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Salvage team boards burnt ship Felicity Ace off Azores, towing begins

LISBON — More than a week after a ship packed with around 4,000 vehicles, including Porsches, Audis, Lamborghinis and Bentleys, caught fire in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean, a salvage team managed to board the vessel on Friday and started to tow it to a safe location off the Portuguese Azores archipelago. In a statement, ship manager Mitsui O.S.K. Lines Ltd (MOL) said the Felicity Ace remained stable, and the smoke that for days billowed from the vessel, adrift around 170 km southwest of the Azores, had stopped. The 22 crew members of the Panama-flagged Felicity Ace, which was carrying around 4,000 vehicles including Porsches, Audis and Bentleys from Germany to the United States, were evacuated last Wednesday, the day the fire broke out. Some of the vehicles are electric and their lithium-ion batteries have made the fire very difficult to extinguish, port officials have said. Previous attempts to board the ship to assess its condition and start preparing it for towing had failed due to the fire and rough seas. On Friday, the team was able to board by helicopter and the salvage boat Bear started towing the vessel to a "safe area off Azores," the ship manager said. It was not clear where exactly the vessel was being towed to. It was being escorted by two tug boats and another salvage craft equipped with firefighting gear, MOL said. Related video: Image Credit: Portuguese Navy (Marinha Portuguesa) via Reuters Green Weird Car News Audi Bentley Lamborghini Porsche Electric fire car fire shipping cargo ship

Lamborghini Huracan STO revealed as the most extreme Huracan yet

Mercedes-AMG just snagged the Nurburgring production car lap record from Lamborghini, but the Italians might already have an answer. It’s called the Lamborghini Huracan STO, with the STO being short for Super Trofeo Omologata. And yes, this one is even more extreme than the already bonkers Huracan Performante. Lamborghini says two of its race cars inspired it to make this road-legal high-po Huracan — the Super Trofeo EVO and the GT3 EVO. As weÂ’d expect, itÂ’s still powered by the 5.2-liter V10. The good folks in SantÂ’Agata have found 10 more horses above the Performante, meaning the STO makes 640 horsepower. Torque sits at 417 pound-feet, which is actually down quite a bit from the 443 pound-feet of the Performante. ThereÂ’s no lack of acceleration, though. Lamborghini claims a 0-62 mph time of 3.0 seconds and top speed of 192.6 mph. Those numbers are great, but theyÂ’re not what the STO is about. No, this Lamborghini was designed to set fast lap times, meaning aerodynamics and weight were the two key areas that were enhanced. The STO is 95 pounds lighter than the already light Performante. We imagine the bulk of that can be attributed to Lamborghini making the STO rear-wheel drive, not all-wheel drive. Yes! A rear-drive Lamborghini — we love to see it. But thereÂ’s also a greater use of carbon fiber for exterior panels (75% are made of carbon now). Additionally, the windshield is 20% lighter than a Performante, and itÂ’s riding on magnesium wheels as opposed to aluminum alloys wheels. On the inside, Lamborghini uses carbon fiber sport seats, full carbon door panels, removes the carpeting (replaced with bare carbon fiber) and coats other surfaces with its Alcantara-like Carbonskin. All this combined results in a car with a dry weight of 2,952 pounds. Pushing it into the ground is an impressive downforce package. Lamborghini has added air ducts in the front hood for better airflow to the radiator and to generate downforce. A new front splitter better directs air to a totally new underbody meant to create greater downforce. And the front endÂ’s new design better directs air around the front wheels to reduce drag. New front brake ducts enhance cooling to the improved “CCM-R” brakes (new design drawing on racing brakes for even more thermal durability than standard carbon ceramics).

Previewing the 2014 Paris Motor Show

Don't let the shiny objects detract from the serious side of the show. Sales, fuel economy and regulations are part of the conversation.
The Paris Motor Show is one of the glitziest events on the automotive calendar. Yes, it helps that it's in the City of Light, but the glamorous surroundings only enhance the spectacular wares that automakers bring to the show. This is where Europeans debut their best new cars for the coming year, both as eye-catching concepts and in production trim.