Right out of the gate, the No. 4 Corvette team faced adversity as they made  contact with another car but were able to continue on with no damage. After both cars stopped for fuel and tires just over an hour into the race, the No. 3 car piloted by Magnussen powered their way to the front of the field while trouble struck the No. 4 Corvette again when Gavin radioed the crew that his car was stuck in sixth gear.

A full course caution coincided with the gear box problem and the crew brought Gavin down pit road and to their attention under yellow. The team quickly identified the problem which was a cracked hose in the gear box. Unfortunately the repairs cost the team five laps and they fell to the rear of the GT ranks, and came home in 10th position.

At the halfway mark of the race, Magnussen had stretched out a two second lead over second place until a full course caution fell for a car stuck in the sand. That is when the No. 3 team decided to bring Jan in for tires, fuel and a driver change. It was yet another lightning-fast stop for the Corvette Racing crew which kept the car at the front of the field.

With Garcia behind the wheel, the No. 3 team would not relinquish the lead again. The margin was tight most of the race and varied from three-tenths to almost two seconds. The crew and drivers had no room for error in such a close race. The No. 3 Corvette team impressively spent four seconds less on pit road than their competitors in second place. A number which surely factored into tonight’s victory.

Magnussen was happy with the long awaited win in a tough race. “I have to say, today was one of the most perfect races we’ve had with Corvette Racing,” he said. “We were under pressure the whole way. We never had a big lead, we really had to work through traffic and not get stopped by the slower cars and lose too much time. It was a matter of being precise the whole race. The pit crew made perfect stops. We didn’t have any issues in the pits. We did the driver change during only a short fuel, so there wasn’t a lot of time to make it. I am so happy we finally get a win over a year and a half. With this one, if you can’t win driving like this, you can’t win. It is a lot of pressure, but we have a great crew behind us the whole time.

“I knew right away we had a good car, but immediately in my mind I didn’t think we would win it because we have been in that situation many times last year where we had a good car, and a good situation going, but didn’t get the win. So this race was just a really tough race because we were under pressure the entire time and there was no room for any mistakes in the pits or on track and the whole team just performed fantastic.”

Garcia, who drove the final laps under intense pressure, gave much credit to this team. “It was brilliant,” said Garcia. “Even the driver change was amazing. Even if it was 11 or 12 seconds on fuel, we made it out on time and I could hardly even do my belts before taking off. So basically that is the main thing. The Corvette crew did a great job out there and all the pit stops were under yellow and even if we were coming in bumper-to-bumper, every time we were going out of the pits, nobody was behind us. They were behind, but they were further back than when we came in. You need a fast Corvette race car, but just as important is having a crew that performs like these guys did today. I think last year we did like 5 second places, so we really deserved a win or two. I thought today, with as perfect as we’ve been driving, if we don’t get this win, I don’t know what else to do. Everything worked, right where it needed to be.”

Gavin teamed with Milner to win the GT class in last year’s event at Laguna Seca, finishing 3.45 seconds ahead of the No. 3 Corvette C6.R, driven by Garcia and Magnussen for a 1-2 finish. Gavin and Milner continued their success that culminated in winning the 2012 ALMS drivers’ championship, and opened the 2013 season with a victory at Sebring last month.

The other top-ten finishers in Saturday’s race in ALMS GT competition were, No. 17 Porsche 911 GT3 RSR (2nd), No. 56 BMW Z4 GTE (3rd), No. 91 SRT Viper GTS-R (4th), No. 23 Ferrari F458 Italia (5th), No. 55 BMW Z4 GTE (6th), No. 48 Porsche 911 GT3 RSR (7th). No. 06 Porsche 911 GT3 RSR (8th), and the No. 62 Ferrari F458 Italia (9th).

Corvette Racing has 79 ALMS class victories, including four in 2012, making it the most successful team in American Le Mans Series history.

Washington — U.S. safety regulators on Friday opened a preliminary investigation into more than 100,000 Chevrolet Corvette sports cars after complaints of sudden loss of headlights.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration said it is investigating 103,374 2005-207 Corvettes after receiving 30 complaints from owners reporting a loss of both low-beam headlights while driving at night without warning.

“The loss of illumination impairs the driver’s ability to see the roadway,” NHTSA said, saying it could boost the chances of a crash.

In one of the 30 reports, a driver ran over a discarded tire while attempting to pull off the road, NHTSA said. Some complaints said the problem is intermittent and some reported that low-beam headlight functionality returned after a period of time, typically after the vehicle has been parked. The high-beam headlights and fog lights remain operational, NHTSA said.

Some complaints and fan forums suggest the problem is related to a fuse block under the hood.

One Arizona owner in 2011 reported to NHTSA that he was driving down a highway “at night when my low-beams disengaged, placing me in the dark and almost caused a wreck. I drove the rest of the way with my high-beams,” he wrote.

The next day the low beams worked — but stopped after five minutes. A Corvette mechanic said he needed to replace the fuse block, but he declined because it was too expensive. Instead, fellow Corvette owners suggested he let the car run until the lights failed and then to place a bag of ice on the fuse block.

“I did and within 10 minutes the lights came back on.”

The Corvettes under investigation are the sixth generation of the iconic vehicle. GM is launching its seventh generation Corvette later this year.
From The Detroit News.

It’s the 12th time that Corvette has had the honor

The inevitable has just happened: The new, seventh-generation 2014 Chevrolet Corvette Stingray will serve as the pace car for the Indianapolis 500.

The new Corvette was only the darling of the North American International Auto Show in Detroit last January where coverage of its debut blanketed all others. And Corvette is a longtime pace-car favorite. Its laps around the Brickyard will mark the 12th time it has paced since 1978.

Don’t think for a moment, however, that General Motors executives are taking the honor for granted. Looks for a cadre of them to be on hand when Stingray paces the 97th running of race May 26 at Indianapolis Motor Speedway.

“It is an honor to help inaugurate the all-new Corvette Stingray at the hallowed Brickyard and further the legacy between Chevrolet and the Indianapolis 500,” said Jim Campbell, GM’s vice president of performance vehicles and motorsports. “The 2014 Corvette Stingray’s performance was influenced by racing, making this prestigious assignment even more fitting.”

The car itself will be painted “Laguna blue” and will run without modifications to its stock 6.2-liter LT1 V-8 engine. It produces 450 horsepower.

Want to buy one? The new Corvette goes on sale in the fall but we are taking pre-orders.

That means fewer than one-third of the Chevrolet dealerships will be eligible to sell the new Stingray when it becomes available this summer, though the dealerships that are eligible can begin ordering the sports car in the coming weeks. The American automaker expects the demand for the Corvette Stingray to outstrip supply, causing it to limit allocation and inventory to its highest-volume Corvette dealerships.

“Chevrolet provided dealers with guidance and requirements early in 2012 so dealers would know well in advance whether they would likely receive Corvette models during the initial six to nine months after launch,” Russ Clark, Chevrolet marketing director for performance cars, said in a statement.

The 900 dealerships chosen account for 80 percent of Corvette sales last year and other dealerships won’t be allocated any inventory until at least six to nine months after the seventh-generation ‘Vette launches. To be eligible at all, the dealerships had to sell at least four Corvettes last year.

The dealerships picked will still have to meet several other requirements including having Stingray specialists in both sales and service. Those specialists must attend a 1.5-day training session at the 2014 Chevrolet Corvette Stingray Dealer Sales Academy at Spring Mountain Motorsports Ranch in Nevada. The cost is $2,000 per attendee excluding travel expenses.

[Source: Automotive News]

When the No. 4 Corvette C6.R beat out a field of Ferraris, Porsches and Vipers at the 12 Hours of Sebring earlier this month, the ‘Vette had a leg up on the competition. It wasn’t extra horsepower or super-sticky tires that gave the drivers an advantage, but a handful of sensors and a PC running Linux.

The Pratt & Miller team used a rear-facing radar system — the same technology your adaptive cruise control uses to avoid smacking the guy in front of you — to create an identification and collision-avoidance setup that identifies and tracks cars approaching from behind and relays the information to the driver through a 7-inch, cockpit-mounted display. The system can track up to 32 cars and tell the driver how many are behind him, how quickly they’re closing in, which classification they are and — if they’re fast enough — which side of the Corvette they’ll pass on.

“So far the drivers really love it,” Chris Hammond, embedded systems engineer for Pratt & Miller, told Wired. “[Driver] Oliver Gavin said it was like having a second set of eyes.”

The system, developed over the course of six months, uses an off-the-shelf automotive radar sensor from Bosch with customized firmware.  It’s linked to an Intel Core i3 computer that is mounted in a crash-resistant and watertight aluminum box and runs Linux with custom software. One of the biggest challenges was finding a camera that could relay information quickly enough to keep up with the pace on the track. Hammond turned to the robotics world, snagging a machine-vision camera with an ultra-low latency of around 50 milliseconds.

The video above provides a glimpse of what the driver sees when he glances at the display. Green chevrons indicate a vehicle that’s falling behind, while yellow chevrons transition to orange and eventually red as an approaching vehicle closes in and angles for a pass. More impressive, the system can detect if the approaching car is a P1 prototype class racer (which are faster than Corvette’s production-based GT class). By running a range of telemetry data through an algorithm that determines the approaching vehicle’s acceleration, cornering speed and other criteria, the system can tell which class of vehicle is approaching and place a strikethrough in the chevron to tell the driver it’s best to back off.

When a pass does occur, a flashing yellow arrow lets the driver know whether to close the hole or let a quicker car get by. More beneficial for the racer is the system’s ability to identify vehicles at night or in rain-soaked conditions, which makes racing safer and could eliminate many of the yellow flags that postpone a race.

For now, the Pratt & Miller Corvette is the only car equipped with the tech, but the company intends to make the system available to its competitors as early as this year.

“We’ve just got to figure out a price,” says Hammond.

Honda Civics and SUVs routinely appear on the list of most stolen vehicles in North America. In a way, these automobiles can be victims of their own success. For whatever vehicle you own, car theft is a menace that hurts far too many of us in the motoring community. However, crimes committed to a select group of vehicles brings true gravity this act. Established 60 years ago, Chevrolet’s Corvette defines a collection of sports cars many motorists would prize. By the reaction to the seventh-generation Corvette Stingray hardtop and convertible’s presence on the 2013 auto show circuit, we can expect a long-lasting love affair for the Corvette moving forward. Unfortunately, there’s an amoral group on this planet that will try to snatch a prized car or truck through illegal means.

Protecting our prized possessions, we will resort to numerous security measures. From simple theft deterrent tactics like locking doors to sophisticated methods including a GPS car tracking system, keeping that ‘Vette safe may fall flat despite best efforts. While some cars can be returned (several stories have popped up where classic Corvettes were recovered over a decade after their abduction),  In 60 years of the Corvette’s existence, some models of the vehicle proved more enticing to thieves. A NICB (National Insurance Crime Bureau) report published last year pinpointed specific model years of Chevy’s iconic sports car alluring the greatest quantity of criminals.

Collecting car theft data from 1981 to 2011, the NICB identifies the 1984 Chevrolet Corvettes were the most stolen examples of the popular American sports car. With 8,554 reports of thefts in a 20-year period, the 1984 was the first year of the C4 generation Corvette. In second-place on the NICB ranking for Chevrolet Corvettes is the 1981 model with 8,262 reports of theft. Model years 1979, 1985 and 1980 rounded out the top-five on the list of most stolen vehicles according to the NICB. The NICB’s top-10 most stolen Corvettes totalled-up equates to 61 percent of the 90,427 cars taken in a 20-year period. With little surprise, sunny, car-centric California leads for regions where Chevrolet Corvette thefts have occurred.

So what’s the reason for the 1984 Corvette’s top ranking on the NICB list? The likely cause of the popularity among car thieves is the production total for the sports car in 1984. In the history of the Chevrolet Corvette, the 1984 model year is the car’s second highest produced cycle. The 51,547-vehicle production is attributed to the lack of a 1983 model year. The 1979 Corvette vintage (third on the NICB theft list) is the most abundant version of the sports car with 53,807 examples produced. Since 1984, Chevrolet Corvette production has eclipsed the 40,000-mark only once in 2007.

Also interesting on the NICB list of most stolen Corvettes is the model years. The oldest model of the Chevrolet Corvette featured in the top-10 was the 1986 production vehicle. The introduction of GM PASS-Key reduced the risk of Corvette theft heading into the late 1980s.

Audible alarm, engine immobilizer and OnStar’s Stolen Vehicle Assistance system names a few pieces of standard security equipment found on the 2013 Chevrolet Corvette. When the 2014 Corvette Stingray reaches showrooms, we can be assured future Chevrolet Corvettes will incorporate anti-theft protection designed to insure a vehicle remains in the mitts of rightful handlers.

Information and photo source: Chris Nagy, National Insurance Crime Bureau

March 5, 2013

 Credit: Rick McClure

After months of “leaked” images and speculation, we can finally confirm details of the Ferrari hybrid supercar. First off, it is called LaFerrari. The name, which raised a few eyebrows at the 2013 Geneva Motor Show and literally means “the Ferrari,” is meant to convey that this car represents the ultimate expression of what the Italian automaker strives to create.

The LaFerrari has done the unthinkable and made Ferrari’s 458 Italia look dated. In an instant the Enzo looks almost comical. For sure, the dust will need to settle before we compare LaFerrari to some of the automaker’s greats.

If you’re in any doubt regarding LaFerrari’s potential, this beast will accelerate to 62 mph in less than three seconds and reach 124 mph in under seven seconds. Top speed? How about 218 mph? Two hundred and eighteen miles per hour — from a hybrid.

More coverage from the Geneva Motor Show

2013 Ferrari LaFerrari

What is it? Ferrari calls it a limited-series special — a rather expensive, elaborate test mule that showcases the pinnacle of Ferrari’s expertise. So right now this is the ultimate car ever to emerge from the factory in Maranello, Italy. But because this is a Ferrari, it’s a hybrid supercar that benefits from the automaker’s direct relationship with the world of Formula One racing. You can expect the technology used to refine the LaFerrari to filter down to all future Ferrari models, specifically the hybrid system. These are changing times and even Ferrari has to adapt.

What’s hot? Let’s face it. Although hybrid technology is undeniably important, we still want to revel in the fast facts. Carbon-dioxide emissions have never won any bragging rights — yet.

Power comes from the 6.3-liter V12 engine found in the F12 Berlinetta, but in the case of the LaFerrari it develops 789 horsepower. Add the 161 horses provided by the electric motor and the combined power is a massive 950 ponies. And we haven’t even mentioned the 660 lb-ft of total torque available to the driver.

Ferrari’s hybrid technology, known as Hy-Kers (hybrid-kinetic energy recovery system), ensures this massive torque is available at low revs while optimizing the V12′s performance at higher revs. The system is composed of two electric motors: one powering the driven wheels, the second powering other functions. The batteries, which weigh less than 132 pounds, are charged under braking and when the V12 produces more torque than required. The Hy-Kers system is a direct beneficiary of the F1 team’s developments, and the Italian automaker says they designed the LaFerrari so future applications of the car can be driven exclusively under electric power.

The chassis uses no fewer than four different types of hand-laminated carbon fiber using the same design and production methods as Ferrari’s Formula One cars.

What’s not? It’s genuinely hard to find faults with the LaFerrari. While it would be easy to mock the name choice, it seems trivial to do so in the wake of such a technological masterpiece.

And sure, you could argue the styling may not be to everyone’s taste, but that’s not much of an argument. Send LaFerrari into a hall of mirrors and even then you’d struggle to find this car’s bad side.

Perhaps the only thing to bemoan is that we’ll never even get the chance to own one.

How much and when? It’s a moot point: Each and every one of the 499 LaFerraris being built have already been sold. That’s right, 499 lucky souls have already ordered their LaFerrari and will be $1.2 million poorer as a result. Or should that be richer? After all, this is probably the closest you can currently get to driving a Formula One car on the road. And you can even mention that you drive a hybrid when dinner party conversation dictates.

MSN Autos’ verdict: Today in Geneva a new legend may have been born — the fastest road car ever to wear the Ferrari badge. One might say the LaFerrari is the “torque” of Geneva.

Source: MSN Autos

Filming for a stunt for “Top Gear Korea” nearly ended in tragedy as footage released by the BBC shows. Video from the stunt was posted to the show’s YouTube channel on Sunday, depicting presenter Kim Jin Pyo racing a Corvette ZR1 against an AH-1 Cobra helicopter.

In the footage, the Corvette beats the ex-military AH-1 Cobra across the finish line. Everything seems to be going just fine until the helicopter banks hard to the right before spiraling into the ground.

“Top Gear,” which is known for its extreme car-racing challenges including a 1986 Mini racing a skier down a slope and testing whether the jet of a 747 can blow a car over, is aired in over 170 countries worldwide, including four localized versions.