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Honda, Chevy reveal low-drag speedway aero for Indy 500

As the two automakers currently participating in the IndyCar Series, both Chevy and Honda were invited this year not only to provide engines to the teams on the starting grid, but to develop their own aerodynamics packages as well. Both revealed their designs for the road-course races a few months ago, but with the Indy 500 approaching at break-neck speed, they've now unleashed their aero approaches for speedways. Both are based on the Dallara DW12 chassis introduced to the series a couple of years ago, but sacrifice some of their downforce at the altar of speed. And you can tell as much from looking at them: both Honda (above) and Chevy (below) have streamlined their designs, with single-plane front wings, lower-profile rear wings and fewer winglets on the body and around the wheels in between. The idea is to allow the cars to reach higher top speeds with less drag, while offering the necessary amount of downforce for the banked turns. With the four opening road-course rounds complete, teams using either automaker's equipment will keep the existing aero kits on their cars for the Grand Prix of Indianapolis on the infield course next week, then switch to the speedway package for the Indianapolis 500 later this month. Then it'll be back and forth for the rest of the season as the circus switches between road courses and speedways. Honda Unveils 2015 IndyCar Super Speedway Aero Kit Apr 30, 2015 - SPEEDWAY, Indiana - To be used at the Indianapolis 500 - Manufacturer seeking 11th Indianapolis 500 victory since 2004 - First public running to take place Sunday at Indianapolis Honda today debuted the "Super Speedway" aero kit of aerodynamic upgrades and components its teams will use at this year's 99th running of the Indianapolis 500. The Honda Super Speedway Aero Kit, produced by Honda Performance Development, Honda's racing arm in North America, includes a variety of individual aerodynamic components fitted to the existing Honda-powered Dallara Indy car chassis. All are intended to give Honda's six Indy car teams – encompassing a potential 17 '500' entrants - the ability to maximize performance at the 2.5-mile Indianapolis Motor Speedway oval and other large ovals ( over one mile in length) on the 2015 Verizon IndyCar Series schedule. "We're excited to unveil our Super Speedway aero kit, the newest element in this era of enhanced manufacturer competition in the Verizon IndyCar Series," said Art St. Cyr, president of HPD.

PickupTrucks.com's latest test results in a familiar winner [w/video]

PickupTrucks.com has gone and thrown the latest batch of half-ton pickups into a cage match to see who would come out on top. The site put the 2014 Chevrolet Silverado 1500, GMC Sierra 1500, 2013 Ford F-150, Ram 1500, Toyota Tundra and Nissan Titan through a battery of tests. Those included 0-60 miles per hour acceleration, 60-0 mph deceleration, fuel economy, a hill climb, and payload and towing. They even threw the rigs on an autocross course to evaluate overall handling. Each truck was given points based on how it scored in each evaluation.
Who came out on top? Somewhat surprisingly, the 2013 Ford F-150 walked away with the gold, though fewer than 50 points separated first and fourth place. Head over to PickupTrucks.com to read the full evaluation and the final results. You may be shocked to see exactly where some of the segment's newest additions placed. You can also watch a video on the test below.

Chevrolet donates 300 vehicles damaged by Sandy to help train first responders

Super Storm Sandy took out a lot of automobiles in its path of destruction through the Northeast last October. The number surpassed 250,000 at last count, and a few of those were owned by Chevrolet - cars either sitting on dealership lots or waiting at port to be shipped off. Rendered unsellable by the water damage inflicted by Sandy, these vehicles were facing the crusher. But Chevy didn't send them there.
Instead, Chevy had a better idea: It will be donating 300 of these vehicles damaged by Sandy to help train first responders at Guardian Centers in Perry, GA. Chevy is the official automotive partner of Guardian Centers, which is an 830-acre facility that trains first responders in disaster preparedness. Junked cars are practically a consumable commodity there, where a full-size cityscape simulator gives trainees an entire urban center in which to train for all sorts of rescue operations and disaster scenarios.
Chevy says its particular vehicles will be used "in conjunction with role players for wide area searches, traffic congestion in emergency situations, counter terrorism, public order and mass casualty exercises." While grim scenarios all, we're certainly glad there are people out there preparing for the unexpected. While a zombie apocalypse isn't officially on the list of potential disasters to prepare for, when the virus hits, we'll be hot-footing it to Perry, GA to hang with these guys and gals.