Nodz86

BREAKING: GM and Chrysler talking about merger Posted Oct 10th 2008 11:04PM by Damon Lavrinc Filed under: Etc., Government/Legal, Hirings/Firings/Layoffs, Plants/Manufacturing, Chrysler, LLC., GM Our heads are still reeling from one of the most tumultuous financial weeks on record, and the auto industry was far from immune. But despite our best efforts to drown our concerns in Racer5 IPA, the hits keep coming, and this time it's courtesy of the New York Times. The Gray Lady is reporting that General Motors and Chrysler have been in talks about a possible merger for the past month, that "negotiations are not certain to produce a deal," "would most likely still take weeks to work out" and that two unnamed sources say that the chances of the merger going through are "50-50." Obfuscate much? With GM's stock prices ending the week below $5 a share and Cerberus – the private equity firm that owns Chrysler – grasping at the flimsiest of straws, including continued talks with Nissan/Renault, a merger of unequals is two parts disturbing and one part intriguing. Cerberus' people haven't been returning phone calls and the only comment offered to the NYT from the General's spokesperson, Tony Cervone, was, "Without referencing that specific rumor, as we've often said at GM officials routinely discuss issues of mutual interest with other automakers." Broad, unclear and exactly what we'd expect. The merger of GM and Chrysler would put Cerberus in charge of an "unspecified equity stake" in the corporation, making the two-headed General-Chrysler (or Chrysler Motors?) the world's largest automaker, controlling over 35 percent of the U.S. vehicle market, causing rifts among brand faithful and offering more potential (vehicle) cannibalization than the Donner Party. Not to mention both automakers' labor contracts, supplier dealers and slipping market share. Shocked? Don't be. We give it a snowball's chance on the Sun. Thanks to ALL who tipped in. UPDATE: Official statement from Lori McTavish, Executive Director, Communications, Chrysler LLC: Chrysler LLC as a matter of policy does not confirm or disclose the nature of its private business meetings. As we have said, the Company is looking at a number of potential global partnerships as it explores growth opportunities around the world. Beyond those partnerships already announced however, Chrysler has not formed any new agreements and has no further announcements to make at this time. [source: NYT] From Autoblog.

Yeah that is what I ment, there would have to be a major upset for GT to move

Thats another good Idea aswell, then they can't put themselves in the final. THats why I like my suggestion so everyone can still enter but so you still have a chance to get into the final 10

F1 head's daughter gets racy in new ad Posted Oct 10th 2008 8:32AM by Jonathon Ramsey Filed under: Euro, Marketing/Advertising, Lifestyle Bernie Ecclestone has three daughters -- four if you count Formula 1 -- and the one you see above is Tamara, posing with a checkered flag. Why? To help PETA fight the fur trade, of course. Under the slogan "Going fur-free is the winning formula," Tamara has done a series of print ads in Europe that appear to say "If you really care about animals, not only will you not wear fur, you won't wear any clothes at all. And you'll be hot. Like Natasja Vermeer and Eva Mendes hot. Or Steve-O." Vive l'Europe. [source: AutoWeek] More pics here :thumbsup:

never thought this would happen, Tekken has never strayed from Sony. Only MGS to go then they would have lost all there big exclusives

I think there was one rumnoured to have over 100bhp more than what it is ment to have and some with up to 50bhp less

I say 10 entrants and who ever selects the topic (in want of a better word) should be the one to choose the final 10 ,then them 10 go to a public vote, a bit like xfactor really

theres now pics of the interior up on autoblog, its got a black drivers seat and an orange passenger seat, click on the link under the pic to see.

Top Gear filming hour-long special in Vietnam Posted Oct 9th 2008 7:58AM by Frank Filipponio Filed under: Etc., UK, Humor It looks like the Top Gear guys are in Vietnam working on an hour-long special. While we don't have any specifics, we do have some pics that popped up on Ausmotive. The Top Gear website isn't much help, cryptically telling us that the lads don't plan on shooting anyone, but they don't rule it out knowing that Jezza is there. Expect a challenge of some sort, probably involving something considerably slower than the American iron they sampled while Stateside, and of course lots of laughs as always. Thanks for all the tips! Gallery: Top Gear in Vietnam From Autoblog The boys are in ‘NamPosted by The Mole at 6:10 pm on Monday October 6, 2008 As the brand new Top Gear website glides elegantly onto the net-o-web we’re saddened to report that the presenters won’t be around to see it. That’s because, after years of dodging the draft, they’ve been sent to Vietnam. Fortunately, the war there ended 33 years ago so their mission is purely to make a jocular hour-long Top Gear special, rather than start shooting anyone in the face. Mind you, Jeremy’s there so you never know what might happen. The precise details of their detail to South East Asia have to remain a secret for now but suffice to say they’re going to buy transport and undertake a road trip. Unfortunately their budget of several million Vietnamese Dong might sound massive but is in fact the square root of the sum of sod all in one of the most pricey car markets in the world. News reaches Top Gear central command in London that they have now realised this and resorted to some rather more frugal - and buttock punishing - transport. The boys will be back next week and presumably expecting some sort of traditional ‘Nam vets ticker tape parade to welcome them home. Except that this is supposed to be a paperless office. So we’ll just have to throw some laptops at them. From topgear blog

Lamborghini reveals Estoque interior for first time Posted Oct 9th 2008 11:27AM by Jeremy Korzeniewski Filed under: Concept Cars, Sedans/Saloons, Paris Motor Show, Supercars, Lamborghini At this point, we've seen nearly every possible angle of Lamborghini's latest raging bull, the Estoque, with one rather large exception: the interior. As a four-door sedan, the compromises one naturally expects from the Italian motor company's supercars are wholly unacceptable in this application, so there is naturally a sense of luxury inside the Estoque that's missing from the Gallardo and Murcielago. We can also see large paddle shifters for the e-gear transmission that are yanked straight from the Gallardo and plenty of two-tone grey and creamy white leather covering most every surface. Plus, there's a whole lot more space now for such pleasure-inducers as a Blu-ray player, in-cabin television and, um, legroom. Still, it's clear that this is a concept cockpit that was likely rushed to deadline for the Paris Motor Show. The buttons in the cockpit are all hard black plastic, which is not exactly fitting for a sister brand of Audi, an automaker that arguably sets the gold standard for interiors by which others are judged. Take a look at the Estoque's interior for yourself in our gallery below. Gallery: Paris 2008: Lamborghini Estoque LIVE [source: Lamborghini] PRESS RELEASE From autoblog

Nissan to Porsche: Put the GT-R down before you hurt yourself Posted Oct 9th 2008 10:27AM by Dan Roth Filed under: Sports/GTs, Etc., Euro, Supercars, Nissan, Porsche The GT-R/911 schoolyard scuffuffle continues, with Nissan looking at Porsche's test and basically saying "yer doin it wrong" to the German automaker. Chief engineer Kazutoshi Mizuno has graciously offered remedial driving classes to the driver for Porsche's lapping session where a GT-R was reportedly 25 seconds off Nissan's torrid time of 7 minutes, 29 seconds. Porsche had concluded that special tires must have been quietly fitted in a quest for 'Ring primacy. Porsche has yet to say anything other than "Ve don't sink zee car can do it in schtock form." Not so, says Nissan. While a claim to the fastest production car on the Nürburgring might help prospective customers froth up some money, and owners are unlikely to try verifying the claim, Nissan is not interested in wasting time on one-offs, according to Mizuno. "For us, testing the car in standard production specification is far more relevant", says the engineer. The very tires that carried driver Toshio Suzuki on the 7:29 run are in the hands of Sumitomo, and Nissan would encourage interested parties to STFU and go look at the rolling stock. It seems Nissan thinks Porsche needs a little help figuring out the GT-R, to which the company will be happy to help. "We are aware that several automakers have purchased the GT-R for their own testing and evaluation," Nissan says in its most recent rebuttal, "we would welcome the opportunity to help any auto manufacturer with understanding the full capabilities of the GT-R." Nissan's statement is after the jump. From autoblog

New Xbox Experience is coming November 19th John Schappert, Corporate Vice President of Xbox LIVE, Services and Software, announced today during his Tokyo Game Show keynote that the New Xbox Experience will ship to Xbox 360's around the world (in 26 countries, localized in 11 languages) on November 19th 2008. From MAjor Nelson

the only downside to OC a laptop I can see is that when you OC the temp gets hotter and you are limited on a laptop to increase airflow. Also if you use it on your lap the hotter it gets the lower your sperm count.

Well I blame Hybrid, he's the one who used to post stuff occasionally from there and since then I've always gone on there. Its even on my rss feeds on my vista side bar refreshing every 15mins along with here and major nelson and threespeech so I dont even have to go on the sites now to be updated.

Its on German plates and near the 'Ring we'll probably have another record of some description or lap time set by next week. I'm just wondering on the price as I've been looking at 350z lately so might wait for this as its meaner.

Thats what I was thinking

From Autoblog Spy Shots: Nissan 370Z caught undisguised Posted Oct 8th 2008 11:55AM by John Neff Filed under: Spy Photos, Coupes, Sports/GTs, Nissan Click for high-res gallery of Nissan 370Z spy shots Nissan's upcoming redesign of its Z car is almost here, and proof positive is this prototype caught cruising around in the vicinity of Germany's famed Nürburgring. The redesign is on full display here, with the boomerang-style headlights and taillights first seen on the new Maxima clearly visible. The whole front end is new but retains a visual connection with its predecessor, while big fender flares give away that the new car might be rolling on a wider track. There are also a few more kinks and creases on the new car, which are on display in the chunky C-pillar. We think it looks terrific as an attractive evolution of the current 350Z. The new car will change its nomenclature slightly to 370Z when it debuts this auto show season thank to the addition of Nissan's new 3.7L V6 that will be producing well over 300 horsepower in the new Z. Word has it that Nissan has also worked hard to address one of the biggest criticisms against the current car: weight. We'll probably have more spy shots of the 370Z as soon as Nissan begins running it around the 'Ring, and wouldn't be surprised to see the car officially debut at next month's LA Auto Show. [source: KGP Photography]

I thought you got a crown at champion and it got coloured in at ace??

There used to be giveaways on the official EU forum for people from the EU but I don't think there have been any for ages. And then there was schemes for getting them if you pre ordered the game or joined BT Broadband. Not sure if the US forum ever done give aways or not.

another update. More new info added to 1st post. and below for you lazy people: New Xbox Experience: Games Marketplace This week, we take a look at the Games Marketplace. As you can tell in the below before and after screenshots, the team has done some great work in redesigning the Marketplace to showcase information about each game. In addition to seeing the downloads available for each game, you’ll also be able to look at screen shots and game details (like on Xbox.com.) The Gamerscoreblog has a more in depth post about this, but I’ve posted the high resolution versions of these (and more new Marketplace images) on my Flickr so you can see it for yourself. Marketplace Today Marketplace in the New Xbox Experience (available later this year) Also, For those that are wondering: The New Xbox Experience will ship later this year. As in before the New Year. From Major Nlson

Im loving it and theres rumours of a scndanavia and uk expansion, and the mods are immense

as someone else has dragged up this thread might aswell carry on. Well Ive installed the game and I'm enjoying it, theres a hell of alot of mods for this which are goin to be installed the weekend, loving it.

Nice motor Marc, whats happened to the red one??

To add to that am I also right in saying that as all GT-R engines are hand made that they all have different bhp. so the one round the 'ring may have had a bit more bhp than the one porsche got

sometimes you get the defualt car if the car they are in dont load properly, well you do on the xbox not sure if its the same on the pc