Report: Car and Driver Lightning Lap is back, throws two trucks into the mix [w/video]

Filed under: Videos , Comparisons Car and Driver is back with its annual Lightning Lap roundup for a sixth year, with 20 of the world’s best vehicles taking to Virginia International Raceway to lay down the quickest time around VIR’s 4.1-mile Grand West Course. Included in this year’s running is a suitably diverse spread of sports cars and sedans, ranging from the lowly Volkswagen Jetta GLI to the formidable Porsche Panamera Turbo S – a difference of 350 horsepower and over $168,000. And, just to add a bit more spice to the festivities, C/D introduced a new class (LLT) to include two trucks in the running: the BMW X5 M and Jeep Grand Cherokee SRT8 . But what C/D gives, it taketh away.

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Report: Car and Driver Lightning Lap is back, throws two trucks into the mix [w/video]

Report: Illegal Detroit scavengers use machines that help build city to tear it down

Filed under: Videos The two documentarians who made the Oscar-nominated Jesus Camp , Heidi Ewing and Rachel Grady, have turned their cameras on Detroit, feeling it “may well be a harbinger of things to come for the rest of the country.” In an excerpt of their new documentary , called Dismantling Detroit , Ewing and Grady look at a group of men who use American metal, in the form of vans and pickup trucks, to dismantle American metal, in the form of Detroit buildings. The point is to get to scrap metal, and scavenging trade that has led to issues like power outages when thieves cut telephone lines to get to the copper. The men in Dismantling are likewise said to be engaged in illegal activity, but the results of their activity seem to be no more than one less abandoned building on the block.

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Report: Illegal Detroit scavengers use machines that help build city to tear it down

Confirmed: Racing Dreams documentary premiering on PBS in February [w/video]

Filed under: Motorsports , Etc. , Videos Racing Dreams is an award-winning documentary that follows the racing exploits of three go-kart racing youths chasing an entry into the world of NASCAR. As we reported before, when Racing Dreams took the podium at the Tribeca Film Festival , Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson got behind this project as executive producer, and now this documentary is making its broadcast premiere on Thursday, February 23 at 9 PM on Public Television. The PBS documentary series POV (Point Of View) will also stream the movie on its website for a month following the debut.

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Confirmed: Racing Dreams documentary premiering on PBS in February [w/video]

Video: Watch how recycled Christmas lights are safely put to good use

Filed under: Etc. , Safety , Videos If you live in the city, you know that the abundance of street lights are so bright that it’s difficult to see stars in the sky even on the clearest of nights. The situation out in the country couldn’t be any more different. The stars are gorgeous, but they’re not nearly bright enough to illuminate rural roads

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Video: Watch how recycled Christmas lights are safely put to good use

Official: Chevy sending off C6 Corvette with 427 Convertible and 60th Anniversary package

Filed under: Classics , Convertible , Performance , Chevrolet General Motors has something festive planned for the 60th anniversary of its Chevrolet Corvette . The automaker will mark the occasion with a special edition 2013 Corvette 427 Convertible, complete with hardware borrowed from the mighty Corvette Z06 . Under the hood, a 427-cubic-inch LS7 V8 produces 505 horsepower and 470 pound-feet of torque, making this the most powerful Corvette Convertible ever produced. The 60th Anniversary Corvette will also benefit from the same rear axle as the Z06, and magnetic ride control is standard as well

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Official: Chevy sending off C6 Corvette with 427 Convertible and 60th Anniversary package

Exclusive: 2014 Mercedes-Benz S-Class to feature all-new infotainment system

Filed under: Sedan , CES , Technology , Mercedes-Benz , Luxury , Infotainment Mercedes-Benz is making a big splash at CES this year, finally bringing a booth to the party and trotting out Daimler head Dr. Dieter Zetsche to keynote Tuesday morning’s festivities. The big news is the introduction of mBrace2 , Mercedes’ new cloud-based entertainment and information delivery system that debuts on the all-new SL roadster and proliferating through the Benz lineup in 2013. We just wrapped up a hands-on with the prototype system (coming soon), but if you’re looking for a thoroughly updated COMAND interface, you’re in for disappointment

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Exclusive: 2014 Mercedes-Benz S-Class to feature all-new infotainment system