On the way out, the plow crashes into the window of the SUV, and also sideswipes another parked car.

2012 Model New Crossover Ford Territory was photographed without camouflage

Australian Ford Territory crossover new generation, whose debut next year, was caught by photographers without camouflage. Previously reported that this car will be a harbinger of a new style of crossover Ford, which then spread to Europe and the U.S. model of concern.

Previously reported that Ford plans to replace the model Ford Escape, sold in North America, and Ford Kuga, developed for Europe, a car, which will debut in early 2011 at auto show in Detroit. Produced a new crossover will be in the U.S. - at a plant in Louisville , the modernization which will cost Ford $ 600 million.

Porsche has officially confirmed the premiere of a new model in 2011 NAIAS

Earlier this month, was the statement made by the company Porsche, which discussed plans for the German automaker to introduce a new model at the upcoming Detroit Motor Show, which will be held from 10 to 23 January next year.

This week at the Porsche has finally officially confirmed this information, but no details of the model were provided.

As previously mentioned, Porsche can release the successor to 911, Boxster or Cayman. You can also expect to develop a series of three-door SUV Cajun, the appearance of a hybrid version of 918.

In any case, before the opening of a Porsche dealership is not going to reveal secrets.

Journey becomes a Fiat

Dodge will stop offering its Journey in Europe, choosing instead to market the vehicle as the Fiat Freemont on this side of the Atlantic.

Such a move comes as no surprise. Indeed, when Fiat Group Automobile unveiled its 2010-2014 Business Plan earlier this year, it was made clear that for Dodge ‘outside of the US, only models consistent with the strong American image of the brand, such as the Challenger, Charger and Viper, will be distributed. In addition, some products will be gradually integrated with the Fiat brand in Europe…’



The good news for potential Freemont customers is that Dodge gave the Journey an extensive overhaul for the 2011 model year. Changes included retuning the suspension for improved ride and handling, recalibrating the steering for more feel and increasing the soundproofing for more refinement.

Interior quality - arguably a factor that has prevented recent Chrysler Group products from performing better in Europe - received attention too, and Dodge is now claiming ‘world-class levels of craftsmanship and comfort’ for the Journey. If true, that should help the Freemont succeed in an extremely competitive market sector.



North American buyers can currently specify either a 173 bhp (129 kW / 175 PS) 2.4 litre I4 or 283 bhp (211 kW / 286 PS) 3.6 litre V6 Pentastar engine for their Journey, both of which are petrol-powered. It’s unclear whether these will also make it into the Freemont, but a 168 bhp (125 kW / 170 PS) 2.0 litre diesel engine from Fiat is a certainty. To help extend the Freemont’s appeal, expect all-wheel drive to be offered as an option, as it is for the Journey.



The Freemont, which will be built alongside the Dodge Journey in Toluca, Mexico, replaces the ancient and slow-selling Ulysse MPV. Originally introduced back in 2002, the Ulysse shares its underpinnings with the Lancia Phedra, Citroën C8 and Peugeot 807.



Sales of the Fiat Freemont are due to begin in June 2011, following a debut at next March’s Geneva International Motorshow.



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Fiat Freemont unveiled

No UK return for Lancia