Autoblog

Click above for high-res gallery of the Lightning GT

Remember the Lightning GT? We told you about this all-electric supercar a few months ago, and it popped up today in person at the 2008 British Motor Show in London. That officially moves it one step away from the pure vaporware it was yesterday, which is a good thing since we're eager to see the carbon fiber-bodied Lightning actually move under its own power someday. That power will be provided by the same Altairnano NanoSafe batteries used by the Phoenix SUT, though churning out the equivalent of 700bhp through four electric motors in this case. Those motors are also the same PML wheel motors used in the 640-hp electric MINI, so they should be able to handle the 700bhp Lightning. There's also regenerative braking, as well as pretty much every standard conveyance of luxury you would find in a normal supercar including air conditioning, sat nav, full leather, etc. Its maker is claiming a 4.0-second charge to 60 mph for the Lightning, but we'd also like to know what type of range they're expecting in such a positively charged coupe. Unfortunately, details like that and the Lightning GT's price are still pretty scarce, though as before, they are accepting £15,000 deposits. At least it's no longer vapor.


[Source: Lightning GT]

Click above for high-res gallery of the IFR Automotive Aspid

IFR Automotive is a design and technology company based in Spain that we've never heard of, but they're in London right now for the 2008 British Motor Show to debut the Aspid, a new featherweight "luxury" sportscar powered by a 400bhp supercharged 2.0L four-cylinder. Combined with a curb weight of just 1,543 lbs., the Aspid can reportedly reach 62 mph in an astonishing 2.8 seconds. IFR is fervent that the Aspid is not a stripped down track day special, but a full road car, hence the "luxury" modifier. It sure looks like Caterham circa 2055, but IFR claims that it's gone to the ends of the earth to keep the Aspid's weight in check while keeping the car suitable for road use. The Aspid sits on an aluminum extrusion composite paneled chassis weighing just 175 lbs., and all of its suspension components are aluminum as well. IFR also reduced the complexity of the car's electrical system, deleting processors and wires wherever it could. Rather than a bank of gauges staring back at you in the cockpit, drivers will instead find touch screens that relay all essential info and allow extreme customization of the car's mechanicals. You can change the rev limit, valve timing, overall power output, brake balance, ride height and a whole lot more all from the comfort of the driver's seat. Plus there's a nav system, wi-fi and a whole smorgesborg of telecom technologies stuffed inside. And did we mention it can reach 62 mph in 2.8 seconds? Damn.


[Source: IFR Automotive]

Click above for high-res gallery of the Lotus Evora

Project Eagle has finally been unveiled today at the 2008 British Motor Show as the Evora, and Lotus is beaming over its little eaglet. The Evora will be the most grown up and accessible Lotus in the British manufacturer's lineup. To illustrate, the automaker claims it will fit two American males in the front seats (did they just call us fat?). It's a mid-engine, 2+2 coupe (a convertible is planned) with 3.5L V6 sourced from Toyota but elevated by Lotus above its humble origins to produce 276 horsepower. The car weighs just 2,976 lbs., which might be a lot for a Lotus but is well below the average weight of most cars. The interior is unlike any you've seen from this automaker, which is to say that occupying one won't be like staying in a hostel compared to a four-star hotel. You've got leather all around, a nav system, and Lotus promises ingress and egress have been vastly improved over its other models.

The Evora will be built on a new assembly line at the company's assembly plant in Hethel, England at the rate of 2,000 annually, but has been designed to meet safety and emissions requirements around the world. That many cars for so many markets means the Evora will be exclusive, although we don't expect Lotus to leave money on the table if there's big demand for its new, softer, more accessible sports car. Other vehicles will also eventually be built on the Evora's new aluminum chassis, which is called the Versatile Vehicle Architecture (VVA) and was first seen on the Lotus APX Concept. It can be stretched, widened and carry a vehicle weighing over 4,000 lbs. One new Lotus is enough for now, though, as we try to wrap our heads around a Hethel-based car with creature comforts.


[Source: Lotus]

Click above for new high-res gallery of the 2010 Chevy Camaro

You've waited long enough, so let's dispense with the pleasantries and get right down to the hard facts.

• Three models - LS, LT, SS
• LS and LT come with 3.6L direct-inject V6 (300 hp/273 lb-ft)
• SS six-speed manual comes with 6.2L LS3 V8 (422 hp/408 lb-ft)
• SS six-speed automatic comes with new 6.2L L99 V8 (400 hp/395 ft-lb) and Active Fuel Management
• 3.6L DI V6 gets 26 mpg highway
• 6.2L V8 with automatic gets 23 mpg highway
• RS appearance package available on LT and SS (includes HID headlamps with integrated halo rings, spoiler, specific taillamps and 20-inch wheels)
• Front and rear independent suspension
• FE2 suspension for LS and LT, sportier FE3 for SS
• Four-wheel disc ABS standard, SS gets four-piston Brembo calipers
• SS model gets adjustable Competitive/Sport mode for stability control and Launch Control on manual models
• Available 18-,19- and 20-inch wheels

You can read Chevy's full press release after the jump and browse the official, full-size image collection in the gallery below. Stay tuned for our post of live coverage from our team on the ground.

NOTE: Hit the play button now to watch live.

Click above for high-res gallery of the 2010 Chevy Camaro

As you may already know after the deluge of official Camaro images that leaked last week, General Motors will finally be unveiling the 2010 Chevy Camaro at 4PM EST today at its Warren Technical Center, and we'll have a team of two on hand for live coverage with pics and video of our own. GM will also be webcasting the live reveal and has provided the embed code free of charge so you can watch what is arguably an historic debut right here on Autoblog. If all goes well on GM's end, you'll be able to watch the unveiling live at 4:00 PM EST at this link on Autoblog. Go set an alarm right now, we'll wait... We'll have all the pics, specs and video you can digest shortly thereafter, as well as our take on whether the new Camaro has what it takes to make it in the face of high gas prices and competition from the new Dodge Challenger and an updated 2010 Ford Mustang.

Click above to view video after the jump

An altercation between the two admittedly attractive female drivers in the IndyCar Series has all the makings for a sensational headline, and in this case Danica Patrick and Milka Duno backed it up by tangling in the pits last Saturday after a practice session for the Honda Indy 200. Patrick, as she has done twice before, walked all the way to her competitor's pit stall to address a grievance. She simply asked Dreyer & Reinbold Racing's driver, who looked like she just stepped out of a salon, if she had seen her on the track. Apparently Patrick was miffed that Milka wasn't letting faster cars like her No. 7 Motorola Dallara Honda pass during practice. Milka was having none of it and twice threw a towel at Patrick while telling her to "go away". Such is a pretty normal day in the IndyCar Series with Danica Patrick on the prowl. For the record, neither lady performed particularly well in the actual race on Sunday, with Milka finishing 23rd out of 26 and Danica placing 12th. Check out video of these brunettes battling after the jump. Thanks for the tip, Art!

[Source: FOX Sports, Three Strikes and Out]

You're going to be reading in the mainstream press about how horrible sales were in the U.S. during June, 2008. Yes, they were bad for many automakers, but consider that there were only 24 selling days last month versus 27 days in June, 2007. This makes comparing raw sales numbers misleading, since there were three fewer days to sell. Thus, as always, all the percentages below represent the change in Daily Sales Rate, i.e. the average number of vehicles sold per day, not the change in raw number of vehicles sold.

The big news is how hard Toyota fell last month, its DSR dropping 11.5% as a whole while the Toyota brand itself fell 10.3%. Cross-island rival Honda, however, bucked that trend by improving its DSR a whopping 13.8% and 17.9% for the Honda brand alone. Among the domestics, General Motors fared best with its DSR falling only 8.3%. If you look closely at the list below, while HUMMER, Saab and GMC were down in the big double digits, GM's volume brands held their own and most were down less than 5%. Ford, meanwhile, dropped its DSR by 19.1% (note this is the first month Jaguar and Land Rover sales were not included in Ford's numbers), and Chrysler, LLC, which performed the worst, saw its DSR plunge 28%. As you can see, however, many brands found a way to make it work in June, with Audi, MINI, Hyundai, Kia, Mazda, Mercedes-Benz, Subaru, Suzuki and Volkswagen all up in a big way.

Biggest Winner
MINI 40.5% at 5,211 (6/07: 4,174)

Biggest Loser
HUMMER –54.2% at 2,072 (6/07: 5,093)

BRANDS
Acura –16.4% at 12,456 (6/07: 16,766)
Audi 18.5% at 8,203 (6/07: 7,789)
BMW –6.6% at 20,944 (6/07: 25,220)
Buick –34.4% at 9,631 (6/07: 16,519)
Cadillac –3.1% at 14,337 (6/07: 16,647)
Chevrolet –3.5% at 159,998 (6/07: 186,474)
Chrysler –36% at 27,128 (6/07: 47,658)
Dodge –21.3% at 63,687 (6/07: 91,089)
Ford –19.8% at 145,715 (6/07: 204,303)
GMC –14.6% at 30,713 (6/07: 40,457)
Honda 17.9% at 130,083 (6/07: 124,169)
HUMMER –54.2% at 2,072 (6/07: 5,093)
Hyundai 14% at 50,033 (6/07: 49,368)
Infiniti –0.9% at 9,304 (6/07: 10,558)
Jeep –32.8% at 26,642 (6/07: 44,600)
Kia 21% at 28,292 (6/07: 26,288)
Lexus –21% at 20,253 (6/07: 28,869)
Lincoln –12.5% at 9,718 (6/07: 12,494)
Mazda 3.8% at 23,771 (6/07: 25,761)
Mercedes-Benz 12.4% at 19,576 (6/07: 19,589)
Mercury –16.3% at 11,657 (6/07: 15,660)
MINI 40.5% at 5,211 (6/07: 4,174)
Mitsubishi –35.2% at 7,494 (6/07: 13,014)
Nissan –8.3% at 66,543 (6/07: 81,655)
Pontiac –5.1% at 28,402 (6/07: 33,683)
Porsche –8.7% at 2,650 (6/07: 3,267)
Saab –51.7% at 1,872 (6/07: 4,361)
Saturn –1.9% at 18,912 (6/07: 21,686)
Subaru 18.4% at 18,007 (6/07: 17,108)
Suzuki 6.6% at 9,785 (6/07: 10,325)
Toyota –10.3% at 172,981 (6/07: 216,870)
Volkswagen 12.8% at 23,208 (6/07: 23,137)
Volvo –17.7% at 7,001 (6/07: 9,572)

Not Yet Reported
Jaguar
Land Rover

COMPANIES
BMW Group 0.1% at 26,155 (6/07: 29,394)
Chrysler Group –28% at 117,457 (6/07: 183,347)
Ford Motor Co –19.1% at 167,090 (6/07: 232,457)
General Motors –8.3% at 265,937 (6/07: 326,300)
Honda America 13.8% at 142,539 (6/07: 140,935)
Nissan North America –7.5% at 75,847 (6/07: 92,213)
Toyota Motor Co. –11.5% at 193,234 (6/07: 245,739)

Click above for high-res gallery of the Dacia New Logan

Hot on the heels of the new Sandero five-door hatch, Dacia has unveiled a redesign of the cheap, little car that started it all for the offshoot of Renault, the Logan. Now dubbed the New Logan, Dacia's inexpensive four-door economy car gets spruced up on the outside with a new front fascia inspired by the Sandero, as well as additional chrome brightwork on some models. While just an evolutionary upgrade of the Logan's original four-year-old design, the mid-cycle refresh is well timed as the Logan line has now grown to include a pickup and now a hatchback. The interior has also been upgraded to include the new dash introduced in the Sandero, and we expect the new looks inside and out to make their way to the Logan Pickup, as well. There aren't really any mechanical upgrades of note, except the inclusion of the Sandero's new Emergency Brake Assist function, but what do you expect for a base price of €7,400?

[Source: Autoblog Spanish]

Click above for high-res gallery of the 2009 Dodge Ram R/T

While our guys were out autocrossing the 2008 Dodge Challenger SRT8 and Viper ACR last week, Mike Levine (Yes, the same Mike Levine who tried to stuff himself into a RamBox) was doing his pickup thing over in another area of Chrysler's proving grounds in Chelsea, MI. On hand was the new 2009 Dodge Ram 1500 R/T, which we haven't had a chance to see until now. The '09 Ram R/T will pull up to the line with a 5.7L HEMI V8 tuned to 390 horsepower and 407 pound-feet of torque and a 5-speed AutoStick transmission, as well as a host of exterior upgrades including a new front bumper, blacked out grille, dual exhaust, chrome 5-spoke wheels and body-color everything. The amazing thing is that the engine will scoot this short-box, two-wheel drive truck to 60 mph in less than six seconds, according to Chrysler. If that sounds a little too good to be true for a pickup with less than 400 horsepower, credit should go to the "loose" torque converter that allows less slip compared to a normal automatic. The shifts are more aggressive than in a normal Ram and the unique torque converter does degrade fuel economy a bit, but that should be none of your concern by nature of the fact that you're interested in a sport truck to begin with. Check out source link for a more detailed explanation of the "loose" torque converter from Mike Levine at Pickuptrucks.com, and view all the visual upgrades worn by the 2009 Ram R/T in our gallery below.


[Source: Pickuptrucks.com, photos courtesy of Ian Merritt, Cars.com]