Ken Block crashed out of last weekend's World Rally Championship race , bringing an otherwise strong showing to a premature end. We were sad to see him go, but thankfully, YouTube was there to show us how it happened. More

Toyota today slammed the mechanics behind Brian Ross' ABC News report on unintended acceleration , showing how they were manipulated by recreating the same fault on a Chevy, Mercedes, Honda and Ford. Here's how the hoax occurred. More

In News Brake: We look ahead to the future of the Chevrolet Corvette, Audi ponders an A2, and a test drive of the 2011 Ford Super Duty . . . But Wait, There's More!

We're smack in the midst of auto show season, just coming off the back of the Geneva Motor Show and already ramping up for New York. The latest car to be previewed for unveiling there is the 2011 Acura TSX Sport Wagon, due to be unveiled March 31. We told you back in October that Acura had given the TSX Sport Wagon the green light, and speculated...

Filed under: Recalls , Safety , Toyota Late last month we wrote a lengthy post about problems with an ABC News report that purported to show a Toyota Avalon racing out of control without setting a diagnostic fault code. While we primarily focused on the technical side and analyzed whether the problem was realistic, the crew at Gawker took a hard look at the video in question and noticed something fishy. It appears that an editor or producer at ABC felt they could pull a fast one on the audience and used some B-roll in the report showing the tachometer needle sweeping rapidly from near idle to over 6,000 rpm. That clip was injected at the precise moment when David Gilbert triggered his simulated sudden acceleration. As you can see from the screen cap above, the shot of the tachometer clearly shows the warning lights for the parking brake on, the doors open and the transmission indicator in park. The camera operator shot this segment separately so it could be used to illustrate a point in the report, and ABC claims that getting a steady shot during the test would've been both difficult and dangerous. The B-roll shot doesn't indicate anything conclusive one way or the other about the validity of the test and certainly doesn't stand as proof of anything being rigged. However, the lack of transparency by ABC and Mr. Gilbert regarding the specific procedure doesn't add to the credibility of either the claims or the report, and the lack of clarity by Toyota in its response to Gilbert's assertions doesn't do the automaker any favors, either. [Source: Gawker ] Tired of Toyota recall news? Try out the recall-free version of Autoblog. Report: ABC News faked at least one part of runaway Toyota report originally appeared on Autoblog on Mon, 08 Mar 2010 09:58:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds .

Retired Formula One driver and all-around hero Sir Stirling Moss fell three stories down an open elevator shaft yesterday, chipping four vertebrae, breaking both ankles and cracking four bones in his foot. Don't worry, according to doctors he'll be fine. More

The 2011 Ford Super Duty 's a gamble. Ford's newest heavy hauler abandons the well-known Navistar-supplied Powerstroke diesel for a brand new all-Ford designed powerplant supposedly delivering monstrous power, squeaky-clean emissions, better fuel economy and the same price. Seems suspiciously impressive. More

Welcome to Down On The Street , where we admire old vehicles found parked on the streets of the Island That Rust Forgot: Alameda, California. Even though TITRF is home to numerous T2 Transporters, I've sort of ignored them. No more! More

Filed under: EV/Plug-in , Europe/EU , Racing Were you planning on traveling to the Parisian city of Levallois in June to witness the first modern electric-automobile road race ? Hope you didn't already clear your calender because EMXGP organizers have put out the word that they have postponed the launching of their series until sometime in mid-October, with the rescheduled event to be held in an as-yet-undisclosed major European city. Apparently the deferment is not for a lack a willing participants with over 50 "expressions of interest" from different teams having been received but rather the realization that would-be racers will need more time to properly prepare for the event. Indeed, we can imagine any outfit with plans to run Tesla Roadsters will need to integrate some sort of motor cooling system as they were not originally engineered to be track cars and will overheat if pushed hard for an extended period. The eGrandPrix folks hope to take full advantage of the extra time by orchestrating the new launch with a larger "zero carbon" racing program and a conference that will "examine the wider energy crisis and every day green technology solutions." More information about the revised event should be forthcoming shortly. [Source: EMXGP | Source image: Sami Dalouche C.C. License 2.0] EMXGP postpones first race until mid-October, will relocate originally appeared on Autoblog Green on Sun, 07 Mar 2010 08:51:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Permalink

Filed under: EV/Plug-in Pininfarina B0 concept, the basis for the Bluecar - Click above for high-res image gallery The car that we first saw as the B0 concept a year ago at the Geneva Motor Show could be on the market by the fall of this year. The electric commuter car has been jointly developed by the French Bollore Group and Italian design studio Pininfarina and is apparently still on track. Bollore has built two lithium ion battery plants in France with a combined capacity of 30,000 30 kilowatt-hour battery packs. Bollore will supply the packs for cars to be assembled in Italy by Pininfarina. The partners plan to offer the cars to rental agencies first before making them available for retail sales. Pininfarina CEO Silvio Angori expects to build 2,000 examples of the Bluecar by the end of next year. The Bollore batteries are based on lithium metal polymer construction, similar to the LG Chem batteries used by Hyundai and General Motors . Gallery: Pininfarina B0 [Source: Reuters ] Bollore and Pininfarina target fall 2010 launch for Bluecar EV originally appeared on Autoblog Green on Sat, 06 Mar 2010 17:20:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Permalink