It’s here: 218bhp Mini Paceman JCW

John Cooper Works edition of the niche-busting mini SUV coupe lands…

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When we first drove the new Mini Paceman, we opined that - while Mini might not like to hear it - it'd be ace for grandparents, what with its high-entry position.

Well, here's the one for the grandparent that's had one too many Red Bulls and watched an old episode of The Sweeney: it's the brand new Mini John Cooper Works Paceman.

That's right, the seventh - seventh - model in Mini's line-up gets the full JCW treatment. And looking at the picture above, it seems to have all gone a bit Dark Side of the Force. It'll make its worldwide debut at the upcoming Detroit motor show in January 2013, so for now you'll just have to touch your computer screen and ingest these details for a feel of it.

Underneath sits Mini's now-familiar 1.6-litre turbocharged four-cylinder petrol engine producing some 218bhp at 6,000rpm, and 207lb ft of torque available between 1,900rpm and 5,000rpm, with a six-speed manual as standard, or a six-speed auto as an option. There's also some overboost on offer too between 2,100rpm and 4,500rpm which increases the torques to 221, opening up - in Mini's words - "gratifyingly vivacious acceleration". Bravo.

Such vivacity expresses itself through a 0-62mph time of 6.9 seconds and a top speed of 140mph (139mph for the auto), making it the second-slowest JCW Mini behind its sober-suited brother, the JCW Countryman (0-62mph in seven seconds).

It'll get an appropriately tuned exhaust to match this sprint, along with Mini's ALL4 four-wheel-drive system as standard, which uses an electromagnetic centre diff to distribute drive between the front and rear axles. Normal driving results in around 50 per cent of the engine power being sent to the rear, but in "extreme conditions" (the only conditions TG fully understands), all 218 horses can be sent to the rear axle.

The Paceman sits 10mm lower than standard, on sports suspension that's been ‘dynamically optimised', together with DSC and DTC stability and traction systems. Outside, its sporting intent makes itself known through 18in light-alloy wheels (with 19s an option), an aero kit with added beef, and of course, the all important JCW logos on the grille, boot and door sills.

Prices start at £29,535, around a grand more than the Countryman JCW, and it'll go on sale 16 March 2013. A step too far, or the car you've been silently crying out for?

Vijay Pattni 

from http://www.topgear.com

NORBERT HAUG ARRÊTE SES FONCTIONS CHEZ MERCEDES-BENZ

Une page va se tourner chez Mercedes-Benz. En effet, après avoir passé 22 années  à la tête du service compétition de la firme allemande, Norbert Haug, par ailleurs Vice-Président de Daimler AG, cesse ses fonctions à la fin de l'année 2012, son contrat s'arrêtant d'un commun accord avec le Board de Mercedes-Benz.

Norbert Haug (à droite avec Gary Paffett) avait pris ses fonctions le 1^er octobre 1990. Sous sa direction, Mercedes-Benz et McLaren, son partenaires technique en Formule 1, ont remporté six titres et 87 victoires. En DTM, toujours sous la férule de Norbert Haug, ce sont 32 titres qui sont tombés dans l'escarcelle de Mercedes (60% des titres potentiels, pilotes, teams et constructeurs). En ajoutant la Formule 3, le Champ Car et le Groupe C, c'est un pourcentage exceptionnel de 45,4% qui a été atteint : 439 victoires en 935 courses !  

Dieter Zetsche, Président de Mercedes-Benz Cars et de Daimler AG : « Norber Haug a été la figure de proue du programme sportif de Mercedes-Benz pendant plus de 20 ans. Pour moi, il a mis son empreinte sur toute une époque et, pour couronner le tout, il a été le responsable du come-back réussi de la Flèche d'Argent en Formule 1. Au nom du Board of Management et de toute la famille du sport automobile, je tiens à remercier Norbert pour son extraordinaire engagement envers la marque aux trois étoiles. »  

Norbert Haug : « Je tiens à remercier la firme qui a été la meilleure au monde pendant plus de 22 ans, au cours desquelles je n'ai jamais connu un seul moment sans passion. Je remercie particulièrement le Board pour la confiance et la liberté qu'ils m'ont toujours accordées dans toutes mes activités. Depuis 1991, nous avons obtenu quelques résultats et victoires formidables, ce en quoi je remercie tous mes collègues. Malheureusement, avec une seule victoire en 2012 depuis que nous avons fondé notre propre team de Formule 1 en 2010, nous n'avons pu combler nos espoirs. Cependant, nous avons posé les bonnes bases pour réussir à l'avenir. Notre etam et nos pilotes feront tout pour atteindre ces objectifs. »    

 

Citations tirées du communiqué Mercedes-Benz,

by Claude Foubert(Endurance-Info.com)

World Superbikes 2013: Only 16 riders?

With Twowheelsblog

With just a little more than two months before the start of the 2013 World Superbike championship with the season opener at Phillip Island, the series seems to heading down the same road that MotoGP had before Dorna introduced the CRT’s - a dwindling grid - with just ten teams, sixteen riders and five manufacturers present so far.

Aprilia will be playing the lion’s part with four bikes on the grid, BMW three, while Ducati has dropped from its massive seven strong in 2012 to just three riders to use the new 1199 Panigale in the upcoming season. Kawasaki will have two or four depending on Pedercini, while Suzuki and Honda will each have two bikes.

2013 entry list so far:

Aprilia Racing Team : Eugene Laverty and Sylvain Guintoli
Althea Racing Aprilia Team : Davide Giugliano
Red Devils Aprilia Team : Michel Fabrizio
Kawasaki Racing Team : Tom Sykes and Loris Baz
Pata Honda Racing : Jonathan Rea and Leon Haslam
Crescent Fixi Suzuki : Jules Cluzel and Leon Camier
Alstare Ducati : Carlos Checa and Ayrton Badovini
BMW Motorrad Motorsport Goldbet : Marco Melandri and Chaz Davies
Grillini Progea SBK Team BMW : Vittorio Iannuzzo
MR Ducati Team : Max Neukirchner

Kawasaki Pedercini has yet to confirm their riders, which could be Alex Lundh and Simone Grotzkyj Giorgi and there could be a new entry with Team Air Asia BMW that may field CIV Superbike rider Ivan Clementi. So far the earlier rumors that Effenbert Liberty could be making a return haven’t panned out, yet.

Aprilia has offered other RSV4’s to Red Devils Roma and Althea teams, and apparently the relative team managers are working on finding the necessary budget to see if they can field each field another rider.

Source | moto.it

1966 Shelby Mustang Trans Am

Authentic Shelby Mustangs have always been and will always be gold. Competition cars with a genuine race history are even more special. This car is just such a Mustang. In 1966, Shelby American constructed sixteen Mustangs to compete in the Sports Car Club of America’s Group II series. This was better known as the Trans-American Sedan Championship, or Trans-Am. Trans-Am actually consisted of two series, one for professional drivers and one for amateurs, and of course proved to be wildly popular. The Group II Shelbys were mechanically very similar to the B-Production GT350R and featured the Shelby-built 289, close ratio Borg-Warner four-speed, Koni shocks, and enlarged fuel tank.

This car was the twelfth of those sixteen Shelby Mustangs built for Group II, and was able to rack up valuable championship points in Ford’s drive to finish on top in the 1966 Trans-Am series. In that year the car won at Green Valley, Texas and at Continental Divide, in addition to being featured on the cover of Sports Car Graphic‘s December issue. It enjoyed a fruitful competition career, including an A/Sedan lap record at Lake Afton in 1968, until 1969. After it, like all competitive race cars, passed into obsolescence, the Shelby sat in a Texas garage for almost thirty years before being restored to its 1966 specifications, making it one of only nine known examples left.

Today, it wears the white and blue proudly, and features the signatures of Shelby himself and original owner/driver John McComb. Find the 1966 Shelby Group II Mustang here at the Mecum Kissimmee auction taking place between January 18th and 27th, 2013.