Thunder Valley Racing’s Karen Salvaggio joined up with the National Auto Sport Association (NASA) for the season-opener at Thunderhill Raceway in Northern California, held on March 9-10. Salvaggio is driving for Factory Five Racing, and competed again 40 other racers. She drove in Race Group B, which was one of the larger groups of the weekend, and the division for Camaro-Mustang Challenge Cars, American Iron and American Iron Extreme cars.

Salvaggio was able to pretty much pick up where she left off last season, she posted a quick time, and in fact she set a new track record in the qualifying session, securing the pole position.  In the race, she led flag-to-flag to take the checkers.

In the recent McKinsey Quarterly, there is an interesting report on a global survey that shows corporations need to account for consumer concerns about climate change.  In it, consumers say that a corporation’s performance in addressing the problems of the environment and climate change affects not only how much they trust the company but also whether they would buy its products.

Consumers also expect companies to promote the public good by providing healthier and safer products, retirement and health care benefits for its employees, and much else besides. Their expectations vary by industry and geography.  As such, the study concludes, "every business should think about the role environmental issues can and should play in strategy so that they can build trust among consumers and offer products and services that address their concerns."

I love Bugs. Beetles. V-Dubs. My dad had a 1967 green VW Bug when I was growing up and I remember going to all our doctor’s appointments and sports practices in the little back seat of that car. It had that waffle pattern on the vinyl seats so on hot days with short shorts you we would get the impressions all up our thighs. And it was super hot to the touch when we got in. My dad would tell us it had 2-40 air conditioning whenever we would whine about the heat: two windows down at 40 mph. We weren’t amused.

But my very first car was a 1979 Super Beetle Convertible Triple White. God it was beautiful. It was so cute and I thought I was hot stuff with my first foray into aftermarket parts and accessories. I bought a Sony removable-face CASSETTE player. People: Cassettes. AM. FM. That’s all we had. I drove (mostly I stalled) that little car around the neighborhood and when I decided to go to college in Ohio, the little ‘Vert had to go. So sad. I wish I still had that little car. Especially since I moved back from the frigid Midwest to live in sunny SoCal again.

A high-school student in Honolulu, Hawaii -- Olivia Klein -- has decided to take on an ambitious junior year project.  Inspired by being her school's delegate to the Hawaii 2050 Sustainability Summit, she decided to build a biofuel car for her independent project. 

It has been a great learning experience for Olivia.  From not knowing much about car -- not to mention experience with cars being only 16 years old -- she has graduated to knowing how to negotiate to buy a car,  obtain various licenses,  figure out which car is convertible (i.e. diesel engine needed), what biofuel sources exist locally (i.e. restaurant grease), and the parts needed for the conversion.  Wow!  What a great project, and how ambitious.  I am sure she will have a lot to be proud of when this is completed. 

Bugatti and Hermes joined at the recent Geneva Motor Show to demonstrate the "Bugatti Veyron Fbg par Hermes," an ultra-luxurious ultra-pricey vehicle that combines the technical performance of the legendary Bugatti Veyron 16.4 with the expertise of Hermes designer Gabriele Pezzini and his craftsmen. The super-exotic vehicle will make its North American Debut  in New York at the beginning of April.

This remarkable Bugatti features an array of exceptional characteristics, including the innovative alliance of a technologically advanced engine that delivers 1001 horsepower, with a gorgeous silhouette reflecting the high-performance capacities of the Veyron's state-of-the-art engineering and design. Be still my beating heart!

The official name of the highly exclusive "Bugatti Veyron Fbg par Hermes" refers to the historic Hermes headquarters on the Rue du Faubourg Saint-Honore, in the heart of Paris's eighth district: the "Fbg" appellation evokes the house's "faubourg" address. With the Bugatti Veyron Fbg par Hermes, the exacting standards of Emile Hermes and Ettore Bugatti come together for the first time in an exceptional collaboration: the culmination of their extreme attention to aesthetic and technological quality and performance. Pezzini has reinterpreted Bugatti's traditional two-tone carriage work, fostering a fluid-as-espresso transition between the car's exterior and interior design. The creamy latte color of the hood extends through the interior of the cockpit and re-emerges behind at the level of the rear wing.

The Automobile Association of America (AAA), in partnership with the University of Florida's National Older Driver Research and Training Center (NODRTC), released its "Smart Features for Mature Drivers" program at this week's New York International Auto Show.

The program identifies vehicle features that can assist drivers with visual, physical, and mental changes that are frequently encountered as they age. The announcement addresses conditions often faced by senior adults, including diminished vision, arthritic hands, hip and leg pain, and limited upper-body range of motion, and also highlights features that best address each condition while providing examples of vehicles exemplifying those features.

"It is imperative that the specific needs of aging motorists be addressed in order for them to continue to drive safely and remain independent," said AAA President and CEO Robert L. Darbelnet. "Smart Features for Mature Drivers provides valuable information for this growing segment of the driving population. We encourage older drivers and their families to use this as a guide in the selection of their next vehicle or evaluating their current one."

Persons over age 65 represent the fastest growing population segment in the United States.  According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, there were more than 37 million people age 65 and older in the United States in 2006, up from 29 million in 2005. It is estimated that by 2020 there will be more than 40 million licensed drivers age 65 and older.

It's time to catch up with all the news from the women in motorsports universe!

Danica Patrick is facing a weighty issue. The IRL has changed the minimum weight rule, and beginning with this weekend's race at Homestead, a driver's weight will be included in the minimum weight. Patrick was listed as weighing 100 pounds in last season's IRL media guide.

“If someone's going to take the hit it's going to be me," Patrick told the newspaper. "It's disappointing the league decided to do that. In so many other sports, athletes don't get penalized for being too strong, or too tall or too fast.

"(It's) just your God-given stature is being penalized. What am I going to do, though? It's not my decision. That's the people higher up (who) made their bed, and they've got to lay in it."





The Honda Challenge will be open to female riders in 2008.

As part of Honda Canada's efforts to encourage female participation in the sport, women who were at least 14 years old at the start of 2008 will be eligible to compete in the series. Male participation is capped at 22 years of age.

"Motorcycling and motorcycle road racing are gaining popularity with women across Canada," said Tina Capell of PMP. "The Honda CBR125R is an ideal option for women who want to ride, and the Honda CBR125R Challenge is the perfect starter road racing series."



ARCA RE/MAX series driver Alli Owens announced today that she is withdrawing from the March 21-22 open test session at Rockingham Raceway Park due to injuries suffered in a motorcycle accident. The driver of the No. 12 ElectrifyingCareers.com Chevrolet is expected to return to action when the series holds an open test session on April 1 at Iowa Speedway.  “I want to thank all the fans and the entire ARCA community for their well wishes,” said Owens. “It’s been a difficult few days since the accident and all their support has made it bearable.”

Owens was forced off the road by another vehicle while riding her motorcycle with friends in central Florida. She managed to fall clear of the motorcycle moments before it made impact with a tree. The driver of the other vehicle did not stop. “I’ve been riding on two wheels ever since I competed in BMX competition,” explained Owens. “I understand the importance of using proper safety equipment. Without my helmet, I would have been severely injured.”

The 19-year-old Daytona Beach, Florida resident is currently undergoing physical therapy on her left leg and is expected to compete in her next scheduled race at Iowa Speedway on April 19.

“I’m focusing all my energy on healing as quickly as possible,” said Owens. “This is definitely not how I wanted to start my rookie season, but this is only a temporary setback.   The best medicine for me is to get back behind the wheel of my ElectrfyingCareers.com car".


Hillary Will is now the fastest woman in the NHRA. Driver of the KB Racing, LLC Top Fuel dragster, got her first round-win of the new season a few weeks ago with  a 5.992 sec., 168.89 mph to 7.014 sec., 175.73 mph ride.

“During our pre-season test session last week, I went the fastest I have ever gone in my 12 years of racing”. Will, a 27-year old native of Fortuna, Calif., said. “It gives me a lot of confidence to know that we have a great-running car. We posted some awesome numbers. That will be a lot more significant once we make that translate into round wins on race day. I look forward to doing that this weekend.

“I know my whole KB Racing, LLC team is ready to race. It was a long off-season, and I just can’t wait to get back in the car and get some wins. "



Ashley Force and her father, John, wowed NHRA fans in Dallas, Texas last weekend at the 2008 BrandSource Summit.

Force also took advantage of getting a behind the scenes look at a wide array of electronic products to feed one of his hidden passions.

“I love home appliances. I like to cook and I love TV. I have televisions in every room in my house,” said Ashley who is marrying in December. She and her fiancé Danny (Hood) love to walk around and see all the new products.”

 


Check out Gabi DeCarlo’s latest blog on ArcaNation.com. All season Gabi will take you inside her ARCA ride and her experiences as a woman race car driver.

Cars! A passion, a hobby, and a culture. It all comes together for Second Life residents on Motorability Island in Second Life.

United Spinal Association’s 7-sim Motorability Island, formerly Pontiac’s Motorati Island, is set for its grand opening on Saturday the 29th of March - however it’s open to the public now. Fashion Cars and Avatars is the theme for the event.

All proceeds go to UnitedSpinal.org.

Event proceeds, sales of goods and services from commercial enterprise and sponsorships will contribute to raise awareness and provide funding to support United Spinal Association programs in the virtual and real world.

If you are a vehicle designer, vehicle engineer, or product designer of any stripe, the please please check out the field called "biomimicry".  In my opinion, it is one of the coolest, most intuitive aspects of sustainability.  I follow biomimicry for fun, because it is replete with cool stories about how nature has inspired various innovations.  Imagine an exterior paint that cleans itself -- that's what Lotusan is doing, learning from water that balls up upon a lotus leaf.  Imagine manufacturing Kevlar and nylon at ambient temperature -- that's what spider silk inspired.   Imagine a termite-mound inspired cooling system for building.  A number of these innovations are now profitable ventures. 

The Chrysler concept car from 2005 was shaped like a boxfish  and achieved  70 mpg  with diesel without drive train changes.  It was inspired by research at the intersection of biology... and vehicles.  (More details in link above.)

So what is this "biomimicry" thing, you ask? 

April is Earth Month, and the New York Auto Show started us on our Earth-Aware mindset a little early by presenting a wide variety of eco-friendly and alternatively fueled production cars and concepts. We’ve gathered up an assortment of our green favorites here so you can enjoy them as well. Ask Patty strives to be Earth Friendly members of the automotive world every day, so we hope you’ll enjoy this AskPatty Blog Green Car Carnival, where we provide a midweek fix of female-friendly news and interesting automotive tidbits from around the ecofriendly blogosphere.


Lady Liberty opened this year's New York Auto Show with an announcement that she would be ending her 100-year love affair with the automobile and declared her undying devotion to biking, walking and mass transit. According to StreetsBlog.org, Lady Liberty used the auto show as an opportunity to reject the automobile's eleventh-hour pleas that it intends to moderate its wasteful ways saying "'Green car' is an oxymoron, and I've had it with morons." Wowzer. There’s one angry lady!

Chevy’s Hydrogen Fuel Cell Equinox continues its auto show tour to the New York Auto Show and onto the Marketwatch news site. From the outside, the Chevy Equinox fuel-cell vehicle looks a lot like any other sport utility vehicle, but under its hood, the differences abound. While General Motors has yet to release any specific plans to put the Equinox into general production beyond 100 “Project Driveway” test vehicles on the road this year, the car provides a glimpse of the alternative technologies – including Saturn’s plug-in hybrid, Tahoe hybrid, and the Chevrolet Volt concepts -- in prominent display at this year's New York Auto Show.

A new challenge with a 10 million U.S. dollar award as the carrot at the end of the stick was announced Thursday by the X Prize Foundation at the New York Auto Show. The foundation's latest challenge is to design and build a "viable, clean, and super-efficient" car that people actually want to buy and that will "help break our addiction to oil and stem the effects of climate change." (Isn’t this the same thing our traditional manufacturers are attempting to accomplish?) To date, 64 international teams have accepted the challenge, which is sponsored by Progressive Casualty Insurance Co. Their innovative vehicles will compete for multi-million dollar prize in the culmination of the challenge: two long-distance stage races that reflect real driving conditions, to be held in 2009 -- the Qualifying Race and the Grand Prize Final. In the races, the cars will have to hit a minimum speed and achieve a fuel efficiency of at least 100 miles per gallon of gasoline energy equivalent. They must also be ready for production on the market. In other words, no concept cars.

Subaru of America Inc. showed off its R1e electric car, saying it's fun to drive while also being easy to charge and emissions free. According to IHT.com, the R1e promises a range of 50 miles and claims to achieve a top speed of 65 mph. It can charge to 80 percent capacity in 15 minutes using a dedicated charger, or be fully charged overnight with a regular domestic outlet. According to Tim Mahoney, Subaru of America's chief marketing officer, the vehicle's lithium-ion battery has an estimated life of 10 years or 100,000 miles.

Mitsubishi Motors is showing its battery-powered i MiEV at the New York International Auto Show this week, as well as its clean diesel-powered Concept-cX[2] compact which is scheduled to make its European debut in 2009. The i MiEV is a 100% electric vehicle, which uses high-energy density lithium batteries to power its compact, lightweight motor. Mitsubishi has been operating a test fleet in Japan since October 2006 to determine i MiEV's overall performance under actual driving conditions and its market acceptability. According to AutoBlogGreen.com Mitsu plans to start a fleet test program of the I Miev in the United States this fall working with several power companies in North America, MMC continues to stride forward in making the EV a practical proposition on a global scale.

BMW’s 118d with EfficientDynamics -- a compact hatchback powered by a four-cylinder diesel putting out 143 hp and promising more than 50 miles per gallon -- was named the World Green Car of the Year at the New York Auto Show last week. To be eligible for the 2008 World Green Car award, a vehicle must achieve economy better than 47 miles per gallon, feature technologies specifically designed to increase fuel economy or decrease emissions, and meet or exceed strict new tailpipe emissions requirements in Europe and the United States. Sold in Europe, the 118d is not yet projected for the American market; while many automakers are bringing new diesels to the U.S., usnews.rankingsandreviews.com wonders whether Americans will buy them. Who wouldn’t buy this one?

MotiveMag.com showed us Saleen’s impressive new concept vehicle, the S5S Raptor as made its world debut at New York. The Raptor has a 5-liter, supercharged V-8 that gets 650 horsepower, and is powered by E85 cellulosic ethanol. This is the same ethanol formula, stated Saleen President and Chief Executive Paul Wilbur, that is the official fuel of the 2008 American Le Mans Race Series and the IRL. The higher octane rating of E85 results in more power, promising to will send the Raptor screaming to 60 mph in a g-force generating 3.2 seconds. “With ethanol power,” said Wilber, “the car is both mean and clean!”

Jim Hand and Hand Motors were presented with the 2007 Dealer Innovation Award by the National Automobile Association and USA Today at the New York Auto Show. The award is given to an automobile dealership which has taken a leadership role in the community to save energy, reduce utility costs, and help protect the environment. Hand well-known in the area for the efforts both he and his family have made to energy efficiency in the community. The dealership saves about $15,000 a year by heating its service department with waste motor and vegetable oils instead of traditional heating oil. In 2007, Hand Motors installed new lighting fixtures which reduced electricity costs by about 30 percent. The dealership also uses motion detectors in key areas to cut electricity use and serves as a recycling drop-off point for plastics, batteries and compact fluorescent light bulbs. In all, Hand expects to save about $30,000 a year in energy costs through the dealership's "reduce, recycle and carbon-offset program" program. That’s awesome! Let’s give Mr. Hand a big round of applause!

Honda is promising to release two dedicated hybrids for the U.S. market in 2009. One of them should be based on the Concept CR-Z we’ve seen at recent auto shows, and the other is expected to be revealed at the Paris Motor Show in the Fall. According to Yahoo! Green, these two cars should beat the Prius for efficiency, but their price is yet to be determined. Left Lane News says when the new model launches in Europe in Spring 2009, it will have an estimated sticker price between €16,000 and €20,000 ($10,300 to $13,000). Bring it on!

As the first Teslas roll off the production line and into the hands of some rich guys, Yahoo! Green thinks it's time to take a look at the  electric roadster's competition, identifying a list of other hot green cars worthy of the ecofriendly millionaire’s garage. The list includes the too-expensive-to-tell Rinspeed sQuab, the $600,000 Venturi Fetish, the $300,00 Lightning GT, the $100,000 Tesla Roadster, and Fisker’s $80,000 Karma. Out of the price range for the average consumer, but still exotic enough to put them onto the wishlist of many car fans. The fact that they’re eco-friendly is just additional frosting on the proverbial cake.

According to Yahoo! Green, the Vatican has listed an updated collection of modern new sins, such as causing environmental blight and genetic manipulation, and specifically opposes stem cell research that involves destruction of embryos and human cloning. Under Pope Benedict and his predecessor John Paul, the Vatican has become progressively "green," and has installed photovoltaic cells on buildings to produce electricity and hosted a scientific conference to discuss the ramifications of global warming and climate change, widely blamed on human use of fossil fuels. Additional guidance has recently come from Archbishop Gianfranco Girotti, the Vatican's number two man, who told the Vatican newspaper L'Osservatore Romano that the greatest danger zone for the modern soul was the largely uncharted world of bioethics. Let’s all pray for a greener automotive future, shall we?

In honor of this week’s green car theme, we’re wrapping up with something in a different shade from our usual pink car finale. This week’s green car is courtesy of glamgirlcars.com, who found this Beetle buggy in Eqypt.  She says “It looks like a perfect car for Shrek, but I liked it as well.” We agree.