It is undeniable that the Kia Rio Rio5 2012 models were more difficult to do justice in a competitive market. If it was a little late to revise this subcompact, it is because the Korean manufacturer had to develop new products in categories where there was absolutely not competitive. Thus the gloomy Magentis has been replaced by the impressive Optima. In the case of Rio, the wait was worth it, because the new generation of the latter is quite spectacular.

But there is a moment of hesitation between the arrival of this newcomer and the abandonment of the current model. This is certainly less competitive than it was before, but it will probably be an opportunity for many to achieve great deals: both the hatchback sedan that will be sold off to reduce inventory before the arrival of the new generation. Here is a brief overview of the current version that we identify as a 2011 model half …

Mixed power, silhouette exceeded

At launch, the Rio sedan has received a mixed reception on its silhouette. Lines were arbitrary and designers were content to offer a generic car intended to sell more than its price for its aesthetics. Fortunately, the Kia Rio Rio5 2012 hatchback offered a silhouette more modern and aggressive. The interior was the same ilk, with the dashboard without relief and without any special features. For cons, the finish was good, the controls handy and easy to read dials. In short, nothing to disturb the buyer looking for a vehicle at an affordable price.

Elegance and technology Kia Rio/Rio5 2012

If in the past cars produced by that builder had a figure or caricature is anonymous, they are today among the vehicles most elegant and most modern in terms of design. And the new Kia Rio Rio5 2012 is no exception.

These two new models have been designed to Kia’s design studios in Irvine, California. With its sloping front, the grille very characteristic, as well as its raised tail, the sedan offers a very dynamic figure. To give even more punch on the visual designers rely on California sculpted sidewalls in the wheel arches in relief and fenestration that matches the roof line to give more impetus to the whole . As for the Kia Rio Rio5 2012, the front part is identical to the sedan, while at the rear, the tailgate tilted forward and horizontal lights give it a look more modern.

Moreover, this increase in power does not come at the expense of consumption: this engine has direct injection system and Stop and Go (Stop-Start), which can significantly reduce fuel use. In the words of Engineers has company, and Kia Rio Rio5 2012 are not only the most powerful in their class, but also those who consume less. This engine comes standard with a manual six-speed automatic transmission while having the same number of gears is optional. To accommodate this new engine, the engineers have developed a new platform with independent suspension front and rear. In short, models laggard, Kia Rio Rio5 2012 is now part of the talented subcompact category.

Kia Rio Rio5 2012 News

After the drama in Zolder everyone packed up, lock, stock and barrel and moved to the shores of the MediterraneanMonaco. Long known as the crown jewel of Grand Prix racing and a serious favourite of the drivers and spectators alike, Monaco remains a very narrow, dangerous circuit that would not pass the required safety standards now in force in Formula One. It is like Kitsbuhel in downhill racing. It is iconic and will continue to be run.

It was felt the turbo-charged cars would be ineffective on the slow, twisting streets of both Monaco and Long Beach. Gilles proved them very wrong by putting the 126C on the front row with Nelson Piquet in his Brabham on the pole. Pironi had a more difficult time taming the powerful Ferrari and sat seventeenth on the grid.

Race day dawned warm and dry, but the start of the race was delayed due to a kitchen fire in the Lowes Hotel. This situation caused quite a stir with fire crews as the whole circuit was now sealed off for the race. Once this problem was solved the fire was quickly extinguished. As a result of this fire a new problem emerged. The tunnel under the hotel was flooded with the water used to fight the fire! The cars were sent out to do two parade laps. It was declared that the zone between Portier, where the cars came down the hill out of the city to the harbour, through the tunnel and on to the chicane at the bottom of the hill would be a no passing area. Almost all passing is done in this area, especially at the entrance to the chicane.

Almost an hour behind schedule, the race got the green and Piquet high-tailed it through the first turn at Ste. Devote. Gilles chased him up the hill towards the casino. The start had its usual interest with de Cesaris and Prost getting together at Ste. Devote with de Cesaris getting airborne and landing in front of Andrettis Alfa-Romeo. Both Prost and de Cesaris were out before the lap had ended. When the leaders came around, Piquet led Villeneuve by some margin. Mansell in the Lotus, Reutemann and Jones in the two Williams and Patrese in the Shadow rounded out the first six. Pironi was still well back in the field with his red handful.

Piquet continued to pull away from Gilles when they started to come upon the back markers. Piquet got through, but Gilles had difficulty and the following group of cars tightened right up on number 27. During all this Reutemann and Mansell got together in the tunnel resulting in both cars needing repairs in the pits. With these two gone from the scene, Jones had a clear shot at Gilles. Having none of third place, Jones took the risky move and pulled inside Gilles as they entered the right-hander at Mirabeau. Gilles was now suffering brake fade and had to be more cautious in the braking zones. Jones hustled off up the road to harass Piquet. Piquet would not yield to Jones, but came upon the Theodore of Patrick Tambay who was having gearbox problems. Piquet tried to squeeze through a hole that just did not exist and had to hit the brakes to avoid Tambay. Nelson promptly slid into the guardrail to end his charge. Jones was now in the lead with Gilles well behind in second. Jones started to feel his Williams sputter with the fuel light coming on. He had plenty of lead on Gilles and decided to come into the pits for a splash of fuel to get him home to the finish. When he rejoined the race he was still in front of Gilles, but the car continued to falter. Gilles was now six seconds in arrears. He was informed of the situation by his pits and the excitement around the track escalated as Gilles put the hammer down despite the continuing brake problem. Four laps later Gilles gobbled up the Williams on the pit straight and Monte Carlo erupted when the Ferrari climbed the hill out of Ste. Devote with the Williams in its mirrors! Jones finished almost forty seconds behind a jubilant Gilles. Pironi had climbed from his seventeenth to fourth. Gilles had ended the long Ferrari drought and given the 126C its first win, With renewed confidence the team headed for Spain for the Grand Prix at Jarama.

The 126C had proven to have significantly less downforce than the Williams or the Brabham, but any gains on the straightaway would be dispensed with when the car entered any corner. The terrible handling 126C was a beast to be controlled.

The Spanish Grand Prix was not a typical Villeneuve race. Gilles qualified seventh over a second behind Jacques Laffite in the Talbot-Matra on the pole. Didier man-handled his Ferrari into thirteenth.

Raceday dawned very hot with the temperature over one hundred degrees. With twenty-four cars taking the start, Laffite found himself being gobbled up by the field as his clutch faltered. Jones took off into the first turn with Reutemann on his tail. Gilles had pulled wide and stormed from seventh to third. Heading into the first turn on the second lap he pulled one of his late-braking events and took second from Reutemann. Jones then pulled an uncharacteristic move by locking up his front end and sliding off the track. He rejoined well down the field. An astonished Gilles found himself in the lead! It was immediately apparent to him that only the straight-line speed had put him there. In the corners the snarling, ever-stacking-up-field was challenging to get by the Ferrari. Gilles knew he needed to put in a flawless performance in every corner right down to the mad dash for the start/finish line on the final lap. At the end there was a mere 1.24 seconds between Gilles in first and Elio de Angelis in fifth. Laffite was 22/100 seconds back in second!

After the race Gilles smiled to a few of us and remarked that the car was like driving a fucking big red Cadillac. That some of us happened to be then odd journalists did not seem to faze him. It naturally got into the papers in Italy and it did not go over too well with the old man who owned the red bombs. Typically, Gilles called it as he saw it with little regard for the consequences. That was certainly an endearing characteristic most journalist loved about him. He always had a story with a quote of how it really was out there.

Laffite summed it all up for everyone. Only Gilles Villeneuve could have passed Gilles Villeneuve out there today.

After his win in Spain it would be seven dry races before he was back in the points in Canada with the third level of the podium.

Gilles had a few exciting experiences in the 126C during that season one being at Dijon on the Saturday morning. He slid off at Courage de Pouas where the minimal run-off area presented his Ferrari with a set of catch-fencing. Nigel Roebuck, a close friend of Gilles and still a very respected journalist, found Gilles at the lunch break dabbing at a large gash on his jaw.

One of the poles that held up the fencing had gone up under his helmet, said Roebuck later. He wasnt particularly concerned about. He and Pironi were having heart monitoring that weekend by a couple of French doctors who were doing research on the stress levels of racing drivers. Gilles was wired-up at the time of the incident. His heart rate jumped by a minimal five beats per minute when he slid off into the fencing. The doctors simply could not believe it as Didiers heart rate was normally over thirty beats a minute more that Gilles.

At home in Canada Gilles put on quite a show when he drove a number of laps with the front wing standing straight up in front of him as a result of another late-braking event. He was about to be black-flagged when the wing took off under braking for the hairpin before the pits. He had started in eleventh and finished third to the delighted crowd.

I wouldnt have stopped for the black flag anyway. I couldnt see a thing, he joked after the race.

The 1981 season in the shitbox, as Gilles affectionally called it, had provided two exciting and unexpected wins, but generally was dismal as he had won only twenty-five points to Nelson Piquets fifty while winning the championship. Pironi had finished thirteenth in his first season with the team. A new chassis had been designed to couple with the most powerful engine in Formula One and the best in ground effects. They all hoped for better things in 1982.

Read the rest of the Shutter Speed series.

Related posts:

1. Shutter Speed: The new kid on the block
2. Shutter Speed: Terror in Zolder
3. Shutter Speed: The first book and the first nine!
4. Shutter Speed: 1976 A Big Year!
5. Shutter Speed: Down; but not out!

See the full gallery on Posterous

Buick and sports performance are something that hasn’t gone together for quite some time. Sure GS badges, etc. were thrown on the side and a powerful engine was thrown in but the total package of a sports sedan has not been in the Buick repertoire. Now with the upcoming 2012 Buick Regal GS they have touched on something that actually pushed the right buttons when it comes to driving enjoyment.

Recently I was able to travel to Traverse City Michigan for a pre-production screening of the new 270hp Buick Regal GS. This region of Michigan is filled with twisty country roads as well as scenic lakefront vistas that create  a perfect backdrop for the Regal. It was very easy to find hours of driving enjoyment here and was a great way to test out everything the Buick Regal has to offer including its interactive driver control, high output Ecotec Turbocharged engine, 6-speed manual transmission and driver orientated cabin.

Setting the Buick Regal GS apart from the exterior of the standard Regal was accomplished by adding distinctive satin finish front air intakes, distinctive rocker panels, a lip mounted rear spoiler and 20-inch 5 dual spoke rims running Pirelli summer only tires.  All of this gives the Regal GS a much different aura about it than standard Regals. It has more aggressive lines and stance. The Regal is not contentious and Buick engineers are focusing on Refined Performance rather than all out performance figures.  No chrome Is present instead replaced with all brushed and polished Aluminum that add a real premium touch to the GS.

The interior is very similar to your everyday Regal you find on the road today bit with some important differences that make a minor aesthetic change into major functional changes. The Regal GS features a unique flat-bottomed perforated leather wrapped steering wheel that tops the list on some of my favorite steering wheels. It is large, meaty, offers great road feel and instills confidence even under heavy load. New for the 2012 Regal GS is the Intellilink ™ infotainment center that strives to better engage the driver with the technology available without overly distracting from the driving input.  The systems is much more efficient than the current system, it offers touch capability, much better voice recognition, and the ability to to integrate programs such as Pandora to allow for a more connected feel even on the go.  I wasn’t able to really test the system and I imagine with something this complex that bugs will be present in the early editions of this but I am told that owners will be able to upload software updates from a USB flash drive as they become available.

Driving the Regal GS was quite a pleasure especially in a location as majestic as Traverse City, Michigan. Situated in far northwestern Michigan this small quaint town has grown into a bustling tourist location for many Michiganders, but if you venture out past all the hotels and shops you find an area ripe with great twisting roads and awesome lake front vistas that are a perfect compliment to the Regal GS. With a small population of locals it is easy to find yourself alone on the road and here is where the GS shines. The 270 hp 295 lb.../ft 2.0L EcoTec engine is one of the most SAE certified power dense engines that GM has ever produced. This attached to the new HiPer strut technology and huge 20-inch wheels equals quite an agile and athletic car. Straight-line speed is impressive but certainly isn’t the main point of this vehicle. A broad torque curve allows for less gearshifts and more torque on tap as you power out of the numerous turns in the Traverse City countryside.  Heavy use of the throttle elicits a pleasing turbo spooling sound and engine rumble, but with a focus on refined performance there really isn’t much of a throaty aggressive exhaust note that I expected from something this powerful.

Steering feel comes through a wonderful perforated leather wrapped flat bottom steering wheel that is a joy to use. It is a great compliment to the loads of grip on tap from the 20-inch wheels. Road feel is direct and there is a good sense of on-center directness that equals to quite a bit of confidence on the road. Supplementing all of this is an interactive drive control that has three setting; comfort, sport, and GS. Each mode equals to about a 20% increase in overall suspension stiffness that is accomplished through an infinitely variable bypass valve within the strut body.  For those looking for hardcore performance GS mode is the weapon of choice. Offering the greatest level of stiffness it also increases the relative weight felt through the steering column.  But unlike performance sedans in the past that had to sacrifice ride quality in the search of more grip, the other settings loosen up the suspension and it becomes suppler when the road becomes less curvaceous.

This was my first time in Traverse City, Michigan and I have to say it was a perfect location to show off the Buick Regal GS. It was a gorgeous place that fully embodied the majestic lake front property that many Michiganders love with everyday. As a man from Indiana I spent many summers visiting the dunes of southwestern Michigan but never have I gone this far north. Where we stayed was a bit touristy, but once outside the city boundaries it was like being home here in Bloomington, IN surrounded by trees, wilderness, and not much else it felt like the many times I have driven through Brown and Monroe county here. There were some amazing roads and with limited traffic it was one of those rare places where one could actually enjoy driving without worrying about other motorists. This may have been my first time but I think Traverse City will be a regular stop for me and my future wife Katelyn. But now enough of the post card moment Ill get back to the car.

One of the surprising aspects of the Regal GS is the fact that when you don’t need all 270 hp you can actually drive quite fuel efficiently. Over a 20-mile stretch at an average speed of 60 mph 31 MPGs were quite easy to attain. This means that on one hand owners have a stylish sports sedan that is capable of an extremely athletic performance, but at the same time on a long road trip fuel costs won’t pile up. With an initial MSRP of $35,310 the Buick Regal is quite a good value for customers who are looking for an excellent compromise between the amount of performance technology and livability they can get. The GS is not a pure performance vehicle it also has to be a car that someone can jump into day after day for a commute to world but also needs to excite its driver on weekend escapades to the back country roads. The Regal GS succeeds at being a great blend of both offering a comfortable interior with a striking exterior that is complimented by a first rate driving experience that is sure to win over customers tired of a sports sedan that kills their spine and a luxury sedan that just seems too pedantic. 

When talking sports in Canada the usual topic I find at this time of year is Hockey.  Its playoff time so the fans are all wearing their team colors.  Living in the land of Maple Leaf blue and white I have seen very little of this activity over the past 7 years, but the feeling of playoff season abounds.  So instead of seeing the traditional Blue and White of the Maple Leafs around the city, what I see in stead is a cacophany of colours as support for every team that has made the play offs can be seen everywhere, in every bar, on every street corner, its obvious that it is playoff time in Hockey.

When traveling in the US however it is a different type of sport altogether that allows for interesting conversations in airports and restaurants.  NASCAR fans have the same passion for their sport as Canadians do about Hockey.  Although the team dynamic is much different between the 2 sports (43 teams at each race vs 2 teams on the ice at a time) the passion of the fans is hard to distinguish between the 2 sports.  With the obvious differnence between the 2 sports, one being winter and played on ice, while the other is a summer sport and plays out on asphalt, the similarities between the sports and their fans must not be over looked.

Hockey fans come from all walks of life, rich, poor and in between.  So do NASCAR fans.  Hockey is played on ice, but the venue is always shaped in an oval.  NASCAR races on ovals. with the exception of road courses twice a year to remind the drivers that they can turn to the right sometimes.  Hockey fans love their beer, so do NASCAR fans.  Hockey players slap the rubber around the rink, NASCAR drivers burn rubber all around the track.  The biggest money making team in the league (the Toronto Maple Leafs) have not made the playoffs in 7 years and have not won a Stanley Cup since 1967, the biggest money earner in the sport of NASCAR, Dale Earnhardt Jr., has not won a race in 133 starts, way back in 2008, and yet in both cases, the fans always feel that next year will be different.

In the case of either sport I find, as I travel around the continent, that you can start up a conversation to pass the time with strangers simply by noticing their team colours.  It helps pass the time while sitting around in airports and bus stations, with all kinds of interesting people.  You see a guy in a Flyers jersy walking through the airport and say So man howd your team do last night? and you can prepare to spend at least the next 15 minutes in conversation with someone who can tell you every detail about the game the njight before.  Walk up to ANY NASCAR fan wearing a shirt, or a jacket and ask Howd you driver do on Sunday? and you can prepare to spend at least the next 30 min discussing everything that happened on the track the Sunday before, and how the points race is shaking out as well.

Now for those of you who live North of the Border like myself, NASCAR is a sport that is carried by the TV networks only when there is no Hockey being televised.  Most Nationwide races get relegated to the late night re-plays while Hockey is shown live.  It is hard as a racing fan to watch another sports take precident over your favourite, but then again, Hockey Is Canadas unofficial national sport. (Lacrosse is the official sport really??)  At Least theres no Hockey on Sunday afternoons.

And when it comes to game time/race time traditions, I find that there is almost no difference in how you prepare.  Make sure the beers are cold and the snacks are at the ready, because in both sports if you happen to leave the room for any reason, you might just miss something important on the screen, who slammed who into the boards, or who slammed who into the wall.

The best part about Hockey and NASCAR and the way their seasons play out is that while one is in playoffs (NASCAR in the Fall and Hockey in the spring) the other sport is just getting started.  The fans CAN actually watch both sports and not have to worry about conflicting schedules (with the previous mentioned Nationwide late night re-plays aside).

As a Canadian travelling around to watch NASCAR races it has been said that I should have my Canadian Citizenship revoked since I would rather watch racing than Hockey. In fact if you ask my kids who their favourite sports starts are, they will tell you Tony Stewart, Dale Jr., and Jimmie Johnson.  And if you ask them about Hockey they will look at you with quizzical looks on their faces and sayHockey?? I play that outside on my rollerblades sometimes.

While both sports have their version of The Redneck Fan (Canadiennes Fans in Hockey and Kyle Busch fans in NASCAR) they appeal to almost everyone because of the speed of the action onteh screen.  Anything can happen at any time, and the excitement in the voices of the announcers will bring you running from any room in the house to the television when something big does go down.

In the end, I live being a Canadian NASCAR fan.  Although the only hockey that makes it on my television is during the 3 month long NASCAR off season, I do still keep abreast of where my home town team is in the stats (not hard when they are at the bottom most of the time).  So for those racing fans out there who are having trouble dealing with the pre-emtion of our sport to the Hockey playoffs, relax, once they are over the only thing left will be NASCAR.

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1. Whoever said hockey was safer than racing?
2. 2010 Chevrolet Equinox: 3 hockey bag test
3. Red Bull Racing plays pond hockey in Quebec
4. NASCAR Edwards Takes the Pole, Top Chasers Start Deep in the Field and Travis Pastrana Enters the NASCAR World
5. NASCAR How to Deal with Racing Withdrawl.