Ecclestone delays F1 IPO amidst market upheaval

Don't expect to see a Formula One IPO until later this year at the earliest. F1 CEO Bernie Ecclestone says his company is delaying a public offering due to an uncertain market.

The motorsports organization has been working toward a $3 billion IPO in Singapore that was originally scheduled to go live next month, and marketing for the IPO has already begun. But with Facebook's disappointing showing last month and the tech company's stock continuing to fall in value, Ecclestone says there's no rush to go public.

F1 is offering a unique IPO, wherein the company's shares and debt will be sold alongside one another. Ecclestone didn't offer a firm date on when we can expect to see the his company go public beyond saying, "it's going to be this year." The 81-year-old executive was otherwise guarded about a date, indicating only that F1 will simply wait until it's the right time.

EVO first to get their hands on Pagani Huayra

Over the last couple of decades, we've seen countless attempts by startups looking to crack the supercar establishment. Predictably, the intenders have enjoyed and suffered wildly varying degrees of success. Some, like SSC North America, have attempted to get the attention of the world's plutocrats through sheer speed, while others, like Spyker, have attempted to gain access to the world's wealth through Ming The Merciless design. Nearly all have brought something new to the table, but essentially no new brands have managed to join the pantheon of hypercar royalty founded by Ferrari, Lamborghini, Bugatti and Porsche. Well, nobody except for Pagani. If Horatio and friends don't yet have a seat at the table, they are certainly building the best case for admission, first with a seemingly endless stream of Zonda variants and now with this new Huayra.



The Huayra may have debuted a year ago, but the Modena-based automaker has been a bit skinflint with driving opportunities as it works the kinks out. In fact, the video drive shown above from the UK's EVO is the first full-on road test we're aware of. As we've seen and heard previously, the 730-horsepower Huayra looks the business, but we've been waiting for behind-the-wheel impressions.

According to EVO, the Huayra feels properly fast and engaging, yet it manages to deliver a stable, supple ride without feeling "old mannish." The throttle response from the AMG-sourced 6.0-liter twin-turbo V12 is excellent, but the seven-speed single-clutch flappy-paddle gearbox has its fair share of low-speed refinement issues and the steering is chastised for being a bit slow and heavy. Judging from the audio in the video from about 56 seconds in, it also appears to have its fair share of squeaks, though it could be an early build car, or the noises could simply be from the video camera mount.

De Nysschen headed to Nissan, will run Infiniti from new Hong Kong HQ

After abruptly resigning on Friday after 19 years at Audi, former CEO Johan de Nysschen's future has come more clearly into focus today. Nissan has announced that de Nysschen will be joining the company effective July 1. His official title will be Senior Vice President of Nissan Motor Company in charge of the Infiniti division.

Nissan just opened a new global headquarters for its luxury brand in Hong Kong, where de Nysschen will be stationed. Its new boss will be expected to lead Infiniti's expansion in China, the brand's second largest market. Infiniti has said it intends to more than triple global sales to 500,000 by 2016.

De Nysschen is no stranger to lofty sales targets, as his former employers at Volkswagen have made no secret about their desire to become the largest carmaker on earth. To de Nysschen's credit, Audi had been recently holding its own, especially in China, where sales have been killing it, even besting BMW and Mercedes in April.

Nissan DeltaWing takes first practice laps at Le Mans

The Nissan DeltaWing took it first laps at Circuit de la Sarthe yesterday during practice sessions for the 80th running of the 24 Hours of Le Mans that's fast approaching. The world's oldest endurance race takes place in less than two weeks. While the DeltaWing underwent its first public testing session back in March at Sebring, this is the first time its drivers – Michael Krumm, Satoshi Motoyama and Marino Franchitti – have driven it at Le Mans.

The team was able to complete 54 practice laps, almost all of which were on the same set of tires. A brief instance of weather allowed for a single lap to be run on rain tires. The DeltaWing's quickest practice lap of 3 minutes, 47.980 seconds came at the hands of Motoyama. Based on the results of last year's 24 Hours of Le Mans, that lap time would make the odd-looking DeltaWing competitive with the LMP2 class of cars, and notably quicker than either class of GT cars.



The DeltaWing will compete at Le Mans in the experimental "Garage 56" class meant to showcase innovative technology, and with half the weight, half the horsepower and half the aerodynamic drag of a typical Le Mans Prototype car, should consume tires and fuel at a much lower rate than the rest of the field. Backed by both Nissan and Michelin, the DeltaWing is powered by a 300-horsepower 1.6-liter Nissan DIG-T turbo engine and rides on special tires developed by Michelin that are only four inches wide in the front.

2001 Nissan Pathfinder

Here is one 2001 Nissan Pathfinder with 141,893 miles on it that is due for state inspection. The dilemma is the vehicle has the dreaded P1320 code for primary ignition. This is a very common code on Nissan vehicles with COP (coil on plug) ignition. There are three items that I see that will cause this code. One is bad COP units (more on this later), wrong spark plugs, and someone has tied the rpm input for a remote start into one of the COP units. The shop owner asked me to look at this because the customer cannot go for 6 new COP units. He needs a definitive answer on how many COP units are bad and if other issues are at hand. The code set criteria for this code is a little misleading. Basically, it says that there is a missing primary signal. So, this vehicle should be missing, right? Well, this vehicle runs well with no apparent misfires. Time to pull a wiring diagram.

Here is two out of three pages of wiring for the ignition system. It shows that the power for the COP units comes from one contact of the ECM relay. I am only showing three of the six COP units. Those of you that know me and follow the blog know where I am going next. What is going to show me all six COP units in great detail.

Out comes the low amp probe. I make jumpers for both contacts of the ECM relay and I am going to trigger off of #1 COP control circuit.

You don't have to be a scope jockey to see that two amperage patterns are different from the rest. The yellow trace is the coil amperage and the green is the #1 trigger. Forgive my forgetting to zero my probe. Let's add the firing order which is 1-2-3-4-5-6.

As you can see cylinder #1 is lower than the rest and cylinder #4 is higher. These are our two odd men out. Even the pattern at this timebase is not the same as the other four COP units. A good healthy COP unit on this application is typically 6-8 amps. Number 1 is at 4 amps and number 4 is at 9 amps plus. Lets look at these two and a healthy one closer at a better timebase.

Here is number one. Looks to me that there is an issue with this COP unit that is also affecting the trigger. More evidence to condemn the COP unit. Let's look at number four.

A couple things become apparent here. The amperage is high and the ramp is rather straight. Not, what I typically see. Let's look at a good cylinder.

Now, that is a typical Nissan COP waveform. Notice the ramp pattern and amperage. Again, forgive me for not zeroing my probe.

So here we are twenty minutes later and we have a definitive answer for the shop owner. I advised him that cylinders #1 and #4 COP units are the reason for the P1320. I also advise him to check the plugs while he is there. At this point I also tell him do not be suprised if these COP units at #1 and #4 have been changed and are aftermarket units. Sure enough the shop owner calls me the next day and tells me both units were recently changed with aftermarket units. He installed OE units, checked the plugs for proper brand and gap, and test drove the car. He was able to run and satisfy all the monitors for inspection and both he and vehicle owner were very happy. The MIL was out and a sticker was issued. At this point here goes my rant. The aftermarket in it's ongoing quest to provide "cheap" parts has shot itself in the foot. I see this time and time again. Quality doesn't cost it pays. The extra coin for an OE part is money well spent. Here is a prime example.  
 

ALMS confirms 2013 race at Austin's Circuit of the Americas

The American Le Mans Series has announced that the 2013 season will include a race at the new Circuit of the Americas in Austin, Texas, which is currently under construction in preparation for the upcoming Formula One race in November. The last time ALMS held an event in Texas was in 2009, when it raced on a street course in Houston.

"The opportunity to partner with the Circuit of The Americas and bring North America's premier sports car racing series to fans across Texas, at what is going to be one of the finest road-racing facilities in the world, is a natural fit for all involved," ALMS President and CEO Scott Atherton said. "The addition of Circuit of the Americas to our schedule will be very well-received by our fans and stakeholders alike. We know we have a lot of ALMS fans in Texas, and for our teams, manufacturers and sponsors, Austin and the surrounding region represent an important new business market."

ALMS Monterey 2012

Photos from the 2012 Gumball 3000