1970 Nova Ultimate Street Car on 2040-cars

Auto blog

Did the Chevy Corvette Z06 break 7 minutes at the Ring? Not likely

"Just because it's on the internet doesn't make it true." That's rule number one, two and arguably, three, of surfing the world wide web. In today's example of this rule, we have the following. The website HorsepowerKings is claiming that a 2015 Chevrolet Corvette Z06, with the eight-speed automatic and Z07 package, managed to lap the Nurburgring Nordschleife in under seven minutes. To put that in perspective, that super-quick time would put the 650-horsepower, $97,000 (the price of a 2LZ with the Z07/8AT combo) Z06 a mere two seconds slower around the world's most challenging race track than the $929,000, 887-horsepower Porsche 918 Spyder Weissach. It's about eight seconds quicker than Nissan's own test of the GT-R Nismo Track Pack and 13 seconds faster than a Dodge Viper ACR. Unfortunately, Chevy says there isn't anything to it. We reached out to the Bowtie's Monte Doran, who confirmed that HK's claims are "not accurate." "Any one – a manufacturer, a journalist, a guy standing on the fence of the Ring – can claim a lap time. As such, we think the in-car video is essential to proving a time is real and credible, and Chevrolet will not release a lap until we have a video to substantiate the claim," Doran told Autoblog. "Chevrolet accumulated nearly 1,000 miles of testing on the Nurburgring with the Z06. During that time, we only had two opportunities to run a lap on video – and both were rained out. If we get a lap on video, we will post an official time." Doran finished by referencing the "only official lap time" for the Z06 – a 2:41 around the Virginia International Raceway. Frankly, we aren't terribly surprised by Chevy's position. One would imagine if the Z06 were matching million-dollar hypercars around the 'Ring, the company would literally be screaming about it from Renaissance Center's rooftop. As this is quite the opposite of that, though, we're betting that the real Z06 lap time - while still likely very, very fast – won't be quite quick enough to frighten the brightest and best of today's hypercars.

GM struggles to sell small cars, plans to lay off 2,084 employees at two plants

Due to low demand for some of its vehicles, General Motors plans to cut 2,084 jobs at its assembly plants in Lordstown, OH and Lansing, MI. At the same time, the automaker also announced plans to invest approximately $900 million in three of its facilities – the Toledo Transmission Operations in Ohio, Bedford Casting Operations in Indiana, and Lansing Grand River in Michigan - for future products. GM will discontinue the third shift at both the Lansing Grand River plant and the Lordstown, OH plant. The Cadillac ATS, Cadillac CTS, and Chevrolet Camaro are made at the automaker's plant in Michigan, which currently has 2,700 employees. The move to eliminate the third shift affects 810 hourly workers, as well as 29 salaried employees, starting on January 16th. The plant in Lordstown, OH currently has 4,500 employees and makes the Chevrolet Cruze sedan. The plan to discontinue the third shift will affect 43 salaried workers and 1,202 hourly employees and will start on January 23rd. As Fortune points out, sales of the Cruze are down 20 percent through October, while sales of the Cadillac ATS and CTS were down 17 percent through the same period of time. In addition to cutting the third shift at both assembly plants, the automaker plans to invest a total of $900 million between three of its facilities for unnamed future products. GM's Toledo Transmission Operations will receive $667.6 million, the Lansing Grand River Assembly plant will receive $211 million, and the automaker's Bedford Casting Operations will get $37 million. Last year, GM cut roughly 500 jobs from its Orion Township factory due to slow sales of the Chevrolet Sonic and Buick Verano, with surging crossover and SUV sales as the most likely culprit. With GM posting much healthier sales figures for the Chevrolet Equinox and Cadillac XT5 compared to the ATS, CTS, and Cruze, it looks like compact SUVs are to blame for this year's layoffs as well. Related Video: News Source: Fortune, General MotorsImage Credit: REUTERS / Rebecca Cook Hirings/Firings/Layoffs Plants/Manufacturing Cadillac Chevrolet GM Coupe Sedan Lordstown Ohio

Tech of the Year special, plus we drive the hydrogen Mirai and more | Autoblog Podcast #809

In this episode of the Autoblog Podcast, Editor-in-Chief Greg Migliore is joined by Senior Editor James Riswick and Road Test Editor Zac Palmer. They kick the discussion off by talking about what they've been driving as of late, including the Toyota Mirai, Dodge Hornet, Alfa Romeo Tonale and a trio of subcompact SUVs. After that, they dive into a discussion about the 2023 Autoblog Technology of the Year award winner, which is Mercedes-Benz's Dolby Atmos Spatial Audio. Once they wrap up that segment, we get to hear the crew's latest Cybertruck takes from before the big reveal. Finally, the show wraps up with a fun Spend My Money segment. Send us your questions for the Mailbag and Spend My Money at: Podcast@Autoblog.com. Autoblog Podcast #809 Get The Podcast Apple Podcasts – Subscribe to the Autoblog Podcast in iTunes Spotify – Subscribe to the Autoblog Podcast on Spotify RSS – Add the Autoblog Podcast feed to your RSS aggregator MP3 – Download the MP3 directly Rundown What we're driving 2023 Toyota Mirai 2023 Dodge Hornet 2024 Alfa Romeo Tonale 2024 Chevy Trax 2024 Kia Seltos 2024 Mazda CX-30 Turbo Technology of the Year winner and breakdown News Cybertruck preview Spend My Money Feedback Email – Podcast@Autoblog.com Review the show on Apple Podcasts Autoblog is now live on your smart speakers and voice assistants with the audio Autoblog Daily Digest. Say “Hey Google, play the news from Autoblog” or "Alexa, open Autoblog" to get your favorite car website in audio form every day. A narrator will take you through the biggest stories or break down one of our comprehensive test drives. Related video: Green Podcasts Alfa Romeo Chevrolet Dodge Kia Mazda Mercedes-Benz Toyota Technology Infotainment Technology of the Year Crossover SUV Electric Luxury Performance Sedan Podcasts