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GM execs fired over fraudulent India emissions testing

General Motors hadn't had a recall in India since 1995. That changed when it was discovered that certain employees were playing tricks with local emissions testing in order to ensure passing grades for engines. More than ten GM Powertrain employees in India and the US have been let go over the ensuing emissions flap, including Sam Winegarden, VP of global engine engineering, a man who has been with the company since 1969, leading development of some marquee powerplants.
According to Automotive News, an internal investigation revealed that employees "violated testing procedures," sometimes swapping specially prepared low-emissions engines during testing regimes for the Chevrolet Tavera SUV equipped with the 2.0-liter and 2.5-liter engines. Employees were also manipulating weights in order to get vehicles placed into different emissions categories. The discovery has led to GM recall the 114,000 Taveras produced over an eight-year period and halting their production and sale.
The Economic Times of India reports that the issue is due to "a faulty component." GM has developed a solution to the issue, and once it is validated in testing and approved by the Indian authorities, the recalled vehicles will be fixed at dealers and production will resume.

Callaway debuts its new C7 Stingray at National Corvette Museum

Callaway showed off its first tuned version of the 2014 Corvette Stingray at the National Corvette Museum last week, giving the rampant enthusiasts of America's sports car a look at the roughly 620-horsepower, supercharged rocket.
Unlike the Corvette SC610 we showed you back in January, this Stingray packs a fair bit more oomph. Horsepower is only up ten ponies, but torque has jumped from 556 pound-feet to "at least" 600 pound-feet. Neither horsepower nor torque is official quite yet, although Callaway is expecting to know just what its creation can do once testing and validation is completed later this month.
The 6.2-liter, supercharged V8 now boasts a new, three-element intercooler, which Callaway claims only allowed the inlet air temperature to increase by ten degrees Fahrenheit during dyno runs. Previous designs saw a 35-degree-Fahrenheit jump. The exhaust system has also been fettled with, and now is even less restrictive.

Kurt Busch to shake and bake (again) in Ricky Bobby car at Talladega

Kurt Busch will channel Ricky Bobby for another NASCAR race, this time driving a Wonder-sponsored Chevrolet SS, in this weekend's Camping World RV Sales 500 at the Talladega Motor Speedway. Unlike past tie-ins, though, there's actually an element of sponsorship here (the "Me" car was done when Busch was running on a team without sponsorship).
It was arranged by Flower Foods, the new owner of the Wonder brand. Wonder was part of the bankrupt Hostess company, which temporarily exited the US market 2012, and set off the Great Twinkie Shortage.
Busch has made something of a habit of channeling characters from famous racing movies, most recently running Tom Cruise's City Chevrolet livery from Days of Thunder in a Nationwide Series race earlier this year. Busch kicked off his movie-inspired antics, though, at Talladega in 2012, when he raced El Diablo's ("It's like... Spanish for like a fighting chicken") "Me" car complete with a cougar on the hood. He even went so far as to channel the lovable idiot that is Ricky Bobby during the race, dropping a few catchphrases about macchiatos and slingshots.