Car News Articles

Russell Ingall warns that round 3 of the V8 Supercar series in NZ will be a “crash fest”.

V8 Supercar boss Wayne Cattach yesterday slapped a compulsory $500,000 life insurance policy on drivers as veteran Russell Ingall warned the round three Hamilton race beginning on April 18 would become a “crash fest”.

On the same day Supercheap Auto driver Ingall predicted the New Zealand street track would become a war zone, Cattich declared all drivers would have to present their current insurance details with a minimum $500,000 cover before the race.

The insurance decision comes after the death of Fujitsu series driver Ashley Cooper in February.

“The board felt the need to ensure drivers have an adequate financial safeguard in the case of any severe accidents,” Cattich said. “This is in no way pointed towards any particular incident, more a measure that the board wanted to adopt and has been discussing for several months.”

Ingall predicted the cover would come in handy, declaring there would be “carnage” on the newly built Kiwi street track.

“Hamilton’s going to be risky; it’s got long straights and tight, 90 degree corners so there’ll be a lot of drivers making big lunges under brakes,” Ingall said.

“Qualifying is more important than most races and the pit stops will come into play as usual, but there’s lots of concrete and not a lot of run off so there’s going to be some carnage — lots of crashes.

“The young guys charging with a head full of steam are going to be a worry, especially with they way they’ve been driving the last couple rounds.

“Everyone’s going to make mistakes, but to be successful you’re going to have to be smart. It’ll be the person who makes the least mistakes that wins.”

Cattach said the new insurance policy was implemented for the drivers’ welfare. “It is common sense that we as a sport play a part in the welfare of our competitors in the same way we deliver the highest of safety standards as directed by the FIA,” he said.

“Many of our drivers have individual insurance in place, this is more of a checking process. If they are not adequately insured they will be required to take out insurance that provides a minimum cover of $500,000.”

- The Daily Telegraph

Audi may be bringing some of its Le Mans-winning diesel performance to our roads.

The Audi R8 supercar could have a muscular 372kW six-litre V12 twin-turbo diesel under its glass bonnet.

A concept diesel R8 was shown at the Detroit Motor Show in January and Audi was said to be planning to release a production model as early as 2010.

It would be one of the quickest diesels around after the R10 last year became the first diesel car to win the famed Le Mans 24-hour endurance race.

The 60 degree V12 has the same displacement, but is a different engine from the race-car unit, although it does share technology.

While 372kW is potent for a diesel engine, it pales against other supercars. However, the diesel V12 produces 1000Nm of torque from only 1750rpm and fires the car off the line to 100km/h in 4.2 seconds with a top speed of 320km/h.

That compares with the R8’s 309kW of power, 430Nm of torque, 4.6 second dash to 100km/h and 309km/h top speed.

But check your racing pulse, first.

Audi Australia corporate communications general manager Anna Burgdorf says it’s not a definite. “It is still at concept car stage with no formal announcement yet of production status,” she said.

“If it does move forward to the next stage we will definitely investigate the market possibility for Australia, although I imagine the volumes will be quite niche.”

Audi has sold 41 petrol R8s so far this year.

While the diesel R8 looks similar to the petrol model, only the front wings, A-pillars, roof rails and rear three-quarters are the same.

Fitting the 60mm longer and heavier diesel engine required substantial changes, including wider air intakes, a revised rear wing, more aerodynamics, blade-like spoilers within the intakes up front and another roof-mounted air intake for the twin intercoolers.

Cabin space is marginally reduced, there is no longer any storage at the rear of the car and rear vision is almost nil, so a reversing camera has been installed on the adjustable wing. Inside, there are new red anodised instruments, a lightweight leather dash, and a red wheel-mounted starter button.

Audi has employed its Adblue technology that treats the exhaust gases with urea to reduce nitrogen oxide emissions and meet the Euro VI pollution laws scheduled for 2010.

It also features Audi’s Dynamic Drive system which balances suspension, throttle and engine settings according to a knob on the steering wheel spoke. The various modes harden the Magnetic Ride suspension and sharpen throttle response.

- The Courier-Mail

Cutting CO2 emissions is now a priority for all the automakers. Mercedes Benz and its performance division AMG feels the pressure even more as the European Commission intends to cut down the average CO2 emissions of all new cars to 120 grams per kilometer by 2012.

Wolf Zimmerman, chief operating officer of Mercedes- AMG says humself, “That is not easy. Together with Mercedes we are around 170 grams, so it is a long way to go. Believe me, the world will change dramatically in the next 10 years.”

It’s not the first time we hear that AMG will introduce gasoline direct-injection engines and start/stop technology in its entire lineup by 2012. There is also a rumor about AMG working on a powerful V8 diesel model which will create more than 516 lb-ft of torque as well as hybrid technology. Expect some greener AMG cars very soon