Autoweek Daily Drive — Wednesday, December 19, 2012

HOME   |   CAR NEWS   |   CAR REVIEWS   |   RACING   |   AUTO SHOWS   |   VIDEOS   |   COLLECTOR   |   SUBSCRIBE Wednesday, December 19, 2012                  Ken Block poses for a shot on a boat during Gymkhana Five.... DC Shoes lets us in on the making of Gymkhana Five Ken Block’s Gymkhana videos take a long time to produce. After scouting and shooting, they still have to cut, edit, and add sound, plus do a myriad of other things before it hits the internet as a giant, expensive DC commercial. That’s why they only produce one every so often. Luckily for us fans, they know how to keep us...   2014 C7 Corvette nose drawing leaked A leaked drawing purported to be the front end of the 2014 Chevrolet Corvette has given us a little more detail...   Economic impact will decide Circuit of the America's future with Formula One The inaugural United States Grand Prix at Circuit of the Americas near Austin, Texas, was a smashing success in terms of the on-track action and attendance, which track officials reported as 117,429 on race day and a weekend total...   2012 Mercedes-Benz E63 AMG Wagon review notes ASSOCIATE TECHNICAL EDITOR BRAD CONSTANT: I'm finding that my excitement levels are consistently increasing every time I get to drive a car with the letters “AMG” on it. And I know exactly where this excitement comes from: the combination of Mercedes-Benz luxury and rear-wheel-...   Continental Tire Challenge maintains its strength: Year in review 2012 Regarding Grand-Am and the American Le Mans Series merger for 2014, it seems inevitable that with a 12-race schedule planned, some tracks that hosted Grand-Am, the ALMS or both will end up with neither. This could be good news for Grand-Am's Continental Tire Sports Car Challenge development...   Championship wasn't only action in Grand-Am: Year in review 2012 The record books will show that, yes, it was just one more championship for the most dominant team in Grand-Am Daytona Prototype history -- the Chip Ganassi Racing Riley-BMW of Scott Pruett and Memo Rojas. That doesn't tell the season-long story of the Ganassi team's uncharacteristic...   Where does NASCAR rank among American pro sports heading into 2013? We've seen years of declining television ratings. Longtime sponsors have made their way out of the sport during the economic struggles of the past few years. There aren't 43 cars running the full race anymore, sometimes even in the Daytona 500, the sport's most marquee event. So how is...   Schmidt & Vautier claim Indy Lights crown: Year in review 2012 Sam Schmidt gave young French driver Tristan Vautier the only advice he knew. “Race where you can win,” Schmidt said. “Race where you can dominate.” After Schmidt’s Indy Lights team gave Vautier a test run during the last offseason, both knew Vautier needed to... You May Have Missed...   The 1947 Kurtis-Omohundro Comet rediscovered, part two: Sports car or sport custom, the Comet can't be ignored On Friday, we introduced you to the 1947 Kurtis-Omohundro Comet -- a one-off roadster that automotive historian, enthusiast and collector Geoffrey Hacker calls “America's first postwar sports car.” That's a bold claim, but it's one that Hacker is ready to back up. His book, 1947 Kurtis-...   It's the end of the world as we know it Recently, some punk-rock guy tried to pick up your author's girlfriend. Upon being shot down, dude lamented, “You probably date guys who like R.E.M.”Punk guy was perceptive. Your author's love of R.E.M. is roughly concurrent with his love of Minor Threat and Iron Maiden. In retrospect,...   Black boxes in cars likely to become standard Most people are aware of event data recorders, commonly called “black boxes,” in airplanes. Many people don't realize a variety of passenger cars also have these devices -- and they may be mandatory for 2015 model year cars.There are black boxes in about 96 percent of cars for the 2013...   Top 12 consumer car debuts at 2012 U.S. auto shows The 2012 calendar year brought a lot of excitement in the automotive industry. Sales numbers show a gradual recovery, and pending federal fuel-efficiency requirements have fueled a slew of mainstream green technologies that don't dampen driving dynamics.Among the glitz of auto shows, some of our...   Diesels clean up their act, offer stellar fuel economy Who would have thought it: After decades of resistance, Americans are starting to realize that today's smooth-running, fuel-efficient diesel cars bear little resemblance to the smelly, polluting slowpokes of old. According to recent sales information, clean diesel sales have jumped more than 25...   ARCA test and lack of women at Daytona: Is 'Danicamania' over? At the ARCA test at Daytona International Speedway in December of 2009, there were 11 female drivers on the entry list. At the same test at Daytona last week, there were three -- out of 60 drivers.Clearly, the number of female drivers, along with their backers, are no longer convinced that they can ...   Infiniti ups its Q-quota with a new badging scheme: Autoweek TV Also in this episode: BMW will bring the M6 Gran Coupe, 4-series concept and new Z4 at the Detroit auto show, and Chevy keeps teasing us ahead of the 2014 Corvette debut. TRANSCRIPT-- Infiniti brings you the letter Q.-- BMW loads up for the Detroit auto show.-- And Chevy provides another glimpse of ...   Arend lands Funny Car ride at Jim Dunn Racing Jim Dunn Racing named Jeff Arend, as its driver of the Grime Boss Funny Car for the 2013 NHRA Mello Yello Drag Racing Series.Arend finished 10th in the NHRA Funny Car points race in 2012 for Kalitta Motorsports, a team he had been with since 2008. Arend raced for Kalitta for the past four and a... 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