With the ZR1 grabbing all the headlines of late, it's easy to forget about the other pumped-up performance thoroughbred in the Corvette stable--the Z06. However, that's about to change, because Chevrolet is taking some of the ZR1 goodies and transplanting them over onto the Z06 for the 2011 model year, such as the Brembo carbon-ceramic brakes and magnetic select ride control system.

The features will be standard on a new 2011 Corvette Z06 Carbon Limited Edition, which Chevy is using to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the Corvette's first 24 Hours of LeMans race. In addition to the brakes with dark gray painted calipers and suspension, a black version of the 20-spoke wheels wrapped with Michelin PS2 tires, body color spoiler, black carbon-fiber rockers, the splitter from the ZR1 and the carbon-fiber raised hood (which is 11.5 pounds lighter than the standard composite hood) also appear on the Carbon limited edition.

 

Auto shows are known as popular proving grounds for concept vehicles, though many of the ideas shown seem to focus more on the quest to be outlandish than ground-breaking in any meaningful way. The Tesla IED Eye concept, on the other hand, has at least a couple OF features that make you wonder why they aren't more mainstream.

Maybe that's because of its "by kids, for kids" approach. Tesla's fleet expansion moves at a seemingly glacial pace and currently includes a super-expensive sports car (the Roadster), as well as a more moderately priced sedan (the upcoming Model S), but nothing for the 20-something segment that wants a compact, affordable, fun-to-drive model. Tesla's solution? Let that same demographic design their own concept.

Of course, it helps if the 20-somethings happen to be 11 master's degree students in Transportation Design at the Instituto Europeo di Design in Turin, Italy. Tesla's own chief designer, Franz von Holzhausen, acts as their mentor and supervisor for the semester -- which is exactly how the IED Eye came about.

The result of the collaboration is that slick design seen up there, which reminds me of a more compact, more extreme version of the design language shared by the Honda Accord Crosstour and the upcoming BMW 5-Series Gran Turismo large hatch. Most notable is the roof structure, with a paneled design that allows it to become a semi-open vehicle and, rather than simply a traditional rear hatchback door, actually opens up to provide a loading bay in the manner of a pickup truck.

The only Eye concept in existence is at the Geneva Motor Show, but for a better look at the design, check out the video after the jump. 

The headline for the Post article reads: "Analysis finds uneasy mix in auto industry and regulation," though after reading the article it's clear the unease points to drivers and watchdogs, since the link between the auto industry and the administration that regulates it is, in fact, overly chummy.

In short, "As many as 33 former National Highway Traffic Safety Administration employees and Transportation Department appointees left those jobs in recent years and now work for automakers as lawyers, consultants and lobbyists and in other jobs that deal with government safety probes, recalls and regulations," according to the Post. Likewise, former Cabinet officials -- such as former Clinton Transportation Secretary Rodney E. Slater, hired last week by Toyota -- are on those manufacturers' payrolls. 

Chevy, perhaps taking a cue from Ford's creative and popular Fiesta Movement campaign, will roll out three new social media campaigns at the South by Southwest (SXSW) festival in Austin, Texas, this month.

The campaigns revolve around new or emerging applications with which the manufacturer hopes to connect with consumers. The first is a collaboration with Austin-based social networking company Gowalla; users, via a mobile phone and the Gowalla application, can "check in" at various locations to update friends as to their whereabouts and activities. For SXSW, users may receive Chevy-specific messages and offers -- for example, select users who check in at the Austin airport may receive an offer of a free ride downtown in the new Chevy Equinox. 

Ikuo Maeda, the new design chief at Mazda Motor Corp., earned the nickname "Speedy" for his lead-footed driving on the race course and off.

He may be the only standing auto executive to have had his license revoked--twice.

It's only natural then that Maeda, who took the design reins last April, views himself as the rightful guardian of Mazda's zoom-zoom brand heritage. And he has the bloodline to prove it.

Not only did Maeda design the bold, muscular silhouette of today's RX-8 sports car. But a generation before, his father--himself a Mazda stylist--designed the RX-8's spiritual ancestor, the original RX-7.

"I was a real car lover long before I started designing cars," Maeda said in an interview at Mazda's headquarters in this western Japanese port city.

"There are lots of car enthusiasts at Mazda, but I think I'm at the top."

 

The unintended-acceleration issue is providing yet more headaches for Toyota -- in this case, by way of 89 class-action lawsuits that are looking for reimbursement from the company, not because of safety issues but because the massive recalls have lowered the value of their vehicles. The plaintiffs allege that Toyota knew about the defects but failed to divulge that information to potential customers.

The suits are based at least partly on a recent move by Kelley Blue Book to lower the resale values of Toyota models affected by the recall by an average of 3.5 percent.

On March 25, in San Diego, a panel of federal judges will consider the cases to determine if and how the suits can be grouped and whether the cases have enough merit to move forward. If the decision is made to group all similar cases, nationwide, into a single class, the repercussions for the Japanese automaker could be stunning. Consider, for example, if every one of the millions of Toyota owners affected by the recall joined the suit and was subsequently awarded just $1,000 as reimbursement for the drop in value of their vehicles. Toyota could end up paying out billions of dollars. 

Toyota maintains that the fixes being made to correct unintended acceleration in millions of recalled vehicles are sufficient.

But at a press event Monday, company officials said they are willing to bring in as many independent researchers as needed to resolve the issue once and for all.

“We don't think there is a ghost issue out there,” said Kristen Tabar, general manager of electronic systems at the Toyota Technical Center in Ann Arbor, Mich.

But she conceded that “we need to verify claims, facts and evidence."

“Until we do that, we can't say there is nothing,” she said.

Toyota has recalled nearly 6 million vehicles in the United States to fix both sticky pedals and floor mats that could trap an accelerator and hold it open.

 

The year 2016 is right around the corner, and for the many electric motorcycle manufacturers in this country and around the world, it can’t come soon enough. A new study by Pike Research says that by that time, there will be a dizzying 466 million electric motorcycles spread around the globe. Think that sounds a little fishy? Think again: The electric motorcycle business is ramping up in a big way, and the past few years have seen the birth of a number of startups dedicated to bringing EV technology to the 2-wheel world.

Mainstays of the moto EV crowd -- such as Mission Motors, Zero Motorcycles and Brammo -- are already offering their wares to consumers who seem thirsty for a near guilt-free form of transportation.