Red Bull’s New Year, No Limits series is moving from Las Vegas to La-La-Land, and this time it’ll be Travis Pastrana’s turn to try to wow the crowd.
Pastrana will try to break the world record for the longest jump in a car. A handful of Los Angeles landmarks are being considered for the New Year’s Eve stunt by the freestyle motocross star and rally car champion.
Considering that this is the guy who at 15 celebrated an X Games gold medal by jumping his motorcycle into San Francisco Bay, almost anything might go.
Pastrana hopes to shatter the record of 171 feet set by his Subaru teammate, Ken Block, in a rally car in November 2006…Â Details
German gearbox specialist ZF unveiled an 8-speed automatic gearbox at the Vienna Motor Symposium back in 2007 but this was just the first of a raft of advanced technologies the company is planning for the coming years. The addition of these new features are claimed to be able to improve fuel-economy by 18% on gasoline-powered vehicles and 30% on hybrids, and we should be seeing the first of these technologies as early as the 2010 model year.
The information comes from ZF vice president of corporate research Harald Naunheimer, who spoke recently with Automotive News. He said pushing the improvements are lighter materials, more efficient electrical systems that replace heavier mechanical ones and transmissions with more gears.
It is a story that has been repeated many times: A car company is founded by a larger-than-life visionary with unconventional ideas. It goes on to create remarkable vehicles.
This story can have many different endings. Some of the plucky startups, like Ferrari and Honda, endure, and their cars become the stuff of legend. Many more – Bricklin and DeLorean, for example – drop out of sight before gaining a commercial foothold.
Among the failures is one of the most fascinating chapters of American automotive history, the story of Preston Tucker and his attempt to break into a market dominated by Detroit’s Big Three in the years …Â Details
