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Filed under: Aftermarket, Motorsports, Videos, Specialty, Racing

Last year, at the 2010 Pike's Peak International Hill Climb, our very own Drew Phillips ascended the mountain to chat with some of the race's drivers. The most exciting class is arguably the Unlimited group, which run insanely powerful machines driven by mad men looking to break the elusive 10-minute mark. In 2010, only three men strapped into Unlimited-class racers, and one of them goes by the name of Paul Dallenbach.

Phillips captured the following quote from Dallenbach's mouth:

"My car is good on hard surfaces... but I really need to come back with some factory help on an engine. That's my big thing that's hurting me right now. I'm running the same engines I've had for ten years. They're great engines, and they have great torque, but I really need something that's more reliable."

Well, Dallenbach has a helping hand for the 2011 race. Two of them, in fact, and they've been provided by Banks Power. Banks has teamed up with the Dallenbach Racing Team, and the two are sharing a wealth of turbocharging and engine-tuning knowledge. As a result of the twin-turbocharged shove, power has been pushed from 745-horsepower and 650 pound-feet of torque up to 1,307-horsepower and 1,206 pound-feet of torque.

That's a healthy dose of added scoot.

Paul Dallenbach and the Banks Power team now believe they have a record-breaking machine on their hands. Rhys Millen and Nobuhiro Tajima are equally confident in their own machines. Should the weather cooperate, this looks like the year we see a sub-10-minute ascension of Pike's Peak. We will be in Colorado to capture the action, but in the meantime we have video of the Dallench Racing Team car taking a few shakedown runs. Click past the jump to get an idea of how quickly that much power can push a car around.

Continue reading Paul Dallenbach teams up with Banks Power to tackle Pike's Peak

Paul Dallenbach teams up with Banks Power to tackle Pike's Peak originally appeared on Autoblog on Tue, 31 May 2011 19:59:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Filed under: Sedan, Government/Legal, Cadillac, UK

Rules are rules, and they apply equally to everyone - including the President of the United States. Especially when he's on foreign soil.

After President Barack Obama's famous Cadillac limousine - known as The Beast - got stuck exiting the US embassy in Dublin, it was shipped across the Irish Sea to England, the next leg of the president's European road trip. Now the mayor of London is demanding Obama pay the congestion charge for his limo and the rest of his motorcade.

A notorious car nut and onetime automotive journalist, Major Boris Johnson insists that the £10 ($16) charge applies to each of the president's vehicles, and that the bill is currently being tabulated. The fees are only the latest part of an ongoing dispute between the city's transportation department and foreign missions like the American embassy, an issue that Johnson reportedly raised directly with Obama during his visit.

London insists that embassies in the British capital city owe some £51 million ($83m) in congestion charges for driving through the city during peak hours, of which the American embassy's share is estimated at £5.3 million ($8.7m). Diplomats view the fee as a tax from which they are exempt under international law.

London Mayor Boris Johnson hits Obama's motorcade with congestion charge originally appeared on Autoblog on Tue, 31 May 2011 19:25:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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What you missed on 5.31.11 originally appeared on Autoblog on Tue, 31 May 2011 19:21:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Filed under: Technology, Honda, Canada

Reuters is reporting that personal information from more than 283,000 Honda Canada customers has been stolen by cyber criminals. The data includes names, addresses, vehicle identification numbers and, most importantly, some financing account information.

Still, Honda maintains that the profiles don't contain the goods necessary for identity theft. Crooks typically need bank account numbers, email addresses and birth dates to pull off a successful cyber heist. Honda Canada had collected the consumer information back in 2009 when it urged its customers to register for on MyAcura and MyHonda sites.

The automaker first became aware that something was awry when traffic to both sites shot through the roof. Shortly thereafter, an inordinate number of unauthorized attempts to access member accounts hit the radar as well. On May 13th, a letter was sent out to owners who potentially had their personal data compromised.

This isn't the first time that Honda has been the victim of an online attack. Just last year, 2.2 million vehicle owners had their personal information stolen from the Japanese automaker's databases.

Honda Canada owner database hacked, 283,000 customers at risk originally appeared on Autoblog on Tue, 31 May 2011 18:59:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Filed under: Porsche, Rumormill

If you were thinking about buying the next-generation Porsche 911, you'd better start working out your shifting arm. Car and Driver has managed to extract a bit of information about the upcoming German sports car, and it appears a seven-speed manual transmission will be offered. You will be able to row-row-row-row-row-row-row your own boat gears.

Why the additional cog? Porsche reportedly wanted to supply the next 911 with a taller final gear in order to improve fuel efficiency. Hopefully we'll get to see the all-new shift pattern in the flesh when we head to Europe for the 2011 Frankfurt Motor Show.

Next-gen Porsche 911 to get seven-speed manual transmission? originally appeared on Autoblog on Tue, 31 May 2011 18:27:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Filed under: SUV, Chrysler, Jeep, Off-Road

According to The Toledo Blade, citing ordering guides sourced from Chrysler dealerships, the Jeep Wrangler will finally get the automaker's 3.6-liter Pentastar V6 for the 2012 model year. Since 2007, the Wrangler has been fitted with a 3.8-liter V6 engine (which replaced the venerable 4.0-liter inline six) that has met with less than stellar reviews. The new engine may have been a foregone conclusion, but it's a welcome one nonetheless.

Equally as important is news that the Jurassic-age four-speed automatic will be replaced with a five-speed unit. That's nice and all... but why go with a five-speeder when six (or more) is the current standard?

In any case, the report claims that the 2012 Wrangler's powertrain will be identical to the units in the 2011 Grand Cherokee. That means we should expect 290 horsepower and 260 pound-feet of torque. Those are much-needed improvements of the old 3.8, which offered up 202 horses and 237 lb-ft. Fuel mileage will reportedly improve to 16 city, 23 highway from 15/19.

In other Jeep news, Allpar.com reports that the 2012 Grand Cherokee will get a six-speed automatic to replace the five-speed unit in the 2011 model. (Guess we know where those older gearboxes are headed, eh?) In a further bid to improve fuel economy, the Pentastar-equipped Grand Cherokee will also be getting electrically driven power steering in place of the current hydraulic unit.

More Jeep Wrangler Pentastar rumors, five-speed auto promised originally appeared on Autoblog on Tue, 31 May 2011 17:59:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Filed under: Sedan, Etc., Chrysler, Dodge, Police/Emergency

Chrysler has agreed to replace a Dodge Charger Pursuit and all of the police gear inside for free after the vehicle mysteriously burnt to the ground. As you may recall, a Curry County, Oregon sheriff's deputy saw his new cruiser (which had 6,000 miles on it) go crispy after stopping to assist in a search and rescue operation.

Patrick Combs, the rescuee, was found and taken to a local hospital by ambulance, but deputy Jared Gray's new Charger Patrol didn't survive the scene. The fire seemed to take hold in the passenger-side front wheel well and continued to reignite after fire crews extinguished the blaze.

There was one small caveat to the vehicle's generous replacement, however. In exchange for the new set of wheels, the sheriff's department had to agree to sign a non-disclosure, which means we may never know exactly what set the car ablaze.

As our friends at The J point out, no reports of toasty civilian Chargers have been made to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.

Chrysler replaces Dodge Charger police car after 'suspicious' fire originally appeared on Autoblog on Tue, 31 May 2011 17:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Filed under: Etc.

We're recording Episode #232 of the Autoblog Podcast tonight, so check out our discussion topics below. You can also use the forum below to drop us your own feedback and questions, or vote on your fellow readers' submissions to help determine what else we discuss this evening. You can subscribe to the Autoblog Podcast in iTunes if you haven't already done so to hear your question answered by our esteemed panel of 'casters.

Discussion Topics for Autoblog Podcast Episode #232

• New 3 Series on its way
• Top Gear says an aluminum-intensive Jaguar Crossover is coming
• WSJ looks at who the Automaker bailouts left behind
• RX9 coming, and it's a hybrid?

Subscribe to the Autoblog Podacast and hear your questions asked:
[iTunes] Subscribe to the Autoblog Podcast in iTunes
[RSS] Add the Autoblog Podcast feed to your RSS aggregator

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Submit your questions for Autoblog Podcast #232 originally appeared on Autoblog on Tue, 31 May 2011 17:28:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Filed under: Etc., Videos

UPS is known for its amazing level of efficiency, and that reputation could soon extend to fuel savings thanks to a prototype dubbed CV-23. The delivery company has ordered five of these prototypes to be tested through the end of 2011, but this is no ordinary next-generation package hauler.

The CV-23 weighs about a thousand pounds less than the typical UPS truck, thanks to the fact that it is made with composite materials instead of metal. The lightweight materials could help UPS deliver up to 40 percent better fuel economy than the current UPS fleet truck. Those kinds of fuel economy gains can pay huge dividends in rural areas where trucks are required to drive large distances. And since the body panels are plastic, bumpers, panels and other parts can be replaced easily.

Hit the jump to watch video of the CV-23 as it is tested by UPS management. If the company is sufficiently impressed, the guys and gals in brown could order more trucks, potentially saving 84 million gallons of fuel per year. We're guessing drivers will want to see some crash test data before seeing what brown plastic can do for them, but otherwise, this seems like a pretty good idea.

Continue reading UPS testing plastic trucks that cut weight by 1,000 pounds [w/video]

UPS testing plastic trucks that cut weight by 1,000 pounds [w/video] originally appeared on Autoblog on Tue, 31 May 2011 16:58:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Filed under: Car Buying, Japan, Hyundai, Kia, Lexus, Toyota

If forecasts from TrueCar.com are accurate, Hyundai and Kia will be the only automakers to post sales gains in the month of May. Mildly interesting news in itself, but the real shocking nugget is that the Korean conglomerate is expected to pass Toyota (including its Lexus luxury brand) as the third-best-selling automaker in the United States.

Surely there are multiple reasons why Toyota and Lexus sales are expected to drop in May (when compared to April, 2011 and May of 2010), but parts and inventory shortages stemming from the devastating earthquake and subsequent tsunami in Japan are front and center.

Credit also goes to Hyundai and Kia for the dramatic gains they have made on their Japanese and American competitors in the last few years, both in sales and in consumer perception. That said, Toyota seems likely to rebound in the coming months, so it will be an interesting exercise to follow the sales charts.

When all the numbers finally come in, TrueCar.com expects the month of May to show an eight-percent drop in sales from April. As you would expect, shortages of cars imported from Japan is partly to blame, but lowered incentives from all automakers is also cited as a contributing factor.

Hyundai/Kia will likely top Toyota/Lexus for No. 3 sales spot in May originally appeared on Autoblog on Tue, 31 May 2011 16:29:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Nissan's latest Leaf-related ad asks: "What would the world be like if gas powered everything?"

Well, according to the spot, a middle-aged man would wake up for work to the burning whistle of his gas-powered alarm clock, and with a few fierce tugs at his coffee maker's rip cord, he'd manage to fire up the gas-gulping machine. That same man, while at the office, would walk up to a miniature gas pump to refuel his laptop computer.

Oh, and the owner of a Chevrolet Volt, while standing at the gas pump refueling his plug-in hybrid, would watch in envy as another man across the street unplugs his Nissan Leaf and drives off.

Well, as you may have guessed, some General Motors execs aren't too thrilled that Nissan has taken a public shot at the Volt. Autoevolution says that in a "rare, but delicious unofficial reply on Twitter," GM's Executive Director of Product and Technology Communications, Jason Laird, tweeted:

"A carmaker poking gentle fun at our product ignores tow trucks they need and rental cars they recommend as backup to their product."

On the other hand, GM spokesman Rob Peterson, called the commercial "cute," but says that it's "misleading and damaging to the electric vehicle movement," according to Autoevolution.

Hit the jump to watch Nissan's now-controversial "Gas Powered Everything" clip.

Continue reading GM responds to Nissan Leaf "Gas Powered Everything" ad [w/video]

GM responds to Nissan Leaf "Gas Powered Everything" ad [w/video] originally appeared on Autoblog on Tue, 31 May 2011 15:58:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Filed under: BMW, Rumormill

We already told you that BMW has decided to limit production of the 1 Series M, making it a one-year proposition. Now, we may know a bit more about this decision. The German automaker has reportedly filed trademarks on the terms "M2" and "BMW M2." Where is the 2 Series upon which these terms could apply? Rumor has it that the next-generation BMW 1 Series will grow up and become the 2 Series.

Of course, a BMW 2 Series is not a foregone conclusion, but it's always a wise idea to stay a step ahead. At the very least, BMW is making sure that the M2 name will be ready should it choose to go the 2 Series route.

BMW files trademark for M2 originally appeared on Autoblog on Tue, 31 May 2011 15:29:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Filed under: Sedan, Volkswagen, Diesel, Long-Term Garage

If you had told us last year that this year's most controversial redesign would be the 2011 Volkswagen Jetta, we would've politely walked away and laughed at your outrageous claim behind your back. We're like that. But here we are, and the 2011 Volkswagen Jetta is, arguably, the most controversial redesign of the year.


Jetta fans and auto journalists have been less than enthused with the changes. Buyers, however, apparently disagree. Sales of the new Jetta through April are up 68.8 percent. So which camp is right?

After the untimely demise of our last long-term Jetta (follow the jump for the whole story), a 2010 model year TDI Cup Street Edition, we were offered a 2011 model to take its place. Driving these two diesel Jettas back-to-back will help us craft a before-and-after snapshot of what the car has gained and lost with this latest redesign.

Continue reading 2011 Volkswagen Jetta TDI joins Autoblog's Long-Term Garage

2011 Volkswagen Jetta TDI joins Autoblog's Long-Term Garage originally appeared on Autoblog on Tue, 31 May 2011 14:59:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Filed under: Motorsports, Celebrities

Lewis Hamilton may be best known for his racing, but in the wake of a controversial performance at the Monaco Grand Prix this weekend, it was another race card he played altogether.

The young Brit was called in to speak with the race stewards regarding an incident with Williams rookie Pastor Maldonado. Towards the end of the grand prix, Hamilton collided with Maldonado and the latter was taken out of the race. The stewards deemed Hamilton at fault and handed him a 20-second time penalty (the post-race equivalent to a drive-through), though with Adrian Sutil finishing far behind him a lap down, the penalty affects neither Hamilton's sixth-place finish nor his position in the championship standings.

Speaking with the BBC after the stewards' decision, the McLaren driver jokingly channeled Sacha Baron Cohen's character Ali G and mused that the stewards were picking on him because he's black. Realizing the joke could be misconstrued and taken seriously, Hamilton doubled back and apologized to the stewards for his remarks.

The Maldonado incident was one of several that marred Hamilton's performance this weekend. After being docked several positions on the starting grid due to an illegal qualifying maneuver, Hamilton started in ninth place. Around halfway through the race, he tried to overtake longtime rival, Felipe Massa, but ended up colliding with the Ferrari that crashed out mere seconds later. The stewards had faulted a frustrated Hamilton for that incident as well and handed him a mid-race drive-through penalty.

Lewis Hamilton apologizes for joking insinuation of racism after Monaco GP penalty originally appeared on Autoblog on Tue, 31 May 2011 14:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Filed under: Europe, Hirings/Firings/Layoffs, Nissan, Renault

Renault has a new chief operating officer. Carlos Tavares, formerly the Chief Executive Officer for Nissan Americas, will now fill the void left by former Renault COO Patrick Pelata. Pelata left the French automaker amid a botched spy scandal investigation that saw a rash of Renault executives lose their positions. Taveres has a long history with Renault, having served with the company for 24 years before being assigned to the U.S. with Nissan Americas in 2003. His move back to Renault has been rumored for some time and the company hopes that its new executive can help point sales in a better direction.

Meanwhile, back in the U.S., Tavares' old role will be handled by many hands. Colin Dodge will serve as chairman of the Americas in addition to retaining his title as Executive Vice President, Chief Performance Officer and Chairman of Nissan operations in Europe, Africa, the Middle East, and India. Dodge will be joined by Bill Krueger, who will now take up the mantle of Vice Chairman.

Krueger previously served as the Head of Manufacturing, Purchasing and Supply Chain Management for Nissan. TheDetroitBureau.com reports that Krueger will move farther up the chain should he be able to prove himself in his new role. Click past the break for a look at the full press release.

Continue reading Nissan Americas' Tavares becomes Renault COO on heels of spy scandal

Nissan Americas' Tavares becomes Renault COO on heels of spy scandal originally appeared on Autoblog on Tue, 31 May 2011 14:01:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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