Formula 1: Singapore Grand Prix Qualifying Round-Up

What a surprise…another Saturday, another Red Bull at the first spot of the starting grid, with a second Red Bull racer at its side: a site everyone has gotten used to this year.

What must have frightened poleman Sebastian Vettel rivals for tomorrow's race is his admission that he held back and did not perform at 100%: “On the last run, I tried a bit too much going into the really tricky chicane around Turn 10," said Vettel, adding that, "I decided to abort the lap, as it can be so easy to damage the car.”

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ACEA Wants Carmakers to Adopt Standardized Charging Plugs for EVs

The European Union has already agreed with cell phone manufacturers to adopt a common charger format for their new phones. Therefore, consumers we will be able to buy a new phone without a charger, which up until now, was different to the one used by their old cellphone.

Now ACEA, the European car manufacturers association, is following the example and wants carmakers to adopt a common standard concerning chargers for their plug-in electric vehicles. To that end, it has already compiled a set of recommendations that stipulates the use of a uniform type of plug regardless of the country or power provider.

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Land Rover Scores 54% of the Vote in MSN Cars’ Poll of Best 4x4 Brands

In a recent online poll, MSN Cars asked its readers a simple question: “Which firm makes the best '4x4' type cars?” The winner, with an astonishing 54% of the 39,663 votes is Indian British automaker Land Rover.

The brand’s winning combination of aggressive yet attractive styling, “go anywhere” off-road ability, ruggedness and comfort have made Land Rover the powerhouse brand it is today – and a deserved winner. Land Rover UK managing director Colin Green is understandably over the moon:

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Formula 1: Singapore Grand Prix Practice Session

As in almost every Formula 1 event this year, Sebastian Vettel and Red Bull Racing set the pace again, this time in the second practice session of the Singapore Grand Prix.

What was surprising is that the German pilot's time was barely better than that of Ferrari’s Fernando Alonso - a mere 0.021 seconds. The only one capable of challenging the pair was Lewis Hamilton, but in the end he and his McLaren F1 racer were more than half a second slower.

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New BMW M5 gets an Acoustic System that Replicates the Engine Sounds in the Cabin

As with any new BMW, the latest V8-powered M5 F10 comes packed with an array of gadgets and gimmicky features, some of which you may like, some of which you may not.

One of the sports saloon's new features that may dismay purists is the Active Sound Design. To explain, this system is designed to –according to BMW- "accurately replicate" the sounds of the bi-turbocharged V8 engines inside the cabin through the vehicle's audio system.

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Kia to Add Third Shift at Slovak and US Plants Due to High Demand

To keep up with rising demand for Kia models in Europe, the South Korean has decided to introduce a third shift at its Zilina plant in Slovakia and hire another 1,000 new employees. The company expects the recruitment process to be completed by December and have the three-shifts operational in the first quarter of 2012. Read more »

Ford Mondeo 2.0-liter EcoBoost 203HP & 240HP to be Available with Six-Speed Manual Gearbox

The top-of-the-line Mondeo editions Titanium and Titanium S, which are powered by Ford's 2.0-liter turbocharged EcoBoost engine, will soon be available with a six-speed manual gearbox in addition to the dual-clutch PowerShift transmission. Read more »

Meet the Journalist who Crashed the €387,000 Lamborghini Aventador

Unless you are from Austria or Germany, there's a good chance you may not have heard of Thomas Glavinic before; he is a writer that also happens to collaborate with Autorevue, an Austrian car magazine.

But that's about the change because Mr. Glavinic had the unfortunate fate of being the first person to go on record for crashing Lamborghini's astonishing Aventador LP 700-4.

Carscoop regulars will undoubtedly remember our report on the incident a few weeks ago, though at the time we didn’t have many details on the crash other than it occurred in Italy on August 30.

Today, however, the crew over at Autoreview decided it was time to confess their doings and reveal that the man behind the steering wheel was one of their own, Thomas Glavinic.

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2012 Dodge Charger Pursuit Records Fastest-Ever Lap Time at Michigan Evaluation Test

The ongoing bragging war among Detroit's big three and their newly launched police vehicles continues without an end in sight.

Today, the Chrysler Group announced that the 2012 Dodge Charger Pursuit V8 with 370HP set the fastest lap time ever reordered at Michigan State Police’s (MSP) annual Police Vehicle Evaluation tests earlier this week at the Grattan Raceway in Belding, at 1:33.70.

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Suzuki Tells Volkswagen to Take Back Statements on Breached Contract or Else…

Hell hath no fury like a woman Suzuki scorned. On Thursday, the Japanese carmaker's CEO, Osamu Suzuki, sent a letter to his counterpart at VW demanding that the German group retracts its statement about Suzuki breaching their 2009 contract.

The spark that ignited this heated war of words between the two partners was Suzuki’s decision to choose Fiat as a supplier of diesel engines instead of VW. The German group said on September 11 that Suzuki had breached their contract with this decision, while Suzuki vehemently denies it violated the terms of their agreement.

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Video: Why You Shouldn't Buy a Fake Nardi Steering Wheel

An online aftermarket shop in Britain named Driftworks released a humorous video to inform consumers on why they should avoid buying cheap knockoffs from the internet.

After buying a fake Nardi-style steering wheel for about £70 (US$108 / €80) on eBay, compared to around £220 (US$338 / €252) for a genuine, made in Italy Nardi wheel, they put it to the test fitting it on a Nissan 200SX laying around in their garage.

As for the results, well, let's just say the faux Nardi wouldn't make the cut for a replacement on your Logitech G25 wheel, let alone your car… Video follows after the break.

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Report: New Opel Astra GTC May Make it to the States as a Buick

The sporty-looking Opel Astra GTC was only just introduced in Frankfurt last week, but there are already reports suggesting that it could be one of the compact cars General Motors said it would build at an unspecified plant in the U.S. under the details released Tuesday of its tentative pact with the United Auto Workers (UAW).

According to Auto Observer, in a meeting with journalists and analysts at Opel’s Rüsselsheim headquarters in Germany, the firm's CEO, Karl-Friedrich Stracke, said "I could easily see it as a Buick" referring to the Astra GTC.

It would make sense from a marketing standpoint since Buick would automatically gain a new contender in the small sports car segment against the likes of the Hyundai Veloster, while also widening the reach of the brand to a younger audience.

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J.D. Power Projects Increased US Sales for September, Readjusts 2011 Forecast

After a drop in sales in May and June, US vehicle sales picked up an as a result, July and August sales were better than originally expected -though still lagging behind the January to April numbers.

Today, J.D. Power and Associates reported that this trend is continuing in the first half of September, mainly due to the increasing inventory of many carmakers.

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McLaren Opens New Showroom in Singapore

Ron Dennis is a man with a plan. When possible, McLaren’s mastermind has arranged the grand openings of new dealerships to coincide with the local Formula 1 Grand Prix events.

He did it in Germany, then in Italy, and now it’s Singapore’s turn – both for McLaren Automotive and the F1 race. The new showroom belongs to McLaren Automotive Asia Pte Ltd, which is based in Singapore and will manage the Asia Pacific dealer network.

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New BMW M5 F10 in an Individual Frozen Black Hue: What do You Think?

Ever since BMW first showed the new M5 sports saloon earlier in the summer, and sans a white example that appeared at the firm's Frankfurt Motors show stand, the Bavarians have been constantly tossing around press pictures of the car in the Monte Carlo racing blue hue.

Cool as it may be at first, over time and after a gazillion or so images of the M5 F10 in the same Monte Carlo color, we think we've just about had enough.

But fear not, the Bavarian-loving guys from 5Post have obtained new photos of the V8-powered sports sedan finished in an Individual Frozen Black hue.

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Ice, Ice Baby: Ferrari Offers Winter Driving Course in Aspen for the Low Price of $11,399

Some things just don't make sense, no matter how vivid your imagination is. Envision Land Rover racing at Le Mans, or Maserati manufacturing an SUV. Doesn’t it sound absurd? Actually, scratch the last example about Maserati: it will actually happen.

Well, up until recently, you wouldn’t imagine a four-wheel drive Ferrari either. Thankfully, despite sporting the 4RM AWD system, the FF remains a pure sports car. Now, Ferrari wants to show its versatility to its American customers, so it’s adapting its “Pilota on Ice” driving program for the US.

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Mitsubishi to Sell Rebadged Infiniti M as its New Flagship Sedan in Japan

Mitsubishi may have a wide range of vehicles, but it lacks a flagship model since it stopped production of the Diamante back in 2005. However, that will change soon.

Today, the troubled automaker announced that, as a part of cooperation agreement signed with the Nissan Group in December 2010, it begin selling a rebadged Fuga, which in the rest of the world is known as the Infiniti M, from next summer.

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British Team to Race Range Rover Evoque with BMW Straight-Six at the 2012 Dakar Rally

More than 9,000 km in 14 days in extremely demanding conditions: this is the world-renowned Dakar Rally in which every year hundreds of competitors strive not just for the win, but for a chance to cross the finish line having lived an outstanding experience in the most prestigious off-road race on earth.

The British Excite Rally Raid Team will race three cars commissioned by RaBe Race Cars and driven by an all-British line-up consisting of Martin Rowe, Andrew Coley and John Hardy. And if the photo reminds you of something, you are right: the T3 race car’s body shell is that of the brand-new Range Rover Evoque.

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Quiz: How Many Children can fit into this Small Mini Van? Try 64 if it's in China…

China has been on a roll lately breaking one record after the other but, this time, it's not for a good reason.

You see, local police in China's Hebei Province stumbled upon a small passenger van that was legally designed to transfer up to eight people. The problem is this one was carrying –wait for it- 66 people, yes you read correctly, sixty-six passengers including 64 youngsters aged four to five years old and two adults!

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BMW CEO Confirms X4 Crossover, will Slot Between X3 and X5

[BMW X6 M pictured above]

For over a year now, we suspected that BMW was contemplating a smaller version of the X6, or if you prefer, a sportier, fastback variant of the X3.

Considering that the X5’s sportier but less practical and for some, more awkward looking, sister has proved to be a huge sales success, it would be a logical move to expand the lineup to include a similar model.

As it turns out, BMW officials have the same mindset. The Munich-based company's CEO, Norbert Reithofer, has confirmed in an interview with Auto Motor und Sport that the X4 will indeed be built.

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