GM had finance guys running the company, and those guys — Rick Wagoner, Fritz Henderson, and Ray Young — left its finances in shambles. An incompetent GM board backed incompetent management. Although Rattner had to fire Wagoner, he wanted retiring GM Chairman Ed Whitacre to keep Henderson as CEO. Read the rest of this entry »

Jaguar desperately needs a BMW 3-series fighter priced between $30,000 and $40,000. While we continue to wait for that rumored announcement, Jaguar is using the

trs chic to unveil an eleventy-billion-dollar, two-seat, twin-turbine, quad-electric-motor-powered 205-mph slingshot that should be in production in about, oh, never. Cue the

Star Wars theme. Did we mention that there was British government agency money involved in this project?

The C-X75 is at heart a research project designed to fuse aerospace and automotive technologies. Read the rest of this entry »

Ford’s F-series has been the pickup-sales king since the late ’70s, but in recent years, the F-150 has felt like it was powered by a circa-1978 powertrain. Until 2011, its top engine was a 5.4-liter V-8 making a wimpy 310 hp and 365 lb-ft of torque. (Those totals climbed to 320 and 390, respectively, on E85.) Speed isn’t super-important for pickups, but horsepower and torque are when it comes to towing and hauling. The 2010 F-150 was rated to tow nearly six tons, but the engine felt like it could barely handle the truck’s own 2.5 or so. Read the rest of this entry »

But the big advances came in the engine room. The port-fuel-injection system was replaced with fuel injectors that squirt fuel directly into the combustion chamber. This direct-injection system increased fuel economy significantly. The ’01 Audi could go 12 laps between fuel stops over 101 miles at Le Mans, compared with 11 laps in the old car. Peak power was not affected, but Audi says direct injection increased low-end torque and throttle response.

Kettler said the ’01 piece laps Sebring almost a second quicker than the 2000 car. Read the rest of this entry »