Test Drive : Mercedes S500 - S is for Style and Substance

Most driving impressions are just that – a driving impression of the car with the emphasis being on how the car feels according to the driver. Sometimes though, along comes a car that if treated the same way it would be ignoring the true virtues of the car. I'm talking luxury and super-luxury cars which are usually purchased for several reasons, other than the pure thrill of driving. One reason could be to make a statement. Another could be that one wants to pamper one's self, as one has done enough, worked hard in life, to warrant such pampering. So a Maruti product is infra dig. A Chevrolet just does not cut it. Honda? Been there, done that. In short, when luxury – the best in terms of luxury – is what one is after the Germans, especially Mercedes, are past masters at it. Very few cars can approach the levels of the Stuttgart company's S Class, especially when it's the S500 that was recently launched in India, the day before the Auto Expo started in January. One just don't do a plain driving impression – one has to experience the whole car.

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Indians shine at the Indo-Bhutan Friendship car rally

The 3rd Indo Bhutan Friendship Car Rally which culminated successfully at Thimpu, Bhutan. was sponsored by JK Tyre. The rally was organized by Friendship Car Rally Association and is being supported by Indian Embassy of Thimpu & Royal Bhutan Consulate in Bhutan. The theme of this year’s rally was ‘Connecting People’. The competition witnessed a lot of excitement, thrill and enthusiasm among the participants and organizers.
Indian teams kept the flag flying high by bagging the top three prizes in the open category. Arindam Ghosh & Somdeb Chanda from Kolkata bagged the first position with a cash prize Rs. 75,000 by scoring the total points of 1,043. With 1,091 penalty points in the three legs, car number four, driven by Soham Hazra and Amit Saha won the second prize with the cash prize of Rs. 50,000. The third prize went to Vikas Toshiniwal and Nirav Mehta who scored 1347 points. Dipali Poddar and Shikha Saha got the title of the Best Woman Team from India.

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Maruti Suzuki recalls one lakh A-Stars to replace fuel pump gaskets

India’s leading passenger carmaker, Maruti Suzuki India, has officially acknowledged that it is recalling around one lakh A-Star cars to replace faulty fuel pump gaskets. Maruti, in its official statement, has revealed that it has received reports of leakage in the fuel pumps and all the cars affected by the recall were manufactured before 22nd August, 2009. Furthermore, the company has indicated that it has already kickstarted the repair process last year and has already done the repairs in around half of the affected units. It may be recalled that Maruti Suzuki had launched the A-Star model in 2008 and it has been pretty successful for them and also export this model to several international markets for the parent company Suzuki. Nearly, 60 per cent of the A-Star recalls were sold in global markets, the rest from domestic customers.

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Audi to present the RS 5 at 2010 Geneva Auto show

Audi has announced that its RS 5 will debut at the upcoming Geneva Auto Show. The RS 5 is the latest torchbearer in a tradition dating back over 15 years to the RS 2 Avant: superior handling in the mid-size class. The car will come with a 4.2-litre FSI V8 engine delivers 331 kW (450 hp) at 8,250 rpm and – between 4,000 and 6,000 rpm - transmits a maximum of 430 Nm (317.15 lb-ft) of torque. The ultra-powerful eight-cylinder engine averages 10.8 liters of fuel per 100 kilometers (21.78 miles US mpg) - far less than its main competitors. The sales of the model will begin in the spring. Its basic price will be approximately 77,700 euros.

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Force India announces technical restructure for 2010 F1 championship

The Force India Formula One Team has announced a restructure to its technical department ahead of the 2010 FIA Formula One World Championship season, due to James Key, technical director, leaving the team to pursue new opportunities. Mark Smith, formerly design director, will now become technical director and will assume responsibility for the entire mechanical and aerodynamic design of the team’s challengers.
James has been a long-standing member of the team, first joining Jordan Grand Prix in 1998 as a data engineer before progressing to test engineer and later senior race engineer for Takuma Sato. In 2003, James joined the aerodynamic group and was then promoted to head of vehicle science towards the end of that year before becoming technical director in 2005.
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