AutoWeek Daily Drive — Wednesday, June 9, 2010

HOME   |   CAR NEWS   |   CAR REVIEWS   |   RACING   |   AUTOSHOWS   |   SUBSCRIBE   |   MARKETPLACE Wednesday, June 09, 2010                  A new aluminum block for the 5.4-liter V8 helps shave 120 pounds from the 2011 Ford Mustang Shelby GT500.... 2011 Ford Mustang Shelby GT500, an AW Flash Drive NOW WITH VIDEO -- What is it? Just the fastest production Mustang ever, and the quickest, with some serious upgrades from the substantially revised 2010 GT500. The improvements start under the hood, where the GT500 retains the 5.4-liter V8 developed for the Ford GT supercar, rather than adopting a variation of the new 5.0-liter V8 introduced in the standard 2011 Mustang GT....   Ferrari extends Massa's Formula One contract through at least 2012 Ferrari said Wednesday that it extended its contract with Formula One driver Felipe Massa through at least the end of the 2012 season. The 29-year-old Brazilian's deal with the Italian team was set to expire at the end of this year. He has raced for Ferrari since 2006, though he served as Ferrari's ...   The 2011 Mercedes-Benz R350 4Matic, an AW Flash Drive What is it? Mercedes-Benz debuts an updated R-class for the 2011 model year with a new front-end design, slightly altered rear and lightly freshened interior. From the A-pillar forward, the '11 R-class is new, with a more upright grille, fenders, hood and headlights to better relate to...   De Silvestro: Everything went wrong in Texas fire Izod IndyCar Series rookie Simona De Silvestro said “everything went wrong” in her fiery crash at Texas Motor Speedway in Saturday night's race, but she harbors no ill will toward those who tried to help her. “I've got, like, four small blisters on my finger; it looks way worse ...   One Bad Hombre One of life's automotive mysteries--along with America's appetite for "luxury" cars and why we whine about paying half as much for gasoline as the rest of the world--is how anybody gets along without a pickup. Our suburban half-acre features a too-big lawn (inappropriate in the desert, but it... You May Have Missed...   2010 Aston Martin DB9, an AW Drivers Log EDITOR WES RAYNAL: This was not nearly the eye-popping, holy-crap experience I thought it would be. The car certainly is a looker, but driving it is sort of underwhelming. Maybe my expectations were too high. But if they were/are, it’s only because the car looks so damn good.It’s poised ...   Blogging from Le Mans: New Panoz racer debuts in run-up to first practice session The overcast skies and off-and-on showers did not dampen or darken the mood in Le Mans on Tuesday. It has been a relatively quiet day for the teams. The major task for the crews was continuing to prep their cars for the first practice late Wednesday afternoon. Cars were stripped to the bones and...   WRC: Ogier to replace Sordo at Citroën for gravel events Citroën has shuffled its World Rally Championship drivers, promoting Rally Portugal winner Sébastien Ogier to the main team alongside Sébastien Loeb for the season's three remaining gravel events.In those three events--Finland, Japan and Great Britain--Loeb's usual teammate, Dani Sordo, will step...   Grand-Am: Michael Shank Racing to switch chassis after Watkins Glen fire Grand-Am Rolex Sports Car Series drivers Michael Valiante and Brian Frisselle will compete in a Dallara-Ford next week at Mid-Ohio after a fire destroyed its No. 6 Riley-Ford during the Watkins Glen race last weekend.On lap 170 of the six-hour event, the car caught fire with Valiante in the...   GM to recall 1.5 million vehicles for fire risk General Motors Co. said it is recalling 1.5 million vehicles with heated washer-fluid systems following engine fires that occurred even after a 2008 fix on many of the same cars for similar problems.The recalls, to begin by June 14, will affect 18 models of 2006-2009 Buicks, Cadillacs, Chevrolets,...   Aston Martin Racing working on new LMP1 prototype for 2011 Aston Martin should have an all-new prototype race car on the 2011 Le Mans grid, in the hands of both the factory team and customer entrants. Aston Martin Racing, the division of Prodrive that masterminds the British manufacturer’s motorsports activities, intends to build a batch of six LMP1-...   Audi R8 E-tron hits the road for testing The high-tech Audi R8 E-tron is being tested on public roads to start a development program that Ingolstadt insiders say will have the all-electric, four-wheel-drive supercar on sale in North America by the end of 2012. Audi plans a 1,000-unit run of the R8 E-tron, with each car built to order. The ... 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.