Dallas Auto Show TAWA meeting

There was only a few things at the Dallas Auto Show this year that were really newsworthy.

Be sure to follow us on our social network sites to get up to date info when we hit up local auto shows! Follow us on Twitter and Like us on Facebook!

Also check out our Quick Drive review of the 2013 Buick Regal GS we drove after the Dallas Auto Show.

2012 Ram 1500 Lone Star “Texas-big” 10th Anniversary

One newsworthy event was the reveal of the 2012 Ram 1500 Lone Star “Texas-big” 10th Anniversary edition. That’s right, the Lone Star Ram was started back in 2002 because the people at Ram knew how special the Texas market was for Trucks. The Lone Star Ram was so popular that it was expanded across the U.S. It’s the top selling Ram in Texas and we see why with great interior and exterior addons. This 10th anniversary Lone Star has special commemorative logos and badging to let it stand out.

Our first look at the 2013 Buick Encore:

The Buick Encore was released at the Detroit Auto Show, and of course we don’t go that far north so we didn’t get a chance to see it in the flesh. Well, the team at Buick was nice enough to bring it along to the Dallas Auto Show where we got our first real look at the 2013 Buick Encore.

The Encore is a small crossover that integrates Buick’s signature style. They are really excited to be the first to the American market with this type of vehicle. Buick is looking at the European BMW X1 and Audi Q3 as competitors which have yet to make their mark in the U.S. You’ll be looking at a 1.4-liter turbocharged 4-cylinder engine matched up to a 6-speed automatic gearbox. Expect pretty good fuel economy numbers and a great interior which is standard in Buicks today.

We’re excited to see the technology in this small SUV and see how well it does for the Buick brand. Also, expect to see a Chevrolet version within a few years.

Checking out the all new Chevrolet Spark:

We posted our full review of the 2012 Chevrolet Sonic a few months ago, be sure to check that out, but this Spark is even smaller than the Sonic. The Spark is an A-segment car which competes with cars like the Fiat 500, Smart fortwo, and the Scion iQ. We weren’t able to check out the interior of the car, but we’re expecting it to be youthful and cheap, but packed with technology. Chevrolet was quick to show off the plethora of unique color options offered on the Spark. You can have your Spark in Salsa, Jalapeno, Denim, Lemonade, or Techno Pink. They will also offer a Grey Area, Black Granite, Silver Ice and Summit White. All to appeal to the all important youth market.

Powering the Spark will be a 1.2-liter 4-cylinder engine and 5-speed manual transmission straight out of Europe. This shouldn’t make the Spark that fun and sporty to drive, but will give you very competitive fuel economy.

The production version of the Scion FR-S:

We saw the FR-S at the Houston Auto Show, but it was still a pre-production version with a 5-axis body kit. It really looked good, but we were still anticipating our first look at the true production FR-S. Well here it is!

Seeing the Scion FR-S in the flesh didn’t take anything away from the hype. We’re still excited to drive this thing – and that review will be coming soon enough – but we already noticed a few things. The FR-S at the Dallas Auto Show was equipped with an automatic transmission. We know they’ll have to sell them, but it didn’t even have paddle shifters on the steering wheel. My opinion, if you have an auto in your sports car, it better have paddle shifters, otherwise just give me a manual. Second, this is a small car. I drive a Genesis Coupe and this is much smaller than that. This means the back seat is basically a shelf. It would be incredibly uncomfortable to have more than 2 people in this car.

You already know all the stats on this car, I’m sure, but the other thing I noticed was how nice the engine is laid out. It’s really low in the engine bay and pushed behind the front axles. This is going to make its center of gravity really great and it seems there’s plenty of room for…say a turbo?

The Abarth 500 brought by Fiat:

Fiat showed off its Abarth 500 and I’m actually really excited to drive one of these as well. The team at Abarth did a lot to make this not just look really cool, but go really well. This should be a true track-day fun car. Drive it normal and get great gas mileage during the week and able to hoon it on the track during the weekend. Look for a 1.4-liter MultiAir turbo engine, Abarth-tuned suspension and brake system, and race-inspired design.

We checked out a lot more cars than just these, but these were some of the bigger ones we haven’t seen yet. Check out all or our photos below!

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1. Our 2012 Detroit Auto Show Roundup #NAIAS
2. Dallas Auto Show – Photo Gallery
3. Pics from the Houston Auto Show

2013 IZOD Indy Car Racing

Check out Don Armstrong’s post on In Wheel Time for more info on the return of Indy Car Racing to Houston.

Published March 29, 2012 | By Don Armstrong
IZOD IndyCar Series to race in Houston in 2013

The announcement March 28 confirmed an IZOD IndyCar Series race weekend that INDYCAR CEO Randy Bernard and Mi-Jack Promotions principal Mike Lanigan had sought for more than a year. The Oct. 4-6 event will be known as the Shell and Pennzoil Grand Prix of Houston… read more »

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Fuzzy's EPS Logo White

Fuzzy’s will transform the look of the infield café – formerly known as Hot Rod’s Café – with the chain’s traditional décor, complete with its signature 14-foot sailfish that is featured at all its locations. Fuzzy’s President Chuck Bush, Texas Motor Speedway President Eddie Gossage and members of “The Great American Sweethearts!” unveiled the giant sailfish as part of the special announcement during media day.

Fuzzy’s Taco Shop at Texas Motor Speedway – which will debut during the March 16-18 Goodguys car show – will feature a specialized menu complete with its usual favorites that include breakfast tacos, Baja tacos, jumbo burritos and chips sprinkled with its signature Fuzzy dust.

“We see racing as a continually emerging sport, much like Fuzzy’s is a growing restaurant concept,” Bush said. “We are thrilled to be a sponsor of Texas Motor Speedway and to serve the dedicated fans that come out to the exciting events here.”

Fuzzy’s Taco Shop’s infield café location is part of the restaurant’s rapid growth that now boasts 52 stores in 11 states. The operation also has more than 100 additional restaurants on the books to open across the country in the coming year.

[ Author:TMS Media Relations]

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Texas Motor Speedway - Dirt Track Racing

FORT WORTH, Texas (Feb. 29, 2012) – The Texas Motor Speedway Dirt Track will host the esteemed Port-A-Cool® Texas World Dirt Track Championship this weekend, featuring some of the elite in O’Reilly Auto Parts SUPR Late Model, Modified and Limited Modified racing.

The Port-A-Cool® Texas World Dirt Track Championship is the first of two dirt racing events held annually at the Texas Motor Speedway Dirt Track, a .4-mile, clay-surfaced track known to produce some of the most competitive dirt track racing in the nation. The renowned event begins Friday with a field highlighted by more than 20 Dallas/Fort Worth-area residents including Midlothian’s Troy Taylor, a three-time champion at the Texas Motor Speedway Dirt Track.

Defending IMCA Modified champion Dean Abbey, a Haslet native and 20-year-olddirt racer on the rise, will be among the many lining up against Taylor this weekend in the Limited Modified division. Abbey started his racing career with go karts at the age of seven and later entered the Bandolero Bandits division in Texas Motor Speedway’s Lone Star Legends series. He raced his way through the Legends ranks all the way to the Pro division, picking up state and national titles along the way.

Abbey now has a state, regional and national modified championship on his racing resume and looks to add a Texas Motor Speedway Dirt Track win Saturday night. With a win in the Southern SportMods feature Saturday at Abilene Speedway, he has the momentum to do so.

“A win at the Texas Motor Speedway Dirt Track would be a big deal,” Abbey said. “It’s such a big event and you’re going up against the best of the best with guys like Shane Hebert, Steve Whiteaker and Troy Taylor. Just to say you’ve won at Texas Motor Speedway is a big thing, but to outrun those guys would be a huge accomplishment for me.”

Abbey has six starts at the Texas Motor Speedway Dirt Track with a best finish of fourth at the 2011 Port-A-Cool® U.S. National Dirt Track Championship in September.

On-track action for the Port-A-Cool® U.S. National Dirt Track Championship will begin Thursday with practice for all three divisions beginning at 6 p.m. CT. Practice is closed to the public. Heats for all three classes will run Friday, beginning at 5 p.m., and the championships will be decided Saturday with racing beginning at 6 p.m.

Grandstand tickets are $10 on Friday and $15 on Saturday, but fans can take advantage of a special offer at more than 200 O’Reilly Auto Parts stores regionally. Fans purchasing event tickets at O’Reilly Auto Parts will receive $5 off either night and also will have the opportunity to purchase $5 children’s tickets (12 and under). Event parking is free on Friday and Saturday. Fans and competitors can visit www.texasmotorspeedway.com or call (817) 215-8500 for additional information on the Port-A-Cool® Texas World Dirt Track Championship.

[source :TMS Media Relations]

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Circuit of the Americas - Austin F1

Formula One is coming to Texas. You may have already heard that after some commercial tussle, the US Grand Prix has found it’s new home at the Circuit of the Americas (COTA) in Austin, with the signing of a ten-year agreement last December between COTA owners and the Formula One supremo Bernie Ecclestone. Although F1 has never quite captured the place in the hearts of Americans that it has with people elsewhere, it is nonetheless one of the most popular and well supported forms of motorsports in the world, with races not only in Europe, but throughout Asia and the rest of the Americas.

OK, I know all the NASCAR devotees out there are probably issuing a collective sigh of “big deal”, but let’s just agree that while they are different forms of motorsports, F1 and NASCAR are both high octane enough not to qualify for motor trade insurance, and liking one doesn’t preclude you from also enjoying the other. Just because you play poker every Wednesday evening doesn’t mean you can’t play the blackjack table when you hit the casino.

The Grand Prix in The States

The last Grand Prix race held in the US was in 2007, when it was held on a road circuit built inside the oval of the Indianapolis speedway track. Since then, F1 has been absent from our shores. Steve Sexton, President of COTA, was quoted in USA Today as saying that “Formula one is a strong brand and Mr. Ecclestone negotiates accordingly.” So initially at least; Austin might seem an unlikely venue for an operator like Ecclestone to select to host a Grand Prix event. However, with a metro-area population of more than 1.5 million people, and with Houston, Dallas and San Antonio under three hours away, there should be an ample number of local spectators willing to take the trip to the circuit. Added to that, the decision by the COTA team to invest over $300 million in a purpose built track and facilities no doubt played a major part in bringing the F1 circus to town.

Under Construction

Still under construction, the new purpose built track will consist of a 3.4 mile (5.5 kilometers) circuit suitable for most motorsports and state of the art race facilities for the teams. Like almost all such developments, COTA cannot rely exclusively on revenue from spectators, so additionally there will be a fully equipped medical facility and space for education, business, and entertainment purposes. These will include a conference center, executive meeting rooms, a banqueting hall, and an outdoor music venue. There are also plans to build a plaza event center and tower, and to develop track related activities such as a drivers club, driving experience business, and separate Kart track.

That’s quite a sizable investment. Skeptics will ask if it’s a worthwhile investment, but it’s quite certain that the people at COTA have done their figures. They will be well aware that the average global television audience for an F1 race is in excess of 600 million people, almost twice the current population of the United States, and so financially, the figures should stack up. It will also provide a boost to the economy of Austin in particular, and Texas more widely. An Ernst and Young Report commissioned by the state of Victoria to assess the impact of the 2011 Australian F1 Grand Prix found that the total impact of hosting the event was AUS $42 million, with AUS $15.5 million of that sum coming from overseas. They asserted that if the Grand Prix had been held in another country, the economy would have been poorer to the tune of AUS $25.4 million. They also concluded that the likelihood of overseas spectators returning to visit the state again was 89.1%, and 93.8% would recommend it as a destination to friends and family.

Bringing New Business to Texas

Business wise, it’s a complete “no brainer”; so much so that New Jersey will be hosting a second Grand Prix in the US from 2013 onwards. Yes, but what about the sport I hear you ask. The usual complaint about F1 is that you sit for several hours watching the cars go past your particular spot every few minutes, and that very little ever happens. Well, aficionados would say that sometimes a race is more akin to a game of chess than an out and out speed fest, and would tell you that in recent years, there have been changes made to make the sport less reliant on technology. The FIA, the governing body for the sport, is introducing more changes next season that should help inject more excitement. Some are purely technical, but others such as limiting the race to four hours in total regardless of stoppages, and changes to the restart procedures, should give a greater sense of urgency amongst drivers get to the front. It may be well worth checking out if they’re right, and if you decide, put a note in your diary because the 2012 US Grand Prix will take place at the Circuit of the Americas on November 18th.

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txGarage 2012 Detroit Auto Show Roundup NAIAS

We didn’t make it to the North American International Auto Show in Detroit last week, but we can still jump on the bandwagon and tell you what we thought. There were lots of cars revealed in Detroit, and even if we could post about all of them, you would never read it all. So we are narrowing it down to what we thought were the biggest surprises, biggest successes, what we’re most looking forward to driving, and maybe throw in some fails.

Check out our next 4 posts that outline our thoughts on the NAIAS.

• biggest surprises
• biggest successes
• most looking forward to driving
• some fails

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2012 NAIAS - Acura NSX Concept

There has been a lot said about the new Acura NSX concept and although I still have some reservation, which I’ll get to, I’m going to label it a success. First of all, I think that the design looks really good. I’m not one of these people that say it needs to carryover lots of elements and design from the old NSX. I think a fresh start and fresh design is exactly what Acura needed.

The second reason I’m labeling this a success is because it has a mid-engine layout. I liked the last NSX concept that used a front/mid setup, but it never felt right to me. You can mess with the design but you can’t mess with the layout, if that makes sense. I’m not as bothered as most about the fact that the new NSX will be pushing a “hybrid” platform. Look at the Porsche 918 for justification.

Lastly, I’ll label it a success because they are bothering to show it at all. Acura needs this halo car. My biggest gripe is that they are still saying that a production version won’t be coming for another 3 years at least. I’m ready for this thing to be out now!

All-new 2013 Dodge Dart

The Dodge Dart is another car that you can easily call a success. We saw plenty of leaked photos and spy shots ahead of time and knew that the reveal was coming, but it was still exciting to see exactly what was what. This all new Dart takes over for the retiring Dodge Caliber and is based off the Alfa Romeo Giuletta. The new looks are aggressive and bold and are exactly what Dodge needs for a new compact car. We had a chance to talk to Kathy Graham, a Chrysler Product PR Manager, during last Wednesday’s nights Motorama chat on twitter where she answered a few key questions about the new Dart.

The Dart has been criticized for using the throwback name, but Kathy pointed out that this new Dart isn’t trying to be a modern version of the old one, like the Charger and Challenger. They brought back the name because the original Dart was Dodge’s first car marketed to the youth. It was a fun and affordable compact car and that’s what they are going for with the new Dart.

Under the hood of the base Dart, you get a naturally aspirated 2.0-liter pushing 160 hp and 148 ft-lbs of torque. You also have a 2.4-liter (184 hp 171 ft-lbs) and a 1.4 turbo (160 hp 184 ft-lbs) with 6-speed manual or autos to fit them all. This should be a very competitive car in its market and it’s aimed right for the likes of the Focus, Civic, and Elantra. Also expect to see a SRT variant coming with this car. Although they haven’t officially announced it, Dodge and Chrysler would be crazy not to make one.

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GAINSCO 2012 Corvette Daytona Prototype

Texas based GAINSCO has been testing it’s new 2012 Corvette Daytona Prototype racecar for the coming Grand-Am series.

Check out their photos and page on facebook!

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Hennessey Venom GT Spyder

The Texas based tuning shop turned auto manufacturer that has built the insane 1,200-hp super car called the Venom GT is now chopping the roof off. Hennessey, this week, showed photos of the new Spyder edition of the Hennessey Venom GT. This car has the same 1,200-hp twin-turbo V8, but now has millions of miles of headroom.

From the photos it looks like you still have a roll bar along the roofline to keep rigidity. Hennessey’s CEO Don Goldman said, “With the hardtop removed, the wind and the growl of the twin-turbo V8 will offer our clients an even greater driving sensation.”

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Austin F1 - Circuit of the Americas

That’s right. All the news we are getting now confirms that the track in Austin and the race will happen.

If you have been following along, construction of the 3.4-mile track was halted when the Texas comptroller’s office refused to put up the $25 million it pledged to pay for the F1 sanctioning fee. It seems now that an agreement between F1 and Texas and the date has been set for the Austin race next year.

So construction continues and we hope to he having a big F1 party next year! Keep up to date with more from Austin and the track right here.

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