AutoWeek Daily Drive — Wednesday, October 27, 2010

HOME   |   CAR NEWS   |   CAR REVIEWS   |   RACING   |   AUTOSHOWS   |   SUBSCRIBE   |   MARKETPLACE Wednesday, October 27, 2010                  Subaru has tightened up the handling of the Impreza WRX sedan for 2011.... The 2011 Subaru Impreza WRX Sedan, an AW Drivers Log NEWS EDITOR GREG MIGLIORE: This is a fun sedan that is a viable competitor with the Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution, the Mazda Mazdaspeed 3 and the Volkswagen Golf GTI. The styling is a bit boy racer and over the top, but I like it. The five-speed manual is easy to use and the clutch has nice takeup. Shifting is smooth; it's an energetic gearbox. The boxer-four is my favorite part. It's...   How to handle the 10th anniversary of Dale Earnhardt's death We all know what happened on Feb. 18, 2001: Dale Earnhardt was killed in a comparatively benign last-lap crash in NASCAR's season-opening Daytona 500. Now, the question becomes: What will happen in just a few months on Feb. 20, 2011? The next Daytona 500 will, after all, mark the 10th...   L.A. auto show: Honda to reveal electric concept Honda will unveil an electric-vehicle concept on Nov. 17 at the Los Angeles auto show. It will be accompanied by a new platform that shows off Honda's latest plug-in developments. Honda Motor Co. Ltd. president and CEO Takanobu Ito will be at the press conference, marking the first time the... You May Have Missed...   Oct. 26: Fat city This whole plug-in hybrid thing has made me even lazier than I usually am. I know that's hard to imagine, but it's true. When I was driving the Mitsubishi i-MiEV electric car over the summer, I could not afford to be a slacker. I had to plan everything. If I found an electrical outlet, I had to...   NASCAR: AARP to sponsor Jeff Gordon in 2011 with anti-hunger campaign After 18 years with DuPont as the primary sponsor of his famous No. 24 Chevrolet, four-time NASCAR champion Jeff Gordon will have backing next year from an anti-hunger program through the American Association of Retired Persons. Hendrick Motorsports is expected to formally announcement the unique...   BMW recalls 132,000 cars for fuel-pump fixes BMW is recalling about 130,000 cars fitted with its N54 twin-turbo six-cylinder engine to repair a faulty high-pressure fuel pump.The recall covers the 2007-10 335i; the 2008-10 135i, 535i and X6 xDrive35i, and the 2009-10 Z4 sDrive35i. BMW says about 40,000 of those cars will need a new fuel pump. ...   Asian brands top annual Consumer Reports rankings on reliability Honda, Acura, Porsche and Scion topped the annual Consumer Reports reliability survey released on Tuesday. At the other end of the spectrum, Audi, BMW and Mercedes-Benz were deemed among the worst. Findings are based on responses about 1.3 million vehicles owned or leased by subscribers to Consumer ...   Pros and cons of 2010 IndyCar Series season Throughout each Izod IndyCar Series season, a friend of mine e-mails me his list of likes and dislikes after each race. Now that the dust has settled on IndyCar's 2010 campaign, here's five of my own pros and cons after traveling along with the tour for another year.The Good-- Dario Franchitti: The ...   Skip Barber Racing School adds SimCraft simulator to its classroom The Skip Barber Racing School at Road Atlanta in Braselton, Ga., has teamed up with SimCraft Corp. to install the company's Apex full-motion racing simulators in the Barber classroom.Using the simulator "allows students to experience race-car dynamics at track speed before getting out onto the...   SEMA: Hennessey's Venom GT off to Vegas High-performance car tuner John Hennessey is taking his Venom GT sports car--the marriage of a lightweight Lotus two-seater with a ground-pounding V8 from the Chevrolet Corvette ZR1--to this year's SEMA show in Las Vegas.Hennessey takes the 6.2-liter V8 from the Corvette, adds a pair of...   Underground Racing Lamborghini crashes at Texas Mile, driver survives WITH VIDEO -- Underground Racing, the Charlotte, N.C., tuning shop that broke the 250-mph mark with a twin-turbo Lamborghini Gallardo in Texas last spring, saw that car crash on Oct. 23 after making another run at the Texas Mile high-speed challenge.Video of the run, posted on YouTube, shows the...   Formula One: McLaren boss Whitmarsh praises FIA president Todt McLaren team principal and Formula One Teams Association chairman Martin Whitmarsh thinks that former rival Jean Todt has “played a good role” in his first year as FIA president.Todt celebrated the first anniversary of his election by visiting the Korean Grand Prix over the weekend,...   Formula One: Ferrari rallies for final push Ferrari president Luca di Montezemolo has praised his Formula One team members for the Scuderia's recent run of success but also cautioned them to leave no stone unturned as they prepare for the last two races of the season.Montezemolo spoke to the F1 team at the traditional post-victory gathering...   NASCAR: Richard Petty Motorsports' future remains uncertain; team trying to raise money Officials at NASCAR stalwart Richard Petty Motorsports are not saying much about their company’s efforts to generate funds to finish this season and field two full-schedule Sprint Cup Series cars next year. Team minority owner Richard Petty would not address RPM’s financial crisis last... 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.