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Take a close look at the image above. Yes, it's a motorcyclist, riding an orange motorcycle. Take a gander at the speedometer, and you'll see he's doing about 250 kilometers per hour, which equals about 155 miles per hour.

But wait – what's that yellow thing surrounding the digital speedometer? It looks like... yep, that's a snake all right. The how and why of it got there we don't know. Probably trying to warm itself on the bike's engine, we guess.

In any case, we suggest you watch the video to see how a calm, level-headed man might react to such a situation. Well, calm for sure. We're not so sure anyone who'd willingly ride a motorcycle at insane speed on public roads, passing fellow bikers in the face of oncoming traffic could be called level headed.

See it go down in all its scaly glory in the video below.

Don't get ahead of yourselves: This is not yet another Lincoln-badged Mustang rumor post, the likes of which seem to crop up every few years. Instead, Ford's wayward luxury division is reportedly hoping to gain access to the bits and pieces that will underpin the next-generation pony car – specifically, the MacPherson front and independent rear suspension setup.

Having this rear-wheel-drive platform could do a number of good things for Lincoln. For example, it could finally give the brand a proper entry-level luxury fighter for the Audi A4, BMW 3 Series, Cadillac ATS, Infiniti G and so on, though brand officials will still insist that the all-wheel-drive MKZ suits this need just fine.

According to Car and Driver, this forthcoming rear-wheel-drive architecture could be used to better place the awkward MKS in its mid-size luxury segment. Rather than being simply a more expensive Ford Taurus, the MKS could transform itself into a genuine 5 Series or CTS fighter. Perhaps it could even look something like Lincoln's 2007 MKR concept shown above. Furthermore, a proper rear-wheel-drive flagship could be in the cards for Lincoln, though the Mustang's platform would need to be seriously overhauled and stretched to handle such a task.

But for Ford, as C/D points out, would it really make sense to go through all the trouble of creating a bona fide rear-wheel-drive sedan and not just slap a Blue Oval badge on it? If the automaker truly wants Lincoln to survive, then many pundits would say yes.

Their models may not be for everyone, but at the end of the day, Radical has a winning formula: make an LMP race car for consumers. In fact, the formula is so successful that Caterham and Lola essentially replicated it with the SP/300.R.

Radical aims to further its model with a new closed-roof model, but before it does, the British manufacturer is taking the formula to a new price point more accessible to the common buyer.

The new SR1 takes a similar approach to the more expensive SR3 that set records at the Nurburgring, but coming in at £29,850 (before taxes, or about $46k at today's exchange rates including Value Added Tax), is a more affordable proposition that further entrenches Radical's goal of trouncing supercars costing twice its price or more. The Suzuki-souced 1.3-liter, four-cylinder motorbike engine has been tuned by Radical in this application to deliver 210 horsepower and 130 lb-ft of torque. But considering its low weight, that's still tipped to be enough to propel the racecar-for-the-road to 60 in 3.6 seconds.

A Quaife ATB limited-slip differential and 240-millimeter ventilated disc brakes help keep things under control and an FIA-approved roll cage and integrated fire supression system are there in case they can't. Buyers can have racing slicks, rain tires or road rubber fitted according to their needs. So while the SR1 may be intended for track use, it can be driven to the track instead of stored or towed there and driven back home at the end of the day... all for less than you'd pay (in the UK) for even a base Porsche Boxster.

Check out the high-res gallery above along with the press release below for the full skinny.

One week after leaked images appeared online and just a few days after its sister car, the Škoda Rapid, was revealed, the Seat Toledo has taken a bow. Expected to "write a whole new success story" for the Seat, the five-door and its "timeless personality" has a mission to be "a great car for a great price." All of which sounds like the Spanish marque really has very little to say about their new model, eh?

In contrast to the Škoda's seven powerplant options, three will be on the Seat menu at launch: two petrol-flavored offerings in the form of a 1.2-liter, 73-horsepower TSI and a 1.4-liter, 119-hp TSI, and an oil-burning 1.6-liter, 102-hp TDI. Next year, a less potent 1.6-liter, 88-hp diesel will be added to the range.

We'll have live shots of it from the Paris Auto Salon floor later this fall, after which it will appear in Spanish and Portuguese showrooms before exports expand to other parts of the world. Prices will be announced closer to launch, so scroll down for a presser with the other details on Seat's new baby.

While it may have had its fans, we have to say we don't much miss the roadster family which General Motors based on its Kappa platform. Sold alternately as the Pontiac Solstice, Saturn Sky, Opel GT and Daewoo G2X (depending largely on the market), the roadster as much about style as substance, and it was summarily discontinued in 2009 as GM's domestic brands faltered. But now a company in Spain has given the two-seat roadster a new lease on life.

That company is called Tauro Sport Auto, and its version – called, simply enough, the V8 Spider – is a fairly comprehensive rework. As you might have discerned from the name, it replaces the four-cylinder engine with a V8 also from the GM parts bin: the 6.2-liter LS3 Corvette engine, which it offers in 440, 480 and bonkers 650 horsepower states of tune with the addition of new cylinder heads and a supercharger.

How the chassis is able to handle that much power is another matter, but the interior unfortunately appears to carry over largely unchanged from the Pontiac. Pricing, though, starts at a very un-Solstice-like €100,000, or about $125k at today's rates. Which strikes us as about right for a Latin-flavored eight-cylinder roadster, but a tad much for a Kappa convertible.

Ask any sales and marketing executive from Chrysler, Ford or General Motors what their company's greatest challenge is and they will unequivocally reply, "California." The Golden State accounts for 12.5 percent of all new car sales in the United States, but even more importantly, it is seen as a bellwether for the nation. As the home of the entertainment and consumer electronics industries, California has an outsized reach into our nation's popular culture – but Californians have historically been among the least receptive to domestic products.

There's some evidence that trend may be changing, as domestic market share has been improving in the recent years, according to Forbes. Ford has seen its Blue Oval brand improve from seven percent in 2008 to over nine percent last year. Chevrolet topped six percent last year after three years of growth. Even Chrysler, which had a market share of less than four percent in 2010, has seen growth – to five percent in 2011 and almost six percent so far this year.

Still, those numbers are a pittance compared to the import brands. According to The Detroit News, domestic automakers have a combined 30.8 percent share in California, well below their 44.3 percent national average. The domestics' recent growth in California – the Japanese and Korean manufacturers' "home turf" – has certainly been helped by supply shortages at Honda and Toyota, companies beset by natural disasters last year.

If domestic automakers are going to continue to take share from foreign competition, they're going to have to have more success stories like the recent surge in Chevrolet Volt sales, a phenomenon spurred by the availability of High Occupancy Vehicle lane stickers for GM's plug-in hybrid. There's also an inevitable demographic shift that could benefit Detroit, as domestic-hating Baby Boomers give way to younger buyers with no memory of Detroit's dark decades in the 1970s and 1980s.

Nelson Piquet Jr. – son of (obviously) Piquet Sr., a three-time Formula 1 champion – currently races in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series and the Nationwide Series. Piquet and sponsor Alpinestars decided it would be cool to have the racer's Number 30 Chevrolet Silverado painted up by David Gwyther of Death Spray Customs ahead of the Charlotte round of the truck series.

The artist came up with a motif he calls "Heat Signature", and the livery was duly printed on vinyl and applied to Piquet's machine. We think it was one of the better liveries in recent NASCAR history, being instantly recognizable and suitably different while not being terribly gaudy. Just gaudy enough, in other words.

We'd love to tell you that the special paint job gave Piquet an extra few horsepower and the willpower to overcome some classic rubbing-is-racing-style adversity, but alas, the race ended for Piquet's Silverado after coming into contact with the wall in turn four. As is said in the video below, at least it looked good going out in a blaze of glory.

Take a good look at the lineup of cars at Infiniti. Notice anything interesting? We see sedans of multiple shapes and sizes, wagon-like crossovers, a hybrid and even a massive SUV, which is the most expensive machine the company has on offer. What we don't see, though, is a clear range-topper.

According to Car and Driver, that fact doesn't sit very well with Andreas Sigl, the man at the head of Infiniti's Formula 1 relationship with Red Bull. "A halo car would help us ... It could bridge the gap between Infiniti and F1."

With an Infiniti version of the Nissan GT-R apparently off the table, we're not really expecting any kind of halo car that will bring to mind the raw performance of an F1 racer. Still, the options available to Infiniti are intriguing: the Emerg-E and Essence concepts are reportedly being considered for production.

The Essence Concept was powered by a twin-turbo, direct-injection 3.7-liter V6 and electric motor hybrid combination that was good for 592 brake horsepower. That sounds perfectly halo-esque to us, but a V8 may have potential, too. Meanwhile, the Emerg-E concept was co-developed with Lotus with componentry borrowed from the Evora. The range-extended electric vehicle could reportedly run from 0-60 in four seconds flat while offering a 300-mile range.

So, which direction might Infiniti go? Beats us, but C&D poses a nice solution: How about both?

Tesla Model S, Toyota and BMW partnership, 2013 Chevrolet Malibu pricing, Acura RLX



Episode #288 of the Autoblog Podcast is here, and this week, Chris and Dan are joined by Test Fleet Manager Steven Ewing to chat about 2013 Chevrolet Malibu pricing, expanding BMW/Toyota partnerships, the Tesla Model S and the Acura RLX. Your questions and comments power the end of the 'cast, and for those of you who hung with us live on our UStream channel, thanks for taking the time. We've embedded our Q&A module after the jump for you to scroll through and follow along, too. Thanks for listening!

Autoblog Podcast #288:




Topics:

• 2013 Chevy Malibu priced at $23,150
• BMW and Toyota considering partnering
• Acura RLX revealed by patent filings
• Engadget gets seat time in the Tesla Model S

In the Autoblog Garage:
2012 Toyota Prius PHEV
2012 Honda CR-V
2013 Hyundai Genesis Coupe 3.8 R-Spec


Hosts: Dan Roth, Chris Shunk, Steven Ewing

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Lamborghini is keen to expand its product range with its upcoming Urus utility vehicle. But that doesn't mean the marque is done developing its top-of-the-line supercar. In fact, there are rumors flying around of numerous derivatives of the new Aventador. But few are as surprising as the speculation surrounding a possible four-seat version.

According to Motor Trend, the Bolognese automaker is preparing a concept version of the Aventador with a longer wheelbase, a pair of small rear-hinged suicide doors (think: Mazda RX-8) and an extra pair of seats in the back. It wouldn't be the first time Lamborghini has presented a four-seat model – there are, after all, several in its back catalog, including the aforementioned Urus, the LM002 SUV that preceded it and the Estoque concept as well – but a mid-engined 2+2 is still a bit of a rarity in the industry.

The anticipated Aventador GT concept is tipped to be unveiled at the Geneva Motor Show in March, but that's not all Sant'Agata is said to have in the pipeline. A roadster version is tipped to debut this January at the Detroit Auto Show with a more usable form than the Aventador J one-off displayed in Geneva last March. And a hardcore SuperVeloce model is tipped to arrive within a couple of years with as much as 800 horsepower.

Getting away from the Aventador line, the lightweight, Sesto Elemento concept could be ready for (limited) production by next year. Lambo's volume model, the Gallardo, is reportedly due for another facelift scheduled to debut at September's Paris Motor Show before its replacement (based on the next-generation Audi R8) arrives at the Frankfurt Motor Show one year later.

Disaster can strike just about anywhere, but the likelihood – and severity – often increases the further you are from civilization. That's what one couple in Washington State found out when they went camping with their Toyota 4Runner along the Barlow Pass in the northern Cascade mountains.

When a storm approached they sought shelter, but fortunately didn't hide inside their Toyota. A hundred-foot-tall hickory tree fell on it, crushing the back portion of the SUV. With emergency and park services apparently refusing to help, it took them a while to get a few friends out their with chainsaws to cut the tree away from the Toyota. But once they did, they were astonished to find the truck not only started, but drove them back into town where they were able to call for a tow.

Of course, the truck was virtually irreparable, but the very fact that it got them to safety after being crushed by a giant tree has the owners looking at another 4Runner – and with good reason. Are we surprised by the Toyota's fortitude? After that now-legendary Top Gear Hilux abusefest, nothing surprises us.

Scroll down to watch a video of the crumpled Toyota in action, then follow the link to the forum for more images.

Slow, uncomfortable and noisy. That's what Consumer Reports says about the Scion iQ. After giving it a good going-over, the magazine gives it a road test score of 29. That ranks it near the bottom of all new cars CR has reviewed. Very near. In fact, the only new car currently rated lower is the Smart ForTwo, iQ's direct competitor, which scored a 28.

While CR is sometimes criticized for going too easy in its car reviews, it unloaded on the Scion. Ride comfort was dinged for being stiff and jittery with "road, wind and engine noise" that drowned out normal conversation. CR said the engine and CVT was "barely enough to stay up with highway traffic" but praised the 34 mpg it saw during testing, though the institute expected more from a car so small.

Inside, the rear seat is described as awful, tight and "best avoided all together." And while the upholstery wasn't bad to look at, the headliner "resembled fuzzy cardboard" and the car's carpeting "looks like it was taken from some other car's trunk."

CR liked the car's safety test results and praised the iQ's braking and easy parkability and... that's about it.

In our recent review, we shared CR's concerns but still found that there's some fun to be had in the iQ, if only because of its tiny size. We also deemed the Scion to be massively more appealing than the Smart ForTwo.

In addition to the iQ, Consumer Reports has also posted new reviews of the BMW 328i (quicker, more fun), Mercedes C250 (quiet, more refined), the Chevrolet Malibu Eco (comfortable, lackluster) and Camaro Convertible (quick), Dodge Challenger (better handling) and the Fiat 500C (agile but choppy ride).

Read the full Consumer Reports press release below.

Six months ago, we were going to have two Formula One grands prix in America in 2013 – the Austin round at the Circuit of the Americas track and the Grand Prix of America on the streets of New Jersey. Then, three months ago, F1 impresario Bernie Ecclestone told BBC Sport that the event could be pushed back to 2014, without elaborating as to why. This week, Bernie's told BBC Sport again that "No. Definitely no," the NJ race wouldn't go down in 2013, this time clarifying that it's because he doesn't expect the track to be ready.

He then backtracked by by saying it's still possible if the track is ready, and that "If they can get it completed and confirm to us it will be done, for sure, they'll be on the calendar." The event organizers say they're ahead of schedule, but Ecclestone said he's not as confident as they are. This month Sebastian Vettel drove the course and declared it "nowhere near ready," but that's to be expected since the race is a year away.

The Grand Prix of America has as much time as time to get a street circuit prepared as Austin did to get a dedicated track done, and so far, the GPoA hasn't suffered any of the funding and construction snafus that plagued Austin. We don't know what Ecclestone knows, but he doubted Austin's prospects as well and here they are, so we'll keep the faith in New Jersey.

Yes, it does seem sort of strange to see a prototype Lexus LFA testing on the Nürburgring just as we're hearing reports that the car is nearly sold out. But just because the original supply of 500 cars has been depleted doesn't mean Lexus isn't working on some sort of derivative or last hurrah (our spy shooter friends suggest the car could wear a "Final Edition" designation).

This prototype, painted in a decidedly cool blue, looks a lot like the Nürburgring Edition LFA that we saw last year, albeit with a few tweaks. Most noticeably, the center-mounted tri-exhaust out back has been removed in favor of two dual-exhaust ports below each of the taillamps. A larger rear diffuser has been added, and another inlet has been added to the hood to help with airflow to the engine.

Given all the breathing work done to the 4.8-liter V10, we're guessing that the car seen here offers a fair bit more than the 552 horsepower found in the standard LFA. How much more? Hopefully Lexus will give us a chance to find out.