This year’s Concorso Italiano, Monterey Car Week’s Italian-only vehicle affair, was preceded by an announcement on behalf of Fiat and Bondurant Racing School.
Bob Bondurant declared that buyers or lessors of Fiat’s all-new 124 Abarth Spider would get a one-day class at the Bondurant School of High Performance Driving in Phoenix. In a move that aims to set the Abarth roadster apart from Mazda’s MX-5 Miata Club, FCA has dug its heels into the enthusiast community.
Though both the new MX-5 and Fiat 124 Spider share the same DNA, each vehicle maintains unique styling and driving character. Working in the Miata’s favor is its curb weight (100 pounds less than the Fiat) and its styling (at least in this journalist’s opinion). The Spider, by contrast, features a more premium interior, makes more power and torque, and has a more finely tuned electronic steering system.
Read More: 2017 Fiat 124 Spider First Drive
If these details alone can’t help you decide, Fiat hopes the offer of a day of racing instruction by some of America’s best coaches could sway you further. Bondurant went on to announce that it’s autocross course would be expanded to accommodate the Fiat 124 Abarth.
FCA has worked with Bondurant in the past, offering Dodge Viper buyers a free trip and driving instruction, but the same offer for a comparatively budget-priced ($28,100) vehicle purchase or lease has never been done.
The day at Bondurant includes instructor-led skid, autocross, slalom, and team rally cross activities, plus hot laps. Having been coached by Bondurant’s team personally, I can attest to their skill and effectiveness. Abarth Spider customers will be responsible for covering their own hotels, airfare, and other travel expenses, but the instruction alone is worth about $1,000.
Don’t plan to buy a Fiat 124 Abarth but still want some seat time at Bondurant? Fret not; you can still pay for the Abarth experience separately.
BYD has launched the third-generation Qin Plus DM-i in China, and the first thing that caught my eye is its price. According to CarNewsChina, the plug-in hybrid sedan starts at 79,900 yuan, which is about $11,980. That’s an incredibly low price for a brand-new car, especially by US standards.
What’s even more impressive is the range. The Qin Plus DM-i can drive up to 137 miles on electricity alone, which should cover most people’s daily commutes without using a drop of gas. Once the battery runs out, the 1.5-liter engine takes over. Thanks to its 17-gallon tank and roughly 91 mpg with a drained battery, the combined range reaches up to 1,423 miles.
Apple won the PC market’s worst quarter, but that’s not the entire story. It won the race by stumbling less than everyone else.
PC makers shipped just 57 million computers worldwide in Q3, which might look good, but it’s a 21% year-over-year plunge (via Counterpoint Research). And despite Apple’s Mac shipments falling by 11%, to 5.6 million, its market share rose from 8.7% to 9.8%. How did that happen?
Update (October 22 23:54 PT): In response to our query, GM clarified that offline recording support is already available on eligible vehicles. Like Tesla's Sentry Mode, it requires owners to connect a USB drive to save incident recordings, which can be viewed on the vehicle's infotainment screen. The upcoming Connected Cameras feature will build on this by giving owners remote access to these recordings via the revamped OnStar app, allowing them to check footage without walking out to their car.
General Motors has announced plans to add a new Connected Cameras feature to its OnStar service starting next year, giving drivers a way to monitor parked vehicles remotely and capture footage of certain incidents.