BMW’s sports coupe has real six appeal

BMW may one day build something to directly rival an out-and-out driver-focused sportscar like Porsche’s 911 but until it does, their M6 will suit many well-heeled buyers very nicely.

It’s tempting to think of this model as nothing more than a coupe version of the M5 saloon. After all, it shares the same 500bhp V10 engine, much of the M Sport technology and, as a result, very similar performance figures.

BMW say different, pointing out that a car has small but significant changes that give it an extra dose of driver focus: a fractionally shorter wheelbase, 50kgs less weight, wider and more aggressive tyres and a centre of gravity that’s lowered by 6cm thanks mainly to its gorgeous carbon fibre roof.

True enough, this car is a slightly sharper tool than an M5, especially if you specify the Competition Pack option that was fitted to the car I tried. For a couple of extra grand, you get Pirelli P Zero Corsa tyres on wider rims and lowered suspension front and rear, with the ABS, stability control and M Differential settings altered to suit. Like the existence of the M6 model itself, this option is BMW’s attempt to move this top 6 Series model closer to Porsche’s 911 and further from the Jaguar XK and Mercedes SL rivals that would otherwise be its competitors. In truth, it sits somewhere in-between, more focused than, say, a Jaguar XKR but not a car you’d choose for regular trackdays.

No car I can think of better combines Grand Touring comfort with out and out performance aggression, qualities summed up by the standard seven-speed SMG sequential manual gearbox.

www.news.scotsman.com

Pirelli Angel ST Tire Review

It’s a timeless motif. And lest you think the Angel/Devil dichotomy was limited to skanky stripper silhouettes on the back windows of pickup trucks… Pirelli has seized the Angel/Devil theme as the marketing pitch for its latest sport-touring motorcycle tire – the Pirelli Angel ST. Motorcycle USA headed back east to Asheville, North Carolina for the official North American introduction and discover whether these tires have a halo or horns… or both.

Replacing the Diablo Strada, the new Angel ST represents Pirelli’s latest take at blending the high-performance demands of sport riding with the high-mileage durability of motorcycle touring. Citing the increasing amount of riders sourcing their mounts for long-distance treks, Pirelli specified three areas where its new tire needed to perform: confident grip in the wet and dry, solid value and high mileage. The Milan-based firm identifies this combination as a new tire category entirely, with a correspondingly nifty acronym – EMS (Extended Mileage Sport).

motorcycle-usa

Bridgestone expects Monza surprises

Formula 1 tyre supplier Bridgestone thinks managing the different compounds will be a bigger factor in this weekend's Italian Grand Prix than it was in Belgium a fortnight ago.
Several teams struggled to get the most out of the soft and medium tyres at Spa-Francorchamps, which helped play a role in Kimi Raikkonen and Giancarlo Fisichella enjoying their best results of the season.

With the same types of tyres being used at Monza this weekend, Bridgestone's director of motorsport tyre development Hirohide Hamashima reckons that there is the chance of an equally topsy-turvy result.

"As we saw in Spa the allocation of the medium and the soft compound tyres has the potential to provide interesting results," explained Hamashima.

"The medium compound is the softest of our higher temperature working range tyres and the soft is the hardest of our lower temperature working range tyres. This means that their overall performance can be very similar, however their characteristics are different.
"In Spa we saw that different tyres suited different car characteristics, set-ups and driver preference, so maybe it will be the same situation in Monza. However it is a more severe circuit so good tyre management is likely to be a bigger factor. "

The characteristics of the tyres in Belgium left many drivers struggling to work out which type was better for qualifying, or how to use them strategically in the race.

www.autosport.com

Atlanta finds the formula for outstanding racing

Take a racetrack with ancient asphalt. Add a tyre that wears quickly and incrementally, but uniformly and predictably. And factor in double-file restarts that put drivers on different agendas.
The serendipitous convergence of those elements earned Sunday night's Pep Boys Auto 500 at Atlanta Motor Speedway a clear distinction. With frequent lead changes under green and numerous passes for position within the top ten, the event produced the best racing on an intermediate speedway since the full-time introduction of NASCAR's new racecar last year.

The racing surface at Atlanta is worn in spots to the rocky underbedding. The track is so abrasive that drivers liken it to the old Darlington, before a repaving project that began there in 2007 smoothed the asphalt.

Goodyear provided a tyre that was ideal for the track conditions - if excellent racing is the objective. The combination to the tyre and the surface prevented drivers from being 'in the track', as they like to put it, and instead kept them on top of it - sliding and fighting for control.
“Yeah, it was basically like driving on ice,” said Kevin Harvick, who finished second to Kasey Kahne, “The cars were hard to drive. But the good thing about this place is you can move from the top to bottom to the middle and find yourself somewhere to run. It's a fun racetrack. It's a full night's work, to say the least - but still a fun racetrack to race on.”

Tread wear caused a rapid fall off in lap times, which, in turn, allowed drivers with long-run set-ups to catch and pass drivers with short-run cars during extended green-flag runs, which occurred frequently enough Sunday night to keep crew chiefs guessing.
Double-file restarts, which NASCAR introduced at Pocono in June, have added a strategic element that goes beyond merely having the lead-lap cars starting side-by-side at the front of the field. If a crew chief anticipates a late caution, he may set up his car for short runs, as Kenny Francis, Kahne's crew chief, did Sunday.

Harvick's car, on the other hand, came to life in the middle of a run and got better, relative to other cars, as the run progressed. In fact, Harvick had a substantial lead and control of the race until a caution on lap 309 of 325 swung the pendulum in Kahne's favor.
Kurt Busch, for one, says he has had to rethink strategy because of the new restart format.
“I've always prided myself in trying to get the car to handle the best on long runs, [the] last ten laps of a long run,” Busch said. “You would rather be good on the first five laps of a short run now. That's definitely changed the game.”

www.crash.net

Pirelli Delighted With Australian Performance

Mikko Hirvonen recorded his fourth straight victory on Sunday in Australia after championship rival Sebastien Loeb was handed a time penalty for a technical infringement, dropping him to second. Hirvonen now enjoys a championship lead of five points with only two rallies left to run this year.

Absent from the World Rally Championship calendar since 2006, Rally Australia moved to New South Wales for the first time this year, more than 3500 kilometres away from its former home in Perth. Consequently the gravel stages were a complete step into the unknown for both the competitors and Pirelli, which has an exclusive three-year deal to supply the World Rally Championship with tyres up to the end of the 2010 season.

Although the Italian tyre firm started the event with very little information about the conditions, Pirelli's hard compound Scorpion rubber - which was being used for the last time this season - stood up to the task. Among the many challenges faced by the crews were a wide range of weather conditions that varied from heavy rain to bright sunshine, sharp rocks, and changing grip levels. Despite these varying parameters, the competition was so close that the top three runners were covered by just a tenth of a second heading into the final day: a record for the World Rally Championship.

After starting the long final day in second place, Loeb gradually pulled out a winning margin to briefly take the win prior to his demotion. "It was a very close event but the car and the tyres worked perfectly, even on the asphalt super special," said the Frenchman. "It is sure to be an extremely exciting finish to the year."

As well as counting for a round of the Production Car World Rally Championship, which is also supplied by Pirelli, Rally Australia was the venue for the Asia-Pacific selection in next year's Pirelli Star Driver scheme. This programme aims to give five drivers from FIA regional championships the chance to contest six rounds of the World Rally Championship in identical Group N cars.
New Zealander Hayden Paddon, aged 22, was chosen to represent the Asia-Pacific region on the scheme next year thanks to a strong performance that eventually won him the Group N category in Australia. Newly-crowned Junior World Rally Champion Martin Prokop from the Czech Republic won the Production Car World Championship class.

In a region that is well-known for its outstanding natural beauty, environmental concerns are high on the agenda. All Pirelli Scorpion tyres use oil-free compounds, which already conform to future legislation due to come into force next year.
"I don't remember ever seeing a rally that has been this closely contested between title rivals, underlining the durability and equality of our tyres," said Pirelli's Rally Manager Mario Isola. "The Pirelli Scorpion gravel tyres also worked well on the all-asphalt Tweed super special stage, which was used no fewer than six times and formed a notable proportion of the competitive action. Despite some sections that were as rough as the classic Mediterranean gravel rallies, we encountered no major problems with punctures - which has set up a thrilling finale to the season."

www.uk.eurosport.yahoo.com

Michelin Man rolled out again after two decades

Michelin, the world’s top tyre maker, has reintroduced its famous Michelin Man, aka Bibendum, to Ireland in a new campaign. One of the most widely-recognised marketing icons, Michelin Man is appearing in national press, outdoor and online ads for the first time in 20 years.

Despite being the only tyre maker on the island, consumer awareness of the French brand is low compared to other overseas markets. The new campaign, which plays on money-saving ideas and free fuel vouchers with tyre purchases, aims to address the imbalance.

Michelin was first launched at the Lyon Exhibition in 1894. It is the world’s number one tyre brand, ahead of Bridgestone, Goodyear, Continental and Pirelli. The Michelin name is also synonymous with travel guides, road maps and star-rated restaurants.

www.blog.marketing.ie

Pirelli recalling some tyres

Pirelli has initiated a recall campaign for Pirelli 285/35 ZR19 PZero Corsa tyres manufactured from May 2007 to July 2009. The tyres in question are equipped on the Ferrari 430 Scuderia and 430 Scuderia Spider 16M. Owners of these cars have been contacted to explain that if they have rear tires marked with the “XB” identification mark, they may need substituting.

Owners have been invited to contact Ferrari service centers, where Pirelli will immediately replace the tires with new Pirelli PZero Corsa tires at no charge. The recall campaign is a preventative measure only. Due to a manufacturing discrepancy, PZero Corsa tires marked “XB” could incur partial detachment of portions of the tread blocks. Although this problem may only occur under severe circumstances (running at very high speeds for long distances), Pirelli and Ferrari have chosen to replace all rear tires on the vehicles in question.