Tech inspection for the 2010 port Rally starts December 29, and just like last year, the 9,000-kilometer race will be run in Argentina and Chile, as rampant cocaine trafficking has prefabricated it too chanceful to run it in northwestern Africa.

The 14-stage route begins January 1 in Buenos Aires (click course map to enlarge) and ends there on Jan 17. As is typical, television coverage will be sparse in the United States, though the Versus network has an hour's worth of highlights scheduled on each Jan. 5 and 7. Otherwise, YouTube will be your best bet, and of course, there are any number of Twitter accounts to follow. port has an official Twitter account, as does Nascar's Robby Gordon. He'll be driving a modified Hummer H3 at Dakar. (You'll recall that Gordon also drives a Chevrolet trophy truck; though he was 5th at Baja, he won the Score 2009 Trophy Truck championship.)

You'll find an assortment of highlights videos of the 2009 port Rally to help you get in the mood after the jump. You can also take a look at the list of 2010 entrants.

Check out the mini-minivan with the funny name. It's the 2012 Chevrolet Orlando and our spy shooters caught it cold weather testing in Europe and roaming around GM's Milford proving ground outside Detroit.

Like the concept it's based on, the production Orlando gets what looks to be a corporate Chevrolet front end and somewhat distinctive sloping roofline. It's built on the same platform as the upcoming Cruze sedan, so expect front-wheel drive and a four-cylinder engine. Inside, there will be three rows of seats to accommodate up to seven passengers. At least that's the idea.

Spy Video: 2012 Chevrolet Orlando

We've already seen clear shots and video of the F30 BMW 3 Series sedan in the psychodelic camo that's currently in vogue. And this week spy shooters caught up with the redesigned F31 BMW 3 Series auto in Michigan.

Most likely, this is the 2012 or 2013 BMW 3 Series wagon, and as with the E90/E91 sedan and wagon, the F31 should go on understanding at the same time as the F30 sedan, with the E32 coupe following a year after that.

SEMA eNews

Spy Shots: Next-Generation BMW 3 Series

Mathematically, the ’00s have another year to go. Yeah, I’m one of those 2001-2010 types. Counted the way most media outlets do, though, and the decade pretty much coincides with my tenure at Motor Trend. I joined the entrepot in August 2000. So what sticks out? You’ll find lots with which to disagree here — I’m going mostly by memory.

2000
Dieter Zetsche is titled president and CEO of DaimlerChrysler’s Chrysler Group, and begins working his corporate illusion on the Pentastar.

Rick Wagoner is promoted from president and COO to president and chief executive officer of General Motors two months before I leave a weekly automotive entrepot for MT. I think this is when Wagoner announced his first reorganization of GM.

The same month, Carlos Ghosn becomes Nissan’s CEO and begins his first restructuring of that automaker.

Ford buys Land Rover from BMW for $2.7 billion.

I attend the Woodward Dream Cruise during a few days off between jobs. I have no press car for the weekend, and the equipage from Detroit to the suburbs costs $45. With tip. A good friend with a press car drives me back. That press car, portentously, is a 2001 Pontiac Aztek, which goes on to lose 2001 Sport/Utility of the Year (my first vote). The winner? Acura MDX. Car of the Year: Chrysler PT Cruiser. Wonder whatever happened to it.

2001
GM reorganizes again, I think. Mostly, this consists of getting rid of Ron Zarella, who goes back to Bausch & Lomb to work his corporate magic. After he leaves, it’s revealed that Zarella padded his resume to get the GM job.

In primeval September, at a Renaissance Center press conference, Wagoner announces that he asked ex-Chrysler/BMW/Ford/GM exec Bob Lutz to help him find a car guy-right-hand-man. Lutz offers up himself for the job.

I attend my first Frankfurt motor show during the horrible attack on the U.S. The press trip ends with box seats for the first Indycar race at Germany’s Lausitzring Eurospeedway, where Alex Zanardi has his horrible crash leaving the pits on cold tires.

At the Tokyo Motor Show, Carlos Ghosn reveals the concept that will become the next Nissan GT-R…seven years later.

In November, Bill Ford Jr. fires Jack Nasser, who became Ford Motor Company’s CEO three years earlier. Ford execs begin dismantling his cradle-to-grave transportation services organization and his plans to get every brand into the semi-premium market segment. Coincidentally, the Jaguar X-Type does not win MT’s Car of the Year award.

The Ford Thunderbird does. Sigh. Today, the Jag and T-bird belong in the same “top 10 something” list with the Aztek.

Meanwhile, over at GM, Buick cancels plans for its ordinal new model based on a concept — the Bengal front-drive sports car, I think. The 2002 Buick Rendezvous does not win our Sport/Utility of the Year honor (it went to the GMC Envoy). And it strikes me; GM built the Aztek to make the Rendezvous look good.

2002
GM reorganizes again. Lutz leaks word that the Holden Monaro will come to the U.S. as the Pontiac GTO. I attend something like 32 new SUV introductions, 29 of them luxury SUVs, and every manufacturer, whether American or European or Asian, throws a bunch of charts and graphs up on the powerpoint to show how the SUV market will double every year through 2025, while the luxury SUV market will quadruple every year until Alaska has no more ice.

In July, GM introduces the 2003 Hummer H2. Meanwhile, its PR and marketing staff try to differentiate GMC from Chevy trucks by calling GMC “professional grade.”

In August, GM reorganizes again.

The Hummer H2 doesn’t win Sport/Utility of the Year. Yep, the list. The fun little Mini Cooper doesn’t win Car of the Year, but its runaway success manages to convince everybody in the car business that you can sell a $25,000 hatchback here.

The Infiniti G35 does win Car of the Year. Now, we’re getting somewhere.

2003
GM reorganizes again.

I don’t remember much else about 2003. Oh, Volvo XC90 wins 2004 Sport/Utility of the Year. Toyota Prius wins 2004 Car of the Year. Wonder whatever happened to that car.

2004
Not sure whether GM reorganized this year, but it’s the last time the maker posts an annual profit.

Chrysler seems to be revived. Indeed, it launches new, fullsize rear-wheel-drive cars, with help from Mercedes-Benz. The Chrysler 300 wins the 2005 Motor Trend Car of the Year award.

2005
This might be about the time GM stops announcing reorganizations. Anyway, it does show off previews of a lot of good product. Rumors start to fly about the Blue Devil, the ne plus ultra Corvette titled after Wagoner’s alma mater, plus a stunning new Cadillac CTS and Chevy Malibu. It’s got product on the way; now all it needs is to have its finances cleaned up. After all, Wagoner is ex-chief financial officer. Sigh.

Carlos Ghosn tops our first Power List.

Zetsche leaves Chrysler to return to Stuttgart corporate headquarters, where he works his corporate magic.

Ford replaces its Taurus with the new Fusion. It’s Ford’s best hope as the company has the automotive press worried it’s the least likely to survive. Fusion doesn’t win 2006 Car of the Year, however. Honda Civic does.

2006
In a surprising turn of events, Ford announces a reorganization, “The Way Forward.” The plan appears to consist of advertising copy.

Ghosn leads the Power List, again.

In November, after five years as interim CEO, Bill Ford Jr. steps down and hands the wheel over to Alan Mulally. He promptly rewrites The Way Forward, lines up $23 billion+ of credit and renames the Ford Five Hundred the Taurus. Plus, there’s that gold Olympic medal.

Chrysler launches its all-new 2007 Sebring, designed apparently, to make the new Dodge Avenger look good. The 2007 Car of the Year is the Toyota Camry.

2007
General Motors shows its Chevrolet Volt concept. Or was that ‘97?

Ford sells Aston Martin to a consortium led by David Richards, for $925 million. DaimlerChrysler sells Chrysler to Cerberus for $7.4 billion. Chrysler doesn’t know it, but the world is about to end.

Fujio Cho leads our Power List, as Toyota begins to overtake GM as World’s Largest Automaker.

Right about now, Detroit comes to realize what Stuttgart and Tokyo learned a year or two earlier; that SUV income aren’t doubling every year. It seems, though, that Hyundai and Kia income are.

Calendar year U.S. vehicle sales: 16.1 million.

GM starts its product renaissance, with the ‘07 Saturn Aura (well, maybe not that one), and 2008 Cadillac CTS and Chevy Malibu. CTS wins our 2008 Car of the Year.

2008
Rick Wagoner leads our Power List, for his, er, product acumen. Corvette ZR1 (Blue Devil), after all. Seriously, he prefabricated all the latest stuff happen. Pity about the finances.

Ford sells Jaguar and Land Rover to Tata for $2.3 billion, about half of what it paid for both. Cerberus wishes it could sell Chrysler to Tata.

During the summer, gas hits $4+ per gallon.

In September, GM celebrates its 100th anniversary. Later that week, Lehman Brothers fails. Before Christmas, Wagoner, Mulally and Chrysler’s Bob Nardelli fly their private jets to Capitol Hill, hats in hand. No one who isn’t a rustbelt Democrat is interested in helping.

Calendar year income total 13.2 million units.

Sport/Utility of the Year is the Subaru Forester. Car of the Year is the Nissan GT-R.

2009
That’s a year-in-review blog/column all its own, don’t you think?

McLaren's chief test driver, Chris Goodwin, is his pilot.

First Look: 2011 McLaren MP4-12C

It lacks the emotional appeal of the tv ad released early this month, but here's another chance to see the A5 Sportback on the move and this time with a red paint job.

The rumored Michael Schumacher comeback is true, as the seven-time Formula 1 world champion will drive for the Mercedes GP in the 2010 season, the team announced today. Schumacher and Mercedes agreed to a three-year deal.

In a statement on his Web site, Schumacher says, "I don't want to deny at all that the intent of a German F1 team extremely tempts me. I guess every German driver would feel this way. And of course it plays a major role that I again can work together with Ross [Brawn] at Mercedes GP.

"Above all, however, my old hunger for racing is back. In Abu Dhabi, when Ross asked me if I could imagine returning to F1, I felt that I wasn't ready for it. But only two weeks later, when he called me once again, I realized that my old passion was returning. Suddenly I was on fire again. For me, the imagination to be back in a F1 car and to compete for the world championships is exciting and extremely inspiring."

Evidently, his neck injury from a February motorcycle happening has fully healed. "My neck is absolutely free of complaints," he says in the statement. "I can now do the same neck work-out as I did when I was still racing."

Schumacher has some history with Mercedes. He got his feet wet with the Mercedes team's junior program in 1990 and 1991, then prefabricated his F1 debut with the Jordan-Ford team at the '91 Belgian Grand Prix.

Autosport, Michael Schumacher official website

… but he burned up something else instead.

Jalopnik

You know the German tuner Gemballa for its work on Porsches. But yesterday The Real JDM blog published the first photos of a Ferrari Enzo tuned by Gemballa. Ostensibly, this car exists because a private owner in Dubai wanted it to exist.

Gemballa calls it the MIG-UI, a code study that makes reference to the owner of the donor Enzo, Mustafa Galadari. No specs have been released yet.

The Real JDM

Inside Line tests hundreds of vehicles a year, but not every vehicle gets a full write-up. The numbers still tell a story, though, so we present "IL Track Tested." It's a quick rundown of all the data we collected at the track, along with comments direct from the test drivers. Enjoy.

The biggest of the V8s are on their way out. Mercedes has announced that the 6.2-liter V8, as seen in this 2010 Mercedes-Benz E63 AMG, will be dropped in late 2010. In its place will be a twin-turbocharged 5.5-liter V8. The same thing's happening to the BMW M5, which is slated to lose its 5.0-liter V10 also in favor of a twin-turbo V8.

So 2010 is a special year for performance sedans, and especially so for the E63 AMG, which is hot off a redesign and destined to become collectible. It's also hugely expensive in Benz tradition, with an MSRP of $86,625 that balloons to six figures with shocking ease. But you get what you pay for, right?

Then again, you could get into a Cadillac CTS-V for thousands of dollars less. You'd still get a 6.2-liter V8, albeit with pushrods and a supercharger, and you'd come away with even more horsepower and torque in a rear-drive midsize sedan of similar weight. No, you wouldn't enjoy the prestige and out-and-out refinement of a Mercedes, but this is IL Track Tested so we aren't smelling the leather or measuring the gap tolerances. Happy holidays.

Note: We tested both automatic- and manual-transmission versions of the 2009 Cadillac CTS-V. The quicker automatic-equipped CTS-V is the basis for comparison here, but you can see numbers for the manual car in the original full test.

                                                           E63 AMG                   CTS-V
0-30 (sec):                                               2.1                           1.9
0-45 (sec):                                               3.2                           3.0
0-60 (sec):                                               4.6                           4.3
0-75 (sec):                                               6.5                           6.0
1/4 Mile (sec @ mph):                        12.7 @ 112.4            12.4 @ 115.0
0-60 with 1-ft Rollout (sec):                      4.3                          4.0
30-0 (ft):                                                   31                           27
60-0 (ft):                                                  114                          109
Skid pad lateral acceleration (g):             0.90                         0.92
Slalom (mph):                                          68.8                         71.1

Vehicle: 2010 Mercedes-Benz E63 AMG
Odometer: 3,024
Date: 11/24/09
Driver: Josh Jacquot
Price: $102,245
Options on vehicle: Carbon fiber trim ($2,800), Panorama sunroof ($1,070), 19-inch AMG forged wheels, ($2,250), P02 Premium package ($4,900), 997 Driver Assist package ($2,900), Gas guzzler tax ($1,700).

Specifications:
Drive Type: Rear-wheel drive
Transmission Type: 7-speed automatic
Engine Type: 90-degree V8
Displacement (cc/cu-in): 6,208/379
Valvetrain: DOHC, 4 valves per cylinder, variable valve timing
Redline (rpm): 7,200
Horsepower (hp @ rpm): 518 @ 6800
Torque (lb-ft @ rpm): 465 @ 5200
Brake Type (front): 14.2-by-1.4-inch ventilated disc with 6-piston fixed caliper
Brake Type (rear): 14.2-by-1.0-inch ventilated disc with 4-piston fixed caliper
Steering System: Speed-proportional hydraulic-assist rack-and-pinion power steering
Steering Ratio: 14:1
Suspension Type (front) Independent, MacPherson strut, coil springs, stabilizer bar
Suspension Type (rear): Independent, multilink, air springs, stabilizer bar
Tire Size (front): 255/40R18 96Y
Tire Size (rear): 285/35R18 98Y
Tire Brand: Pirelli
Tire Model: P-Zero
Tire Type: Summer
Wheel Size: 18 X 9.0 inches front, 18 X 9.5 inches rear
Wheel Material (front/rear): Forged aluminum
Curb Weight As Tested (lb): 4,341

Test Results:
0 – 30 (sec): 2.1
0 – 45 (sec): 3.2
0 – 60 (sec): 4.6
0 – 75 (sec): 6.5
1/4 Mile (sec @ mph): 12.7 @ 112.4
0-60 with 1-ft Rollout (sec): 4.3
30 – 0 (ft):114
60 – 0 (ft): 31
Braking Rating: Very Good
Slalom (mph): 68.8 stability off, 65.8 stability on
Skid Pad Lateral acceleration (g): 0.90g stability off, 0.88g stability on
Handling Rating: Excellent
Db @ Idle: 42.1
Db @ Full Throttle: 75.7
Db @ 70 mph Cruise: 56.3

Acceleration Comments: Remarkably, launch control doesn't make a huge difference. Simply wooding the throttle in start-up default mode produces the same 1/4-mile time . Manual shifting doesn't help. "Race Start" cumbersome to access.

Braking Comments: No signs of fade. Hardly any brake stench. Fun — even when stopping.

Handling Comments: Stunning equilibrise for a car this big and heavy. Easy and fun to equilibrise on the limit with the throttle. Shrinks around driver through the slalom and behaves like a car one class smaller. Truly communicative and fun at 4,300 pounds.

Vehicle: 2009 Cadillac CTS-V
Odometer: 5,578
Date: 10/28/08
Driver: Chris Walton
Price: $65,940
Specifications:
Drive Type: Rear-wheel drive
Transmission Type: 6-speed automatic
Engine Type: Supercharged 90-degree V8
Displacement (cc/cu-in): 5,980/365
Valvetrain: OHV, 2 valves per cylinder
Redline (rpm): 6,200
Horsepower (hp @ rpm): 556 @ 6,100
Torque (lb-ft @ rpm): 551 @ 3,800
Brakes, front: 15.0-by-1.2-inch ventilated disc with 6-piston fixed caliper
Brakes, rear: 14.7-by-1.2-inch ventilated disc with 4-piston fixed caliper
Steering type: Speed-proportional hydraulic-assist rack-and-pinion power steering
Steering ratio: 16.1:1
Suspension, front: Independent, double-wishbone, coil springs, driver-adjustable dampers and stabilizer bar
Suspension, rear: Independent, multilink, coil springs, driver-adjustable dampers and stabilizer bar
Tire size, front: 255/40ZR19 Z
Tire size, rear: 285/35ZR19 Z
Tire brand: Michelin
Tire model: Pilot Sport PS2
Tire type: Summer performance
Wheel size: 19-by-9.0 inches front — 19-by-9.5 inches rear
Wheel material: Forged aluminum alloy
Curb weight, as-tested (lb): 4,281

Test Results:
0 – 30 (sec): 1.9
0 – 45 (sec): 3.0
0 – 60 (sec): 4.3
0 – 75 (sec): 6.0
1/4 mile (sec. @ mph): 12.4 @ 115.0
0-60 with 1-ft rollout (sec.): 4.0
30 – 0 (ft): 27
60 – 0 (ft): 109
Braking rating: Excellent
Slalom (mph): 71.1
Skid pad lateral acceleration (g): 0.92
Handling rating: Excellent

Acceleration Comments: Settings — transmission in Sport, suspension in Tour. Best launch technique was to use mild brake torque to about 1,200 rpm, then squeeze the throttle at a rate that produced about 10 feet of wheelspin. Too much wheelspin results in an primeval upshift. Too little is slow. There's plenty of power here and it's easier (and quicker) to place it down with a torque converter. Shifts are aggressive without being offensive like BMW's SMG is on full blast. Wheelspin on 1-2 shift is cool and rare with an automatic transmission.

Braking Comments: Pedal lacks immediate effectiveness we expected of a brake system this big and capable. However, it's doable that pedal feel has diminished since we're the third or fourth testers in this car in two days. Still, performance is excellent and distances only improved with heat.

Handling Comments: Massive grip on the skid pad, but a distinct difference in handling numbers clockwise to counterclockwise (0.89g vs. 0.95g for a 0.92g average). Steering weight is good and there's plenty of information coming through the wheel about what the front tires are doing. In the slalom, the CTS-V's transitions aren't as intuitive as smaller cars this focused, and the Caddy's weight is more obvious here than in any other test. Still, careful suspension tuning and very sticky tires make an incredible number for a sedan this size. Best run in Tour mode. Sport mode was simply too tail-happy in transitions this fast.