Toyota Avalon by DUB Magazine


It looks like the new generation Toyota Avalon is enjoying plenty of attention from tuning firms at the 2012 SEMA Show. Next to the Avalon TRD Concept, the guys over at DUB Magazine have developed a pretty impressive package for the sedan that transforms it into the perfect urban ride.

The package starts off with a custom mesh grille and a well-integrated custom lower body kit and continues with a new set of 22" wheels with a matte black finish wrapped in ultra-low-profile Pirelli tires. It has been painted in a Brilliant Black finish with the mysterious look accentuated by tinted windows and taillights.

For the interior, the tuner applied suede accents on the console, door panels, and headliner. The seats combine black leather with plush diamond-pattern suede inserts and feature DUB logos on the seatbacks.

Since this is a DUB project, a new JBL sound system was to be expected to see and houses three massive subwoofers and an impressive array of amplifiers.

Toyota Avalon by DUB Magazine originally appeared on topspeed.com on Wednesday, 31 October 2012 03:00 EST.

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Source: http://www.topspeed.com/cars/toyota/2013-toyota-avalon-by-dub-magazine-ar136920.html

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Red Bull: Webber Will Help Vettel

Red Bull advisor Helmut Marko has insisted that Mark Webber will help Sebastian Vettel during his battle for the Drivers? Championship. The Aussie had previously stated that he would not let his team-mate past if he had a chance to wing, but this has been dismissed as bravado by the team. When asked by the [...]

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Formula1Fancast/~3/MaWOXn6C8yU/red-bull-webber-will-help-vettel

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Abu Dhabi Grand Prix 2010 (Video Highlights)

The Abu Dhabi Grand Prix hasn?t been around for long, but it has already produced one of the most thrilling races in recent memory during 2010. As the final stop of the F1 year, the Yas Marina Circuit was always going to play a big role in a close season and sure enough three drivers [...]

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Formula1Fancast/~3/g3uGL-X0btM/abu-dhabi-grand-prix-2010-video-highlights

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Lewis Hamilton move would not be a huge surprise

If Lewis Hamilton does move to Mercedes from McLaren for next season, as Eddie Jordan believes he will, it would be a massive shock but not a huge surprise.

There has appeared no urgency from either Hamilton or McLaren to sort out a new contract for 2013 and at the same time there have been signs of unease in the relationship.

The 27-year-old's management team have approached all the big teams this summer and they got short shrift from Red Bull and Ferrari.

Mercedes's reaction has been warmer, and negotiations are known to have taken place, but the issue is complicated by Michael Schumacher's situation.

Lewis Hamilton

Lewis Hamilton is on the verge of leaving Mclaren to drive for Mercedes next season. Photo: Getty

Schumacher has not exactly been setting the world on fire this season, with the notable exception of qualifying fastest in Monaco, but at the same time Mercedes cannot be seen to be sacking him because of his status, particularly in Germany.

The German legend is of huge promotional value to Mercedes but the company is split on whether he should continue.

From a marketing point of view, he is a dream - and as he is considered untouchable in Germany any decision to move aside must appear to have come from him.

But those who see the F1 programme from a performance point of view would rather Schumacher stepped down and made way for someone younger and faster.

If they can replace him with someone of the highest calibre - someone such as Hamilton, for example - then that helps, too, as the decision is more easily understandable.

And it is clear after an increasingly uncompetitive season that the team could benefit from employing Hamilton, who is one of F1's 'big three' alongside Fernando Alonso and Sebastian Vettel, neither of whom are available.

The attraction Mercedes might have to Hamilton is less clear, given their current struggles, but perhaps the continuing frustrations of his time at McLaren have convinced him it is time for a change.

McLaren struggled by their own high standards in 2009-11, during which time Hamilton did not have a car competitive enough to mount a full-on title challenge.

They came closest in 2010, but it was always a battle against the generally faster Red Bull and Ferrari.

And although McLaren started this season with the fastest car - and have it again after a brief mid-season dip in form - operational errors earlier in the season hit Hamilton's title bid.

Money may well also be an important factor. Hamilton made some cryptic comments in Belgium last weekend about his future move being a "business decision".

Equally, there have been signs of friction between him and McLaren.

In certain quarters of the team, they are uncomfortable about Hamilton's approach to his job and his mindset. And the disconnect was made public this weekend with his ill-advised behaviour on the social networking site Twitter, on which he posted a picture of confidential team telemetry.

Where does that all leave McLaren, Mercedes and Hamilton? Time will tell.

Source: http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/andrewbenson/2012/09/lewis_hamilton_move_would_not.html

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Formula One over the years has seen truly brilliant and talented drivers. The swashbucklers, the power-sliders, the brave and those who found time where no else could have all graced the sport for periods of time. Yet for all their greatness, one trophy has eluded some of them and their wealth of talents: the Drivers’ [...]

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Formula1Fancast/~3/JQtKTjUij7g/the-best-ten-drivers-to-never-win-the-championship

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There have been stories circulating in F1 circles in recent days suggesting that several of the teams are currently up for sale, or in need of significant investment. The primary underlying rumour in Delhi was the future ownership of the Lotus F1 Team. It has been clear for some time that Gerard Lopez?s Genii Capital [...]

Source: http://joesaward.wordpress.com/2012/10/30/rumours-about-lotus-f1-team/

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Singapore swing hands Vettel the initiative

Lewis Hamilton cut a remarkably phlegmatic figure after the Singapore Grand Prix, considering his retirement from what seemed a victory for the taking left his championship hopes in tatters.

The McLaren driver said all the right things after the race about not giving up, but the sad reality is that he is 52 points behind Ferrari's Fernando Alonso with only 150 still available.

To expect Hamilton to be able to make up more than a third of the points still remaining on a man who is driving one of the best seasons in Formula 1 history is ambitious in the extreme, although it's certainly going to be entertaining watching him try.

Hamilton's performance in Singapore confirmed two things about this season - McLaren are the team to beat with the consistently fastest car and the 2008 world champion is driving superlatively well.

Lewis Hamilton

A gear box failure caused McLaren driver Lewis Hamilton to retire from the Singapore Grand Prix. Photo: Getty 

His pole lap on Saturday was a sight to behold, all controlled aggression and commitment, brushing the walls, judging the balance between risk and reward to perfection to leave his rivals breathless.

Until that point, Red Bull's Sebastian Vettel had appeared to be evenly matched with Hamilton but when it mattered the German found his car's grip had mysteriously disappeared. Hamilton found plenty, though, to go more than half a second clear of anyone else.

It was, as McLaren sporting director Sam Michael put it, a "fantastic" lap and he followed it with a controlled performance in the race, taking only as much as he needed to out of the car and tyres, confident that he had pace in reserve if Vettel upped his pace behind him.

But then the oil started leaking out of his differential, he lost his seamless gearshifts, then third gear and finally all his gears, and he sadly coasted to a halt at Turn Five with more than half the race still remaining.

It was the latest in a series of disappointments for Hamilton this year, without which he would be right up with Alonso in the championship.

For nearly all of them he has been blameless. Only in his collision with Pastor Maldonado in Valencia could you perhaps lay any small fault at his door - of course the Williams man drove into him, but ex-drivers, including Ivan Capelli, have questioned whether Hamilton might have been wiser in the circumstances to leave him a bit more space.

Despite the series of McLaren-related incidents that have cost him his best chance of the title since 2008, Hamilton's mood upon getting back to the paddock was notably different from his subdued bearing after taking pole and victory in Italy two weeks ago.

In Monza, he was downbeat, almost monosyllabic, despite his crushing performance. Here, the speed was the same, but the disposition far sunnier.

It remains to be seen whether that was to do with him making up his mind about his future one way or the other.

But it would take a brave man who gave up the pace of the McLaren for the uncertain and unimpressive form of Mercedes, whatever the difference in remuneration, real or potential, there may be between the offers.

"I think it would have been a nice result for us but we still have more races to go," he said.

"We really couldn't afford today but it is what it is. The good thing is we have good pace. I have to go and win the next races."

On his and McLaren's current form, he could easily win all of them, but if the season continues in its topsy-turvy way, with wins shared about, it is difficult to see him making up so many points on Alonso.

Vettel, though, is a different matter. The low-downforce circuits of Spa and Monza behind them, the Red Bull is likely to be competitive everywhere.

Even if it is not as strong as the McLaren, it is certainly consistently quicker than the Ferrari and in that context a 29-point deficit following the victory he inherited from Hamilton in Singapore is eminently bridgeable.

As Red Bull team boss Christian Horner pointed out, Vettel "was 25 points down with two races to go in 2010, which indicates anything is possible for all the drivers. We need to keep taking points off Fernando, which ideally means getting a few more cars between us and him."

And there's the rub.

Alonso has not won since Germany in July. A potential win escaped him in Italy two weeks ago because of a mechanical problem in qualifying, but Ferrari's poor performance in Singapore, when he had been expecting to fight for pole and victory, was a wake-up call.

On the form of this weekend, Alonso does not look likely to win in normal circumstances unless Ferrari can bring some more speed to the car.

But what he does keep doing is finishing in the points.
In the 10 races since the Spanish Grand Prix in May, Alonso has retired only once - after being hit by the flying Lotus of Romain Grosjean in Belgium three weeks ago. Of the nine he has finished, seven of them resulted in a podium - including two wins - and the other two fifth places.

No-one else has consistency anything like that, and it is in that consistency that lies his best hope.

The concern for Alonso is that if both McLarens and Vettel finish races, those podiums will be hard to come by, and in those circumstances that gap would come down quickly indeed.

So well has he been driving this year that Alonso has to still be considered a narrow favourite for the title.

But while McLaren's weaknesses have made the championship a long-shot even for Hamilton, as Alonso leaves Singapore, he will be casting worried glances over his shoulder at Vettel.

Source: http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/andrewbenson/2012/09/in_singapore_lewis_hamilton_cu.html

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2012 Indian Grand Prix in pictures | F1 pictures

2012 Indian Grand Prix in pictures is an original article from F1 Fanatic. If this article has been published anywhere other than F1 Fanatic it is an infringement of copyright.

Pictures from the Indian Grand Prix, won by Sebastian Vettel.

2012 Indian Grand Prix in pictures is an original article from F1 Fanatic. If this article has been published anywhere other than F1 Fanatic it is an infringement of copyright.

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/f1fanatic/~3/ioEQTItxips/

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