2023 Genesis GV60 First Look: Gee, It's an EV
Genesis GV60 First Look: Gee, It's an EV Genesis is no longer without a dedicated electric vehicle, as the brand pulled the wraps off of its GV60 SUV. The little ...
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Thursday, September 30, 2021
BMW’s Head of Production Talks Sustainability and the Automaker’s EV Plans
MUNICH – For big-scale automakers like GM and Ford, building or converting an entire auto plant for EVs makes sense. They build vehicles by the hundreds of thousands or not at all. For smaller automakers this early in the transition to electric, that poses more of a challenge. BMW plans to build its EVs, both those based on internal combustion platforms and those that are all new architectures, on the same platform.
Dr Milan Nedeljković is the BMW board member responsible for production, a role he’s had since 2019 after holding plant production management jobs for 20 years. At the IAA in Munich, we spoke with Dr Nedeljković about the company’s electric plans as well as the company’s bold goals for sustainability set out with the reveal of the i Vision Circular concept car.
The transition to electric seems to be happening in a very brief period by automotive standards, taking just a couple of generations. How is BMW handling such a quick transition? Dr Nedeljković says that flexibility and integration are key. “We think we have found a very effective good way of integrating electrical drives into our existing architectures and giving us the opportunity to integrate electrification into the existing plants,” he said.
What does that mean on the factory floor? “We are even manufacturing all derivatives on one line,” he said, referring to ICE, EV, and PHEV, calling that a “huge advantage” for the automaker in terms of handling market volatility and being ready for customer preference changes. He said that the flexibility was “a crucial point in the whole thing.”
The BMW iX, he said, follows the objectives of the i3 “to be a technological leader in electrification and digitalization.” It uses a standalone architecture with a carbon fibre cage and has extensive use of aluminum in the body. Despite that, the model can still be built on the same line as the 5, 7, and 8 Series cars.
Dr Nedeljković said that the vehicles we’re seeing now are just a hint of what BMW has planned for mid-decade in its electric transition. Those vehicles are referred to as Neue Klasse or New Class, a nod to the 1500 and 2000 models that established BMW as the brand it is today in the 1960s. Those models will be exclusively, or at least primarily, BEVs on a BEV-oriented platform. Still, they can be built alongside existing BMW ICE platforms and, the engineer says, on the same line.
After initial rollout in Hungary, production of the new EVs will begin at BMW’s oldest plant, in Munich. “Then, step by step, it will roll out into our production network,” said Dr Nedeljković, “and by rolling it out we will have of course both architectures in one system.”
The i Vision Circular concept’s goal is to showcase a new way of looking at vehicle design. One that reduces the number of components used, the number of material types used, and that closely considers the ability to source from secondary and recycle after use. We asked how the increased use of carbon fibre (as seen in the iX) fit with those ideals.
“With the i3,” Dr Nedeljković said, “we found ways to reuse the carbon fiber material into a different purpose.” Recycled carbon fibre can’t be reused for structural parts, but it can have a new life. He said that, for example, it can be used for ceiling tiles in buildings because of its lightness and other properties.
Batteries for the new generation of EVs are a part that can easily be recycled. Dr Nedeljković said that BMW is already hitting 96 percent recycling on its packs, including the cells, wiring, and cases. Despite that, he said that battery recycling isn’t the best idea just yet.
“Our slogan is rethink and then reduce, and then reuse,” said Dr Nedeljković. “With batteries, we are now targeting primarily [the] reuse option since once the car itself may not function anymore, the batteries themselves have a very long lifetime. It remains about 60-80 percent depending on the age.” That, he said, is enough to buffer wind power. Something BMW is doing already with cells and packs from end of life i3 models at a plant and windfarm in Leipzig.
Can BMW bring a vehicle like the Vision Circular to production in the near term? No, says Dr Nedeljković, but that’s not why it exists. “The idea is the point behind it,” he said. “Think of the reduced bill of materials, think of reassembling the car, think of using recycled secondary material already from the beginning. Not every component can be manufactured by secondary material”, he said, before getting to the core of the issue. “However, if you start from scratch when designing the car, already considering which components could be recycled or produced by recycled material, that would open a completely new field.”
“I’m sure with the next generation of vehicles we will go step by step forward in getting a much higher recycling quota and a much higher circular quota of secondary material,” he said. Each iX uses around 60 kilos of recycled materials, while BMW says it has cut 70 percent of vehicle production CO2 emissions between 2006 and 2019. It plans to cut that another 80 percent by 2030, and secondary materials are a big part of the changes.
Beyond using recycled materials, using fewer parts is a key part of i Vision Circular and BMW’s plans. The components of the seat, for example, use just a single fastener each. Does this pose a challenge for the brand’s quality assurance?
“If you take this example of easy reassembling and recycling components we have presented with our vision car, the less features you have, the better the whole thing works,” Dr Nedeljković said.
“In general, I think that this will be the flow of the technical development,” he added. “To minimize the components and to reduce it, which of course helps manufacturing. It will, as a side effect, improve productivity if you have less features.”
He said that this side effect will be a big part of the Neue Klasse vehicles.
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Defender-Esque INEOS Grenadier Set to Arrive in U.S. in 2023
The boxy SUV will be powered by a BMW-sourced 3.0-liter inline-six in the U.S. market. INEOS is currently seeking dealer partnerships.
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2022 Nissan Frontier Rally Truck Has NISMO Off-Road Parts, Retro Livery
This one-off Frontier Pro-4X wears a red, white, and blue wrap inspired by '80s Nissan off-road racers and will compete in the all-female Rebelle Rally.
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Tested: The 2021 Porsche Panamera 4S Exists for the EV Resistance
The Panamera can be confused with the all-electric Taycan, but the 443-hp 4S hatchback is a desirable four-door for those who aren't ready to adopt an EV.
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Getting Our Model 3 Approved for Tesla's FSD Beta Requires a Passing Safety Score
Tesla CEO Elon Musk says drivers who requested Full Self-Driving Beta will be granted access on October 9 if their Safety Score checks out.
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Published on YouTube: Pagani Huayra Roadster BC First Drive: When Too Much Is Just Right
Pagani Huayra Roadster BC First Drive: When Too Much Is Just Right
Pagani Huayra Roadster BC First Drive: When Too Much Is Just Right "This or the Pur Sport?" I'd brought the latest and greatest from Italy's smallest and most ...
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Pagani Huayra Roadster BC First Drive: When Too Much Is Just Right "This or the Pur Sport?" I'd brought the latest and greatest from Italy's smallest and most ...
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2023 Genesis GV60 EV Will Offer AWD, Up to 429 HP, Lots of Tech
The luxury brand's first EV is set to arrive in the U.S. in 2022, and the specs are similar to the Hyundai Ioniq 5 and Kia EV6.
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The 1578-Horsepower Bugatti Chiron Super Sport Is Peak Engine
We hit the track to experience what may be the most powerful internal-combustion production car ever.
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Wednesday, September 29, 2021
Published on YouTube: BMW's updated iX3 electric SUV is now on sale in the UK, with pricing starting at £58,850.
BMW's updated iX3 electric SUV is now on sale in the UK, with pricing starting at £58,850.
What is BMW iX3? How much will the BMW iX3 cost? BMW's updated iX3 electric SUV is now on sale in the UK, with pricing starting at £58850. Read on for full ...
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What is BMW iX3? How much will the BMW iX3 cost? BMW's updated iX3 electric SUV is now on sale in the UK, with pricing starting at £58850. Read on for full ...
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Team Efforts: Land Rover Trek 2021
ASHEVILLE, NC – “The truck’s about two clicks to the west,” said a teammate, after having been handed a set of mystifying coordinates and a handheld GPS system. “I think,” they added. We started walking, keeping an eye on a group of ominous rainclouds that threatened to turn the North Carolina field in which we were standing into a gigantic slip-n-slide.
Why were we here? Well, it should surprise no one that automotive manufacturers tend to train their employees on finer points of product knowledge. After all, informed staff stand a better chance of properly taking care of the customer than one which has simply been thrown into the deep end and told to figure it out. The type of training, however, definitely varies. Some car companies train their staff by asking them to complete online courses. Others have an hour or two of in-person demonstrations in the stark confines of a dealership.
And then there’s Land Rover.
Working together to build a bridge sturdy enough over which a 2.5-ton SUV must be driven? Blindly driving through an unmarked maze while a teammate barks navigation instructions from a map nailed to a damp tree some 500 metres away? Manually winching that same 2.5-ton vehicle backwards and up a hill using nothing but stout chains and muscle power?
As it turns out, the answers are yes, yes, and – exhaustingly – yes.
It’s called Land Rover Trēk, an event designed to push the vehicle knowledge and physical fitness of a three-person team way beyond any training session delivered within the sterilized confines of an urban conference room. Devised back in 1996 as a vehicle-oriented competition in the vein of Camel Trophy (which by that time had been long using Land Rovers as their truck of choice), Trēk pits 70 teams against each other in an accuracy-over-speed battle of driving skill, orienteering, and familiarity with one’s product.
Three-person teams are assembled from a trio comprised of someone from a dealership’s front end (sales or finance), service centre, and parts department. In other words, it’s a rogue’s gallery of talent from people who may not normally work together in day-to-day dealership operation. The winning team from each wave of competition will return to Asheville in October for the Trēk 2021 Finals, where the overall winner of the competition will be crowned.
Media were invited to complete a dry run of the event, timed a day prior to dealership personnel descending on the course located on the lush grounds of the sprawling Biltmore estate in North Carolina. This explains why your author found himself standing in a damp field holding a set of cryptic coordinates suggesting the vague direction in which we would find a built 2021 Land Rover Defender 110 P300 that had a few breakfast burritos slowly cooking on its four-cylinder engine manifold.
After a two km sojourn through a Biltmore vineyard and the careful navigation of a prickly fence, our team of three were installed behind the wheel and set off into the Carolina countryside in search of adventure. And points.
Because this is, after all, a competition. No fewer than 15 different activities are scattered around the Trēk course, all of which are only accessible through the proper use of a handheld GPS unit and a series of coordinates. The Defender’s on-board navigation system was of no help; so far as it was concerned, we were simply on a vast expanse of private Biltmore property with no public roads. We covered the Defender’s 10-inch touchscreen with our paper map.
Strategy is important in Trēk. The event starts at daybreak and ends at 1:30 p.m., with penalties assessed to teams who miss the checkered flag. Loitering trailside trying to decide to which of the 15 challenges one should next navigate is a sure-fire way to leave points on the table, which is why most teams decide the night prior which obstacles they’ll attempt and in what order. Our first selected task? Build a bridge.
Seriously. It was like something out of an old Survivor episode but without Jeff Probst making faces at the camera. Amongst the building materials were planks stamped with portions of the Land Rover logo, a pictorial puzzle which had to be properly assembled in order to complete the challenge. The clock stopped when the Defender was driven across the completed bridge, materials were disassembled for the next team, and all hands were back aboard the rig. As a point of pride, your author will forever remind anyone who will listen that our team was only 17 seconds slower in this chore than a trio which included Olympic medalist Lindsey Vonn.
Tasks such as these help improve communication, lest one of the three competitors get clocked in the head with a wet 2×6 board, but what about vehicle knowledge? For that part of the brief, we pointed out kitted Defender north and hit up an off-road driving challenge (good for 30 points, by the way). By and large, the vehicles we used for Trēk were stock in terms of their powertrain, though the Goodyear tires shown here are factory-approved if not factory-fitted. Power output and 4×4 systems (including helpful locking diffs) were unchanged.
We should have known the Land Rover crew would have something more up their sleeve than a gnarly off-road course. Over the 2(ish) mile track, which included undulations that would have given Ivan ‘Ironman’ Stewart some pause, a series of office-style paper punches were hidden amongst the flora and fauna (fun fact: this area of North Carolina is technically a temperate rain forest). Navigating the Defender at wild angles close to these punches was necessary in order to properly mark the piece of paper officials had surreptitiously placed on the front bumper of the truck at the start of the trail. Make no wonder this challenge was called ‘Punch Your Ticket’.
Using every scintilla of Defender 110’s ground clearance (a maximum of 291 mm or 11.45 inches) plus the better part of a 40-degree departure angle, the 4×4 system deployed its electronic lockers to let fly enough North Carolina mud to satisfy the personal hygiene requirements of at least six Tamworth swine. The lone weak spot in this chain was tire selection; the previous night’s rain made all surfaces slicker than snot on a doorknob, leaving the Goodyear Duratracs scrambling for purchase after quickly filling the voids of their tread blocks. BFGoodrich KO2s or Yokohama Geolandar M/Ts (or even X-A/Ts) would have been a more sensible choice. But that’s an easily corrected detail.
All the Defenders used in Trēk are part and parcel of vehicle allocation to the retailer whose trio of employees are competing in the event, so don’t be surprised if one eventually shows up on Bring-A-Trailer or a dealer’s showroom. The off-road addendum carries either a Land Rover part number or can be sourced from a company called Lucky 8, so replicating the stern look (and capability) of these rigs is not outside the realm of possibility.
Trēk and its challenges force all hands to work together, relying on each other for navigation and the scattered bit of physical muscle (we’re lookin’ at you, manual winching). The intent is for the skills and knowledge that were developed during the competition to be passed on to other employees at the dealer level, creating a retail team ideally suited to provide a unique level of service to their customers. In terms of practical knowledge, it certainly beats the tar out of an online course.
Just don’t forget to pluck those burritos from the engine bay before handing over the keys.
The writer attended this media drive as a guest of the automaker. Content and vehicle evaluations were not subject to approval.
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Car-Selling Platform Facebook Marketplace Is Popular, but Scammers Like It ,Too
ProPublica report calls Facebook Marketplace convenient but not fraud-free. We detail the security measures you can count on and how to keep yourself safe there, on eBay, and on Craigslist.
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Published on YouTube: 2020 Nissan Sentra Long-Term Update: The Repair and Maintenance Experience
2020 Nissan Sentra Long-Term Update: The Repair and Maintenance Experience
2020 Nissan Sentra Long-Term Update: The Repair and Maintenance Experience In a previous update, we shared test numbers from the day our long-term ...
via YouTube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oNEid4vQGyU
2020 Nissan Sentra Long-Term Update: The Repair and Maintenance Experience In a previous update, we shared test numbers from the day our long-term ...
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The 2022 Rivian R1T Electric Pickup Embraces Duality
The EV pickup accelerates like a Corvette, off-roads like a Power Wagon—and includes a kitchen sink.
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Jeep Reveals All-New 2022 Grand Cherokee
Close to a year after revealing the expanded three-row version of the SUV, Jeep has finally revealed the all-new Grand Cherokee. It will offer a new PHEV driveline, a new Trailhawk off-road version, and the all-new Jeep will up the level of comfort, luxury, and refinement on top of that extra capability when compared with the outgoing SUV.
We’ve already seen the basic shape of the Grand Cherokee, in the form of the Grand Cherokee L. This one is just shorter, thanks to not needing to accommodate a third row of seating. At 2,964 mm between the wheels, it cuts 127 mm from the L, and is 290 mm shorter overall at 4,914 mm. While smaller than its sibling, the 2022 Grand Cherokee still adds interior space compared with the last generation, with a total of 1,068 L of cargo space, 40L more than before, and offering 116L more total passenger volume.
Three powertrains will be offered, starting with the well-known 3.6L V6 and 5.7L V8. Largely carryover, the 293 hp V6 has seen upgrades Jeep says will refine the stop-start system and improve launches on engine restart. The 357 hp V8 can tow up to 7,200 lbs and sees its use of cylinder deactivation expanded which Jeep says can increase fuel economy up to 20 percent. Both are paired with an eight-speed automatic that has new programming for smoother gear changes.
4xe marks the first PHEV offering on the Grand Cherokee, using a 2.0L four and electric motor to offer 375 hp, 470 lb-ft, and an estimated 40 km of pure electric range. The system uses a starter-generator for seamless start-stop and a larger high-voltage motor replaces the torque converter inside the transmission.
Though it plugs in, the Grand Cherokee 4xe is still offered with a real 4×4 system including low range and a 6,000 lb tow capacity. The high-voltage electronics are sealed and the Trail Rated 4xe can ford up to the same 24-inches of water as the gas-only version.
Trailhawk for 2022 gets a Quadra-Lift air suspension offering up to 11.3-inches of ground clearance as well as an active transfer case and rear electronic LSD. A sway bar disconnect adds suspension articulation on really tough terrain, while skid plates protect the vital components. The 4xe will be available in Trailhawk trim, including all of the same features but trading red tow hooks for blue.
Inside, the new Grand Cherokee offers a much more premium experience than before. This includes the Uconnect 5 infotainment system that can power up to five screens including the gauges, a 10.1-inch center console screen, a new passenger interactive display, and two rear-seat entertainment screens that also offer Amazon FireTV. Like the L (and the fancier Wagoneer), a McIntosh audio system will be offered with 19 speakers. Available new 16-way adjustable power seats will get a length-adjustable cushion while top trims will offer massage. Heated seats are standard and front and rear ventilated seats will be on the options list.
Buyers wanting the most luxury in their GC will want the new Summit Reserve Package that adds special 21-inch wheels along with hand-wrapped Palermo leather seats, leather-wrapped armrests and doors, open-pore walnut, suede headliner, and the top tier seats and stereo.
Standard advanced driver aids include full-speed collision warning with pedestrian and cyclist detection, rear cross-traffic detection, adaptive cruise, lane management, lane keep assist, blind-spot monitoring, and rear parking sensors. Options will include a new night vision camera, intersection collision assist, parking assist, and a 360-view camera with washers for when things get dirty. Active Driving Assist hands-on highway driving will also be available.
The 2022 Jeep Grand Cherokee is set to hit dealers in the fourth quarter of this year, with 4xe arriving in early 2022. Expect pricing to be announced closer to the new SUVs arriving in showrooms.
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Published on YouTube: 2022 BMW iX xDrive50 First Drive: A Glimpse at the Future
2022 BMW iX xDrive50 First Drive: A Glimpse at the Future
2022 BMW iX xDrive50 First Drive: A Glimpse at the Future BMW is serious about going green. Forget about concept cars; starting in 2025 all BMWs will ride on ...
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2022 BMW iX xDrive50 First Drive: A Glimpse at the Future BMW is serious about going green. Forget about concept cars; starting in 2025 all BMWs will ride on ...
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2022 Jeep Grand Cherokee 4xe PHEV Uses Same Powertrain as Wrangler 4xe
Both plug-in-hybrid Jeeps use a turbo four-cylinder engine and two electric motors drawing power from a lithium-ion battery.
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2022 Jeep Grand Cherokee Arrives in Two-Row Form with New Hybrid
Complementing the three-row Grand Cherokee L, this new version offers a 4xe plug-in-hybrid variant and an off-road Trailhawk model.
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Rolls-Royce Spectre, First Electric Rolls, Will Be Out in Late 2023
The two-door coupe is just the start, with Rolls saying its entire lineup will be electric by decade's end.
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Tuesday, September 28, 2021
2022 BMW iX xDrive50: Novelty with Substance
Unconventional features and 300-plus miles of range converge in BMW's new iX electric SUV.
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Production of the 2022 Lucid Air EV Started Today
We visited the Arizona facility where the new Tesla-fighting luxury electric sedan comes from, and so did an excited group of Air reservation holders. Customers will start getting the cars next month.
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2023 Acura Integra Will Be a Swoopy Four-Door Hatchback
The new model's body style harks back to the original, but those hoping for a two-door sports coupe may be disappointed.
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GM’s BrightDrop Introduces All-Electric Commercial Vehicles
In addition to electrifying large swaths of its passenger car lineup (Cadillac has announced its intention to exit the decade as an all-electric brand, for example), General Motors is charging ahead with other forays into the EV market. Enter BrightDrop, a technology startup within the walls of GM whose self-described mission is to help decarbonize the world’s delivery services.
Particularly, they stress, the so-called ‘last mile’ of delivery. This is broadly defined as around-town delivery services – when the FedEx truck pulls up at your door after receiving a package for you at their local sorting centre, for example. In fact, FedEx Express is one of BrightDrop’s first customers, having today announced the completion of initial production builds of the EV600 delivery van. This, said the company, is a key milestone to deliver its first electric light commercial vehicle (eLCV) in time for the holiday season.
“Getting our first electric vehicles on the streets in record time before another peak shipping season is the best gift we could receive this year, especially when we consider the supply chain headwinds the world is facing right now,” said Travis Katz, BrightDrop president and CEO in a call with Wheels. In fact, development of the BrightDrop EV600 vehicle was the quickest ever witnessed at GM, taking just 20 months to go from first conception to commercialization.
To start, BrightDrop will have a pair of delivery vehicles, unimaginatively called the EV600 and EV410 in reference to their powertrain and amount of cargo space in cubic feet. Designers are said to have driven with delivery professionals in existing diesel-powered vehicles, taking notes on design attributes that would make life easier for these busy drivers. A low step-in height was integrated, along with a vestibule-like area in the vehicle for easy access to the next stop’s delivery package.
The BrightDrop EV410 is a medium-size electric light commercial vehicle. Equipped with over 400 cubic feet of cargo area and designed for smaller, more frequent deliveries or as a service vehicle – from online grocery delivery to telecom maintenance – the EV410 offers versatility and expands zero emissions driving to new markets.
Both the EV600 and EV410 will use GM’s Ultium battery system, the same type which will crop up in the Cadillac Lyriq and other future EVs like the GMC Hummer variants but not, it should be noted, the troublesome Chevy Bolt. Ultium differs from that car’s battery tech in that it is a new chemistry with a completely different form factor for items like the batteries, module, and electronics. BrightDrop employees were tight-lipped when asked about the EV600/EV410 battery size in terms of kWh but did state they expect a range of roughly 250 miles (400 kilometres) in both vehicles.
Why should you care about all this? Because GM plans to build BrightDrop vehicles at CAMI Assembly in Ingersoll, that’s why. Any new allocation of product is a good thing for Canadian manufacturing, especially when it’s a forward-looking vehicle like those from BrightDrop. A company spokesperson told Wheels the first examples are being hewn through a low-volume production arrangement with a Michigan-based supplier, with CAMI officials on hand to learn the process. After the first run, tooling will be packed up and shipped to Ingersoll where EV600 production is planned for late 2022 with the EV410 showing up the next year.
Speaking of, it is hoped the EV410 will drive further adoption of all-electric vehicles in delivery environments. It has a total length of under 20 feet (6,096 mm) yet can carry over 400 cubic feet of delivery packaged. To put that in perspective, the new Chevrolet Suburban is just a foot shorter but has a cargo volume of roughly 145 cubic feet behind the first row of seats. The lack of a conventional powertrain permits a much greater wheelbase – some 15 inches more than the Suburban – by pushing the wheels out to the corners and not having to deal with the packaging restrictions of a traditionally-fuelled engine.
BrightDrop said FedEx has signed up for an initial run of 500 vehicles, while American telecom giant Verizon has committed to an undisclosed number of rigs. Neither party would disclose how many of those vehicles will be delivered by the end of 2021, nor would they go on the record with plans for dealer distribution and service plans. In other words, it sounds like they want to have all their ducks in a row prior to releasing those particulars.
Elsewhere in the BrightDrop effort, company officials are very bullish on a supporting product called the EP1. This is an all-electric smart container designed to replace the age-old hand dolly, signaling BrightDrop’s interest in capturing more than just the vehicle portion of the delivery market. In a pilot program with FedEx in Toronto, the EP1 – which can store about a half pallet worth of goods up to 23 cubic feet on a 200 pound payload – reportedly helped couriers handle 25 per cent more packages per day compared to traditional technologies.
General Motors employee Anshul Shah attaches trim pieces onto the BrightDrop EV600, the company’s first all-electric light commercial vehicle purpose-built for the delivery of goods and services Friday, September 24, 2021 in Livonia, Michigan. The EV600 becomes the fastest built vehicle, from concept to commercialization, in GM’s history. (Photo by Steve Fecht for General Motors)
Back on the road, the EV600 is slated to hit street later this year in undisclosed numbers as the company’s first electric light commercial vehicle (eLCV). It’ll be joined by the mid-sized EV410 when production begins on the latter in 2023 at CAMI Assembly right here in Canada.
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OPINION: There is Still Hope for The Manual Transmission
A few weeks ago, I wrote an op-ed on the imminent and inevitable demise of the manual transmission.
The gist of that piece was that electric vehicles, new safety features, as well as the “rich get richer” current state of automatic transmission all spell doom for the enthusiast-favourite manual — especially as manual transmission cars currently only account for around 1.2 per cent of new car sales.
I stand by all of that.
However, I think perhaps one flaw in that logic is looking at total car sales as the rationale for justifying the production of a model or variant or even technology.
Look no further than sports cars, for example.
In 2020, the Corvette outsold all of its rivals in the US by moving nearly 23,000 units between the US and Canada. That’s a lot of Corvettes.
In 2020, approximately 14.5 million light vehicle units were sold in the US. Canada moved an additional 1,553,555 vehicles — which was actually a drop of about 20 per cent from the previous year according to the Automotive News Data Center.
So Corvette sales were only about 0.14 per cent of all new car sales.
Now the Corvette is still a fairly expensive car (especially with dealer markup) and is notably no longer offered in a manual transmission. So how about something more popular and affordable, like the Mustang, which is still offered with a manual transmission as standard equipment?
The Mustang had a pretty good year in 2020. Despite sales being down about 15 per cent from 2019, the Mustang still outsold the Camaro — its closest competitor— by two to one, moving 61,090 in the US and claiming the title of “best-selling sports car”.
That 61,090 vehicles is about 0.42 per cent of all vehicles sold. And nobody is talking about canceling the Mustang. Or the Corvette for that matter. Their succession is all but guaranteed.
So, small market and niche vehicles can be kept alive by passionate enthusiasts — despite not being huge money makers for a big company.
And I think this is the tightrope the manual transmission may be able to walk to stay alive into the year 2025 and beyond.
True, manual transmission demand is very low in the overall market place — but it’s very, very high amongst certain models.
About a third of Toyota 86s are sold with a manual, for example.
The VW Golf GTI? In 2018, 44 per cent of GTIs were driven off dealer lots with a manual transmission.
Then there’s the Miata. 76 per cent of Miata soft-top buyers opt for the manual transmission.
I think these are all interesting examples because while the manual transmission is sometimes referred to as a “millennial anti-theft device” by people who still think White Snake is cool, wear flip-flops to dinner and play golf for fun — the Toyota 86, VW Golf GTI and Mazda Miata are marketed towards and heavily embraced by millennials in particular.
The Honda Civic Type R is the most millennial car ever made; and it’s only ever been available with a manual transmission.
By contrast, the ol’ boomer favourite Mustang killed two manual-only variants this year. The Shelby GT-350 and Bullitt Mustang — two nameplates whose revived existence was owed entirely to baby boomer’s nostalgia for the 1960s.
Don’t get me wrong.I think the Bullitt car chase is still the greatest car sequence ever committed to film. And I love Mustangs. Especially Shelbys.
(Although, I’ve never actually had the opportunity to drive a Shelby Mustang… so Ford, if you’re reading this, hit me up.)
My point is, there is a current and relevant generation of enthusiasts who eagerly purchase manual transmissions, to the point that they’re accounting for an enormous portion of sales of fairly popular models.
And I think this niche, but poignant passion for the manual transmission is something manufacturers are keenly aware of.
Nissan’s simple announcement that the new Z would be available with a six-speed manual transmission — something that would have been a given even a decade ago — lit the world on fire. Will Nissan probably sell twice as many automatic cars as manual cars? Yes. Will the automatic variant be faster than the manual? Definitely.
But what Nissan realized was that getting the enthusiasts on their side early on was going to be an enormous contributing factor to the car’s overall success, especially if the car attracts the sort of audience as the Toyota 86, Golf GTI and Mazda MX-5 — and there’s no reason to think why it wouldn’t.
And of course, by offering a manual, the Nissan Z now offers a specific competitive advantage over what will surely be its closest rival; the Toyota GR Supra.
Enthusiasts are not a large portion of the car-buying public. And I think it’s true more often than not that enthusiasts are overlooked so that profits can be maximized.
Luckily PR can be profitable. Branding can be profitable. And what a manual transmission really does for a brand is create goodwill, and what it does for a model is help to give it an identity.
Cadillac has a branding problem. For decades now, they’ve been attempting to get as far away as possible from their “your grandfather’s car” image in an attempt to capture the youth vote.
I think that’s why the monstrous, 650-horsepower CT5-V Blackwing is offered with a manual transmission. Is the CT5-V Blackwing faster with a 10-speed automatic? Sure. But just knowing it comes in a manual immediately makes you peg the Caddy as a “sports car”. And that’s why Cadillac made that option available. Because your grandpa doesn’t drive a stick.
So while the manual transmission continues to shrink in the overall market, there are enough models which still rely on a clutch pedal to move a significant portion of their units — and new models, it seems, will continue to use the allure of a manual to big-up their street cred.
Is the manual transmission niche? Incredibly so. But rarity means equity. And that just may be what keeps clutch pedals kicking for a few more years to come.
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Base Camp: 2022 Chevrolet Tahoe
Freshly refurbished for the 2021 model year, Chevy’s large-and-in-charge Tahoe now sports an interior which can no longer be directly compared to that found in a Little Tykes Cozy Coupe. Screens and sumptuous materials abound, along with a more efficient use of space. In fact, the new Tahoe (and its big brother, the Suburban) are the first iterations in decades where an increase of exterior dimension directly translated to more room for passengers and their stuff.
As the beyond-dominant model in its segment, GM could have called it a day and rested on its laurels for a couple of model years. However, there are a few powertrain changes for 2022, making the vehicle a good candidate to slide under the Base Camp microscope. As in previous years, the entry-level LS is powered by a 5.3-litre V8 good for 355 horsepower and 383 lb-ft of torque. Adding 4×4 is technically a $3,300 proposition, but the spectre of a rear-drive Tahoe navigating the parking lot of a hockey rink in Canadian winter is too mournful to imagine, so we’ll assume all hands will equip their Tahoe with four-wheel drive. A limited-slip diff is standard.
The new Tahoe is a good looking bus, all right angles and sporting a lantern jaw. GM is stingy with their colour choices, leaving the Base Camp customer with Black and Summit White as the sole zero-dollar options. Fog lamps vanish at this price but a spear of chrome on the LS’ nose brightens up the place. Painted aluminum wheels are 18 inches in diameter and are wrapped in beefy all-season rubber whose 65-series sidewall is a refreshingly chonky in a sea of low-profile tires. LED lamps pepper both ends of the truck and – in a return to the glory days when GM was the undisputed king of innovation – the disappearing rear window wiper is being rapidly copied by everyone from Lincoln to Lexus. Note that wiper is on a manual tailgate.
Joyously, the bean counters at Chevy continue to permit the specification of a front bench seat, an option which returns $275 into the customer’s bank account and turns the Tahoe into a 9-passenger conveyance. A large 10.2-inch infotainment screen makes up for the sins of its old one which was the size of a smartphone, and everyone will enjoy wireless Apple CarPlay plus an abundance of USB ports. There are also a couple of 120V power outlets in the back and rear air conditioning for the urchins.
What We’d Choose
Remember those powertrain changes we mentioned earlier? It’s worth noting the hand-of-god 6.2-litre V8, making 420 horsepower and sounding like a NASCAR stocker, is now available on trims other than the top-rung High Country. Critically, it is available on either the color-keyed RST or the off-road Z71, both of which are priced similarly at about $10,000 higher than the base LS.
While that sum is hardly chump change, it’s in your best interest to see if the numbers work for your financials. In addition to the brawnier octopot, either of those trims load Tahoe to the gunwales in terms of equipment, adding the likes of wireless device charging and Bose sound system plus a driver memory system, heated buckets, and – in the Z71 – leather seats. The latter also packs a unique 4×4 system and better ground clearance.
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No, EVs Won't Make American Roads Look like Cuba's in 20 Years
The New York Times thinks EVs will cause gasoline-powered cars to become carefully preserved rural rarities, like 1950s American cars in Cuba. Join us as we eviscerate this profoundly idiotic premise.
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2022 Jeep Grand Cherokee to Make Debut on September 29
The two-row Grand Cherokee will introduce a plug-in-hybrid 4xe model and join the three-row Grand Cherokee L that's on sale now.
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Published on YouTube: 2022 Mercedes-Benz SUV Lineup: What’s New With the GLC, GLE, and GLS
2022 Mercedes-Benz SUV Lineup: What’s New With the GLC, GLE, and GLS
2022 Mercedes-Benz SUV Lineup: What's New With the GLC, GLE, and GLS Some of the biggest updates to Mercedes-Benz SUVs for the 2022 model year ...
via YouTube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eVxsPED38QI
2022 Mercedes-Benz SUV Lineup: What's New With the GLC, GLE, and GLS Some of the biggest updates to Mercedes-Benz SUVs for the 2022 model year ...
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Monday, September 27, 2021
Published on YouTube: What’s the Best 2022 Jeep Grand Wagoneer Trim? Here’s Our Guide
What’s the Best 2022 Jeep Grand Wagoneer Trim? Here’s Our Guide
What's the Best 2022 Jeep Grand Wagoneer Trim? Here's Our Guide No one can accuse Jeep of phoning in its new flagship, the 2022 Grand Wagoneer.
via YouTube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KUy44ETEoEQ
What's the Best 2022 Jeep Grand Wagoneer Trim? Here's Our Guide No one can accuse Jeep of phoning in its new flagship, the 2022 Grand Wagoneer.
via YouTube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KUy44ETEoEQ
BMW leading the way for recycled cars
BMW’s i Vision Circular concept isn’t so much a look at future styling, rather a look at the future of the car. The goal here is sustainability, but not of the factory or the fuel, but of the entire vehicle. The vehicle is a look into the future; where the automobile uses fewer parts. It’s also a future where the parts are not only able to be recycled and reused, but where they are made with secondary materials in the first place.
Using recycled raw materials, rather than first-use materials, slashes the carbon footprint required to produce a car. It also reduces the impact of sourcing those materials, both in terms of carbon emissions and the more direct impact on the environment that comes with getting them from the earth. BMW says current models use nearly 30 per cent recycled and reused materials, but this effort would bring that up to 50 per cent.
Part of that is a re-examining of the entire vehicle. When you use fewer parts and fewer materials, it becomes easier to make sure they can be recycled or reused. This means not just making more parts from the same material, but also getting rid of bonded connections, lowering the use of composites, and using fewer fasteners. The fasteners that are used are cords, studs, and quick-release fasteners, instead of plastic clips.
BMW has even ditched the badge on this one, the BMW i Vision Circular logo is etched into a body that isn’t painted but is instead anodized. The nose slashes parts by using a digital face instead of traditional kidney grilles and trim. It still gives the car a BMW face, but moves it well into the future. The single panel also includes the headlights.
Tires are sourced from sustainably cultivated rubber, which gives them their strange appearance. Recycled rubber particles are added, which strengthens the tire and adds to the cool effect. The wheels they’re mounted use a single quick-release fastener, of the same type used on much of the rest of the car.
Inside is almost 1970s plush, but the velvet-like seating is made from recycled plastic. The seats use a mono-post base and offer fore and aft adjustment, all reducing the number of components. The slim shells use fewer parts and materials, but increase rear legroom at the same time.
The instrument cluster is a 3D-printed crystal with structures inside meant to look like nerves. It adds depth, as well as a lighting signature meant to draw in the driver. Beside the crystal is naturally treated wood that is responsibly sourced.
BMW has even recycled and reused the sounds of the electric concept. The sound design was orchestrated by award-winning composer Hans Zimmer, who has worked on films such as “Inception” and “Dunkirk.”
“The idea was to combine different samples to keep injecting new life into the sounds inside the vehicle, in the same way its materials get a new lease of life,” Zimmer said.
Different samples and loops are reused to create unique sounds.
Fewer parts, more recycling, and a lack of parts made from first-use materials. It’s just part of what automakers will have to do to hit their carbon-neutral goals and to work to help curb climate change.
Evan is an East Coast-based automotive journalist and a member of the Automobile Journalists Association of Canada (AJAC). If you don’t find him driving or writing about cars, you’ll probably find him in the garage breaking one. You can contact him at evan@evanwritescars.com and Twitter, @evanwritescars.
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Future Electric Ford F-Series to Come from Huge Blue Oval City Factory, New Battery Plant
Ford will build a new plant in Tennessee to ramp up electric F-series production in 2025, and will open a new battery manufacturing complex in Kentucky the same year.
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2022 Chevy and GMC Full-Size SUVs Add New Tech, More V-8 Options
The Tahoe, Suburban, and Yukon all receive updates including bigger screens, new paint colors, and increased availability of the 6.2-liter V-8.
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Ford Mustang Mach-E Recalled for Windshield and Sunroof Issues
Ford says the EV SUV's glass may have been improperly bonded during manufacturing.
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A Canadian engineer was behind the development of the Corvette C8 drive modes
As the rain poured down on my one full day to drive the Chevrolet Corvette convertible, the conditions lessened the temptation to coax out all 490 of its raging horses, or its 465 lb-ft of torque, now all emanating from a massive V8 lying roughly a foot behind the driver’s right shoulder.
It was therefore appreciated that this beast of a low-slung sports car offered a Weather mode, accessible through a rotary knob near the shift buttons, which limited power and therefore slip to the C8’s roller-like 305 millimetre wide 20-inch rear tires. I had no idea then that the software and engineering that helped me and C8 (eighth-generation Corvette) owners keep their revolutionary mid-engine Corvettes on the road in the wet was developed at GM Canada’s Canadian Technical Centre (CTC) in Oshawa.
As was the C8’s new ‘Z’ button, smack dab front and centre on the steering wheel, which will surely excite owners much more than its safety-first Weather mode.
That Z button was included as an instant gateway to high-level yet still street-focused performance. What does it do? Think of it as an instant access button to a drive mode north of Sport but just south of Track mode, instantly adjusting the powertrain, suspension, steering and exhaust quickly to near max adrenaline levels.
Or for folks who really want to drill down into each area, your own tweaked set of favourite performance parameters.
“We wanted to very quickly be able to move into various modes,” said Adam Cameron, a vehicle dynamics manager at CTC that worked on the Corvette, and most other GM vehicles with selectable drive modes. “Also on public roads, we wanted to offer an easy access button.”
The letter Z is an homage to the father of the performance Corvette, Zora Arkus-Duntov, who was hired to turn the original straight-six-powered Corvette into a more serious sports car, and created the original Z06 Corvette in 1963 – a name which still holds serious track cred in Corvette circles and option sheets.
With Canada’s CTC emerging from its cocoon of mainly cold-weather testing to newly expanding software and development responsibilities, Cameron says the influence of a similar performance ethos has grown within the CTC’s ranks. Back in 2018, a group of six to 12 performance enthusiasts would gather in off-hours and brainstorm how it could make GM vehicles more entertaining to drive fast – whether Corvettes or Cruzes, in whichever areas they happened to be developing.
Now it’s an official, GM-backed motorsports club with over 100 members, said Cameron, primarily pushing GM vehicles on autocross events that weave through orange cone mazes laid out on large open parking lots.
Granted, they haven’t gathered as much over the past two years as pre-pandemic, but with the new test track that opened at CTC in the spring, he couldn’t wait to run testing and events on the track, which he hopes to do this fall on weekends and off-hours, if health regulations and timing permit.
“We’re constantly talking about what the car’s doing, we’re always talking about how that can translate into the production line,” he said, with those discussions helping define how the software and hardware can also help improve the car’s overall feel, as well as lap times. “As you’re coming over the hill, and the back end gets light, the transmission wants to know that, the suspension wants to know that, so each system has to be able to communicate with each other.”
Back in the vehicle itself, a big letter Z may bring to mind Nissan’s more recent sports cars to some eyes, perhaps more so than the spiritual father to the Corvette who retired from GM in 1975. This mark of Zora seems a non-digital throwback to what has become the essence of the most modern Corvette. Yet this button was brought to life with the help of very advanced software, and enthusiast engineers that have long admired the Corvette.
“The Corvette is an icon, and as an enthusiast born in Canada, I never thought I’d be able to do this working here in the GTA,” said Cameron.
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News Roundup: Ram TRX Ignition, Bolt Battery Update, Bronco Raptor, More
A possible issue with battery packs in the Chevrolet Bolt EV and EUV has led to a recall and to GM recommending users not to charge above percent, run below 113 km remaining, and not to park and charge indoors as the automaker waited for a fix. General Motors reports that the LG battery plants in Michigan that build battery packs for the Bolts have solved the issue and that production has restarted. Two issues had to occur in the same cell of the battery pack to cause the battery fire, manufacturing defects GM calls a torn anode and folded separator. GM says a new manufacturing process from LG worked to “provide confidence in its batteries moving forward.” The batteries will start to become available to customers soon, and affected owners will be notified when theirs is ready.
50 jurors from across North America have voted and named 23 semi-finalists for the North American Car, Truck, and Utility Vehicle of the Year awards. Eight cars, six trucks, and nine utilities have made the cut, all new or substantially changed from last year’s event. Three finalists in each category will be revealed in November at the LA Auto Show with the three overall winners announced in January.
Infiniti has added wireless Apple CarPlay to the Q50 sedan for 2022. It has also dropped the Essential Tech grade and moved many of its features, like Bose 16-speaker audio and leather seating, down to the less expensive Luxe trim. Infiniti has also made the front USB-C port a data port, not just a charge port. Also becoming standard this year is InTouch telematics including live traffic and road closure information, remove vehicle unlocking, and more. The 2022 Infiniti Q50 starts from $44,295 in Canada, ranging to $62,295 for the Red Sport I-Line ProActive.
Volvo Cars has announced that starting with its next EV, the C40 Recharge, all fully-electric Volvo models will also be completely leather-free. Volvo says that it is making the move “driven by a concern about the negative environmental impacts of cattle farming, including deforestation,” adding that livestock is estimated to be the source of around 14 percent of human-caused greenhouse gasses. In place of leather, Volvo Cars will offer sustainable materials and bio-based sources. That includes a new Nordico interior that is a textile made from recycled material like plastic bottles. That material will debut in the brand’s next generation of models. Volvo will also offer certified responsibly sourced wool blends.
C40 Recharge Interior
Ram revealed what looks to be the most expensive new pickup ever sold in Canada, in addition to being the most powerful, quickest and fastest. The 2022 Ram TRX Ignition Edition takes the 6.2L supercharged TRX (and its 702 hp), then adds most of the factory options list to the truck. It then offers that special Ignition orange paint and black graphics as well as black wheels, panoramic roof, as well as Copperhead Orange stitching inside, carbon accents, and a matching orange Driver’s screen. It’s not clear if the sport bar in the bed is included. Just 100 of the trucks will be offered in Canada, with an MSRP starting from $125,075 plus $2,795 destination.
2022 Ram 1500 TRX Ignition Edition
Ford isn’t saying exactly when or what, but the automaker has officially confirmed that there will be an even beefier Bronco coming sometime in 2022. It’s the Ford Bronco Raptor, and our first look is a teaser video that shows the Bronco with a FORD-letter grille, like the one on the Raptor pickup, in place of the standard grille. Expect more power as well as more off-road capability for the SUV, which could end up aimed at the Jeep Wrangler 392.
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Racing Roundup: Dumoulin wins Pinty’s, Palou in Indy
D.J. Kennington of St. Thomas gave it the old college try at the weekend but came up short in his bid to win his third NASCAR Pinty’s Series national driving championship.
The NASCAR Canada Tour had arrived at the London, Ont., Delaware Speedway Friday with three races remaining in its 2021 condensed schedule, brought on by the COVID crisis. Kennington won the Canadian Tire-sponsored race Friday night (he nudged Treyten Lapcevich out of the way at the last corner, enraging the young driver who crashed Victory Lane) and then turned around and took the first race Sunday afternoon, which had been sponsored by Qwick Wick Fire Starters. The Pinty’s Fall Brawl later in the day would decide the championship.
It was not to be for Kennington, a veteran of Cup, Xfinity and trucks racing, who finished fifth in the finale behind winner Andrew Ranger. Kevin Lacroix finished second while Pete Shepherd III was third. More important, though, was the championship – his third – that went to L.P. Dumoulin, who went into the last race five points behind IndyCar veteran Alex Tagliani.
Dumoulin crossed the finish line in sixth place; Tag, who has yet to win a Pinty’s championship, was 28 laps behind at the checkers.
Before Delaware, Dumoulin has started 122 races over 13 years in the Pinty’s series. He’d won 11 races, finished in the top ten 89 times and scored five poles. To say he was delighted would be an understatement.
Mission accomplished! said Dumoulin.
“It was very difficult to start the weekend 11 points behind. We came to Delaware second in the driver standings. Alex Tagliani was very fast and did a great job all season long. D.J. Kennington was also close in terms of points in the standings. We focused all weekend to achieve our goal. The team got together and thought about the right adjustments to make to the car to win. The WeatherTech team was great. We improved the car throughout the weekend until we had what we needed today to win the title. I’m very proud because we worked as a team like never before during these three days,” concluded Louis-Philippe Dumoulin, who is a member of the Canadian Motorsport Hall of Fame.
RECORD
In 2020, COVID. forced the NASCAR Pinty’s Series to present only 6 races in the “Pinty’s FanCave Challenge”. Louis-Philippe Dumoulin scored 1 win and 3 top-5 finishes.· 2019: Third in driver and owner championships (2 wins, 4 podium, and eight top-5 finishes from 13 events).· 2018: Champion (3 victories, 7 podiums, 2 poles, eight top-5 in 13 events). Saw his name added for the second time to the NASCAR Hall of Fame (Charlotte, NC) / Wins “Driver of the Year” and “Best Performing Driver” awards.·
- 2017: Fourth in the driver championship (3 podiums, nine top-5 and eleven top-10 finishes from 13 events).
- 2016: Joint fourth in the driver championship (4 podiums, six top-5 and seven top-10 finishes from 12 events).
- 2015: Fourth in the driver championship (2 podiums, six top-5 and nine top-10 finishes from 11 events).
- 2014: Champion (2 victories, 5 podiums and nine top-5 finish from 11 events). Saw his name added to the NASCAR Hall of Fame (Charlotte, NC) / Awarded the “Driver Of the Year”, “Best Performing Driver” and “Gilles-Villeneuve” awards.
- 2013: Fifth in the driver championship (2 victories, 3 podiums, four top-5s, six top-10s and five-time top-3 grid positions from 12 events).
- 2012: Sixth in the driver championship (1 pole, three top-5 and seven top-10 finishes from 12 events).
- 2011: Rookie of the year
Rallying and Road Racing
- 2015: Participated in FIA World Rallycross Championship round in Canada (Grand Prix of Trois-Rivieres).
- 2012: Second in class in the 12 Hours of Sebring (American Le Mans Series – GT3 Cup). The only Canadian driver on the podium.
- 2004 to today: Front runner in the Grand-Am and Rolex Sports Car series, in Porsche, Ferrari and Daytona Prototype cars – Races in the 12 Hours of Sebring / and the Rolex 24 At DAYTONA events.
- 2002: Champion in the Canadian Formula Ford Championship.
- 2001: Awarded the ‘’Gilles-Villeneuve’’ and ‘’Quartz’’ trophies.
- Records: Holder since 2002 of Formula Ford Series records for most victories (6) and most pole positions (7) in a single season.
INDYCAR LONG BEACH
Colton Herta won the battle by capturing the NTT IndyCar Series season-ending Grand Prix of Long Beach Sunday, but Alex Palou won the war and became the first driver from Spain to win the championship.
To get there, Palou won three races, was on the podium eight times and won one pole. He won the title in what was just his second season in the IndyCar championship and is the first under 25 driver to win the championship since Scott Dixon did it in 2003.
Palou, of course, drives for Chip Ganassi Racing and joins other Grade A Prime drivers like Dario Franchitti, Dixon, Alex Zanardi, Jimmy Vasser and Juan Pablo Montoya, who also drove for the team led by managing director Mike Hull.
Meantime, Herta had control of the race pretty much from the beginning. Defending champion Josef Newgarden kept him honest but was never able to really make a move to pass him. Our James Hinchcliffe was close to a podium position when he disappeared from the scene. Said Hinch, who likely drove his last race for Andretti Autosport:
“Tough end of the day for us in the 29 Capstone car. We had a top-five car, honestly. We were running a great strategy; the team did an incredible job in the pits. The car was running really strong in that second stint, then with about five (laps) to go in that second stint, I felt something change in the back of the car and unfortunately it looks like we had some sort of an issue there.
“Haven’t figured out exactly what it is yet, but something definitely let go so the handling from then on was pretty tough. We were just sort of hanging on. To come home 14th is disappointing, because we were capable of a much better result today. It’s kind of the story of our season, we’ve just had a lot of bad luck.
“But it’s been a great year with Capstone, Genesys and everybody with Andretti Steinbrenner. I wish it could have ended a little better for everyone, but thanks for all the support over the season and I hope to see everyone again soon.”
We all feel that way too, James.
For a complete story, please click here
Palou wins IndyCar title; Herta takes Long Beach victory | RACER
Meantime, it was announced this week that Penske Entertainment would take over administration of everything having to do with the Indy Lights division from Dan Andersen. Then, in something that makes no sense (to me, anyway), it was revealed there will not be an Indy 500-type race like the Freedom 100 to give the class some pizzazz.
Once, Kevin Kalkhoven called up all his friends and told them to enter cars in the Formula Atlantic series that raced in support of the Champ Car World Series. I expect Roger Penske will have to do the same thing.
IMSA LONG BEACH
Driving the Action Express Racing’s No. 31 Whelen Engineering Cadillac DPi-V.R, Felipe Nasr and Pipo Derani led all but five laps of Saturday’s Acura Grand Prix, dominating the 100-minute “sprint” race in the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship’s Daytona Prototype international (DPi) season to win by 10.952 seconds over the Chip Ganassi Racing Cadillac driven by Kevin Magnussen and Renger van der Zande.
“What a weekend by the Whelen Engineering Cadillac team!” Derani exclaimed in Victory Circle. “We led every session, and Felipe’s amazing pole dictated the weekend for us.
“During the race, it was more a case of trying to bring it back home without any mistakes,” he continued. “We did that with perfect execution, and I’m so happy for this team.”
They cut their points deficit to WeatherTech Championship DPi leaders Ricky Taylor and Filipe Albuquerque in the No. 10 Konica Minolta Acura ARX-05 from 98 points to 19 heading into the season-ending Motul Petit Le Mans at Michelin Raceway Road Atlanta on Nov. 13.
The No. 5 Mustang Sampling Cadillac co-driven by Loic Duval and Tristan Vautier finished third.
Cadillac DPi cars have claimed four consecutive Long Beach wins, the last two since Acura took over title sponsorship of the long-running street racing event.
This year’s race was extraordinarily clean, slowed by a single full-course caution that lasted just seven minutes. Nasr and Derani completed 78 laps of the Long Beach course, compared to the winning totals of 70 in 2018 and 73 in 2019. The 2020 event was cancelled by the COVID-19 pandemic.
“I love this place and I’ve got to say thanks to the fans,” who turned out in record numbers once again, Nasr said. “What a great vibe they bring to racing. It’s just awesome to get a win on the streets of Long Beach.”
Meantime, Tommy Milner and Nick Tandy drove a Corvette to victory in the GT Le Mans class at Long Beach, with Jordan Taylor and Antonio Garcia second, also in a Corvette. In GT Daytona, Madison Snow and Bryan Sellers, in a Paul Miller Racing Lamborghini Huracan GT3 were first, followed by Zacharie Robichon of Ottawa and Laurens Vanthoor in the No. 9 Pfaff Motorsports Porsche 911 GT3R. For complete stories about all classes, please go to www.imsa.com
Ever since Michael Schumacher suffered his accident, in which he fell while skiing and hit his head on a rock, his family and his many close friends in the sport have protected him. People would say, “How’s Michael?” and the answer would always be, “As well as can be expected.” But what did that mean?
Netflix is showing a new documentary called, simply, Schumacher, and I think the family participated because it was their way of finally telling the world that he’s alive and resting comfortably but he’s not ever going to get better. It’s all symbolic, of course, in that nobody comes right out and says that exactly, but his wife talks about doing therapy with him and his son, Mick, says how much he wishes that he and his dad could chat. That tells me he’s alive and aware of what’s happening but that he can’t talk. A surprise: his brother, Rolf, seemed (in the film) to be somewhat disinterested in his brother’s fate. Strange.
I always admired Schumacher for his talent. I didn’t like him for many reasons: screwing Eddie Jordan back at the start of his F1 career (successful); driving into Damon Hill (successful); driving into Jacques Villeneuve (unsuccessful); and so-on. When I started watching the film, I was inclined to look for those negatives – and others. But by the end of the film, though, I was very sad. Nobody deserves what has happened to Michael Schumacher. If you haven’t seen the documentary, I encourage you to take a look.
Meantime, the driver who has taken over from Michael Schumacher as the greatest of all time, Lewis Hamilton, won his 100th F1 Grand Prix Sunday when he finished first in the Russian Grand Prix. But that isn’t what I will remember about this race. What I will think about for a long time is Lando Norris’s reply when McLaren called him in for intermediate tires when it started to rain with only a few laps remaining:
“Noooooooooooooooo.”
Now, at that point, you couldn’t blame Norris for wanting to stay out on the track. He’d dominated the race, keeping Hamilton more than a second behind him as the laps wound down, and the rain at that point was just a sprinkle. Although both drivers were sliding around a little, it was no big deal. But the radar indicated the rain would get heavier and as it started to pick up, Hamilton ducked into the pits for intermediates. Norris stayed out and was a sitting duck when it started to pour, and he was on slicks and Hamilton wasn’t. It took the seven-time world champion two laps to run him down and when Norris did eventually go into the pits for rubber, it put him out of the running and he eventually finished sixth. I don’t know why modern F1 teams depend so much on radar. When I had my motorsport show on the Fan590 with the late Jim Martyn back in 2002, we had in-studio guests from Craig Pollock’s F1 BAR team. One guy did several jobs but the most important one was to stand about a quarter mile west of the track (rain always comes from the rest). When it started to rain, he radioed the team about the intensity and so-on. He sent reports every 30 seconds. I can’t help thinking that if Lando Norris had a guy standing out just to the west of the Sochi circuit that rather than gambling on technology he would have received a report directly from the horse’s mouth and pitted for intermediates or wets and then gone on to win the race.
But it didn’t happen that way and Lewis, who listened to his crew, went to the pits when he was called in and won. Mercedes sent out the following information after the race:
- A hard-fought victory in Russia saw Lewis extend his F1 victory record to achieve the momentous milestone of 100 career victories in the highest echelon of motorsport.
- Lewis had dropped three places on the opening lap, keeping his nose clean to navigate a very bunched field before settling into the race and preserving his tires for an extended stint on the Medium, eventually moving up to fourth.
- Lewis gained places after the first round of pit-stops and worked his way to a two-way battle for the lead with Lando Norris. With rain forecast to arrive for the final few laps, Lewis found it difficult to pass the fellow Brit in the dry.
- When the rain finally arrived, the team pitted Valtteri for an early switch to the Intermediate tyres. Lewis joined him soon after, in contrast to Norris who stayed out and struggled badly in the worsening conditions.
- Valtteri took full advantage of the late rain and his early switch to Inters saw him make a number of solid passes to bring the W12 home in P5, securing vital points as the team extended its lead in the Constructors’ Championship.
- Lewis, meanwhile, safely guided the W12 home in increasingly heavy rain to take the chequered flag in P1.
- Today marks Lewis’s 79th victory with the Mercedes works team, extending its 100 per cent win record in Russia which began with victories for Mercedes in 1913 and 1914.
- In claiming 25 points today, Lewis surpassed 4,000 points in F1, the first driver to reach that milestone.
- Lewis Hamilton (246.5 points) leads the Drivers’ Championship from Max Verstappen (244.5), while Valtteri is in third position (151 points).
- The Mercedes-AMG Petronas F1 Team (397.5 points) leads Red Bull (364.5 points) by 33 points in the Constructors’ championship.
Said Lewis afterward: Wow! One hundred races! It’s taken a long time and I wasn’t even sure the 100th would come! Today was tough – I lost a lot of ground at the start, just trying to stay out of trouble. I was patient and at the end, when the rain came, I didn’t want to let Lando go by boxing (pitting). Of course, I didn’t know what the rain was doing, it was just my feeling but I’m incredibly grateful to the strategy team for the job they did today. Getting anywhere near 100 victories wouldn’t be possible without the hard work of the men and women here and back at the factory, I’m so grateful to them – it just feels so special.
“Lando did an amazing job today, he had incredible pace and he’s doing such a great job for McLaren. It was bittersweet to see my old team ahead, they’re doing so well powered by Mercedes, and it’s good to see them united again. Max did a good job to come up from last to second. The battle continues and we know we need to be on top form over the remaining races.”
For a complete story on the race, please click here
NISSAN SENTRA CUP
Kevin King won the first Nissan Sentra Cup at the weekend when chief rival Jesses Lazare went off track during the last race of the season at Le Circuit-Mont Tremblant and failed to finish. King won the first race of the double-header on Saturday and finished fourth in the second race Alexandre Fortin was the winner), giving him enough points to claim the title. Éric Chaput was the winner of the Senior class. Sylvain Ouellet won the Micra championship. Jesse Webb won the Rookie of the Year title and Sylvain Ouellet won the poleposition.ca Trophy in the Micra class. After the races, Nissan Canada President Steve Milette said: “It’s a more than satisfactory first year for us. The Sentra has performed very well on the track, the drivers really liked it, and with the two classes, Sentra and Micra, there is even more action. All of this makes us very proud of this first season.”
The Nissan Sentra Cup will be back on Canadian road courses next Spring. Next season will once again include events in Ontario and Québec, including the Formula 1 Canadian Grand Prix in June on Montréal’s Circuit Gilles Villeneuve.
For complete race results and championship positions, go to: www.sentracup.com
MOTORCYCLE NEWS
Writing this roundup means you have many balls in the air. Sometimes you drop one. Which is what happened last Monday at about two in the morning. When I filed my column to wheels.ca at the Star, I neglected to include an item on the Canadian Superbike Championship in which the youngest champion in the history of the sport was crowned. Here, then, is the complete media release. FYI, the Saturday in the first sentence is Sat., Sept. 18. I apologize for my brain fade.
Professional Motorsports Productions
Toronto, Ontario, Canada
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Calabogie, ON – History was made at the Canadian Superbike Championship finale on Saturday, as 19-year-old Alex Dumas became the youngest champion in Pro Superbike feature class history with a clean sweep at Calabogie Motorsports Park. The Liqui Moly MPG/FAST School Suzuki youngster needed only to finish inside the top-four to mathematically clinch the title after his victory in race one, but Dumas left little to the imagination with his fourth emphatic win of the season to become the first ever rookie champion in class history. It didn’t initially appear like that would be the case, as rival Ben Young grabbed the holeshot in race two and began to gap the field quickly out front. However, an early red flag forced a restart, which was much less successful for Young as Dumas got the better start to lead start-to-finish. “It was an awesome day and another awesome weekend to end the year. To clinch it with pole and two wins, it feels amazing,” Dumas said. “I have to give a huge thanks to Suzuki and my team for putting this year together. Everyone was such a good help, and I couldn’t do it without them.” Despite rumours of his return to MotoAmerica in 2022 – where he has already won two championships – or even the pursuit of a ride oversees, Dumas wouldn’t close the door on a legitimate title defence in his home country next season. “I would really, really love to do it all again next year. Personally, I would like to be back, but I’m not thinking too much about it now.” Dumas and his team will at least have an additional trophy to appreciate while they debate their offseason plans, after taking home the Team of the Year Award. Their surprise entry to the 2021 campaign proved to be a massively successful one, as crew chief Patrice Goyette and company guided Dumas to a historic debut season. The Quebec City native beat Jordan Szoke’s record by just 177 days to become the new youngest champion in class history, with Young unable to capture his second career Superbike title. Nevertheless, Young was his typical optimistic self on the podium, as he immediately turned his focus towards reclaiming the number one plate in 2022. “I gave it everything, but Alex just rode so well all year,” Young admitted. “I was able to fight back after the tough start and fix a few of the issues we had, but in the end, it wasn’t meant to be. But we’ll be back to fight again next year.” In a repeat of the first podium, Trevor Daley grabbed the third step after a heated battle with reigning champion Jordan Szoke, as the two sides made contact in the final carousel before Daley won the drag race to the line. It was a crucial result for the OneSpeed Suzuki rider, as he helped wrap up the inaugural Constructors Championship for Suzuki with his third podium of the season, as Daley again proved to be the best “number two” rider of any of the manufacturers. “I was really patient at the start, because I knew if I could save my Dunlop tires, I would have a bit more life left at the end when it mattered,” Daley said. “Me and Jordan went back and forth quite a bit all race, but it got pretty close at the end there. It will be a good race to watch on TV, that’s for sure!”
Szoke would settle again for fourth, a disappointing result to end arguably the most frustrating campaign of his storied career. The 2020 champion has endured a number of tough-luck incidents this season, with this year’s final result proving to be his worst since an injury-riddled 2014 campaign. Despite the frustrated results, Szoke has been optimistic about returning for a record 24th season in the Pro Superbike class, though he has yet to confirm his plans – a notable detail given Ducati’s impending entry to the feature class and Szoke’s prior experience aboard Ducati machinery. Completing the top-five in the second half of the doubleheader was Sebastian Tremblay, who was forced to ride his Turcotte Performance Kawasaki ZX-6R sport bike after an earlier crash in race one. The 2021 Pro Sport Bike champion narrowly defeated Samuel Guerin at the line, a terrific result ahead of the EFC Group BMW rookie.
Dumas wasn’t the only rider to wrap up a championship on Saturday, however, with a pair of nail-biting finishes in two of the Amateur divisions. Anthony Bergeron completed his comeback in the AIM Insurance Amateur Superbike class, leading nearly from lights-to-flag to win the race and the championship aboard his privateer BMW. The pre-season favourite nearly derailed his own title bid with a crash in round two, but consecutive wins to end the year were enough to hand him the crown by just eleven points over ASM Yamaha rival Pascal Bastien, who struggled to fourth. The biggest swing of the season came in the Super Sonic Race School Lightweight category, as Harvey Renaud secured the national championship in unlikely fashion with a photo-finish win by just 0.018 seconds. Renaud entered the weekend with a sizeable disadvantage to teenager Mackenzie Weil atop the leaderboard, but a crash in race one that ended Weil’s weekend – combined with a victory for Renaud – put him in position to win the title on Saturday. Jacob Black, who was involved in the crash that ended Weil’s championship hopes, hung on to second at the line, though it wasn’t enough to do Weil any favours as Renaud will be crowned the national champion by just 16 points. The full list of season results can be found on the series’ official website at csbk.ca, with the focus now turning towards the offseason and the 2022 CSBK campaign.
OTHER RACING
In NASCAR Cup action Sunday night, Denny Hamlin won at Las Vegas and punched a ticket to the next round. For a full story, please click here
Denny Hamlin wins at Las Vegas to advance to the third round of the NASCAR playoffs (msn.com)
Josh Berry won the NASCAR Xfinity Series race Saturday night at Las Vegas Speedway with Justin Allgaier second and Noah Gragson third. Christian Eckes won the trucks race.
At Flamboro Speedway near Hamilton Saturday night, Cory Whittam won the Can-Am Midgets feature; T.J. Marshall took the vintage Modifieds race, Quinton Murdoch won the second VM feature; Gillian Hills was first in Mini Stock, Karl Sault took the second feature; in the two Pro 4 mains, Dan Pettit and Mark Lucas were the winners; Jeff Laflamme won the first Pure Stocks race and James Houghton won the second. And Lane Zardo won the United Late Model Series Qwick Wick Super Stock Championship.
At Brighton Speedway’s Applefest Shootout festival, Kingston’s Danny O’Brien won the 358 DIRTcar Modified feature; Rich Sanders won the Canadian modifieds feature; John Lamarche, Devon Kippen and Kippen again won the three COMP 4 Presented by Bill’s Johns features; Ryan Scott won the DIRTcar Sporsman feature; Brad Rayner won both Late Models mains and Adam Turner won the Thunder Stock class.
At the Four Crown Nationals held at Tony Stewart’s Eldora Speedway in Rossburg, Ohio, Saturday night, Rico Abreu won the FloRacing All-Star Circuit of Champions presented by Mobil 1 feature. Rico is three-feet tall, so who says size matters? Chris Windom won the USAC National Midget Series race, Tyler Courtney was first in sprint cars and Logan Seavey won the Silver Crown (dirt champ cars) final.
Rinus Veekay has resigned to drive for Ed Carpenter in the NTT IndyCar Series in 2022 . . . . .
The post Racing Roundup: Dumoulin wins Pinty’s, Palou in Indy appeared first on WHEELS.ca.
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