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Mini JCW Lineup to Adopt Revised 1.6-Liter Four and Available Six-Speed Automatic Friday, 18 May 2012, 11:02 pm

The entire line of John Cooper Works Minis—Countryman, hatchback, Clubman, Convertible, Coupe, and Roadster—will be equipped with a slightly revised version of the 1.6-liter powerplant found in the previous generation of JCW models. Those revisions result in an output of 208 hp and 207 lb-ft of torque, the same as the last JCW powerplant. Read [...]

Car and Driver Blog | Andrew Wendler

Tech Dept.: The Latest on the Airless Tire-and-Wheel Combo Friday, 18 May 2012, 10:50 pm

When Robert Thomson invented the pneumatic tire a century and a half ago, a rubber doughnut inflated with air was only one of several ideas the Scotsman proposed for softening the ride and reducing the power required to propel the carriages of his day. Thomson also suggested filling what he called his “aerial wheel” with [...]

Car and Driver Blog | Don Sherman

We Interview IndyCar CEO Randy Bernard: Revolutionizing the Sport Won’t Be Easy in the Wake of Dan Wheldon Tragedy Friday, 18 May 2012, 10:38 pm

C/D: Your first official appearance as CEO of IndyCar was at the Chicago auto show in 2010. You seemed so cheerful and innocent then. RB: “Naïve” might be a better word. C/D: You had never been to an IndyCar race then and had zero experience in motorsports when you took over a troubled organization. Good [...]

Car and Driver Blog | Steven Cole Smith

2013 SRT Viper GTS: In-Depth with the Men Who Made It Happen Friday, 18 May 2012, 10:21 pm

Russ Ruedisueli, 53, is sitting in his office at Chrysler’s Technology Center in Auburn Hills, Michigan, although he’s the kind of guy who doesn’t sit so much as crouch, muscles tensed and twitching, as if he’s attached to a pair of unseen jumper cables beneath his desk. You’d figure the guy was in pain except [...]

Car and Driver Blog | John Phillips

2013 Subaru BRZ Tested, Tackles France’s Route Napoléon Friday, 18 May 2012, 9:43 pm

This is a story of unlikely scenarios. The first concerns the Subaru BRZ, a rear-wheel-drive sports car from the company famous for making all-wheel-drive station wagons pretending to be SUVs. It’s equally unlikely that this Japanese car finds itself on southern France’s Route Napoléon, one of  Europe’s best driving roads and the main link between [...]

Car and Driver Blog | Michael Austin

2012 Chrysler 300C Update One: Miles, Smiles, and Some Minor Confusion With the Dials Friday, 18 May 2012, 7:06 pm

As we spent January and February preparing for a winter that never quite did arrive, our 300C continued to consume miles at a steady pace. In the seven months since the sparkly gray Chrysler arrived on our doorstep, we’ve managed to push the odometer a few ticks beyond the 20,000-mile mark, largely via trips close [...]

Car and Driver Blog | Andrew Wendler

LeMons Good/Bad Idea of the Week: Consistent Contenders; Or, A Look at Teams to Watch Friday, 18 May 2012, 6:27 pm

While LeMons organizers make no secret of the fact that their hearts are with the cars that never belonged in the same time zone as a race track and machines that aren’t even cars at all, there’s still a contingent of hard-core racers bent on getting the most laps in the race and spraying $1.99 [...]

Car and Driver Blog | Murilee Martin