Downshift

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Goodbye and Thank You to Everyone Who Has Supported Downshift Autos Over the Last Year!

2013 is drawing to a close, and for me, that means some big career changes. I've recently been hired by Edmunds, and with the opportunity of working at such a well-respected source of automotive information comes a price: I simply won't have time anymore to write for Downshift Autos. The photos and article about the 2013 Los Angeles Auto Show is my last post for this site. Thank you to everyone who has supported me in getting this thing up and running, and those who continued to support the website over the last year. Thanks especially to Heather Franco, Neo Edmund, Nicholas D'Amato, Benji Rogers, Carla Skorin, Ryan Evans, Kelsey Rogers, Jeremy Hansen, Ryan McDuff, Brad Faegre, Jalopnik, and JMDC88. You all have helped me in one way or another, and for that I am truly appreciative.

Cameron

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Downshift Autos is Live From the Los Angeles Auto Show!

At last, the Los Angeles Auto Show is here, and it seems that vehicle manufacturers have saved a few tricks up their sleeves before the year runs out and they scramble to pull out the big guns for Detroit. I've always had a fondness for the LA Auto Show, and despite the typical absence of Lamborghini and Ferrari, dozens of automakers show up and unveil new and concept cars, and the basement is flooded with vehicles from the myriad tuning shops in Southern California. This year was no different, with Jaguar, Honda, BMW, and Mercedes all showcasing some serious hardware. We have the best performance autos in the photo gallery on our main site.

Jaguar F-Type Coupe

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Vettel Sets Record With United States Grand Prix Win

Nary a race goes by when 2013 World Champion Sebastian Vettel doesn't set some ridiculous new record in Formula 1. With the United States Grand Prix in Austin, Vettel has again proven his dominance of the sport by winning his 8th consecutive race, something that has never been done before in a single season (Alberto Ascari holds the record at 9, accomplished during the 1952-53 seasons). It was the second Grand Prix hosted at the purpose-built Circuit of the Americas, and Vettel's first win at the track. That means that Vettel has finished in first at every track on the 2013 F1 calendar at one point in his career except for Hungary.

Read the full article on our main site

Photo courtesy of Red Bull

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Is Formula E the Future of Motorsports?

2014 will see the advent of a brand new class of open-wheel race cars, as the FIA-sanctioned Formula E series debuts next September. As its name implies, Formula E is all-electric, and the cars themselves bear more than a passing resemblance to current F1 racers albeit with much less complicated aero work. The chassis for the Spark-Renault SRT_O1E is developed by Dallara, which also provides the backbone for IndyCars; the powertrain and electronics will be coming courtesy of McLaren Electronic Systems. Rounding out the list is Williams, who supplies the 200kw (270hp) motor. These being electric vehicles, noise generated by the motors is virtually nil, which presents a problem not only from an entertainment perspective, but also from a safety standpoint, as the pit or track crew will have little audible warning of fast-approaching cars. For the fans, there's a high pitched, futuristic Jetsons-like whine, while an artificial rumble will be active in the pits to warn crews. The tire supplier chosen for the 10-race series is Michelin, so hopefully the cars won't be shod in rubber purposely designed to be shredded à la Pirelli in F1.

Read the full article on our main site

Photos courtesy of Formula E

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Ken Block Runs Circles Around Lamborghini Aventadors in Gymkhana 6

Ken Block's highly anticipated Gymkhana 6 has finally been released, now with corporate sponsorship to promote the new Need for Speed or Burnout game or something like that. While not as undeniably badass as tearing through closed off streets in San Francisco like some sort of unholy offspring of Frank Bullitt and Raoul Duke, there's still plenty of jumping ramps sideways, dancing around police officers on Segways, and avoiding a gigantic spiked wrecking ball. Navigating through the obstacle course is rally driver extraordinaire Ken Block and his trusty 650hp Ford Fiesta. 1080p slow-mo car pornography is the entrée du jour, so sit back on your lunch break and enjoy Block destroying a set of Pirellis.

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Photo grab from Gymkhana 6

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F1 Update: Räikkönen Ends 2013 Season, Massa to Williams in 2014, and Kevin Magnussen Replaces Pérez at McLaren

Much to the disappointment of the Formula 1 faithful, Lotus frontrunner Kimi Räikkönen will sit out the last two races of the season (Sunday's US Grand Prix and the Brazilian GP on November 24) due to back surgery scheduled for this week. That means his third place seat in the drivers' championship is under fire more than ever, with current fourth place racer Lewis Hamilton only 8 points behind; with 26 points separating Lotus from Ferrari, the British team is expected to throw in someone else to try to advance its position in the constructors' championship (Racer postulates that Lotus reserve driver Davide Valsecchi will take Räikkönen's spot). In other Formula 1 news, Felipe Massa, who is dropped from Ferrari after this season, will land back on his feet at Williams, where he will replace Pastor Maldonado; he will undoubtedly pull Williams out of the bottom of the barrel that Caterham and Marussia typically swim in. Also out is Sergio Pérez, who has had a less than stellar season with McLaren. He will be replaced by 2013 Formula Renault 3.5 Champion Kevin Magnussen amid McLaren's apparent disappointment over Pérez' results this season, which have contributed to the team's distant 5th place standing in the constructors' championship.

Photo courtesy of Lotus F1

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Forza Motorsport 5 to Ship With Fewer Cars and Tracks Than Forza 4

This week, disappointment is making the rounds for fans of the Forza Motorsport series, as the newest iteration of Microsoft's answer to Gran Turismo will feature only around 200 cars, compared to the 483 from Forza Motorsport 4 and far less than the 1,196 promised by GT6, out December 4. A likely reason for the major cuts to the number of tracks and cars available on the disc is Forza 5's status as an Xbox One launch title. Having a hard release date set by Microsoft and not the developer, combined with the immense amount of work the team had to do to bring the Forza series to a next-gen system, surely limited how much the team could pack into Forza 5 on launch day. That being said, Forza 5 is launching in a ridiculous number of varieties on November 22, all of which are designed to entice players to fork over more than $59.99 for the standard game, and all of which add cars that are already modeled and work in Forza 5. Here's a full list of the cars in Forza 5, and how much you can expect to pay for them.

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Photo courtesy of Turn 10

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Ford Gives Me the Keys to the Focus ST and Fiesta ST, Tells Me to "Have Fun"

There is nothing better than driving someone else's car. That is my new constant in life, developed after I was invited to test some of Ford's newest cars. Although standard automobiles like the new Explorer and C-Max MPV were ready to go with keys in the cupholder, I was drawn toward the ST hatchbacks brought for sampling like I was caught in an Imperial tractor beam. After taking a second to adjust the leather Recaro seats and mirrors to fit my lanky 6'4" body, I exited the parking lot in a brand new Focus ST with a route to the Long Beach, CA annex of Signal Hill laid out not on the Microsoft Sync nav system, but on good old fashioned paper. No traffic on the 405 and a tank full of gas that I didn't have to pay for meant my right foot got more exercise than usual. After all, why grab a sporty car and not stretch its legs a little bit?

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We May See a Good-Looking Premium Korean Yet: Kia Announces GT Production

10 years ago, Kia, along with its Hyundai stablemate, housed a lineup of cars with styling that made the Toyota Avalon look like a Maserati Quattroporte. Then, in 2008, the Forte, molded by ex-Volkswagen and Audi designer Peter Schreyer, ushered in a new era of good-looking Korean cars that has completely transformed Kia's image in just a few short years. No longer were the Koreans seen (as the Japanese automakers before them) as cheap imports competing on price above anything else. While the $35,100 Cadenza is the most obvious example of Kia's move upmarket, the company has yet another trick up its sleeve: according to Automotive News, Kia is readying a production version of its GT concept car first shown at the Frankfurt Auto Show in 2011.

Read the full article on our main site

Photo courtesy of Kia

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Sebastian Vettel Takes Seventh Consecutive Victory at Abu Dhabi

Sebastian Vettel took first place yet again in Abu Dhabi today, making this Grand Prix his seventh consecutive win and eleventh overall in 2013. Mark Webber, Vettel's Red Bull teammate, recovered from a string of recent retirements to secure not only pole position during qualifying but also locked down second place on the podium. For the second race in a row, Nico Rosberg outpaced Lewis Hamilton to end in third place, bringing a few much needed points to the Mercedes camp as the team struggles to fend off Ferrari. The sole retiree of the race was Kimi Räikkönen, whose glancing blow against Giedo van der Garde led to the failure of the Finn's steering in the first turn of the race.

Read the full article on our main site

Photo courtesy of Red Bull

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Honda Has to Rethink Its Core Offerings to Rescue it From the Doldrums

It's been years since Honda has produced a car aimed at bringing both budget-minded and affluent automotive enthusiasts to the brand, and with increased competition both foreign (Hyundai, Kia, Volkswagen) and domestic (Ford, Chevrolet), the company has to examine its product line or risk losing the buyers that once made Honda the sporty Japanese automaker. The S2000 is gone, the Civic Si is a shadow of its former self, the CR-Z isn't worthy of the name, and the Acura NSX is God knows how far away from coming to the market. All of Honda's rivals offer something in the way of performance, so how is it that the automaker that gave us the CRX Si has so completely lost its way?

Read the full article on our main site

Photo courtesy of Honda

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Vettel and Red Bull Take the 2013 Drivers' and Constructors' Championship With Win in India

Although three races remain in the 2013 Formula 1 season, both Sebastian Vettel and his Red Bull team have taken their respective championships with a stunning (if predictable) victory in India. Last week, Vettel's closest competitor in points, Fernando Alonso, admitted that while it was technically possible to pull off a Championship victory, claiming first from Vettel was virtually impossible. Now, with Vettel's commanding 30-second win in India, the German cemented his fourth consecutive Formula 1 title. And while Mark Webber's retirement in Lap 40 added no points to Red Bull's standings, the team has enough to claim the Constructors' title as well.

Read the full article on our main site

Photo courtesy of Red Bull

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Dream Garage: Porsche Carrera GT

The first memory I have of Porsche's exotic is this: I was driving around the Orange County suburb of Irvine at roughly 7:30 in the morning on a Saturday with almost nobody on the road. In front of me, at a stoplight, were two V10 supercars revving their engines and ready to bolt. One was a yellow Lamborghini Gallardo, and the other, a silver Porsche Carrera GT. As soon as I heard the throaty bellow of those massive 10 cylinder, mid-engined coupes, I was hooked. The light turned green, they both sped away with exhaust notes trumpeting the departure of two of the four Horsemen of the Apocalypse, while I was stuck with the less-than-ideal combination of piss poor fuel economy and tepid performance of my 2000 Mustang. One day, I thought. One day. Now the Carrera GT is mine, albeit in my non-physical Dream Garage, and one day I will break it out of its fantastical state.

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Photos courtesy of Porsche

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Autoweek Lifts the Covers Off the Presidential Limo, The Beast

It may look like a stretched Cadillac sedan, but it's not. It's got armored doors eight inches thick. And there are 12 of them, each costing more than a Bugatti Veyron. The presidential limousine, nicknamed "The Beast," is an 18 foot-long Cadillac DTS atop a General Motors truck chassis, one with so many safety systems that it weighs around 15,000 pounds. Autoweek has interviewed a source described only as a "veteran agent" of the Secret Service, who spilled a few details about the armored limo, a vehicle so iconic that the band Nico Vega wrote a song about it.*

Read the full article on our main site

Photo courtesy of General Motors

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Lamborghini Curses the World With Topless Veneno

Did you love the Lamborghini Veneno like I didn't? Well then, today's your lucky day, because Lambo has announced the production of a completely roofless version that will unleash another nine Aventadors with a bodykit onto the world. The Aventador and its Veneno cousins share a 6.5L V12, which makes 750hp in the limited production cars and 700-720hp in the pedestrian Aventador. $4.5 million is the cost of this Beast, but eccentric billionaires won't likely care about the sticker as long as they have something that nobody else in the Hamptons/Dubai/Monaco has. And therein lies the Veneno Roadster's target market: those craving a unique product above any car objectively or subjectively better than a Veneno. Maybe no comparison matters, because after all, even though topless cars are meant to be seen in, none of these cars will see the light of day save for the short trip from trailer to climate-controlled storage space.

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Photos courtesy of Lamborghini

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Honda, Renault, and Mercedes Unveil Formula 1 Turbo V6 Engines

As previously reported, Honda is returning to Formula 1 in 2015 by way of supplying a turbo V6 for McLaren after the team retires the Mercedes engine after next year. Two days ago, Honda released an audio clip of the new motor revving. It's no V8, but this isn't an Accord six cylinder either. The turbo-6 makes it into McLaren's 2015 car, which will most likely be called the MP4-30 if current naming trends continue.

Read the full article on our main site.

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Nürburgring Overload: Camaro Z/28, Porsche 918 Spyder Test at the Green Hell

Everybody loves testing their new sports car at the Nürburgring. Over the last decade, the 'Ring has become the de facto test track for manufacturers to not only hone suspension and handling setups but also to attempt to stake their claim at the top of the lap time leaderboard. The race to the top is useless for 99.99% of the world, but it is certainly thrilling to watch so many compete in a non-race atmosphere. Any assertion to a specific car's dominance at the 'Ring is fleeting for the simple fact that automakers will push the envelope further and further to challenge that dominance. That being said, the Porsche 918 Spyder is, for now, the ruler of the 'Ring as far as easily available production cars go, with a lap time of 6:57 (a pair of Radicals are faster, but good luck even optioning one at either spec). Here is the 918's speed run, as well as a recent blast through the Green Hell by the Chevrolet Camaro Z/28, which clocked a better time than the Porsche Carrera S.

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