MINI at Frankfurt Motor Show 2013 Preview

With just over a week to go before the 2013 Frankfurt Motor Show begins on 12th September MINI has announced that visitors to the Frankfurt International Motor Show will be able to see the whole of the British brand’s model range. MINI now produce nine models and various special and limited editions of their small premium car and they keep drivers loyal to the brand thanks to constant evolution of a winning formula and a range of Original MINI Accessories that will also be displayed on MINI’s stand.

The British brand’s accessories include retrofit 25-watt xenon headlamps for selected models, a next-gen portable navigation system with a 4.3-inch display that’s been designed specifically for the car and a new child seat tailored to the MINI. LED daytime running light are also an option that can be added retrospectively to various Minis.

As with a marque like Land Rover, the MINI name is a global brand. “As the original within the premium segment of small cars, MINI has now established itself in the compact class and penetrated additional target groups with the Mini Countryman and Mini Paceman launched this year in 2013,” the company’s statement says, “the brand continues its tradition as a supplier of globally successful and classless automobiles started more than 50 years ago.” This classlessness and global appeal means that there will be no shortage of visitors to MINI’s stand when the Frankfurt Motor Show opens on 10th September.

Mini at Frankfurt Motor Show 2013

With MINI diversifying the range to include cars like the Mini Paceman, Mini Clubman and Mini Clubvan we’re sure they will continue to produce variants of the MINI that push the range into new segments of the market, but we’re a bit disappointed that MINI don’t have any major announcements planned for Frankfurt.

via EUROCARBLOG

Coral anniversary celebrations in Australia / Noces de corail en Australie

This month’s Rally Australia (September 12-15) will mark the 145th WRC start of Mikko Hirvonen with co-driver Jarmo Lehtinen sitting alongside. They take over from Marcus Grönholm and Timo Rautiainen as Finland’s most devoted world championship couple.

A l’occasion du Rallye d’Australie (12-15 septembre 2013), Mikko Hirvonen et Jarmo Lehtinen vont prendre leur 145e départ commun en WRC et dépasser leurs compatriotes Marcus Grönholm et Timo Rautiainen au palmarès des équipages les plus actifs du WRC.

It is symbolic that the crew of the N°2 Citroën DS3 WRC, which formed in 2002, is poised to become Finland’s longest-standing pairing (ahead of Grönholm/Rautiainen and Alen/Kivimaki) in Australia. It is there, in 2006, that Mikko and Jarmo picked up their first world class victory, ahead of team-mates Grönholm/Rautiainen who were delayed by a crash and only had to finish to claim that year’s title.

Mikko and Jarmo were also winners of the championship’s last visit to Australia, in 2011, ahead of their team-mates of the day, Latvala/Anttila.

With 145 WRC starts together to their name, they form the fourth longest-standing crew in the championship’s history – behind Loeb/Elena (167), Sainz/Moya (161) and Solberg/Mills (152) – and have notched up 15 wins (the same as Mikkola/Hertz) plus 64 podium finishes (more than Grönholm/Rautiainen). The only honour that has escaped them so far is a world title, but that won’t happen this season since their record in 2013 includes just three podium finishes from nine events.

Meanwhile, Jarmo Lehtinen, 44, celebrated his 150^th WRC appearance in Germany. He actually started his career as a driver in the 1988 Finnish Championship and even participated in his home WRC round in 1997 behind the wheel of a Honda Civic. He then did gravel notes for Toni Gardemeister in 2002 before his first outing alongside Mikko Hirvonen at the end of the season, namely Wales RallyGB…

Le hasard veut que ce soit au Rallye d’Australie que l’équipage de la Citroën DS3 WRC n°2 formé en 2002 devienne le couple finlandais le plus capé du WRC, devant Grönholm-Rautiainen ou encore Alèn-Kivimaki.

Car c’est en Australie, en 2006, que Mikko Hirvonen et Jarmo Lehtinen avaient remporté leur première victoire mondiale… aux dépens de leurs équipiers Grönholm et Rautiainen, sortis de la route alors qu’ils n’avaient plus qu’à rallier l’arrivée pour être champions du monde ! Ce sont également eux qui ont remporté la dernière édition en 2011, grâce cette fois à leurs équipiers Latvala-Anttila…

Avec 145 départs en WRC, Mikko et Jarmo deviennent le quatrième équipage le plus capé du Mondial derrière Loeb-Elena (167), Sainz-Moya (161) et Solberg-Mills (152). Ensemble, ils ont remporté 15 victoires (autant que Mikkola-Hertz) et sont montés sur 64 podiums (plus que Grönholm-Rautiainen). Seul un titre mondial manque à leur palmarès et ce ne devrait pas être pour cette année où, en neuf rallyes, ils n’ont signé que trois podiums…

De son côté, Jarmo Lehtinen (44 ans) a fêté son 150^e rallye WRC à l’occasion du dernier Rallye Deutschland. Le grand blond a débuté dans un baquet de droite en championnat de Finlande 1988 avant de débuter en Mondial au Neste Rally Finland 1997 sur une Honda Civic. « Ouvreur » de Toni Gardemeister en 2002, il a rejoint Mikko Hirvonen cette même année à l’occasion du dernier rallye, en Grande-Bretagne.

Depuis ce bain de boue galloise, ils ne sont plus quittés et fêtent donc leur onze ans de « mariage » en 2013 : des noces de corail en Australie, pas mal non !

Smart FourJoy: New Official Images

Having built the Smart Fortwo and the Smart Forfour the small car maker ran out of nameplates pretty quickly but with their concept cars they’ve always adopted a different naming strategy. This latest concept machine, the Smart Fourjoy follows on from the Forstars and ForUs concepts which were shown in 2012.

You’ve probably noticed that this is an extreme Smart car which does away with doors, windows and a roof. Smart say that “the Fourjoy dispenses with unnecessary ballast” but we think that there’s every need for windows and doors especially when there’s no major performance gains to be taken from their removal. Smart are trying to grab attention with this creation rather than develop the latest line of intelligent city cars but the concept does come with an electric motor, which drives the rear wheels and develops 74bhp, and they’ve designed the car to be chargeable in an hour.

This may be a small car but Smart hasn’t skimped on safety as the firm’s tridion safety cell has been used. As there are no doors or windows, the cabin’s open to the elements and to unwanted visitors so it’s pretty sparse. Rather than providing the integrated infotainment system found in other Smart cars, Smart has included a smartphone docking port.

Smart FourJoy: New Official Images

Smart has said a lot of things about this new concept, not much of which makes sense, for example “Transparent petroleum-coloured moulded parts emphasise the upbeat character of the study.” They add that “The function and colour are reminiscent of 1990s tennis caps” which might well be true but we’re not sure what Tennis has to do with Smart’s new concept. Maybe visitors to the 2013 Frankfurt Motor Show will have more luck understanding the point of this machine when it gets its public debut later this month.

via EUROCARBLOG

Trees - An Epic Motocross Clip

Why? Because it's fun to ride dirt bikes in odd locations!