German Transport Minister Alexander Dobrindt is proceeding with the ministry's plans to close a legislation loophole that has been blamed for emissions discrepancies in a number of vehicles, Automotive News Europe reports. Specifically, the ministry is seeking to eliminate a provision in EU legislation that allows manufacturers to use software that temporarily disables a vehicle's emissions control systems to protect the engine, such as in instances of starts in cold temperatures. The Ministry of Transport (KBA) has previously made statements regretting the existence of this loophole, which has reportedly permitted Volkswagen to avoid violating EU emissions regulations in Europe, a fact lamented by a number of EU officials who have called for compensation from the Wolfsburg-based automaker. The ministry has blamed existing legislation for giving automakers wide discretion to disable emissions control in instances in which their use is not objectively warranted. The provision that allows automakers to turn off emissions control devices in instances when they are needed to protect the engine has received scrutiny earlier this week when Fiat Chrysler Automobiles Chief Technical Officer Harald Wester was forced to defend the company's engine management software in the diesel Fiat 500X before a EU Parliament inquiry. In prior months, German officials have accused the diesel version of the 500X of containing what they claimed to defeat devices, alleging that its emissions control systems were designed to deactivate after 22 minutes, noting that the standard emissions test takes 20 minutes. In testimony before the EU panel this week Wester maintained that the software in the 500X was designed to protect the engine and did not constitute a disallowed defeat device.

Ahead of the upcoming Specialty Equipment Market Association trade show -- aka SEMA Show -- Ford shed light on a few of the hot hatchbacks it plans to show off in its booth. Along with custom versions of most of its lineup, Ford will have an array of modified Focus and Fiesta hatchbacks. The custom-built performance cars range from the lightly massaged Focus ST to a race-ready Focus RS with 500 hp. There is only one Fiesta ST, which was tuned by Tucci Hot Rods, but it’s far from stock and features a wide-body kit and enough engine mods to double the stock Fiesta ST's output. The mods made to the Focus STs might inspire owners of the po[CENSORED]r performance hatch, but the three custom Focus RS hatchbacks will be the talk of the hot-hatch world. While one is just an attempt at a streetable rally machine, the two other Focus RS hatchbacks have the figures of absolute handfuls on a racetrack. Roush put together the more powerful of the two Focus hatchbacks; it apparently makes 500 hp. While it doesn’t mention too many other driveline mods, we imagine nearly every part of that Focus powertrain was beefed up accordingly. There aren’t any real pictures of these SEMA machines because many are likely finishing up their builds, but we’ll make sure to hit the Ford booth at this year’s show to get more details about these hot hatchbacks. For the full list of modifications for these cars, click here.

Aston Martin and Red Bull Racing’s long-rumored hypercar is getting closer to destroying streets -- that’s no overstatement. The Wall Street Journal sat down with the folks responsible for the mind-bending creation and shed some interesting light on the car’s direction. The aerodynamic team has managed to generate around 4,000 pounds of downforce with the model -- so much grip that the car could theoretically drive up the wind tunnel and stay planted. Adding to the team’s aerodynamic bag of tricks, the AM-RB 001 will generate all this downforce without a massive drag-inducing rear wing. Instead, the Aston Martin hypercar ducts air throughout the body and underbody to generate downforce. Aston Martin will also use an active suspension to further the effects of the downforce. The suspension will rely on computers to help figure out the road surface and adjust the ride height accordingly. This will allow for an extremely low ride height out on the racetrack, while it can be raised to a suitable level for the commute home -- that is, if you plan on commuting in your $3 million road-going race car. All of these figures mean Aston’s hypercar will hold four gs of lateral acceleration -- a number you’ll only see bested by Formula 1 and Top Fuel race cars. Combine that much grip with the rumored 1,000-hp V12, and we're guessing that the AM-RB 001 will be an absolute missile. Aston says there will only be 175 built: 150 for the road and 25 slated for race use only. These are apparently going to hit the street in 2019, but if this keeps going on the path predicted, we’ll hopefully see some seat time before then.

Jaguar Land Rover sees a major role for virtual reality as it redesigns its dealerships and sales process, its top North American executive said. “We will have some virtual reality experiences in our dealerships,” Joe Eberhardt, CEO of Jaguar Land Rover North America, said at the auto show here. “I think that will be a big part of the showroom experience.” Virtual reality probably will be most valuable before a new vehicle arrives in showrooms, allowing customers to experience the interior and check out color combinations, Eberhardt said. “I think there’s definitely a space for that, and we’re working on that as we speak,” he said. “It will never replace the real dealer experience, but it will have a big role, a very prominent role in the sales process going forward.” Jaguar Land Rover is converting dealerships to its new arch store design that houses both of its brands, as well as developing a way to connect online and in-store shopping. The first store with the new design has opened: a dealership owned by Penske Automotive Group Inc. in Darien, Conn. Four more under development will be completed this year, Eberhardt said. They are in Manhattan, Honolulu, Fairfield, Conn.; and Grand Rapids, Mich. More than 100 projects are in various stages of planning, Eberhardt said. Having both brands in the same store is meant to improve dealer profits, he said, “Because it allows us to have complementary product portfolios where we can cross-sell between the brands, but also where we don’t have to develop a product for each need for each of the brands. “We can fill different needs with different brands, and we get a better throughput for the fixed operations, i.e., the service and parts department.” Eberhardt said Jaguar Land Rover has formed a “retailer cabinet” to define new processes and customer expectations in a digital world.

This latest look at the heavily camouflaged Corvette ZR1 shows that convertible and coupe models will both get massive wings, but the convertible's wing will sit closer to the decklid. We can only assume the different wing placement on the convertible is to help the driver see something besides a wing in the rear-view mirror. With the mid-engine Corvette inching closer to the streets, the front-engine 'Vette's days seemed numbered. If that actually turns out to be the case, and the mid-engine Corvette doesn’t get shelved again, the seventh-generation Corvette ZR1 will be a fitting farewell to the Corvette's winning original formula. We don’t know what is going on under the Corvette ZR1’s hood, but we imagine it’ll be at least as powerful as the 650 hp 6.2-liter V8 used in the current king Corvette – the Z06. If we look at the previous generation of Corvette, we can see the ZR1 was substantially more powerful than the then-naturally-aspirated Z06. The C6 Z06 ‘Vette was no dog with its 505 hp 7.0-liter V8, but the supercharged 6.2-liter V8 in the ZR1 made 638 hp. What we do know is that wing makes the Corvette ZR1 look like it means business. Hat tip to Indiansautoblog.com for originally posting the video.

Votes are equal ! Reason of closing topic is becouse the challanger is banned ! T/C

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Angry Haitians looted aid trucks as the UN secretary general visited parts of the country hit by Hurricane Matthew, which killed 900 people. Ban Ki-moon said he witnessed a looting incident in Les Cayes, where he promised more aid to Haiti. He also urged countries to donate more. Officials say more than 1.4 million people urgently need humanitarian help. There are also fears of a cholera outbreak, with spikes in cases and deaths reported in the south west. The waterborne disease reached the island via Nepalese UN troops after the deadly earthquake in 2010, causing the deaths of nearly 10,000 people.

It was 115 years ago this month that Henry Ford won his first and only automobile race. While the trappings and technology of big-league racing have evolved through the intervening century, the essential point for automakers hasn’t changed a whit. Ford Motor Company duly observed the anniversary of Henry’s win with a commemorative ceremony joining its first race car and its latest: the 2016 Le Mans-winning GT driven by Joey Hand, Dirk Mueller and Sebastien Bourdais. The company allowed no drives or even rides in the GT, but it did offer rides in a replica of Henry’s first race car. The original remains in the Henry Ford museum. In October of 1901, Henry Ford was 38. His first effort to mass produce automobiles -- the Detroit Automobile Company -- had just dissolved in failure after a production run or 19 or 20. Never a fan of racing, or at least not race driving, a desperate Ford nonetheless had a plan. If he could build a car to beat Alexander Winton -- at the time, America’s most famous racer, and also one of its most successful car builders -- he might re-establish his credentials as an engineer and kick start his flagging automotive career. In May of that year, Ford and a handful of associates began construction of the Sweepstakes, named for the race in which it would participate, at a shop in Detroit. The Sweepstakes’ primary load-bearing structure was two ash wood rails. It was driven by chain and sprocket, with a two-speed planetary transmission, full leaf-spring suspension and constricting-band brakes on the rear wheels only.

American Honda is recalling approximately 350,000 Civic coupe and sedans in the U.S. from the 2016 model year to fix an issue with the vehicles’ electronic parking brake. The automaker, in a statement, said software that controls the vehicle stability control unit “may prevent application of the EPB when it is applied immediately after turning the vehicle ignition off.” Without the EPB properly engaged and the vehicle in Park, the Civic could roll away, causing injury. No accidents or injuries have been reported as a result of the issue, Honda said. The problem was discovered through warranty claims related to "the illumination of the brake warning light," Honda said. Honda will begin notifying affected Civic owners in November; dealers will install a software update free of charge. Honda’s recall comes just a day after Toyota recalled 92,000 Prius models in the U.S. from the 2016 and 2017 models years to correct an issue with the vehicle’s parking brake. "Honda recalls 350,000 Civics for electronic parking brake glitch" was originally published at Automotive News on 10/14/16.

Vice-presidential candidate Mike Pence has said new evidence will emerge on Friday that will undermine the sexual accusations against Donald Trump. The Republican said the "Clinton political machine" was using slander and lies to deflect from real issues. Several women have accused Mr Trump of groping them or kissing them forcibly, which he has strongly denied. First Lady Michelle Obama said some of Mr Trump's boasts about women were "shocking and demeaning". And she said the language he has used was that of a sexual predator. On Friday, her husband, President Barack Obama said America was a better place than Trump's remarks about women, minorities and other group suggested it was. Mr Trump was heard bragging on tape that he could force himself on women because he was a star.

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As far as the Big Three go, Ford has been back-of-the-pack in exhaust sound for years. The Challenger/Charger siblings scream like NASCAR Cup racers at full tilt; the Camaro and Corvette are nearly as good. The Ford Mustang, on the other hand, has been sorely lacking in the aural enjoyment category for at least a generation, excepting the last Boss 302 special. That may have ended with the vicious-sounding Shelby GT350 and its 5.2-liter flat-plane crank V8, though we haven't heard the ZL1 wide open until now. Which one sounds better? You be the judge, and let us know in the comments.

Porsche would go on to take the overall win at Le Mans 18 times, with many more class victories as the years went on, truly one of the greatest dynasties in motorsports history. But it all started with little car No. 46, a Gmund Porsche with ungainly wheel spats, three windshield wipers and about 46 hp. It wasn’t a particularly attractive car, at least not compared to the powerfully beautiful 550s, 911s, 906s, 910s, 908s, 917s, 956s and 962s that would come later. But it was the first, and therefore it's historically significant. The question for many years was, where did it go? “The history had been unknown as to which car was the winning car at Le Mans,” said Porsche restoration specialist Rod Emory. “And so after the cars came to the States … this particular car ... I’ll just start from the beginning.” Yes, back in 1948-49, Porsche was building the earliest of 356s, called Gmund Porsches after the town in Austria where they were being hammered together. They might have made 50 of those cars and things were looking good for the tiny sports-car maker. They had just moved the operation back to Stuttgart when … “… in 1950 Porsche was at the Paris auto show and they were asked by the organizers of the 24 hours of Le Mans to show up at the 1951 race with an entry in the 1,100cc class,” said Emory, who, 66 years later, would find himself centrally involved in that venture. Engineers took four of the Gmund SL bodies left over from the Austrian werks and started testing them to see what parts and tweaks might work as a race car. They put louvered quarter windows in the cars, fender skirts on the fenders and flat bottoms underneath to increase the aerodynamic efficiency; they added a special 1,100cc engine and lightened them up as much as possible, installing special fuel tanks with the gas filler poking through the hood. One of those four test-race cars crashed during that development period. Of the three remaining, they brought the two best cars to Le Mans with Nos. 46 and 47 painted on them. No. 47 crashed in practice, which left them with just one car for the 24-hour race, No. 46.

1,900 units of the new Lincoln flagship need repair Ford is recalling nearly 1,900 2017 Lincoln Continentals in the U.S. and Canada for possible defective headlamp assemblies. The vehicles went on sale in the U.S. last month, with 775 sold in September. Ford’s recall covers 1,826 vehicles in the U.S. and 49 in Canada built between June 14 and Sept. 23. Ford said the lights may have been built without the proper lenses to meet federal requirements for turn signal visibility. The vehicles will be inspected at dealerships and defective assemblies will be replaced. Ford is also recalling about 60 2015 and 2016 Ford Edge crossovers in the U.S., Canada and Mexico to fix antilock braking system software. Ford said it is unaware of any accidents or injuries associated with either problem.

http://cdn.newsapi.com.au/image/v1/b407f926fb02e732d6e21f66ecc820a4 DAFT Punk, eat your heart out. Karl Lagerfeld seems to have taken inspiration from the French electronic duo in his latest collection for Chanel. The Grand Palais in Paris was transformed into a Chanel data centre, with models strutting in front of wall-to-wall silver computer hardware and electrical wires. They were dressed in helmets that were part Stormtrooper, part Daft Punk, teamed with knee-length skirts and blazers from the label’s spring/summer ‘17 collection, paired with Star Wars-esque knee-high boots.

Our fourth favorite Brit -- just kidding Chris, you're great -- took the new, hardcore Porsche 911R and the latest Aston Martin V12 Vantage S for a stroll on the street and track in a comparo for the "Top Gear" YouTube channel. Both feature manual transmissions and both are at home on either surface. We've driven them -- check out our reviews here and here -- but Mr. Harris, as usual, has his own interesting take. Expect beautiful roads; slow-motion, smoky drifts; and everything in between. As a quick primer, the Porsche 911R only comes with a manual -- hence its hardcore-ness -- and hides a 500-hp, 4.0-liter Boxer engine underhood, while the Vantage gets a more-powerful V12 making 563 hp and 457 lb-ft. The Vantage weighs more too, so the Porsche should technically feel faster. Chris, bring us on home.

More senior Republicans have withdrawn support for US presidential candidate Donald Trump after his obscene remarks about women became public. At least a dozen Republicans have said they will not be voting for him, since the comments emerged on Friday. Mr Trump says he will never drop out of the race to be president and will never let his supporters down. He has been under pressure after a tape from 2005 of him bragging about groping and kissing women was broadcast. http://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/624/cpsprodpb/97D9/production/_91737883_1e501a0b-c914-4ebe-9680-41729d708b91.jpg The latest to withdraw their support are former Republican presidential candidate John McCain and former Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice. Mr McCain said Mr Trump's comments "make it impossible to continue to offer even conditional support for his candidacy", while Ms Rice said: "Enough! Donald Trump should not be President. He should withdraw." New Hampshire Senator Kelly Ayotte said in a statement: "I cannot and will not support a candidate for president who brags about degrading and assaulting women," she said Ms Ayotte - who faces a competitive race for re-election - said she would not vote for Mrs Clinton but instead would "write in" Mike Pence, Mr Trump's vice-presidential running mate, on her ballot paper.

Jeremy Clarkson, James May and Richard Hammond's Amazon Prime series finally has a trailer. Dubbed "The Grand Tour," the show looks to have picked up where the former "Top Gear" team left off -- doing wacky stunts in some of the most expensive cars in the world. The new series ditched the central studio concept, with the crew instead turning a massive roaming tent into its home base. Even though the trailer only gives a glimpse at the new show, it looks like it’s going to be a hit. What we do see is the holy trinity of supercars -- the Porsche 918, McLaren P1 and LaFerrari -- finally ripping around a racetrack together. Of course, it looks like the gang is still doing wacky challenges in cars unfit for extreme terrain. "The Grand Tour" will debut Nov. 18, and Amazon will release an episode every Friday for the following 12 weeks, which is bad news for binge watchers. For those who spent big bucks on an ultra-HD 4K TV, you’ll get to see the highest-definition version of the superbly shot show.

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