(LAWeekly.com)
Monday, January 18, 2016
The Same Probably Could Be Said For SEMA & CES
Auto Shows Are Filled With Car Companies Spying On Their Rivals
But these contrasts aren’t reserved for car journalists to notice. The car companies themselves spend much of the auto show peeking at what their neighbors are up to.
“This is our chance to check out everyone else’s cars,” one unnamed auto executive told me at a competitor’s stand, “without getting hassled.”
You see tons of executives high up and low down striding across the show floor. Take a careful look at the name tags at flashy new car unveils and you’ll see that much of the big crowds are made up of junior German car execs, mostly making snide comments about how hard their rivals are trying to look eco friendly or whatever. And after these presentations die down, you’ll find those same bosses sitting in their competitor’s cars, often making snide comments about fit and finish. There are lots of lines about how panel gaps at Company X would be unacceptable at their Company Y.
The most famous instance of this is when the now-ousted boss of Volkswagen berated his staffers about the quality of a rival Hyundai at the Frankfurt Auto Show a few years back.
These exchanges are never meant to be heard by car journalists, and are very quickly dismissed as off the record if anyone catches an earful.
Most of the time these interactions are quite chummy, though. I watched Audi give an entire tech presentation to Mercedes bosses Erik Hauppenberger and Mahmoud Malek. I talked with Hauppenberger, who used to work on Maybach back in the day, and he was extremely casual about the interaction.
He’d been poking and prodding Audi’s dashboard of the future, running his fingernails along the edges of the touch screens, testing to see if the same swipe motion that worked on the volume also worked on the phone controls. (It didn’t.)
But still, he was quite keen to say that what Audi showed him was far from secret. They’d wheeled out this demonstrator to be used, and they were using it. The auto show is a show for them, too.
(Jalopnik.com)
But these contrasts aren’t reserved for car journalists to notice. The car companies themselves spend much of the auto show peeking at what their neighbors are up to.
“This is our chance to check out everyone else’s cars,” one unnamed auto executive told me at a competitor’s stand, “without getting hassled.”
You see tons of executives high up and low down striding across the show floor. Take a careful look at the name tags at flashy new car unveils and you’ll see that much of the big crowds are made up of junior German car execs, mostly making snide comments about how hard their rivals are trying to look eco friendly or whatever. And after these presentations die down, you’ll find those same bosses sitting in their competitor’s cars, often making snide comments about fit and finish. There are lots of lines about how panel gaps at Company X would be unacceptable at their Company Y.
The most famous instance of this is when the now-ousted boss of Volkswagen berated his staffers about the quality of a rival Hyundai at the Frankfurt Auto Show a few years back.
These exchanges are never meant to be heard by car journalists, and are very quickly dismissed as off the record if anyone catches an earful.
Most of the time these interactions are quite chummy, though. I watched Audi give an entire tech presentation to Mercedes bosses Erik Hauppenberger and Mahmoud Malek. I talked with Hauppenberger, who used to work on Maybach back in the day, and he was extremely casual about the interaction.
He’d been poking and prodding Audi’s dashboard of the future, running his fingernails along the edges of the touch screens, testing to see if the same swipe motion that worked on the volume also worked on the phone controls. (It didn’t.)
But still, he was quite keen to say that what Audi showed him was far from secret. They’d wheeled out this demonstrator to be used, and they were using it. The auto show is a show for them, too.
(Jalopnik.com)
I Agree That It's A Super Dumb Idea
Nissan Has A Dumb Idea For The Next GT-R Supercar
Speaking to Top Gear, Nissan’s head of Advanced Product Strategy Richard Candler reiterated the company’s goals of offering semi and fully autonomous capabilities by 2020 in ten models. One of those models may be the next GT-R, because nothing says elite supercar like not-driving.
Speaking to Top Gear, Nissan’s head of Advanced Product Strategy Richard Candler reiterated the company’s goals of offering semi and fully autonomous capabilities by 2020 in ten models. One of those models may be the next GT-R, because nothing says elite supercar like not-driving.
“One of the things I like to think about is turning up to the Nürburgring in your GT-R, and being able to select one of the famous laps and the car just taking over.”(Jalopnik.com)
The Man Continues To Make Some Awesome Machines
Tokyo Auto Salon 2016: RE-Amemiya's Buzzing Rotary Rockets
20B FD3S Time Attack Rx-7
Appart from noticing all the weight reduction work that has been done on this one, with full carbon door interior, made with this “hand-made” feeling so typical of Amemyia weight reduction products, and that massive carbon fiber wing as wide as the car, I don’t know much about the car as we have yet to see it run. It is absolutely monstrous looking, and knowing how Amemiya’s time attack cars are, this 700hp+ turbo-charged monster will be amazing to witness for sure. I can only hope we’ll get to see Tsuchiya behind the wheel in a test video in the near future!
(OpppositeLock.Kinja.com)
20B FD3S Time Attack Rx-7
Appart from noticing all the weight reduction work that has been done on this one, with full carbon door interior, made with this “hand-made” feeling so typical of Amemyia weight reduction products, and that massive carbon fiber wing as wide as the car, I don’t know much about the car as we have yet to see it run. It is absolutely monstrous looking, and knowing how Amemiya’s time attack cars are, this 700hp+ turbo-charged monster will be amazing to witness for sure. I can only hope we’ll get to see Tsuchiya behind the wheel in a test video in the near future!
(OpppositeLock.Kinja.com)
I Want One
LOVE Porsche 911 GT3s? LOVE Sound? The PERFECT Gift . . . . .
Porsche Design has developed the 911 Soundbar for whom the sound of a high-performance sports car is not enough: a 2.1 virtual surround system subwoofer boost converted from the original rear silencer and twin exhaust from a 911 GT3. 200 watt system performance, DTS TruSurround™, Bluetooth® radio technology for wireless audio transmission from your tablet or smartphone, and much more – for the ultimate audio experience with the rhythms of the race track.
(AutoSpies.com)
Porsche Design has developed the 911 Soundbar for whom the sound of a high-performance sports car is not enough: a 2.1 virtual surround system subwoofer boost converted from the original rear silencer and twin exhaust from a 911 GT3. 200 watt system performance, DTS TruSurround™, Bluetooth® radio technology for wireless audio transmission from your tablet or smartphone, and much more – for the ultimate audio experience with the rhythms of the race track.
(AutoSpies.com)
MGM Resorts, A Big F U To You, You Greedy Mofos
MGM Resorts to charge for parking at Las Vegas Strip casinos
MGM Resorts International will break from a long-standing Las Vegas tradition and begin charging customers to park at the company's Strip resorts as part of a $90 million strategy to "expand and enhance" the company's parking infrastructure.
The parking fees will go into effect sometime between April and June the company said in a Friday statement, which also announced plans for a $54-million, 3,000-space parking structure MGM will construct near the northwest corner of the Excalibur.
The parking structure will help serve visitor growth and attendance at the company's nearby resorts and entertainment venues, including the 20,000-seat T-Mobile Arena, The Park retail and restaurant complex, and the new 5,000-seat Theater at Monte Carlo.
Construction of the new parking facility is scheduled to begin later this spring with completion scheduled in the second quarter of 2017. An MGM spokesman said customers using the new garage will be able to access the T-Mobile Arena and other nearby locations via a short walk along Frank Sinatra Drive, which runs underneath Tropicana Boulevard.
As part of the vehicle program, MGM Resorts will charge parking fees at all its Strip resorts. The company operates nine Strip developments, including the CityCenter complex, MGM Grand, Bellagio, Mandalay Bay, and The Mirage. Circus Circus will continue to have free self-parking, but there will be a fee to valet park. The Signature Towers and the Crystals and Mandalay Bay Place shopping malls will be exempt from the parking fees.
Overnight guests utilizing a self-park facility will pay $10 or less. Las Vegas locals will be given a grace period for free parking after the program begins and can maintain their free-parking status by enrolling and earning privileges through M life, the company's customer loyalty program. Nonresident guests can also earn free-parking status through the M life program.
MGM Resorts called the parking fees "moderate" when compared with similar fees in other "high-demand" tourist and convention markets, such as New York, Los Angeles and Orlando.
(ReviewJournal.com)
MGM Resorts International will break from a long-standing Las Vegas tradition and begin charging customers to park at the company's Strip resorts as part of a $90 million strategy to "expand and enhance" the company's parking infrastructure.
The parking fees will go into effect sometime between April and June the company said in a Friday statement, which also announced plans for a $54-million, 3,000-space parking structure MGM will construct near the northwest corner of the Excalibur.
The parking structure will help serve visitor growth and attendance at the company's nearby resorts and entertainment venues, including the 20,000-seat T-Mobile Arena, The Park retail and restaurant complex, and the new 5,000-seat Theater at Monte Carlo.
Construction of the new parking facility is scheduled to begin later this spring with completion scheduled in the second quarter of 2017. An MGM spokesman said customers using the new garage will be able to access the T-Mobile Arena and other nearby locations via a short walk along Frank Sinatra Drive, which runs underneath Tropicana Boulevard.
As part of the vehicle program, MGM Resorts will charge parking fees at all its Strip resorts. The company operates nine Strip developments, including the CityCenter complex, MGM Grand, Bellagio, Mandalay Bay, and The Mirage. Circus Circus will continue to have free self-parking, but there will be a fee to valet park. The Signature Towers and the Crystals and Mandalay Bay Place shopping malls will be exempt from the parking fees.
Overnight guests utilizing a self-park facility will pay $10 or less. Las Vegas locals will be given a grace period for free parking after the program begins and can maintain their free-parking status by enrolling and earning privileges through M life, the company's customer loyalty program. Nonresident guests can also earn free-parking status through the M life program.
MGM Resorts called the parking fees "moderate" when compared with similar fees in other "high-demand" tourist and convention markets, such as New York, Los Angeles and Orlando.
(ReviewJournal.com)
I Wonder If It Has An Eco Mode
Toyota Giving Prius Much Needed Street Cred With GT300 Hybrid Racer
Believe it or not, the Prius actually has some racing pedigree in its blood, having competed in Japan's GT300 championship.
On the back of the latest-generation Prius debuting, the GT300 variant has just been revealed at the Tokyo Auto Salon.
Developed by APR Racing, the all-new Prius GT300 uses some technologies from the new road car and mates them to systems from the, now retired, previous-gen racer.
Toyota says that the electric motor of the new GT300 is derived from the one of the production model but, at this stage, no further details about the electric motor have been released.
(AutoSpies.com)
Believe it or not, the Prius actually has some racing pedigree in its blood, having competed in Japan's GT300 championship.
On the back of the latest-generation Prius debuting, the GT300 variant has just been revealed at the Tokyo Auto Salon.
Developed by APR Racing, the all-new Prius GT300 uses some technologies from the new road car and mates them to systems from the, now retired, previous-gen racer.
Toyota says that the electric motor of the new GT300 is derived from the one of the production model but, at this stage, no further details about the electric motor have been released.
(AutoSpies.com)
Some Of The Best Ways To Enjoy Fries As A Complete Meal
2. Eat them with a thick and creamy clam chowder.
5. Top them with steak and drizzle everything with gravy.
11. Cover them with mac and cheese and crumbled bacon.
Complete list (BuzzFeed.com)
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