AutoWeek Daily Drive — Thursday, December 17, 2009

HOME   |   CAR NEWS   |   CAR REVIEWS   |   RACING   |   AUTOSHOWS   |   SUBSCRIBE   |   MARKETPLACE Thursday, December 17, 2009                  The Mini Cooper S still excels with its fun driving character.... The 2009 Mini Cooper S, an AW Drivers Log SENIOR EDITOR FOR NEWS BOB GRITZINGER: Still crazy, after all these years--how many years has it been since the new Mini burst on the scene with its retro-cool good looks and unbelievably fun driving character? Mini arrived as a 2003 model, updated once since then, and remains one of the best fun cars on the market. This one, with the turbo inline-four and six-speed manual, is the best of...   GM speeds development of cars delayed during battle for survival With bankruptcy behind it, General Motors is speeding up the development of vehicle programs that had been delayed. One car, the next generation Chevrolet Malibu, will go on sale in two years. In August, GM executives said that car would debut a year later, in 2012. “Once we got out of...   Toyota refugee Kobayashi gets Sauber F1 seat for 2010 Kamui Kobayashi's racing performance in Formula One for Toyota in Brazil and Abu Dhabi has landed him a Sauber seat for 2010. The Toyota test driver appeared to have no future in F1 as he stepped in after Timo Glock was injured. But Kobayashi garnered attention by holding off Jenson Button in...   Detroit auto show: BMW electrifies the 1-series with Concept ActiveE BMW will flip the switch on the second phase of its heavily cloaked Project i city-car initiative at the Detroit auto show with the unveiling of a plug-in electric version of the 1-series coupe. Known as the Concept ActiveE, the new four-seater foreshadows a production version set for a limited... You May Have Missed...   Detroit auto show: BMW returns a six-cylinder 7-series to North America In continuing its fuel-efficient efforts, BMW will reintroduce a six-cylinder 7-series for the North American market at next month's Detroit auto show.The 2011 BMW 740i and the 740Li will be powered by a twin-turbocharged I6 producing 315 hp at 5,800 rpm and 330 lb-ft of torque between 1,600 rpm...   FIA amends 2010 Formula One rules Under revised 2010 Formula One rules announced by the FIA, midseason substitute drivers can qualify for one test day at a circuit not on the current schedule if they meet certain criteria.Previously, teams were only able to perform limited aerodynamic tests during non-grand prix weekends. This led...   Car, truck award finalists named The Buick LaCrosse, the Ford Fusion Hybrid and the Volkswagen Golf are the three finalists for the 2010 North American Car of the Year award.Finalists for the companion North American Truck of the Year award are the Chevrolet Equinox, the Ford Transit Connect and the Subaru Outback.The finalists in ... CLICK HERE TO UNSUBSCRIBE from the AutoWeek Daily Drive E-mail or to sign up for other AutoWeek e-mail products. IMPORTANT: Please add AutoWeek.com to your E-mail Address Book to ensure you will continue to receive our newsletters. Please DO NOT reply to this e-mail. You will not receive a reply if you use this e-mail address. Crain Communications, 1155 Gratiot Ave. Detroit, MI 48207.