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Porsche wins the 2015 24 Hours of Le Mans

The question going into this year's 24 Hours of Le Mans was whether or not the Porsche 919 Hybrid would be able to combine its qualifying pace with race reliability. After battling neck-and-neck with Audi's R18 for most of the race, the answer is a resounding yes. Not only did Porsche drivers climb the first two spots on the podium, they did so without any major mishaps on track. This win is the first overall trophy for Porsche since 1998. Audi previously won the last five races, and 13 of the last 15. Corvette also returned to the winner's circle, with the No. 64 C7.R taking winning the GTE Pro division. The victory is the first class win for Corvette since 2011. KCMG won the LMP2 class in ninth overall. With 45 minutes to go the No. 98 Aston Martin crashed out of first place in GTE Amateur, giving the class win to SMP Racing's Ferrari and second place to the Patrick Dempsey Racing Porsche 911 RSR. For the full list of official results, click here. The GTE Pro class proved to be just as exciting as the P1 class, with a four-way battle for first after four hours into the race. For most of the race, the battle at the top went back and forth between the two German manufacturers. An tire puncture in the No. 7 Audi gave up the lead to Porsche, and moments later a crash forced the No. 8 into the garage. But a three-minute replacement of the front and rear bodywork kept the Audi in contention. As the race wore into the night, Porsche maintained a slightly faster pace than Audi. Nick Tandy took the lead on Lap 253 early Sunday morning, and car No. 19 never gave up the top position. The win is the first for all three drivers of the No. 19 – Nico Hulkenberg, Earl Bamber, and Nick Tandy. A lap behind in second was the No. 17 Porsche. The Audis fought reliability problems late in the race but still finished third with the No. 7 R18. The GTE Pro class proved to be just as exciting as the P1 class, with a four-way battle for first after four hours into the race. As the Aston Martin cars dropped away, the lone Corvette Racing entry took over, followed by a charging AF Corse team Ferrari 458 Italia. The Corvette and Ferrari continued to trade places in the final hours until gearbox trouble forced the No. 51 Ferrari out of contention. It was eventually passed by the other AF Corse car, No. 71. Nissan experienced all the pain of a first-year effort with its front-wheel-drive GT-R LM Nismo.

2016 Chevrolet Colorado Diesel First Drive [w/video]

The first thing you notice inside the diesel Chevy Colorado is that it's quiet. Almost too quiet. A lot has been done to quell noise and vibration with this new powertrain, and it shows – or rather, doesn't. There's some characteristic diesel clatter at idle, but even then it's distant and practically disappears as you start moving down the road. At full throttle, when the engine is at its noisiest, the sound isn't particularly diesel-like, just a pleasant intake breath. The accompanying smoothness is almost eerie. When we ask where all the noise went, Chevy's engineers, marketing guys, and PR reps all explain that this refinement is what Americans want. We're still not sure. This is a truck, after all, and the diesel pickup customer is different from the guy buying a diesel Cruze for his highway commute. Chevy contends that they're also not the same as the buyer of a Silverado HD. Although this 2.8-liter Duramax four-cylinder has been in service elsewhere around the globe, its first US application is in the Colorado and its GMC Canyon twin. The engine puts out 181 horsepower and 369 pound-feet of torque, and it does so unobtrusively as a result of a lot of modifications for our market. To keep normal diesel sensations out of the cabin, the intake and oil pan both get acoustic treatments. A new, thicker material is used for firewall sound deadening. Redesigned balance shafts have tighter tolerances to increase smoothness. The diesel powertrain is smoother than the Colorado's gasoline V6. One of the more interesting and certainly unexpected vibration-reduction changes is a special torque converter from German supplier LuK equipped with a centrifugal pendulum absorber. This pendulum spreads from the center of the torque converter as engine speed increases and is tuned to absorb the four-cylinder's second-order vibrations, not just those in a narrow frequency band. It does an admirable job, especially considering the engine's biggish, 0.7-liter cylinders, which lead to bigger vibrations. The result is a powertrain that's smoother than GM's (not particularly smooth) corporate V6, which is available in the standard Colorado. It's quieter than a Cruze diesel and even out-softens some gas direct-injection engines on the market. Paradoxically, it may be the most refined of all of the Colorados. No vibration comes through the steering wheel, pedals, floorboards, or even the rearview mirror. But you can tell it's a diesel when you hit the throttle.

GM takes heat for aborted Silverado riff on 'Boston Strong' at World Series

During game five of the World Series, Chevrolet was set to do a spot of marketing for the 2014 Silverado - fans at Busch Stadium in St. Louis would hold up placards that spelled out the words "Silverado Strong," a theme that Chevy has been promoting since the Silverado's launch with the song "Strong," by Will Hoge. The St. Louis promo was ultimately called off, though, over concerns that it'd be insensitive to the visiting Boston Red Sox. (You can see the image of what the stunt would have looked like above, courtesy of one timely Reddit user.)
Now, the Busch Stadium stunt might not have been a big deal, had the St. Louis Cardinals not been playing the Boston Red Sox. Following the tragic events in Boston during the marathon back in April, the phrase "Boston Strong" gained traction among the city's citizens, especially at sporting events. So, you can imagine that Chevy's appropriation of the phrase might not sit well with some fans.
The stunt was ultimately shelved after images of the signs went viral before the game, leading to a bit of a public backlash. Chevy spokesperson Michael Albano said of the promo that it was meant to show the brand's "commitment to baseball and its fans." But after the images went viral, the company "realized there was the possibility that we may offend some of the very fans we were trying to honor," Albano told Automotive News via email.