• 2024 Audi Q8 E-Tron and SQ8 E-Tron First Drive: New name, better range and more fun

    LANZAROTE, Canary Islands — The 2024 Audi Q8 E-Tron is entering into a vastly different electric world today than when it went on sale as the E-Tron in 2019. Buyers have more luxury EVs to choose from than ever, with the BMW iX, Mercedes-Benz EQE SUV and Rivian R1S among others here to join Audi in stealing slices of Tesla’s pie.

    Back in 2019, we heralded the E-Tron as simply a luxury Audi, but electric. It’s everything Q7 or Q8 buyers were accustomed to, but in an electric package. If you liked it for this, great! None of that has changed for the Q8 E-Tron. It’s as plug-and-play as an EV gets with no gimmicks or weird turn-offs about the way it drives. Even the design gives off “I swear I’m normal” vibes.

    Of course, the realities of owning an EV are different from simply driving one to the grocery store and back. Since the E-Tron’s original launch, Audi tells us its customers’ No. 1 concern has been range — the E-Tron came into the world with only a 204-mile range on a full charge. Minor updates brought this figure up to 226 miles for the 2023 model year, but the 2024 Q8 E-Tron attempts to put all range concerns to bed. While EPA figures are not yet available, Audi says its target is for the final number to “begin with a 3,” meaning the SUV will be good for further than 300 miles of range. Expect the returning Sportback version to be slightly better than the SUV by way of its naturally more aero-friendly silhouette.

    How is Audi achieving this? In short, a more power-dense battery pack and numerous efficiency improvements. Previously, the E-Tron featured a 95-kilowatt-hour battery pack with a usable capacity of 89 kWh. The Q8 E-Tron is rocking a new 114-kWh battery pack with a usable capacity of 106 kWh. Audi increased the battery capacity without increasing the physical footprint of the pack, allowing it to retain the same platform packaging as before. This greater energy density is accomplished via battery stacking technology, which is new for the E-Tron, and for the real battery nerds, we’ll note that Audi is using prismatic battery cells now instead of the pouch cells used when the E-Tron began production.

    You should expect an approximately 19% range boost just by way of the larger battery pack, and that’s before taking into consideration the efficiency improvements made for the Q8 E-Tron that will help get it across the line to 300 miles. The big improvement is the new rear electric motor for the Q8 E-Tron 55 — note that the following doesn’t apply to the SQ8 E-Tron. The number of stator windings in this motor is increased to 14 instead of the 12 windings seen in the previous motor. In layman’s terms, this ultimately allows Audi to retain the same power output as before, but use less energy. Audi also changed how power is distributed to each axle for its all-wheel-drive system. Previously, the E-Tron used the front motor for same-speed cruising. Now, it uses the newer, more efficient rear motor for cruising, leading to greater efficiency in this sort of driving. Of course, the front motor will kick in as soon as its added traction is necessary, and it always provides power when the car is in “Dynamic” or “S” modes.

    Beyond the powertrain, Audi turned its attention to making the Q8 E-Tron more slippery through the air than the E-Tron. First, a new lower intake grille is implemented and features electrically operated shutters. This opens when cooling of the drive components and brakes is necessary, but otherwise remains sealed while driving. A new air curtain design, in conjunction with new wheel spoilers, also work to reduce air resistance. The new spoilers are much larger than before to better direct airflow around the tires, and Audi attributes half of the Q8 Sportback E-Tron’s aero efficiency gains — totaling a drag co-efficient of 0.27 from the old model’s 0.29 — solely to these.

    As for the digital side view mirrors you see in the Euro-spec cars we tested, those still aren’t coming to the United States any time soon per stateside regulations. They account for another 0.02 reduction in drag alone, but after giving them a go over the course of two days, we won’t be missing them. More time in familiar environments and various weather conditions could help the adaptation process, but the perspective switching required to use the screens was disconcerting. It requires a re-training of the brain, and even if you get there, the view is compromised versus a regular mirror in that you can’t adjust your head’s position or angle to gain additional visibility — what you see on the screen is what you get. That said, the yellow and red outlines around the screen for blind spot information is helpful.

    Another big point of change from E-Tron to Q8 E-Tron is in the chassis and steering. The E-Tron felt grossly overweight and bulky, so a number of updates were made to make it feel more agile and handle better. The most noticeable change is the steering. Audi says the ratio is reduced from 15.8:1 to 14.6:1, thereby reducing the steering input necessary for the car to change direction. Additionally, a new and stiffer front axle bearing is present, and Audi says this helps both improve feedback and steering feel. The steering is indeed heavier in “Dynamic” mode than before, but not overly so. As the final touch, the air suspension and ESC systems are fully re-tuned to fit a car that’s meant to change direction in a quicker and sharper manner.

    These are all small changes, but the end result is a step improvement over the E-Tron. Yes, the Q8’s 408 horsepower and 490 pound-feet of torque are still tasked with lugging a heavy block of metal approaching 6,000 pounds, but that heavy block of metal is more eager and willing to run up and down a mountain road without feeling woefully out of place. Don’t expect the Q8 E-Tron to behave like a Cayenne or other sport-focused SUV, and you won’t be disappointed. Now, drive the SQ8 E-Tron with its 496 horsepower and 718 pound-feet of torque, and a smile may start to spread across your face.

    The SQ8 E-Tron predictably has revised air suspension, damper and chassis tuning versus the regular E-Tron, but where the SQ really gets its agility from is the tri-motor setup that includes two rear motors for true torque vectoring and better straight-line acceleration. Swing the SQ8 E-Tron through a few hairpins, and the difference between it and the Q8 E-Tron is impossible to miss. The outside rear wheel of the SQ8 E-Tron provides more torque than the inside, thereby sling-shotting you around corners in a way you weren’t expecting with such a large, heavy SUV. Tri-motor EVs are still rare to find with Tesla and soon Lucid making the others (unless you count the four-motor Rivians), so enthusiasts should head straight here if considering the Q8 E-Tron line. 

    What is particularly nice about the above improvements is that none of them get in the way of the Q8 E-Tron being one of the most comfortable and luxurious cruisers you can buy. Audi says it managed to engineer this duality by making the difference in modes greater and more obvious to the driver. That said, even the ride of the SQ8 E-Tron in Dynamic mode with the air suspension in its low setting is super-comfy. This is a luxury car first, and a sporty SUV second.

    Its sumptuous and super-quiet cabin make it an ideal vehicle for road trips, though the 150-kW maximum speed for fast charging the old E-Tron puts it behind the curve. The Q8 E-Tron bumps this max speed up to 170 kW — Audi promises the same charging curve as before — which should reduce charging times ever-so-slightly. However, competitors including the BMW iX, Mercedes EQ models and a lot of other EVs still outpace the Q8 E-Tron for charging speed. Audi says to expect charging stops where you go from 10-80% charge to last about 31 minutes.

    Hanging inside the Q8 E-Tron during those stops is at least a great spot to relax in. There are no big changes besides some color and trim updates, but the tech-filled cabin wasn’t exactly wanting for anything new, either. Its dual-screen infotainment setup and digital cluster work speedily and feature beautiful graphics. 

    Where the Q8 E-Tron looks and feels most fresh is outside. Audi is debuting a ton of new branding, including its flat/light-up four-ring logo, laser-etched model designation in the B-pillar and new rear badging. Don’t be confused if you see the Audi Sport red rhombus on more models than just S and RS models, for even Audis with an S-Line appearance package get it now. To go from E-Tron to Q8 E-Tron, Audi gave the car a new front end, fancy new Digital Matrix LED headlights (that won’t be available in the United States for an undetermined amount of time) and a new rear valance design. The S models get the bright aluminum look, but you can spec a black-out package if you’d prefer a stealthier look. That said, there’s no bad way to spec this car. It’s one slick-looking EV, and the continued presence of both the SUV and Sportback mean you can even choose your own roofline adventure.

    And if you’re wondering why the name change, Audi says it’s because this puts the model where it belongs in the lineup, right at the top as a flagship in the same sense that the gas-powered Q8 is a flagship model. Plain-old “E-Tron” was used to launch the brand as a marketing exercise in the same way that “Quattro” was used as a model, but then later used as a name for the company’s all-wheel-drive system, Audi tells us. Now that people know “E-Tron” means “electric Audi,” the company believes it’s time to slot E-Trons into the lineup in the same fashion as other Audi models with numbers denoting their place.

    Pricing is expected to increase for the Q8 E-Tron, but not exorbitantly so, ensuring it remains competitive — the presence of an EV tax credit for buyers is unlikely. Keeping pace with the shiny new BMW iX, Mercedes-EQ SUVs or any new from-the-ground-up EV isn’t easy, but the Q8 E-Tron presents itself as a great alternative, especially if those other options aren’t to your visual liking. With 300-some miles of range, notably improved dynamics, elegant new styling and all the luxuries we loved before, the Q8 E-Tron and SQ8 E-Tron make much hardier arguments for your money than the original E-Tron ever did. 

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  • Honda Lists Used Acura On BaT That Happens To Have Set Pole At Daytona

    For the special person who has everything, Honda’s racing team has the perfect Christmas present

    by Sebastien Bell

    6 hours ago

     Honda Lists Used Acura On BaT That Happens To Have Set Pole At Daytona

    by Sebastien Bell

    Honda Performance Development has, apparently, decided to start an account on Bring a Trailer. Race teams, they really are just like us! What they sell, though, is not your average car.

    For, you see, the car that Honda Performance Development is selling is the #007 Acura ARX-05 race car that raced in the Daytona Prototype international racing class in 2022 and was assembled by Wayne Taylor Racing.

    With just 11,000 mile on the odometer, it has an impressive list of accolades to its name. It set pole position at its first outing at the Rolex 24 at Daytona, as well as at Laguna Seca and Road America. It also earned victories at the latter two races, in addition to at Mid Ohio and Watkins Glen.

    Read: Michael Schumacher’s Undefeated 4-Race Winning Ferrari F1 Car Is Going Up For Auction

     Honda Lists Used Acura On BaT That Happens To Have Set Pole At Daytona

    The race car comes finished in a black, blue, and silver Konica Minolta livery that was applied to it prior to its final race, the Motul Petit Le Mans at Road Atlanta in September of this very year. The Acura ARX-05 is based on an ORECA 07 LMP2-class chassis and features a carbon fiber monocoque that was manufactured in 2020.

    It rides on 18×12.5-inch front wheels and 18×13-inch rear wheels made of forged aluminum and produced by Rotiform. They’re clad in Michelin Pilot Sport P2L tires and attached to the car via a double wishbone pushrod suspension at all four corners. The brakes are supplied by Brembo and have six-piston calipers.

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    You get into the rather tight confines of the interior, such as it is, through butterfly doors. There, you’ll find an anxiety-inducing number of buttons, as well as a water bottle and a windshield washer system.

    It is worth noting that, though, that the fire extinguisher bottle expired on December 1, so that may negatively affect the value of the vehicle. On the other hand, its twin-turbocharged 3.5-liter V6 that produces 600 hp (447 kW/608 PS) at 6,500 rpm was replaced every 3,500 miles, signalling that it’s been well taken care of. The fact that it finished second in overall in its class for the 2022 season can’t hurt either.

    If you’re interested in owning a piece of history like the Acura ARX-05 #007, you’ll have to place your bid in before Friday, December 23 at 12:50, on Bring a Trailer. That means that if you drive real fast, you might be able to get it under the Christmas tree just in time.

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  • How a Porsche Racing Team Is Getting Women Behind the Wheel in the Carrera Cup

    It all started with a phone call. Former race car driver, and current driving coach and mentor, Lyn St. James called up Victoria Thomas, co-owner of KellyMoss Road and Race, to ask her what program would be best for an up-and-coming woman driver. In the last 10 years there has been a noticeable increase in young women yearning to race in the bigger series, but finding it difficult to get there. Thomas, one of the few female team owners in the Porsche Carrera Cup North America paddock — or in racing in general — looked around and asked herself, “where are all the women?”

    That phone call, and that question, kicked off an undertaking that would result in the first-ever all-female shootout for a full-season sponsored ride in the Carrera Cup series with KellyMoss.

    KellyMoss Co-Owner Victoria Thomas, left, watching the three women driver finalists on track.

    KellyMoss Co-Owner Victoria Thomas, left, watching the three women driver finalists on track.
    Image: Amy Lentz

    Thomas began looking into the statistics around women in motorsport from every angle – in the paddock, behind the wheel, sponsorships, drive time. The numbers revealed only three percent of people working in the paddock were women. And only one percent of sponsorship money in motorsports was going to women. “In exploring the why, I came to the conclusion that it’s just absolute awareness,” says Thomas. Simply, the industry sees a few women in cars and in the paddock, and considers it a sign of progress. But when you break down the numbers, that progress is minimal.

    Finding statistics on women in the paddock as a whole is difficult. A video provided by ABB underlines that fact, explaining that only 1.5 percent of licensed racing drivers are women. Another article focusing on women working on Formula 1 teams illustrates that, while some teams may have up to 20 percent women on staff, only four or five women regularly work in the F1 paddock. The same can be seen walking through the paddocks and garages of many top-tier racing series. There have been all-female teams, and IndyCar’s Paretta Autosport had driver Simona de Silvestro backed by women engineers running the show. But they are still the exception.

    Image for article titled How a Porsche Racing Team Is Getting Women Behind the Wheel in the Carrera Cup

    Image: Amy Lentz

    There’s no doubt the path to professional racing professionally is well defined today. Start young in karting and hope it takes you all the way to the European formula series, and eventually, F1. In the world of sports cars, Porsche has its motorsport pyramid that provides drivers young and old a path to a factory-backed seat. Those paths work, but historically they’ve favored male drivers. Women like St. James, De Silvestro and Katherine Legge have had to forge their own difficult paths to make notable headway in motorsports. Eventually, the W Series was launched in 2019 to bring more attention to women drivers and provide a potential stepping stone to the male-dominated elite tiers of racing. While the series has had a multi-time champion, Jamie Chadwick, who just landed a full-time ride in the Indy NXT series for 2023, the W Series ended its 2022 season early due to lack of funding. With the future of the W Series in question, there are few good paths for women competitors to prove themselves, let alone compete with their male peers at the top.

    Thomas had a plan to fix that. “Step one was doing a good job and having us [build] a company that is reputable and successful and winning,” she told Jalopnik in November. “Step two was taking this moment and recognizing that there’s this inequity. Step three is combining the fact that there’s not a lot of teams in the world that have a lot of experience with the Porsche 911 GT3 Cup type 992. To be able to take that pedigree and apply it to a woman and really give her a fighting chance – I’m in a situation where I don’t know that anybody else has better leverage than what I have at the moment.”

    Loni Unser and Thomas chatting before track time.

    Loni Unser and Thomas chatting before track time.
    Image: Amy Lentz

    A team with over 30 years of success, combined with unbeatable experience with the 911 GT3 Cup car. The solution was clear: KellyMoss could find a promising prospect and help her launch a racing career in a series where the team was experienced and well known.

    “I’m a female co-owner of this company, and we have the tools necessary to give a female driver a fighting chance,” Thomas told Jalopnik.

    Sarah Montgomery, one of the three finalists, gearing up for a drive.

    Sarah Montgomery, one of the three finalists, gearing up for a drive.
    Image: Amy Lentz

    Thomas reached out to potential sponsors, highlighting the fact that less than one percent of sponsorship dollars in motorsports goes to women. She explained it like this: Sponsor a man in the paddock, and unless he’s a winner, your sponsorship will probably be overlooked. But put your money behind a female driver in a male-dominated series, and you’re guaranteed to reach more eyes. Backing a woman competitor could also benefit a company looking to grow its involvement in inclusiveness and diversity – untapped potential for both the driver and the companies backing her. Thomas made the pitch simple: “There’s a whole lot going on here that we can work with that just doesn’t exist at other places.”

    With unique sponsors interested in helping foster this opportunity, the plan was laid out. Thomas and St. James put together a panel to select the best up-and-coming women racers in the business. Part of the criteria included assessing a driver’s ability to understand and work with the Porsche 911. Other key indicators were how they compared to their competitors in their home series, who they were racing against, and their competition stats as a whole.

    They narrowed it down to 12 women drivers, and invited all of them to compete for a chance at a spot with KellyMoss. The hope was that not everyone would respond. However, 12 invitations went out, and 12 women responded yes. Now Thomas and her team were forced into Part II of the selection adventure.

    “We did the data grind,” Thomas said. “Then, we actually got the 12 women down to the top six, and I had to have a conversation.” To narrow those six down to the final three competitors, Thomas had to consider what KellyMoss would need from a driver. The team would provide, for free, all of the support they offer to arrive-and-drive racing customers: preparing the car, transporting it to races, and setting up a pit crew. KellyMoss would also pitch in free testing time for the selected driver to get used to the 911 GT3 Cup car. The driver would be responsible for repairs to the car and her own insurance, as well as her talent and hard work.

    Team KellyMoss for the competition day: Riley Dickinson, Montgomery, Thomas, Cook and Unser.

    Team KellyMoss for the competition day: Riley Dickinson, Montgomery, Thomas, Cook and Unser.
    Image: Amy Lentz

    Sabre Cook, Loni Unser, and Sarah Montgomery were the three finalists brought to Putnam Park in Indianapolis for a three-way driver shoot-out. Cook had just returned to racing after a crash in 2021 at the Red Bull Ring in Austria that resulted in multiple injuries to her hip and spine. She had been out of the car for nearly a year, undergoing surgery, recovery and physical therapy. For many racers, that would feel like a career death sentence. Determined to get back into the car, Cook spent her recovery period building up her strength, and returned to the track not only more practiced (thanks to simulator work), but tougher and stronger. Unser, a fourth-generation member of the legendary racing family, had just completed the Pikes Peak International Hill Climb, and was working as a driving instructor. Montgomery, another professional instructor, had split her time running a BMW M4 GT4 in the WRL series.

    Montgomery in the car.

    Montgomery in the car.
    Photo: Amy Lentz

    Three talented women, up against each other for a full-year ride with a top-tier team in a competitive series. But to watch them in testing, you might have thought they were a team. “My absolute biggest takeaway was, man, those women supported each other,” Thomas said. “The whole time they were walking over to the track yelling, ‘You got this! You’re a beast! You’re crushing it!’

    Of course, this is still racing. Thomas wouldn’t let the competitors see their lap times. “But they’re smarter than that,” she said — every time one driver would go out, the others would pull out their phones to clock a lap time. “They were still fierce competitors. But the fact that you could be a competitor and still be supportive, and don’t have to knock somebody down in order to elevate yourself, was really fun to see.”

    The Porsche 992 hot on the track in Indianapolis.

    The Porsche 992 hot on the track in Indianapolis.
    Image: Amy Lentz

    Montgomery, Thomas, Cook and Unser taking a look at the data.

    Montgomery, Thomas, Cook and Unser taking a look at the data.
    Image: Amy Lentz

    The decision came down to the data. Thomas said it was like comparing apples to oranges — Cook, Montgomery and Unser all are at different points in their careers and have experience in different series. “It was challenging, but everybody came back and had their checklist of how they had to rate everybody,” she said. “That made it better, as opposed to just relying on a visceral feeling.”

    The data pointed to Cook, who was announced as the winner of the 2023 scholarship. One of the qualities that made her stand out was the fact that she’s also a race team engineer, with the ability to articulate what’s going on with the car and understand how to adjust it.

    Cook behind the wheel, explaining what’s going on with the car.

    Cook behind the wheel, explaining what’s going on with the car.
    Image: Amy Lentz

    “I was really excited to see her in a car,” Thomas said. “Even she couldn’t know how she would respond, after being gone for a year and having to go through rehabilitation. What she did differently was focus on becoming an absolute beast, physically…. She used that fuel to really make herself incredibly strong.”

    Cook and Thomas in an emotional exchange.

    Cook and Thomas in an emotional exchange.
    Image: Amy Lentz

    Cook shared every part of her journey from accident to recovery on her Instagram, and it was certainly a tough one. But she fought through it and came out stronger — and landed a seat with a top-tier racing team in the process.

    In an email with Jalopnik, Cook said she was incredibly excited about the opportunity. “I’m eager to have the chance to run a funded season with a top team for the first time in my career. KellyMoss has a great group of people and I’m confident they can provide me with the tools to be successful. I cannot thank Victoria [Thomas], Andy [Kilcoyne] and the team enough for believing in me and creating such an amazing opportunity. I look forward to our future success together and breaking down barriers!”

    Image for article titled How a Porsche Racing Team Is Getting Women Behind the Wheel in the Carrera Cup

    Image: Amy Lentz

    The next goal is taking on the entire 2023 Carrera Cup season with Cook behind the wheel and Thomas at the helm. But Thomas doesn’t want to stop there. She’s looking to set up a second entry as well for the 2023 Sprint Challenge season — all she needs is a few more sponsors. “I want to have girls see this and say, ‘I never knew that this was something I could do.’ I’ll be doing a rally cry to get as many women to support what we’re doing as I possibly can, so that we can do this year after year as opposed to just once.”

    And while victory right out of the gate would be a great outcome, Thomas is looking at this with a long-term perspective. “I’m not walking into this saying success is winning the championship. If and when we do a good job with this, it will be year-over-year instead of a one-off.” Even now, KellyMoss has already made history: As Thomas tells it, there has never been a Pro-class team owned by a woman with a Pro-class woman driving.

    “I’ve never won a championship,” Thomas said. “It’s on the bucket list. It’s not my expectation for the first year. But mostly I want to tell an honest story and give visibility to what we’re doing.”

    Image for article titled How a Porsche Racing Team Is Getting Women Behind the Wheel in the Carrera Cup

    Image: Amy Lentz

    Image for article titled How a Porsche Racing Team Is Getting Women Behind the Wheel in the Carrera Cup

    Image: Amy Lentz

     

     

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  • Driver Playing Peek-A-Boo Through Snow-Covered Windshield Gets $553 Ticket

    The first day of winter doesn’t occur in the Northern Hemisphere until December 21st, but good luck telling mother nature that as a number of places have already seen snowfall.

    One of those places was Kitsap County in Washington, which appears to have received a couple of inches of snow recently. While that isn’t unusual, snow has a tendency to bring out the worst in drivers.

    Washington State Patrol Public Information Officer Katherine Weatherwax recently highlighted this fact as she posted an image of a car, which was traveling on SR 16 with a windshield that was almost completely covered by snow. As Weatherwax explained, someone called in the vehicle for “driving erratically,” which isn’t too surprising considering the driver could barely see anything.

    Also: Which Is More Effective On Snow And Ice, All-Wheel Drive Or Winter Tires?

    When a trooper pulled the vehicle over, their excuse was the “windshield wipers weren’t working.” That obviously didn’t fly as the problem could have easily been solved by a snow brush or their bare hand.

    Both of those options would have been far cheaper than the $553 (£453 / €527) ticket for negligent driving in the 2nd degree. That’s admittedly steep, but the high price tag should help to discourage lazy and dangerous behavior.

    Weatherwax used the post to remind drivers to “take the time to remove all snow from your vehicle before you leave the house.” That’s common sense, but it’s unfortunately not common enough.

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  • Drivers continue to behave badly as fatalities rise, AAA says

    If you feel like the roads around you have been home to unadulterated chaos since the onset of the pandemic, you’re not alone — nor are you wrong, apparently. With fatalities projected to increase after the 2021 data are fully analyzed, the AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety’s annual index hopes to identify behaviors and attitudes in U.S. drivers that could shed light on the situation. Perhaps unsurprisingly, respondents pointed their fingers at distracted and impaired drivers even though many of them admitted to engaging in such behavior themselves. Do as I say, not as I do, right?

    The 2021 index shows that U.S. drivers still overwhelmingly look down upon distracted and impaired driving behavior in others despite doing it themselves. Prime example: 92% called texting while driving “very” or “extremely” dangerous, with 96% saying somebody important to them would disapprove if they knew it was happening. Yet 26% admitted to doing it at some point in the 30 days prior to the survey. The trend continued with aggressive driving. 88% consider it “very” or “extremely” dangerous, 96% believe somebody would disapprove and yet 23% copped to doing it at some point in the prior month of driving.

    Despite this disconnect, AAA says social pressure is one of two strong influences on peoples’ decisions to engage in risky driving behavior; the other is perceived danger. If an act is perceived to be dangerous and considered unsafe by a large portion of the population, people are less inclined to do it. The bad news is, the possibility of being caught and ticketed (or worse) appears to have little impact on most drivers’ decision-making process.

    The study drilled down on several behaviors that fell into the above categories, along with substance-related impairment and drowsy driving. The most common offenses were driving 15 mph or more over the limit on a freeway (50.7% of respondents), driving while holding and talking on a mobile device (37.4%) and driving while reading a text or email on their mobile device screens (36.2%). Also, 28.2% admitted to running at least one red light and 22.9% admitted to tailgating or weaving through traffic.

    On the impairment end of the spectrum, nearly 1 in 5 (18.8%) said they’d driven at least once in the past 30 days despite feeling so tired that they couldn’t keep their eyes open. Only 7.3% said they’d driven after driving enough alcohol to qualify for a DUI, and 5% admitted to using THC within an hour of getting behind the wheel. That figure was up over 2020’s numbers but, like alcohol impairment, had been trending downward from 2018-2020.

    “The reversal in the frequency of U.S. drivers engaging in risky driving behavior is disturbing. While drivers acknowledge that certain activities behind the wheel – like speeding and driving impaired, are not safe, many still engage in these activities anyway,” said Dr. David Yang, executive director of the AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety. “We must be aware of the serious consequences of dangerous driving behaviors and change course.”

    As we noted above, another key metric has been trending the wrong way: traffic fatalities. NHTSA estimates that 42,915 people died in car crashes in 2021 — a 10.5% increase from 2020. Mind your mirrors out there.

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  • Borgward declares bankruptcy for the second time

    Borgward, a defunct German company resurrected by the Chinese in 2014, has filed for bankruptcy for the second time. The firm hoped to merge into the mainstream with a line of crossovers, and it planned to open a factory in Europe, but its sales plummeted in recent years.

    Industry trade journal Automotive News Europe wrote that the First Intermediate People’s Court of Beijing declared Borgward bankrupt in November 2022. The publication adds that Borgward asked the court for permission to liquidate its assets, but details about the bankruptcy proceedings haven’t been released. Beiqi Foton Motor, a truck maker that’s part of the state-owned BAIC Group, bought Borgward in 2014.

    Borgward announced its return in February 2015, displayed a classic Isabella coupe a month later at the Geneva Motor Show, and presented its first modern-day model at that year’s Frankfurt auto show. Called BX7 (pictured), the crossover landed with a generic-looking design and a trunk full of promises, including a pledge to make a comeback in Europe by late 2017. While a handful of cars seemingly made their way to Germany, the brand focused largely on the Chinese market and expanded its range with crossovers called BX3, BX5, and BX6, respectively.

    Securing a foothold in a market as big and as crowded as China’s is easier said than done. Borgward’s annual deliveries peaked at approximately 55,000 units in 2019, according to Automotive News Europe, but fell to merely 3,600 in 2021. European sales were little more than a rounding error. The report notes Borgward posted losses totaling more than four billion yuan (over $564 million) from 2016 to 2018. 

    It’s the end of the line for Borgward, unless investors unexpectedly save it. While the company’s future plans were vague, it traveled to the 2017 Frankfurt Motor Show to present a concept called Isabella that previewed a design language which could have permeated the range.

    This is Borgward’s second trip to the pantheon of automotive history. The company once enjoyed relative popularity in Germany, and it briefly sold cars in the United States, but it experienced financial problems in the 1950s and filed for bankruptcy in 1961. Mercedes-Benz ended up with the company’s Bremen, Germany, plant after a series of take-overs and currently builds the C-Class and the GLC there.

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  • Maradona’s Mercedes for sale at Bonhams

    The World Cup is in full swing, so now’s the perfect time to think about purchasing this Mercedes-Benz once owned by Argentine soccer legend Diego Maradona. The Hand of God wheeled this Signal Red 1980 Mercedes-Benz 450SLC 5.0 available at Bonhams Paris auction on February 2, 2023 with an estimated sale price of €150,000-200,000 ($157,660 – $210,214). Maradona led Argentina to victory at the 1986 World Cup and was named the FIFA Player of the 20th Century.

    1980 Mercedes-Benz 450SLC 5.0

    1980 Mercedes-Benz 450SLC 5.0

    Maradona received the new Mercedes as a gift from a group of influential supporters while playing for his first professional team, Club Atlético Boca Juniors of Buenos Aires. The 450SLC was presented to him by Formula 1 legend Juan Manuel Fangio, who owned the only official Mercedes dealership in Argentina at the time.

    1980 Mercedes-Benz 450SLC 5.0

    1980 Mercedes-Benz 450SLC 5.0

    At 816 produced, the 1980 Mercedes-Benz 450SLC was a homologation special to qualify for the World Rally Championship. This four-seater grand tourer coupé has lightweight aluminum panels and an all-aluminum engine to keep weight down. The 5.0-liter V8 engine produced a factory-rated 240 hp when new and pushed the 450SLC to a top speed of 209 km/h (130 mph). This example has a console-shifted manual transmission.

    “With the World Cup match between Argentina and Mexico taking place this weekend, we are delighted to announce that we will be offering this exceptional motor car – and piece of sporting memorabilia – belonging to Maradona, who led his national team to World Cup victory in Mexico in 1986,” Philip Kantor, International Chairman, Bonhams Motoring, said. “We are sure that the SLC will score highly at the rostrum in Paris.”

    After Maradona’s ownership, the Mercedes ended up in private collections throughout Argentina and was then imported to the U.S. It has 62,000 kms (38,000 miles) since new and was professionally restored.

    In 2021, Bonhams sold a 1992 Porsche 911 Carrera 2 Type 964 ‘Works Turbo Look’ Cabriolet owned by Maradona for €483,000 ($592,124).

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  • Couple Unknowingly Rent RV To “Qanon Queen Of Canada,” Get It Back Trashed

    A couple from Manitoba that occasionally rents out its RV to holidayers found themselves embroiled in a countrywide controversy, after they rented out their vehicle to Romana Didulo, the so-called “Qanon Queen of Canada.”

    The couple, Vicki and Mike LeBlanc, say they’ve never had a problem renting out their RV in the past, so when a woman named “Mary” reached out over Facebook to rent the vehicle, they weren’t too worried. It wasn’t until she showed up to take the vehicle that they realized something was afoot.

    The couple told Vice that they were prepping their vehicle for the renter when another RV showed up with a large photo of a woman on its side. It had the caption “Romana Didulo, Queen of Canada,” under her portrait.

    “Honestly, if we knew who we were renting to,” said Vicki, “we would never have done it.”

    Read: Canadian Car Thieves Stole 1 In Every 16 Lexus RX SUVs In 2021

    Didulo, or “Queen Romana,” is an odd figure. An unemployed woman who is believed to be in her 60s, she came to prominence after Q, the central figure in the Qanon conspiracy, disappeared in 2020. She called herself the true Queen of Canada and claims to be running a secretive war on behalf of Canadians against a cabal of sinister elites.

    More to the point, she convinced a number of her devotees to follow her on a cross-country drive in late January that has not stopped even today. For many weeks, one of the RVs in her convoy was the one she rented from the LeBlancs.

    After learning who they were renting their RV to, they started following her progress. Things didn’t seem too bad until a payment dispute emerged in October, after the tires had to be replaced. Angry with the LeBlancs, Didulo posted the family’s phone numbers and contact information to her followers in order to intimidate them.

    After that, Didulo and her followers cut off all communications, so the LeBlancs threatened to report the vehicle as stolen. They claim, though, that the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) were no help.

    Fortunately, in early November, they got a text from someone representing Didulo informing them that their RV had been dropped off at a gas station 120 miles (200 km) away from their home. The couple drove out to pick up their vehicle, but things only got worse from there.

    Firstly, Didulo’s team never told them where the keys to the RV were (it turned out they had been taped under it). Fortunately, they brought a spare key, but once inside, they realized that their vehicle had been trashed. Hardware was broken, and the vehicle was a pigsty.

    “They just left it in a mess. They didn’t bother to clean out their food or the garbage or some of their supplies,” Leblanc said. “Inside there was like food everywhere. I think there was a sleeping bag they left behind. They left their sardines, naturally.”

    As they drove the vehicle home, they realized that the suspension was damaged, too, since the vehicle was leaning heavily to one side. All in, the LeBlancs figure that there are thousands of dollars in damage to their RV, not to mention the extra money that Queen Romana owes them for mileage overages. Sadly, at this point, the LeBlancs don’t really know what they can do about it.

    “I don’t even know at the end of the day if it’s worth pursuing. Like legal action through small claims court or if it’s better just to cut our losses and stop wasting our time,” said LeBlanc. “I see on the weekend, she raised thousands to pay for her RV that she is riding in. Maybe she could share the wealth and pay for some of the damages for everybody else’s RV.”

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  • Here’s how the 2023 Fisker Ocean gets made

    The 2023 Fisker Ocean electric crossover finally entered production this month at contractor Magna Steyr’s factory in Graz, Austria. Now Fisker has released a short time-lapse video of the process.

    The roughly 3-minute video shows a pretty typical automotive assembly process. Robots weld and bond pieces of metal to form a body shell, which is then carried to different stations for painting and fitment of different components until it can roll off the assembly line as a finished vehicle.

    Robots handle a significant amount of this assembly work, including installation of the Ocean’s glass roof and battery pack, but human workers also do a lot—including installing much of the interior.

    2023 Fisker Ocean

    2023 Fisker Ocean

    Going with contract manufacturing allowed Fisker to avoid the expense of building its own factory, as well as the headaches that EV firms like Tesla, Rivian, and Lucid have experienced in ramping up production of their first models. Even established automakers sometimes outsource production of certain models. The same Austrian factory that builds the Ocean also assembled the Jaguar I-Pace.

    Magna also supplied the platform for the Ocean, which is married to a Fisker-designed body first shown in concept form at the 2020 Consumer Electronics Show. Novel features include a California Mode that drops the side windows and rear liftgate window simultaneously, and a Limo Mode that allows rear-seat passengers to control temperature and audio.

    Fisker showed the production-intent version at the 2021 Los Angeles auto show, quoting a $37,499 base price for the entry-level Sport version. That nets a single-motor front-wheel-drive powertrain with 275 hp, 0-60 mph in 6.9 seconds, and an estimated 250-mile range. 

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    Fisker also plans to offer mid-level Ultra and range-topping Extreme versions. The latter’s dual-motor all-wheel-drive powertrain is rated at 550 hp, enabling 0-60 mph in a claimed 3.6 seconds. Fisker also previously quoted a 350-mile range and $68,999 base price for this model.

    The first 5,000 Oceans will be Ocean One special editions based on the Extreme trim level, but with unique styling features like 22-inch F3 SlipStream wheels and Big Sur Blue paint. All 5,000 sold out in 30 days, with customers putting down $5,000 deposits to secure one. Fisker claims to have more than 63,000 Ocean reservations in total, and is reportedly considering expanding production, possibly with a second manufacturing site in the U.S.

    This wouldn’t be the first Fisker EV slated for U.S. production. The company has tapped Foxconn to build a more affordable model code-named Project Pear in Ohio starting in 2024, at the same factory slated to build the Lordstown Endurance electric pickup truck.

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  • Can You Believe That Lynk & Co Has Already Built 800,000 Vehicles?

    It’s been almost exactly 6 years since Geely and Volvo joined forces to launch the Lynk & Co brand and on November 19, the carmaker’s 800,000th rolled off the production line.

    While Lynk & Co remains a relatively small player in the automotive industry and only sells its vehicles in select markets, it has done enough in recent years to introduce a plethora of enticing models that manage to appeal to certain buyers despite an extraordinary amount of competition.

    Read: Lynk & Co 03 Facelift Leaked, Tries Hard To Look Sporty

    Lynk & Co first launched onto the scene with its Volvo-based 01 compact SUV. As the brand has evolved, its model range has expanded to include the 02 hatchback and compact crossover, 03 sedan, 05 compact Coupe SUV, 06 subcompact SUV, 07 compact 7-seat SUV, and the new 09, a mid-size SUV that just so happened to be the 800,000th vehicle to roll off the brand’s Chinese production line.

    The company sold 123,500 vehicles during the first nine months of this year and while it already has a burgeoning range, it is planning to add a few more new models. Indeed, it expects EVs to make up 60 percent of its line-up by 2024 and will fully electrify its family of models by 2025.

    Lynk & Co’s sales strategy also distinguishes it from some of its competitors. In addition to selling vehicles directly to consumers, it also offers subscriptions. This subscription program has proven to be particularly popular in Europe where 90 to 95 percent of all 01 SUVs have active subscriptions while the remaining ones were purchased outright.

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