2011 Infinity G37x Awd on 2040-cars

Auto blog

2015 Belgian Grand Prix is a return to scheduled programming

With summer intermission over, the second half of the Formula One season commenced in the Belgian countryside at Spa-Francorchamps. After qualifying, it looked a lot like the first half of the season with just a few minor changes. Lewis Hamilton was even more dominant in his Mercedes-AMG Petronas than usual, regularly taking half a second out of his teammate in just the middle sector of the circuit. Teammate Nico Rosberg tightened it up a tad for his final hot lap, but Hamilton still took pole by 0.45 seconds ahead of Rosberg in second. With his Williams back at a power track, Valtteri Bottas got himself up to third, although more than a second behind Hamilton. Romain Grosjean in the Lotus in fourth had his best qualifying performance since his fourth-place grid spot at the 2013 US Grand Prix. This was a huge boon for Lotus, the team facing another financial issue off track that threatened to have its cars impounded as soon as they left the circuit. Grosjean had to have his gearbox changed before the conclusion of six races, however, so the five-spot penalty meant he'd actually line up ninth for the race. Sergio Perez put the Sahara Force India in fifth, where we're more used to seeing his teammate Nico Hulkenberg, just ahead of Daniel Ricciardo in the Infiniti Red Bull Racing in sixth. Felipe Massa got the second Williams in seventh, in front of the second Lotus of Pastor Maldonado in eighth. Then came the first and only Ferrari in the top ten, Sebastian Vettel qualifying ninth after a disappointing Saturday for the scuderia; teammate Kimi Raikkonen suffered gearbox issues and qualified way down in 16th. Carlos Sainz took tenth in the Toro Rosso. A new start procedure in Belgium meant drivers had to handle clutches on their own, without the engineers finely tuning bite points between the garage and the start line. That was in conjunction with another rule limiting the kinds of radio messages possible between engineers and drivers, aiming to put more of the car in the drivers' hands. After an aborted start when Hulkenberg's car quit while sitting on the grid, Hamilton made the most of the new procedure. His start wasn't amazing but he beat everyone else off the line, while those behind were alternately getting bogged down or leaping ahead. Midway through the first lap the top ten was Hamilton, Perez, Ricciardo, Bottas, Rosberg, Vettel, Maldonado, Grosjean, Massa, Marcus Ericsson. At the end of 43 laps, Hamilton would still be in the lead.

The yin and yang of the 2017 Infiniti Q50 Red Sport 400

When we first drove the Q50 Red Sport 400, Infiniti had the car out at a prepared slalom-and-cone course in a large, open parking lot. The car was stacked up against another Q50 without the Direct Adaptive Steer steer-by-wire system, and the course was designed to show that the DAS-equipped Red Sport 400 (it's a $1,000 option) required less steering input to master the same course. With all due respect to Infiniti, which is invested in this unfortunate system and has been working hard to revise it, the comparison doesn't make a lot of sense. The non-DAS Red Sport 400 has a steering ratio of 15:1 in RWD and 16.7:1 in AWD forms. The DAS system can vary between 12:1 and 32.9:1 in RWD and 11.8:1 to 32.3:1 in AWD flavors. At its extremes, the DAS system's ratio is vastly different than the fixed-ratio cars. So sure, with a super-quick steering ratio available, the DAS driver's going to do less work. It's all in the gearing. Does this mean it's better, that the steering feel is more natural, that it's easier to hustle quickly? The amount the driver saws at the wheel isn't an indication of that, necessarily. After a few days in a rear-drive Red Sport 400, I'm saying that the spooky disconnection between the driver and the front wheels would be a severe deficit to a driver on a real autocross course. It's not like the DAS system is choosing bad ratios within its range, it's just not supplying the feedback to make it enjoyable. Knowing what your front tires are up to is critical. I can hear you saying right now, "But what Q50 Red Sport 400 owners are going to autocross their cars?" Sure, but it was just a means to an end: showing off the DAS in a good light. And in that case, it probably did. The thing is, in isolation, not back-to-back with a non-DAS car with a slow steering ratio, the DAS system has the same issues it's always had: It simply doesn't feel natural. It doesn't feel intuitive. There doesn't seem to be any real advantage over a slightly quicker rack. I don't hear about people making buying decisions based on how much work they have to do sawing at the wheel, do you? So, that's one side of the Q50 coin – one that's hard to ignore if you're an enthusiast and steering feel is an important connection between you and the vehicle you just dropped a large hunk of change on, and will be spending a lot of your time in. The other is that there's a really compelling reason to drive a Red Sport 400: The 3.0-liter, twin-turbocharged V6 is a monster.

2017 North American Car, Truck, and Utility of the Year entries announced

Over 40 vehicles will compete for the 2017 North American Car, Truck, and Utility of the Year awards. If that name looks a little strange, it's because the competition added a third category. In years past, pickup trucks, crossovers, SUVs, commercial vans, and minivans competed for the same award. That's why there were occasionally weird comparisons, like last year's competition between the Volvo XC90 and Nissan Titan XD. The new format separates pickups and commercial vans into the truck contest and CUVs, SUVs, and minivans into the utility competition. A complete list of eligible vehicles is below, but here are a few highlights. For one, the entire list of entries has a luxurious lean. Of the 43 vehicles, nearly half of them are from premium brands. There are two eligible Bentleys – the Bentayga and Mulsanne – the Rolls-Royce Dawn, Jaguar F-Pace, Audi Q7, and the Mercedes-Benz GLS-, E-, and S-Class Maybach. The performance ranks are lofty, too, with the Audi R8, Acura NSX, Alfa Romeo Giulia, Mercedes SL- and SLC-Class, Porsche 718, and F-150 Raptor. The mainstream entries are just as comprehensive. From the Chrysler Pacifica to the Chevrolet Cruze to the Fiat 124 Spider to the Mitsubishi Mirage, NACTOY has covered an enormous price range with this year's contestants. Of course, these are only the eligible vehicles. They'll need to run through three rounds of judging, starting in September at NACTOY's traditional Hell, MI, test drive. The Canadian and American journalists involved in the judging will announce this year's nine finalists – three in each category – on December 6. Cars Acura NSX Alfa Romeo Giulia Audi A4 Audi R8 Bentley Mulsanne Buick Cascada Buick LaCrosse Cadillac CT6 Chevrolet Bolt Chevrolet Cruze Fiat 124 Genesis G90 Hyundai Elantra Infiniti Q60 Jaguar XE Kia Cadenza Lincoln Continental Mercedes-Benz E-Class sedan Mercedes-Benz S550 Maybach Mercedes-Benz SL-Class Mercedes-Benz SLC-Class Mini Clubman Mitsubishi Mirage/G4 Porsche 718 Boxster and Cayman Rolls-Royce Dawn Toyota Prius Prime Volvo S90 SUVs Audi Q7 Bentley Bentayga Buick Envision Cadillac XT5 Chrysler Pacifica GMC Acadia Infiniti QX30 Kia Sportage Mercedes-Benz GLS-Class Jaguar F-Pace Mazda CX-9 Nissan Armada Trucks Ford F-Series Super Duty pickups Ford F-150 Raptor Honda Ridgeline Nissan Titan half-ton Related Video: Featured Gallery Bentley Bentayga View 23 Photos News Source: Automotive News - sub.