Three Wheeler Fuel Tanks

The weather conditions played an important part of the two days with a cold northerly wind creating track conditions that didnâ??t allow the teams to get the best from their cars or tyres. It even snowed for a short period on Sunday night, which wasnâ??t what the teams expected to find in the South of France.

The Beechdean Mansell Motorsport Ginetta Zytek GZ09S, with Greg Mansell at the wheel, hit the track on Sunday morning and was immediately the fastest car on the circuit. As the morning progressed Greg continued to set competitive times, lapping within a few seconds of the Team Oreca Peugeot 980 HDi-FAP, which had moved to the top of time sheets. Greg finished the morning in third position, just 0.7 seconds off the fastest time before handing over the car to elder brother Leo for the afternoon session, who completed some long test runs on full fuel tanks.

Nigel Mansell completed just four laps at the end of the afternoon, the 1992 F1 World Champion having to abandon his flying lap as the session was brought to an abrupt end by red flags. The team decided to abandon any night running due to the very low track temperature, a decision that proved to be correct when snow was seen falling for a short period in the early part of the session.

Full Story: Beechdean Mansell on the Pace at Official LMS Test - Planetlemans.com

There will still be pit stops, but they are going to be for tyres only - and this will see a return to the 'old days' of lightning fast stops with the crews striving to change all four wheels in less than four seconds.

This is because refuelling during the races is now banned and that has been accompanied by the introduction of fuel tanks that will hold around 175 kilos of fuel - enough to go a full race distance.

Tyre performance and tyre wear will be decisive factors in the racing with the smooth skills of former greats like four-times champion Frenchman Alain Prost - known as the 'professor' for his ability to look after his tyres in a race - coming to the fore again.

Full Story: Motorsport: A guide to new Formula One rules - New Zealand Herald

The luxurious Sierra Denali will only be available as a crew cab four-wheel drive 2500 model with a choice of either the standard 360 horsepower / 380 pounds-feet of torque 6.0-liter V-8 gas engine or the class-leading 397 hp and 765 pounds-feet 6.6-liter Duramax V-8 turbodiesel.

To separate it visually from the rest of the Sierra HD trucks, the exterior of the Denali HD will feature a four-bar chrome grille along with body-color bumpers, chrome door handles, chrome accents and 18- and 20-inch polished forged aluminum wheels. As with other Denali models, the cabin will be unique with standard premium touches. It will include Denali-specific brushed aluminum trim, power-adjustable pedals, a Bose premium surround audio system and 12-way power seats. Along with an optional heated steering wheel, heated and cooled leather-appointed seating is available. The exterior will be offered in three colors: Black, Stealth Gray and White.

The rest of the new 2011 Sierra HD lineup receives new three-bar grilles and prominent louvered hoods, along with a revised chrome steel front bumper and new 17-, 18- and 20-inch wheels. The interior, though, is mostly unchanged.

Full Story: First Look: 2011 GMC Sierra Heavy Duty - PickupTrucks.com

I spent two weeks in two motorized variations on the theme of the wagon. I gained incredible insight. People loved the CTS Sport Wagon for its sharp styling inside and out, its precise road manners, its utility. But the younger they were, the less they liked it. Why? "Because my parents drove a wagon," was the usual response. So what? "I'm not my parents." I heard that so much, I looked into it. It certainly was true they weren't their parents. But many of them were parents themselves, with young children they needed to cart about. They wanted to do the carting fashionably. Wagons, they said, weren't fashionable. They much preferred the Cadillac SRX4 2.8T, which had marginally better cargo space, but not more power, better road manners or better fuel economy than the CTS Sport Wagon.

What the SRX4 2.8T had, in their estimation, was what it lacked — the absence of anything that identified it as a wagon.

Wagons developed a dowdy image because the children who rode in them later scorned as "dowdy" and "old-fashioned" the parents who reared and transported them. In their fashionable rebellion, the anti-wagon kids chose minivans, then sport-utility vehicles, and now crossover utility vehicles to function as wagons. And then: — Minivans became less desirable than wagons. Many of the parents who bought them turned against them even before their kids rebelled.

Full Story: Test Drive: 2010 Cadillac Sport Wagon and SRX4 - San Jose Mercury News

The refueling ban does not mean an end to pit stops, as cars will still be stopping to change tires. However, those stops will now be cut to about three seconds rather than the previous eight to 10 seconds of standing time while fuel was topped up.

In recent seasons, the cars that qualified in the top 10 had to start the race on the same fuel load they used in qualifying. Now, the top qualifiers will be handicapped by having to start the race on the tires they use to qualify, while those outside the top 10 get to use fresh rubber.

The combination of those two rules will make for a shift in tactics, in which the timing of the pit stops will be balanced between the condition of the initial set of tires and a calculation of how long the next set will be able to last.

Full Story: No refueling, more intrigue for F1 in 2010 - USA Today