Tag Archives: unexpected

News

Driving 100 laps of the M25 within the 1999 COTY-winning Ford Focus

But he then found a contemporary and surprising problem: “The major problem is resisting driving too quickly.” Thanks to the automobile’s tall gearing equating to only 3750rpm at 85mph in fifth, plus its 1.6-litre Zetec engine’s supreme refinement, explicit care was wanted to keep away from setting off the pace cameras that even then had been a part of M25 life.

Goodwin’s drive was additionally accompanied by a touch of frustration: “I’m driving a car with one of the smoothest gear changes in the business and I hardly need to touch it.”

But we had already handled the extra dynamic properties of the Focus at that time. In truth, it had turn into one in every of solely two vehicles in 1998 that had achieved a five-star highway check score, with its trick multi-link suspension, glorious packaging and Ford’s ‘New Edge’ design all conspiring to place it entrance and centre in what was then the UK’s biggest-selling automobile class.

Still extra plaudits got here in because the hours and miles rolled by, with then particular correspondent Andrew Frankel admiring the check automobile’s ergonomics: “Focus controls allow me to get my position absolutely spot on… Even the mirror adjustment knob on the A-pillar is mounted just high enough that you don’t need to take your eyes off the road to know where it is.”

The Focus was flawed at occasions throughout this mighty schlep, although, as editor-in-chief Steve Cropley famous in his second drive of the automobile: “The ride seems a little bony on the M25’s concrete sections… [and] the engine is more audible above 5000rpm than I remember.”

Motorsport

The New Rivian R2 Gets A Kitchen And A Rooftop Tent

Rivian delivered an sudden one-two punch yesterday on the unveiling of the R2 the place it took everybody unexpectedly with the even smaller R3. However, the primary order of enterprise is to kick off deliveries of its long-awaited Tesla Model Y rival, however that will not occur till the primary half of 2026. When it does finally hit the streets, the R2 will likely be suitable with a collection of nifty equipment.

Much like the larger R1T pickup and R1S SUV, the newest entry in Rivian’s rising lineup caters to outdoorsy folks with a bunch of non-compulsory goodies. For instance, the Travel Kitchen bundles a water tank, a cooler, an induction cooktop with extra storage and even a cookware set. Rivian will throw in some hanging lights for while you’re cooking at evening in the course of nowhere.


News

Guenther Steiner tells all after shock Haas F1 exit

An in any other case quiet low season for Formula 1 was shaken up by the surprising departure of Haas staff principal Guenther Steiner, hitherto the third-longest-serving boss within the sport behind Red Bull’s Christian Horner and Mercedes-AMG’s Toto Wolff. 

Despite the revolving-door coverage adopted up and down the paddock just lately, the information got here as a shock, as a result of Steiner wasn’t only a employed govt – he was the guts and soul of his staff. 

The former Jaguar and Red Bull man was within the US and working a rising composite enterprise when he began the staff from a clean sheet of paper. 

He got here up with the idea of getting a small full-time employees whereas sourcing as a lot as attainable from suppliers Ferrari and Dallara, and satisfied machine instruments magnate Gene Haas to fund the challenge. 

The staff acquired off to a sensational begin in 2016, when Romain Grosjean got here sixth in its debut race, and two years later it completed a outstanding fifth within the constructors’ championship. 

After that, although, life grew to become more durable as different groups stepped up their video games, after which, in 2020, the challenges of the pandemic hit Haas significantly laborious. 

In 2023, the staff slipped to tenth and final within the desk, regardless of its automotive displaying good one-lap tempo. 

Just as Steiner’s newest three-year contract was expiring on the finish of December, he was informed by Gene Haas that he wouldn’t be retained. 

Shock exit

“He called me up,” Steiner tells Autocar. “It was out of the blue. I used to be like: ‘Okay, what do you want to tell me?’ 

“He stated: ‘I don’t wish to prolong the contract.’ I stated: ‘In the end, it’s your choice. It’s your staff and the contract is up. What can I do? Do I feel it’s proper or not? Whatever I say, you’ll disagree with it. So go away it at that.’

“It was a very short call; it wasn’t a big discussion or anything. It was also very strange. You work with somebody for 10 years and you get a call [like that]… It’s weird. I was okay. I just move on. It’s fine. Anyway, I couldn’t believe any more in what was happening there.” 

Directional change

The pair had a elementary disagreement on the way in which ahead. Steiner might see all too clearly how the staff’s quick rivals had been ramping up their manufacturing facility infrastructure and duly sought extra funding to be able to hold tempo. 

Haas, in the meantime, believed that the staff might obtain extra with the sources that it already had. 

“Something needed to change,” says Steiner. “I’m not saying that Haas did it improper. All the opposite ones did it proper. F1 modified from when Haas began to the place it went prior to now 5 years. It’s a totally completely different ball recreation. They’re all robust groups. 

News

Toyota GR Yaris now everlasting fixture in line-up

Toyota says that the sudden success of the GR Yaris has led it to make the new hatchback a everlasting fixture in its line-up.

Speaking at an occasion the place we drove a prototype of the new facelifted GR Yaris, its chief engineer Naohiko Saito mentioned: “This is not the top of improvement.” 

The GR Yaris ‘Evo’ has gained upgrades to its high-performance sturdiness, extra energy, a stiffer physique, revised suspension and the choice of an eight-speed computerized gearbox alongside the six-speed handbook. 

Toyota has offered greater than 32,000 GR Yarises – way over it anticipated. It wanted to make 25,000 automobiles with the distinctive three-door bodyshell (the common Yaris is five-door solely) to homologate the form for its World Rally Championship competitor.

Toyota was so unsure that the GR Yaris would hit the goal that it additionally created a less expensive variant for Japan known as the RS, that includes the regular Yaris’s 1.5-litre hybrid powertrain and not one of the GR’s specialist {hardware}.

It has offered greater than 3000 however in the end hasn’t wanted the RS to make up the numbers.

Toyota has additionally been bowled over by the wealth of the consumers who’re shopping for GR Yarises. “This is something we’ve never seen before,” Saito mentioned. 

White Toyota GR Yaris driving on very wet track

Some 48% of GR Yarises are purchased as ‘additional cars’ to a buyer’s storage, whereas the category common for hot hatches tends to be round 10%, with the overwhelming majority purchased because the proprietor’s solely automobile.

The GR Yaris is now monitoring “100% above plan”, in keeping with Saito, therefore the facelift could possibly be justified – though he stresses that neither the facelift nor the venture within the first place would have been attainable and not using a automotive fanatic like Akio Toyoda (who stepped down as president and CEO to become chairman last year) on the head of the corporate.

Motorsport

Watch This 12-Year-Old Forklift Driver Lead Police On A Chaotic Hour-Long Chase

Residents in Ann Arbor, Michigan received an unexpected light show Saturday night courtesy of a 12-year-old boy. The juvenile reportedly stole a forklift from a construction site and led police on a meandering, slow-speed chase through city streets before exiting town. Fortunately, there were no injuries resulting from this melee, but numerous cars were damaged, including a minivan that was shoved into someone’s front yard.

According to the Ann Arbor Police Department, the incident began at approximately 6:45 pm local time. Apparently, the boy found the forklift unlocked at a construction site near a middle school. Mind you, this isn’t the kind of forklift you see lifting pallets of soda at a grocery store. It’s identified by police as a Construction Genie GTH-636 Telehandler – a four-wheel-drive construction vehicle with a turbocharged diesel engine for power. It’s configurable with multiple add-ons for heavy-duty work, and this particular version has a humungous hydraulic fork on the front.

Forklift Police Pursuit

Fortunately for police, it’s slow. Speeds only reached around 20 mph during the pursuit. However, the weight and stance of the forklift made PIT maneuvers impossible. And at risk of sounding like a meme, one doesn’t simply drive in front of a turbocharged forklift driven by a juvenile delinquent. At one point during the video, an officer is heard saying “we can’t stop this thing.” Shortly thereafter, the decision is made to turn off lights and sirens and give the boy some extra space. In response, he drives on the sidewalk instead of the road.

The video ends before the chase comes to an end. Police from Washtenaw County take over as the boy leaves town, and the pursuit ends when the 12-year-old finally stops. He was promptly taken into custody, but being a minor, his identity won’t be released. However, police told ClickOnDetroit that the youngster “is known to officials.”

Here’s hoping the boy learns a lesson from this mess. As for the owner of the forklift, hopefully there won’t be any more keys left in beefy, unattended construction equipment.

Smartphones

12 Of The Most Common Android Problems (And How To Troubleshoot Them)

One of the most common issues you might encounter is sudden and unexpected battery drain. This can happen for a lot of reasons, but the most common is that a process on the phone has run out of control and is causing problems. Usually, troubleshooting involves finding the specific process and stopping it.

You can do this by going into your phone settings and navigating to the battery section. The battery life stats for Samsung devices are under Device Care, while many other manufacturers keep it in the Settings menu under Battery. Once there, you should be able to see which apps have used the most battery under Battery Usage By App. The problematic process should be listed at the top.

From there, you have three options. You can reboot the phone and see if that resolves the issue. The second thing to try is going back into Settings, navigating to the Apps section, and force-stopping the app. Finally, you can uninstall and reinstall the app to see if that resolves the problem.

Occasionally, it might be a system process that causes the excessive battery drain. If that’s the case, you can still force close the process by going to the Apps section of Settings, tapping the three-dot menu button, and selecting Show System Apps. Find the problematic process and force close it. Other than that, your best option is to check the Play Store for app updates, the settings for a system update, or tap this link from your phone to see if Google Play Services needs an update.

Motorsport

Nissan Forced To Delay Next-Generation Kicks Production Due To Theft

The production of the next-generation Nissan Kicks has been delayed due to the theft of tooling from a supplier in Mexico. This unexpected setback has resulted in the postponement of the US launch of the new crossover. The production, which was initially scheduled to begin in December, has been rescheduled to start in June in Aguascalientes, Mexico. The American deliveries will follow shortly thereafter.

This delay is the second setback for the revamped Kicks. Previously, the timeline was extended by about a month and a half due to the vehicle’s failure to pass crash safety tests.


Motorsport

Pagani Utopia Covered In Smoke At Monterey Car Week But It Didn’t Catch Fire

During Monterey Car Week, the highly anticipated North American debut of the Pagani Utopia supercar took an unexpected turn. The car was engulfed in smoke, causing initial panic among onlookers who feared a fire. However, it was later revealed that the smoke was a result of a mishap in which a guest accidentally activated the car’s fire extinguisher system by pressing a button inside the vehicle.

A video shared on Instagram by @OnFireGarage showed the Utopia covered in smoke, leading to speculation of a fire. Witness Chris Gorces stated that the incident occurred at the Pagani display at The Quail, a Motorsports Gathering, and the smoke appeared to be coming from the engine area, close to the back of the seat.

Christopher Pagani, the son of Pagani’s founder and CEO Horacio Pagani, clarified the situation in an interview with Road and Track. He explained that a guest at the event had been touching switches inside the car, inadvertently setting off the engine’s self-contained fire extinguishers.

Pagani’s presence at Monterey Car Week was part of the brand’s 25th-anniversary celebrations. The highlight was the North American debut of the Utopia, which was limited to only 99 units and had already sold out. The event also featured two other iconic Pagani models, the Zonda and the Huayra, representing the brand’s evolution over the years.

Overall, the incident at Monterey Car Week turned out to be a quirky mishap rather than a serious issue, and the Pagani Utopia supercar remained unharmed.