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Wiesmann upgrades all V10 models to twin-turbo V8 by Jeff Glucker (RSS feed) on Oct 21st 2010 at 3:32PM Wiesmann was in a bit of a pickle when BMW announced it was no longer producing its V10. In addition to the M5 and M6, the high-revving 10 was used to power the Roadster MF5 and GT MF5 and we assumed Wiesmann would make the switch to the new 4.4-liter twin-turbocharged V8 engine. We were right. What we didn't guess is that it would be sticking the new mill under the hoods of both the Roadster MF4 and GT MF4. The Wiesmann MF3 will retain its 343 horsepower six-cylinder engine. No word yet on how much power the twin-turbo will produce when utilized with the MF4, but wh…

Fiat, Toyota, Ford lead European car-sales drop Opel/Vauxhall was the only major European volume maker to post a sales gain in November, thanks to cars such as the new Meriva, shown. Automotive News Europe -- December 15, 2010 08:16 CET PARIS (Bloomberg) -- Fiat S.p.A., Toyota Motor Corp. and Ford Motor Co. led an eighth-consecutive monthly decline in European car deliveries as fallout from last year's government incentives hampered a recovery in the region's largest markets. Registrations fell 6.5 percent to 1.11 million cars in November from 1.18 million a year earlier, Brussels-based industry association ACEA said today in a statement. Eleven-month sales dropped 5.…

Just a couple suggestions. One would be to place the PM box in the upper right corner like it used to be. Everytime I get a PM, I get forced to go to the User CP page to read the full PM where before I could click the PM and it would just link me straight to the new message I received (inside the User CP). Also, I noticed on cobaltss.net that they have a very useful drop-down menu in the top left corner of all the forum pages where you can skip right to the forum you want to go to. It's really nice to use sometimes instead of going to the forum home page, then searching for the right forum. Damn it, I'm getting lazy.

Ater a rather long hiatus, Cheers and Gears' popular design competitions are back...with a vengence, by which I mean prizes. You read right, starting today, the winner of each competition will recieve a small prize that relates to the subject of the competition if possible. Don't expect a car or a vacation, but there will be a little reward for your outstanding efforts as well as a little motivation to keep that mouse or pencil busy. Entrants in the onging RWD Pontiac sketch and Camaro photoshop threads are eligible for prizes, so good luck and let's see your work! P.S. If you have anything of interest that you'd like to donate as a prize for a future competition, plea…

3rd- Infiniti G35 Sport 2nd- Acura TL Type-S 1st- Lexus IS350 They clocked the IS at 4.9 seconds to 60! Full Story/Video

The Romanian Dacia Logan:

In case you didn't notice, I've decided to move to a blog-like methodology in posting news and articles on C&G instead of my old method of simply cutting and pasting the entire article. It takes a little longer to post news this way since I'm typing the titles and content myself but I feel it's a good way to add some originality in posting news here. I just wanted to gauge the opinions of the rest of the forum on this as I feel I will stick with this method from now on. So, thoughts?

Lately, there have been a lot of reposts with debuts, and it is understandable but I think it can be prevented. Reposted topics simply add clutter to the forum and make it hard to navigate at times (and confusion occurs when there are multipul topics because people don't know which they've already posted in). As a result, I, along with other Admins, are going to make an effort to pin topics that we want the discussions to be in. If you find another story about a vehicle that has debuted and you think it is significantly different from what has already posted, please simply post a link to that story, but do not post the whole story in the thread as that requires excess sc…

Are any board upgrades in the plan?

how come "hummer" is a "protected" forum? (not that i care all that much about hummer news--its the only one of the brands thats locked)

The words "Hacked by Pirate - Devilbyte" randomly appears in the title.

Is it just me or is the text size in the new C&G much smaller? Is there any way i can make it bigger without just changing the text size in my browser?

EU’s Struggling Economies Yet to See Recovery in Car Sales, Prices By Keith Nuthall WardsAuto.com, Aug 16, 2010 9:00 AM Passenger-car prices in Eastern Europe have tumbled along with vehicle sales as a result of the global recession significantly faster than in Western Europe, impeding attempts to create a unified automotive market that spans the continent. A key benefit of the European Union for the auto industry was supposed to be the tariff-free sale of vehicles between its 27-member states. By removing the bureaucratic barriers preventing such purchases, the EU has tried to create one unified auto market for its combined population of 500 million people. But sur…

Just to spread the word again, Cheers and Gears now features some great static information pages for your enjoyment and use. Clicking theGM Resources and Guides link on your Main Menu brings you to a wealth of information including... Powertrain Guide Transmission Guide Production Plant Guide Vehicle Safety Guide Fuel Economy and Efficiency Guide All of which are frequently updated. Watch out soon for our Future Product Guide! For you design competition fans, we now have a Design Showcase Gallery with all of our recent contest winners. Don't forget about our Member Marketplace or our official Cheers and Gears Company Store, which will feature even more great merc…

any chance of getting chevy, buick, pontiac...... skins anytime soon?

2005 has been a turbulant year in so many respects. For most of us, we spent the past twelve months seeing continued war in the Middle East, unfathomable natural disasters, and stratospheric gas prices. We've also seen the automaker we care and admire face difficulties of its own with the postponing or cancellation of several models and the sword of Damocles that is bankruptcy. The forums we call home have probably been up-and-running about 80% of the past year. And a few among us have even lost cars, jobs, or worse. I've felt a general malaise around here now and then, often evidenced by our conduct towards our fellow members. In light of that, I'd like to…

Honda, Hyundai issue anti-used-parts memos, junkyards object by Chris Shunk (RSS feed) on Oct 29th 2010 at 9:58AM The Automotive Recyclers Association is ready to go to war with Honda and Hyundai. Why? The ARA claims that the automakers warn against the use of recycled auto parts, saying that the use of these components will void vehicle warranties. The ARA filed an official letter of complaint with the Federal Trade Commission saying that the actions of the automakers fly in the face of the Magnuson-Moss Act of 1975, which was enacted to make warranties more straightforward. Recycled auto parts have been in wide use for decades, and the ARA says that the use of these …

Ok, so I was trying to click on properties for a pic, but I accidentally hit "block pictures from imageshack.us," so now no pics from Imageshack load. Does anyone know how to undo this setting?

Whenever I click the link above the picture relating to the top story I always get an error saying that the link is out of date or broken. Please help!!

Report: BMW, Mercedes experiment with upscale car-sharing by Zach Bowman (RSS feed) on Dec 29th 2010 at 6:39PM If you think that joining in on the car-sharing party means that you'll be stuck behind the wheel of a low-buck auto, prepare to be amazed. According to AutoWeek, both BMW and Mercedes-Benz are diving into the car-sharing world with programs designed to allow users to experience a slice of luxury without having to foot the hassles associated with car ownership. BMW on Demand will provide drivers with a 1 Series for as little as €16 per hour in Europe (around $21 USD/hr). Those wanting a little more room can opt for a 5 Series for the low price of €23/hr ($30/…

Daimler to expand Renault-Nissan pact to EVs, exec says September 14, 2010 10:16 CET UPDATED: Sept. 14 15:30 CET STUTTGART (Reuters) -- German luxury carmaker Daimler AG is expanding its cooperation with Renault SA and Nissan Motor Co. to develop electric cars in a race to meet tightening emission reduction rules. Daimler's research chief, Thomas Weber, told Reuters in an interview its cooperation with Renault and Nissan "will be expanded to include all three partners as far as electric motors, batteries and powertrains are concerned". The move comes as carmakers and car parts suppliers rush to gain a foothold in the market for zero-emission vehicles as deadlines for…

How to post the pictures at the bottom of the posts I cant figure this out for the life of me . Thanks

The Old Forum Archives Are they Gone?

On the front page, the only car in the Member Garage that shows up is Z28's Cobalt. And when you click on it to get to the rest of the Member Garage, this is what you get: ERROR: Database error. Cannot execute the query: SELECT evento, titolo, descrizione, file, click, rate, trate, autore, idauth, peso, data FROM mkp_gallery WHERE id = '1' AND validate = '1' MySql Error returned: Unknown column 'idauth' in 'field list' MySql Error code: 1054

Today we reached two new milestones: 1,000 members and 13,000 posts on the new site. Cheers! :cheers:

http://www.nwherald.com/BusinessSection/353318304457448.php

Admins: Please allow me to help out Northie with the Design Competitions. His school work is dominating his ability to help the competitions run smoothly. Please let me help him out. Well, as long as Northie is okay with it. :P

I don't know what happened but about ten or eleven of my posts have disappeared. Anybody know what happened? Did I miss something?

German OEMs pick one electrical charging connector to rule them all by Jeremy Korzeniewski (RSS feed) on Sep 16th 2010 at 4:31PM One massive sticking point with electric cars is the lack of standards when it comes to plugging in the vehicle. In the 90s, the General Motors EV1 didn't use the same kind of plug as the Toyota RAV4 EV, and that meant electric vehicle charging stations had to keep multiple adapters on hand if they wanted to service to multiple machinery. If there's any hope that EVs will take off in popularity over the next few decades, some standardization is in order. To that end, German manufacturers Audi, BMW, Daimler (Mercedes-Benz and Smart), Porsche a…

BMW, Mercedes, Audi weigh tiniest models for U.S. 08:31 AM CAPTIONBy Virginia Mayo, AP Germany's famous luxury automakers are thinking the unthinkable -- bringing their smallest cars to the U.S. Audi, for instance, is weighing whether to bring its next-generation A1 compact car to America. BMW and Mercedes-Benz are also taking a close look at the market. German automakers have always hesitated in the past out of fear that their smallest cars would dilute their image as makers of the wor'd finest cars. But the Obama's new fuel economy standards have them over a barrel. They need smaller cars to offset the bigger, less fuel-effienct ones they plan to sell. "Consumers …

I'll be installing updates for this version of IPB this afternoon. One of the updates looks like it'll plug a hole that allowed the hacker to gain control of our databasse. While I'm doing this, here might be slight disruptions in service, but no major downtime.

Is this IPB illegal? It doesnt say liscensed to cheersandgears. Just wondring. I am not a representative of "IPB", Im just wondering to make sure if you can take away the liscense to: footer. Or is this a liscensed version at all...Thanks!

Beyond the 500 Internal server error, I've also been getting a max users error message as well lately: Warning: mysql_connect(): User cheers_ipbuser already has more than 'max_user_connections' active connections in /home/.curly/flybrian/cheersandgears.com/forums/ips_kernel/class_db_mysql.php on line 120

Looks like "Bluehost" has been giving me a slew of error messages saying something along the lines of, "This site has exceeded its CPU usage," ever since I got my Broadband up and running today.

VIDEO: Ferrari 458 Italia is Auto Express’ 2011 Performance Car of the Year TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 09, 2010 British car magazine Auto Express, has crowned the Ferrari 458 Italia their 2011 Performance Car of the Year (PCOTY). The magazine chose the Italian supercar from a list of 20 contenders, including other big names like the Audi V10 Spyder, Porsche GT3 RS, BMW M3 Competition and Mercedes SLS AMG. The Honda CR-Z, Renault Twingo Cup 133 and Skoda Fabia RS were the more down-to-earth cars of the group. Watch the video summary after the break to see what makes the F458 this year's performance car in AE's opinion. You can also see each car's lap time here. By Csaba Daradi…

The Astrolab's ultra-lightweight monocoque chassis is built of carbon fiber and functions as a safety cell protecting the two inline occupants. Photovoltaic cells are covered by a unique nano-prismic film that is designed to concentrate solar energy. A 21-horsepower electric motor is all that is required to drive the 617-pound vehicle. Venturi says the vehicle can recharge itself while in motion and can store solar energy in its nickel-metal-hydride batteries. With a top speed of 75 mph and a range of 68 miles, the Astrolab is intended primarily as an inter-city commuter — albeit a fairly expensive one. Venturi says it is scheduled to deliver the first cars in January 2…

Europe's premium flagship sedans return to health, flaunting new technology Europe's premium top-of-the-range car manufacturers are defying logic as they pick themselves up and dust themselves down after the great slump of 2009. You would think that the days of these massive, gas guzzling, hugely expensive behemoths - like the Mercedes S class, BMW 7 Series, Audi A8 and Jaguar XJ - would be numbered. After all, the days of conspicuous consumption are surely over for a while at least. And new regulations in the European Union and United States will soon start forcing car manufacturers to drastically cut fuel consumption. When these carbon dioxide (CO2) emission rules we…

why is my post count stuck at 17? :CG_all:

As most of you may have noticed, none of you have yet received your promised prizes for winning competitions. Please know you haven't been forgotten about. Our C&G account is very low because of recent purchases of spy photography as well as the big down payment we had to put down for two years of hosting. Because of this, I'm pretty much paying for these prizes out of my pocket. The prizes are - as somewhat stated - going to be small trinkets, things like keychains, toy diecasts, etc. Nothing like an actual car or something grandiose, but a little relevant prize nonetheless that we hope you'll appreciate. Rest assured again that winners will receive prizes! Just g…

Ok, so I've recently uploaded a new avatar but it keeps being stretched out to 90x90 even though I made the actual file 80x40-something. Any way this can be fixed?

Japan’s Economic Future in Doubt: A National Introspective TUESDAY, DECEMBER 28, 2010 It’s not been a good year for Japan. China has recently overtaken the Land of the Rising Sun as the world’s second biggest economic power and a recall of over ten million vehicles by one of the nation’s biggest and most respectable companies, Toyota, kicked off a global PR debacle that some analysts predict will take years to recover from. Add to that Japan’s aging population, its growing national debt and heavy reliance on manufacturing, all of which are effectively killing what was once thought destined to be the world’s leading economic superpower. The departure of its fourth Pri…

With the changing of the guard, so to speak, YellowJacket and myself, who are now in charge of the design competition section of C&G have some changes we'd like to announce. Change #1 Fo the time being we are going to have the sketch and chopping competitions linked togther. By this we mean that they will share a common objective, as opposed to different ones. For example: Both compeitions will focus on designing a new car for flagship model for Buick. This way things will, ideally be more simple for us, and give designers who want to participate but aren't choppers, the ability to sketch their design out, and vise versa. This will begin with the next competitio…

I haven't been able to get in here all morning, it just wouldn't load, or it would come in halfway. Anyone else?

Toyota, Nissan issue safety recalls By KEN THOMAS ASSOCIATED PRESS WRITER This undated handout photo provided by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) shows an example of a driver-side floor mat on a 2007 Lexus ES350. Toyota Motor Corp. said Wednesday, Sept. 26, 2007, it was recalling optional "all-weather" floor mats in 55,000 Lexus ES 350 and Toyota Camry passenger cars because the mat could interfere with the gas pedal and lead to a crash. (AP Photo/NHTSA) WASHINGTON -- Toyota Motor Corp. said Wednesday it was recalling optional "all-weather" floor mats in 55,000 Lexus ES 350 and Toyota Camry passenger cars because the mat could interfe…

Audi, Mercedes, BMW rely on China as Germany stalls August 16, 2010 06:01 CET SHANGHAI (Bloomberg) -- BMW AG, the world’s largest luxury carmaker, Volkswagen AG’s Audi unit and Daimler AG's Mercedes-Benz brand are making up for faltering sales at home by selling more cars in China even as industrywide demand cools in the world’s largest auto market. Audi sold 53 percent more cars in China in July compared with a year earlier, while Daimler, the world’s second-largest luxury-car maker, tripled sales of its Mercedes-Benz brand to 14,500 vehicles and BMW raised its deliveries 82 percent to 13,852, the companies said this month. Sales of Audi and Mercedes fell in Germany f…

The tab on the top right of forum headings. It lets you either expand or collapse those you do not wish to view. Who cares about the Foreign Exchange? Not I! Same for the Powertrain tech stuff. Pffffft I love it.

If you don't know what a Frappr is, its an interactive friend-mapping site. Just go here to our Frappr... http://www.frappr.com/cheersandgears ...fill in your C&G Username and Zip code (and a little comment and picture if you choose) and volia! I think it'll be neat to get a real representation of where everyone is. And, yes, works for Canadians, too, eh? :CG_all:

Is the Lotus Europa set to be reborn as a Proton? by Jeff Glucker (RSS feed) on Dec 3rd 2010 at 2:29PM The Lotus Europa died so that the Evora could live. Now it seems that Lotus-owner Proton is looking to revive the Europa and stick the Proton badge on the bodywork. The resulting Proton-badged Europa would provide a relatively affordable sports car for the Malaysian market. In fact, this very car has recently popped up in the form of the Proton Lekir Concept, which is essentially a tiger-badged Europa. If this conceptual car ever comes to fruition, we'll be interested to see how the Malaysian market would respond to a Lotus they can truly call their own. link: htt…

Wilkommen Wiesmann German coachbuilder Wiesmann is dramatically boosting production as it gears up for sales in the United States by 2010. “The decision has been taken,” company co-owner Martin Wiesmann told AutoWeek. “There is no elaborate plan yet. We won’t start our own dealer network, and we need partners." Read "Wild, Wild Wiesmann" @ Autoweek

Global Vehicles emails potential customers, attempts to explain delays. Again. by Jeremy Korzeniewski (RSS feed) on Nov 5th 2010 at 6:29PM Mahindra Pik-Up – Click above for high-res image gallery The plot thickens. Global Vehicles USA, the one-time and possible-still (pending litigation, of course) importer of Mahindra pickups has sent an email to those who have reserved a spot for one of the first 30,000 or so little diesel trucks in the United States. You'll find the text of the email here, but basically the importer still sounds hopeful that it will be putting the Indian machines into the hands of dealerships at some unknown point in the future. Will it actually ha…

TATA MOTORS SELLS $750M IN STOCK TO REDUCE DEBT By Mark Kleis The ambitious Indian automaker, Tata Motors, has announced it will sell shares of stock worth $750 million - the proceeds from which will be utilized to help pay down some of the $4.5 billion in debt the automaker owns. Although $750 million may be a far cry from the tens of billions being discussed for General Motors' upcoming IPO, this sale, for starters, is not an IPO, only an isolated release of shares. Secondly, as Bloomberg points out, it is a significant amount because the automaker has originally announced intentions to sell $525 million worth, but higher than expected demand drove Tata to increase t…

China's Brilliance BS6 sedan fails German crash test 06.21.07, 10:52 AM ET | Link to Original Article @ Autoblog FRANKFURT (Thomson Financial) - A car with which China's Brilliance wanted to conquer Europe's automobile market has failed to pass a benchmark German crash test, the German ADAC automobile club said today. The BS6 sedan, made by Chinese car maker Brilliance, won only one out of a possible five stars in the crash test, carried out in accordance with Euro NCAP regulations, at ADAC's crash test laboratories, the organisation said. It was the second time in less than two years that a Chinese-made car has failed the test, following the spectacular failure o…