Thermal imagery of BMW M4 DTM pit stop is red hot

A pit stop is a pit stop, right? The race car pulls in, the crew changes the tires, pumps in some fuel, maybe swaps out a busted body panel or squeegees the windshield, and off it goes for another heat. Only pit stops have become the focus of news lately for a number of reasons, whether it's because of mishaps (like the ones that prompted F1 to ban mid-race refueling), new time records (due largely to said ban) or interesting new ways to film the fast-paced action.

A few weeks ago we brought you footage of an IndyCar pit stop filmed from multiple angles courtesy of Google Glass. Now BMW has released a brief clip of one of its M4 DTM racers coming in for fresh rubber, all filmed by infrared camera. Its the kind of technology BMW uses to help optimize its German touring cars for competition, and now the Bavarian outfit has released some footage for fans to enjoy.

The resulting thermal imagery gives you an idea of how hot the car runs (and where the heat is emanating from), how warm they get the fresh rubber before they get it onto the car, and what kind of temperatures the pit crew is subjected to. Look closely enough in the 25-second video below and you'll even see the heat sputtering out of the exhaust pipes as the M4 downshifts into its pit box. (Just don't try adjusting your speakers, the clip is without audio.)

BMW Motorsport releases first images from an infrared camera â€" Completely new views of the BMW M4 DTM.

Munich (DE), 23rd May 2014. Temperatures play a major role in motorsport. Whether track, tyre, brake or engine temperatures, a multitude of factors must all be taken into consideration in order to achieve maximum performance from a racing car. This obviously also applies to the BMW engineers when preparing the new BMW M4 DTM for a race. Therefore, it is hugely important for them to know which areas of the car are reaching what temperatures.

Images from an infrared camera are ideally suited to making these areas visible. BMW Motorsport is now releasing these thermal images of the BMW M4 DTM for the first time. Images and videos of the car in the garage, during a pit stop and at the start clearly show which areas are subjected to the highest temperatures. The carbon brakes, for example, can heat up to 800 degrees Celsius. Thermal blankets mean the tyres can be fitted at temperatures between 80 and 100 degrees Celsius during a pit stop. The BMW DTM drivers must endure up to 60 degrees Celsius in the cockpit.

"I can confirm from personal experience that the temperatures in the cockpit of the BMW M4 DTM can sometimes be very high, which demands enormous fitness from us drivers," said BMW Team MTEK driver Timo Glock (DE). "I find it fascinating how well the thermal images illustrate the heat generation in our cars. Unfortunately the fans at the racetrack do not get to see what goes on under the surface of the BMW M4 DTM. Therefore, I am sure that they will really like these images and videos."

The thermal images can be seen as part of an extensive web special on the BMW M4 DTM at www.bmw-motorsport.com. Here, the new DTM car is presented in detail under the headings Engine, Cockpit, Temperature Check, Aerodynamics, Lightweight Design, and Design.

You can watch a video showing thermal images of the BMW M4 DTM during a pit stop here: http://youtu.be/HGvGYKSiTKA.

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Jay Leno's Garage drives Steve McQueen's 1956 Jaguar XKSS

Steve McQueen might be the coolest American male of the 20th century. With movies like Bullitt and Le Mans, McQueen established himself as the king of cool of his era, and on the list of actors you would pick for a fantasy racing team â€" he or Paul Newman are the natural first choices. The latest Jay Leno's Garage video highlights one of McQueen's most special cars â€" a 1956 Jaguar XKSS.

Just 16 XKSS models were made because a fire at the Jaguar factory halted production. It was meant to be a street version of the company's very successful D-Type racer, with a modified version of its 3.4-liter straight-six-engine and a four-speed manual gearbox. McQueen clearly had an eye for great vehicles. He drove his Jag around Los Angeles years after it was a cutting-edge piece of technology. Since then, it became part of the Petersen Automotive Museum in LA. Autoblog's The List even took a ride in it when the show visited the museum.

The XKSS is one of the pinnacles of automotive design of the '50s, and its association with McQueen makes this example even more extraordinary. Leno is in love with the car from the moment he sees it, and it's hard to argue with him. Between its emphasized curves and raspy exhaust, this is one sexy Jag. Scroll down to get an eyeful and earful from one of McQueen's favorite cars.

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Autoblog Podcast #382 goes LIVE at 10PM Eastern!

We're almost ready to record Episode #382 of the Autoblog Podcast! You can check out the topics below, add your own to the Q&A and join us live via UStream, as well. Keep reading for our embedded UStream player, and thanks for listening!

Discussion Topics for Autoblog Podcast Episode #382

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Mercedes C450 wagon looks ready for primetime

There was a rumor back in April that Mercedes-Benz was busy developing a C450 model that would sit in between the current top-shelf C-Class, the C400, and the coming-soon C63 AMG. It appears that is entirely the case, and our spy shooters have the photos to prove it, showing off the newest model with no camouflage (in fetching Touring guise, no less).

Wearing a C450 4Matic badge at the rear and Sport AMG emblems on the front fenders, exact details about the new model still aren't confirmed. The 4Matic designation indicates all-wheel drive for this particular vehicle, but rear-wheel drive could be available, as well. Power is rumored to be increased from the current 329 horsepower from the 3.0-liter, twin-turbo V6 in the C400 up to 367 horsepower.

Of course, the C450 doesn't get a full suite of AMG upgrades â€" those are reserved for the C63. However, buyers should still be able to show that they have something special. These spy photos highlight the C450's diamond grille, large wheels and quad tailpipes nestled in a rear diffuser. The car is also rumored to benefit from an improved suspension and brakes.

As these photos show, the model is being tested as a C-Class Touring, but a sedan version is almost a certainty as well. Besides, the wagon isn't even confirmed for the US yet. Our spies claim that the Sport AMG will likely be ready for sale by 2015. That seems hard to debate, because the car seen here looks ready to hit the road today.

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Hyundai-Kia claims 'greenest' title from Honda, Big Three still big losers

Let's start with the good news. On average, any new car you buy in the US today will be 43 percent cleaner than any average new car in 1998. Here's some more good news, for Korea anyway, Hyundai-Kia has been named the cleanest automaker in the latest study by the Union of Concerned Scientists (UCS), which looked at 2013 model year vehicles sold between October 2012 and September 2013 from the top eight automakers (by volume). The bad news? The big three Detroit automakers are, on average, still making the dirtiest cars in the showroom.

The big three Detroit automakers are, on average, still making the dirtiest cars in the showroom.

The problem for Ford, General Motors and Chrysler lies in their trucks, which sell well but tend to have pretty bad fuel economy (compared to sedans, at least). The UCS calculates its list by averaging "the per-mile emissions for each light-duty vehicle sold by each automaker" and then factors in "the fuel economy, fuel type, and sales volume of each type of vehicle sold by each automaker" and "the upstream global warming emissions from producing and distributing the fuel used by each vehicle, as well as emissions from the vehicles themselves." That all means that, the more trucks you sell, the worse you're gonna do. Then again, the more trucks you sell with 18 mpg, the more you're helping drivers put CO2 into the air, so the UCS is doing a fair comparison of the things that this study is trying to track. More details on the methodology are available on page six of the study PDF.

In case you were wondering (we were), UCS did make sure to use the revised mpg numbers for Hyundai and Kia models that were originally overstated. Hyundai has apologized for and fixed those figures and even with the new, corrected numbers, Hyundai's total emissions are dropping at a rate of about three percent a year, enough for it to take the greenest company title for the first time.

In fact, this is the first time that an automaker other than Honda has come out on top in the UCS ranking, which has been released six times now, including the first one in 2000 (which looked at 1998 model year data). In 2010, Honda was almost knocked off the winner's perch by both Hyundai and Toyota, but managed to hold on. Chrysler, on the other hand, came in dead last (again) in the ranking of the top eight automakers, snagging the "dirtiest tailpipe" award once (again). Read the UCS' press release below.

We asked study author Dave Cooke what an automaker could do to improve its score, and he told AutoblogGreen in an email that:

Improving the fuel economy of a manufacturer's biggest sellers should be a top priority. However, boosting sales of a very green vehicle can help as well. For a good example of how both strategies would be helpful, you can look at Nissan-less than two percent of Nissan's sales are the Leaf, but since it performs so much better than the average vehicle, it is able to improve Nissan's score by one percent just by being sold. However, if you improved Nissan's top-selling vehicle, the Altima (~25 percent of sales), by about five percent, this would also give a similar level of improvement. By focusing on both improving its existing, popular vehicles and developing a "green" halo car, Nissan was able to make the most gains in reducing global warming emissions from its fleet since the last rankings.

Chrysler, you know what to do.

New Ranking Shows All Major Auto Companies Boosted Green Performance

Hyundai-Kia Dethrones Honda to Become New Greenest Automaker

WASHINGTON (May 27, 2014) â€" The country's eight bestselling automakers are all improving their environmental performance thanks to new technologies and stronger standards for fuel efficiency and tailpipe emissions, according to the Union of Concerned Scientists' (UCS) latest Automaker Rankings report, which found that Hyundai-Kia has unseated Honda to become the group's new "Greenest Automaker."

For the first time since UCS began its Automaker Rankings report, all eight automakers reduced their average carbon and smog-forming emissions compared to their fleet averages from 1998, the model year examined in the first report. The report, the sixth evaluation of its kind by UCS, examined the emissions of both global warming and smog-forming pollution from 2013 model year vehicles of the automakers.

"For too many years, clean car standards were stagnant and automakers were more likely to promote extra cup holders instead of fuel economy," said Dave Cooke, a vehicles analyst in the Clean Vehicles Program and the author of the report. "Now, consumers are demanding cars that go further on a gallon of gas and new standards are pushing the automakers to deliver. The big lesson here is that the smog and global warming standards are working and there is much more to be gained as these standards progress."

Stronger tailpipe emissions standards have led to an 87 percent reduction in smog-forming tailpipe emissions from the average car or truck since 2000, while global warming emissions from the average vehicle have decreased by nearly 20 percent since 1998.

Using the adjusted, most up-to-date information on Hyundai-Kia's vehicles after the automaker had to revise its performance data with the U.S. EPA, the findings show that the automaker came out in first place thanks to a concerted effort to improve the green performance of its fleet by turbocharging and downsizing engines in a number of its models while also introducing hybrid-electric versions of two of its top-selling vehicles, the Hyundai Sonata and Kia Optima.

This report marks the first time another company has bested Honda, which came in second this year but has earned every "Greenest Automaker" previous accolade from UCS since 1998.

"Honda continues to lead the way in many vehicle classes, but it's started to lag the industry average in its midsize fleet-which includes its best-selling Accord, and accounts for a quarter of the company's sales," said Cooke. "As Hyundai-Kia works to further improve fuel economy and electrify its fleet, Honda will need to step up its game if it wants to take back the crown."

It was a three-way tie for third place, with Toyota, Nissan, and Volkswagen too close to call. While all the international automakers in the ranking scored better than the national average, the Detroit Three â€" Ford, General Motors, and Chrysler â€" continue to bring up the rear, as they have in every automaker ranking. However, some domestic automakers are making greater strides than others

Ford led the Detroit automakers while achieving the greatest percent reduction in smog-forming emissions of any manufacturer evaluated. The company also enjoyed strong improvements in global warming emissions due to its increased use of hybrids and its focus on smaller, turbocharged engines in vehicles ranging from the Ford Focus sedan to its iconic, best-selling large pick-up, the F-150, demonstrating that fuel-economy gains are possible across an automaker's entire fleet.

Technology will be crucial to achieving continued reductions in both global warming and smog-forming emissions from the U.S. fleet, the report projects, as more stringent emissions standards continue to take effect. Diverse strategies to improve fuel economy and global warming emissions-from improvements in conventional engines to plug-in-electric and hybrid-electric vehicles-all present opportunities for automakers to continue and accelerate the trend of reducing emissions across all types of vehicles.

"Automakers have a lot of clean technology ready to roll, and they are only just beginning to deploy it," said Don Anair, research director of the UCS Clean Vehicles program. "Continued investments by automakers coupled with strong performance standards will ensure new models further reduce fuel consumption and tailpipe emissions while offering the cleanest, most fuel-efficient vehicle choices for their customers."

The Union of Concerned Scientists puts rigorous, independent science to work to solve our planet's most pressing problems. Joining with citizens across the country, we combine technical analysis and effective advocacy to create innovative, practical solutions for a healthy, safe, and sustainable future.

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