2006 Infiniti G35 on 2040-cars

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Race recap: 2015 British Grand Prix is a testament to timing

In front of his home crowd, Lewis Hamilton actually had to work for pole position at the British Formula One Grand Prix. The World Champion couldn't get on top of the setup for his Mercedes-AMG Petronas on Friday, lapping behind teammate Nico Rosberg and the two Ferraris. Come Saturday, after a few alterations and a whole lot of wing to clamp down on understeer, Hamilton returned to his regular program at the front, taking pole position by just over a tenth of a second from his teammate. Williams, thought to be headed for another stretch in the weeds a few races ago, showed its best strength all year. The Grove team got both cars on the second row and in front of the Ferraris, Felipe Massa qualifying ahead of teammate Valtteri Bottas, but they were eight and nine tenths behind the Mercedes'. Kimi Raikkonen out-qualified Ferrari teammate Sebastian Vettel for the second time this year, and only the first time in a straight-up battle with two healthy cars. But more than a second behind the two cars at the front, and with two nearly-impossible-to-pass Williams' in front, neither the Finn nor the German is happy with where they are. Daniil Kvyat claimed seventh, his side of the garage at Infiniti Red Bull Racing having got through the weekend to that point without a single complaint about their Renault power unit. Carlos Sainz, Jr. put a single Toro Rosso inside the top ten in eighth position, ahead of Nico Hulkenberg who did the same for Sahara Force India by slotting in ninth. The second Infiniti Red Bull driven by Daniel Ricciardo did have an unspecified engine complaint – his car kept "bleeding power" on the straights – but even so he managed to qualify tenth with his second-fastest lap. The stewards deleted his best lap because he ran three centimeters outside the track limits at Copse, an infraction that stung a few other drivers as well. Up in front, what would sting the Mercedes-AMG Petronas drivers the most was the start. That's when a dearth of grip struck both Hamilton and Rosberg, allowing Massa and Bottas to slide right up the middle between them and take the first two places. The leapfrogging was so surprising that it looked like the Mercedes drivers were giving the Williams drivers a head start. They diced through the first corners, Hamilton sliding past Bottas into second place halfway through the lap. And then the safety car reported for duty.

Mercedes leads in US luxury car thefts

Mercedes-Benz makes some fine automobiles. The Silver Arrow'd cars are so good, apparently, that thieves can't help but try to steal them. The German brand is at the top of the charts for luxury car thefts in the US, according to the National Insurance Crime Bureau, with New York City leading the way. (And those New Yorkers complain about Detroit being bad!)
The C-Class was the most stolen model, with 485 ganked between 2009 and 2012 in NYC alone, while the E-Class and S-Class (which also boasted the worst recovery rate, at 59 percent) both finished in the top ten. Following the C-Class was the BMW 3 Series and Infiniti G. Not surprisingly, each of these were the most common models in their respective lineups. Los Angeles and Miami are also prime hotspots for luxury car thefts, according to the Detroit News report.
While getting your car stolen is pretty awful, there was one inspiring statistic compiled by the NICB - the average recovery rate across the board was 84 percent, with the Cadillac CTS getting recovered 91 percent of the time.

Infiniti Q Inspiration Concept shows its face

Update: Infiniti released a second image of its Q Inspiration Concept with a press release about sales. We're not sure why, but we're not complaining and have added it above. The original rear three-quarter image is below in the text. Following a teaser image and some cryptic hints from designers, Infiniti has mostly revealed its concept for the Detroit Auto Show. It's called the Q Inspiration Concept, which for having "inspiration" in the name, is actually a rather uninspired name. But that's OK, because what it lacks in clever naming it makes up for in a beautiful fastback body. When the teaser was released, one of the designers mentioned the car would have a "long cabin," and that's no exaggeration, as the greenhouse reaches nearly to the tail edge of the car. It's a roofline that is highly reminiscent of the Audi A7. And as such, it would make a lot of sense for this Infiniti to be a hatchback, too, especially if it reaches production. We can't say for sure if this concept has a hatch, though, since there are some panel gaps at the base of the D-pillar and the Tesla Model 3-style rear pane of glass suggests this concept is technically a sedan. Unlike the Audi A7, the rest of the Infiniti is as curvy as the roof. There's hardly a crease anywhere, and it looks muscular with the big bulging front and rear fenders that flow effortlessly into each other. The clean exterior is accented by a lack of exterior door handles and what look to be cameras for side mirrors. The contrast to the organic curves comes from the nose and the wheels. The area where the grille would be is more chiselled and aggressive than the rest of the body. The wheels also have hard edges and lots of complicated elements that don't quite fit the organic theme of the rest of the car. Still the car overall is very striking and graceful. The press release continues to emphasize new powertrains, proportions, and the future design direction of Infiniti. As such, we suspect that this car uses, at minimum, a version of Infiniti's variable-compression engine, and more likely features extensive electrification, if not a pure EV powertrain. The lack of a large opening at the front would seem like further evidence the car utilizes electricity at some level. The car will make its full debut on Jan. 15. Related Video: Image Credit: Infiniti Green Detroit Auto Show Infiniti Hatchback Luxury Sedan 2018 detroit auto show