Blake Griffin Jumps Kia, Wins Slam-Dunk Contest

Cars and sports have long gone together when it comes to advertising. But making an impression with a new car sometimes takes more than a simple TV commercial. Car makers are increasingly putting vehicles on display at sporting events, and some of the product placements are getting more interesting and even surprising.

During the National Basketball Association’s annual slam dunk contest, player Blake Griffin made the winning dunk by jumping over the hood of a Kia Optima and catching a pass thrown from the car’s sunroof in midair before dunking the ball. With video rolling and hundreds of cameras clicking the Kia will become the background of many broadcasts and freeze-frames. It’s the kind of lasting impression car companies and other advertisers find more and more elusive.

You can see the dunk after the jump.

Daytona 500: New Asphalt Promises Excitement

The buildup to the Daytona 500 usually includes all the classic story lines from David and Goliath to an assortment of underdogs, grizzled veterans and prodigal sons. And this year’s race is like a soap opera packed with more characters than the plot can handle.

When the 43 cars roll onto the track for the start today the drivers will include a well oiled, well funded champion who makes winning look easy, an aging ace who has come close but never won the race, a former wunderkind trying to get his edge back and a fan favorite both inspired and haunted by his father’s spirit.

But these players (Jimmie Johnson, Mark Martin, Jeff Gordon and Dale Earnhardt Jr.) and the rest are certain to be upstaged this year by the stage itself. A newly resurfaced Daytona Speedway promises to make the race faster, closer, more exciting and even harder to predict.

Honda Recalls Certain Fits For Engine Trouble

Honda is recalling certain Fit subcompact cars from the 2009 and 2010 model years to fix a problem with their engines that could cause them to stall unexpectedly.

There are four spring assemblies that are part of a well-known Honda system called VTEC, which controls the engine’s variable valve timing and lift system. In the case of certain Fits,  insufficient lubrication of the spring mechanisms at low engine speeds can lead to failure, which in turn causes the engine to stall.A stall in traffic can result in a crash.

Cadillac Recalls Certain CTS Models To Fix Rear Suspension

General Motors Co. is recalling certain Cadillac CTS cars from the 2009 and 2010 model years to fix a possible problem with their rear suspensions. On some of the vehicles, nuts that fasten part of the rear suspension called a toe link have a coating containing wax that may allow them to loosen.

In a document filed with the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, the car maker said the coating used on the fasteners, called jam nuts, was at some point changed to a coating that contained wax. The wax lets the nuts loosen to the point where the toe link comes apart and allows the rear wheel to suddenly turn sharply inward or outward.

Ram Aims ‘Adventurer’ Pickup At First-Time Buyers

Chrysler’s Ram truck unit says it will soon launch a basic, inexpensive version of its Ram 1500 pickup truck meant to appeal to first-time truck buyers who are looking for a vehicle they can customize and outfit to suit their needs.

The car maker has been developing the new model under the code name Adventurer but hasn’t picked an official name. The new truck uses a formula similar to the 2011 Ram Tradesman, a Ram model aimed at contractors that Chrysler unveiled at the Chicago Auto Show earlier this month. Like the Tradesman, the new truck has a standard Hemi V8 engine with 390 horsepower and a 20-miles-per-gallon fuel economy rating.

Fiat: Young Buyers Don’t Recall Bad Old Days

Italian car maker Fiat has a lot of aging fans in the U.S. who still own cars the company sold during its last heyday here more than 30 years ago. But it seems there are many more ex-owners who tell scary stories about how their cars stranded them, fell apart or refused to run properly.

We’ve all heard the joke about how “Fiat” stands for, “Fix it again, Tony.” Yes, it’s a bad joke but it does sum Fiat’s image with many U.S. consumers. When I was in high school a neighbor gave me his worn Fiat 128 coupe that was mine to use if I could get it running. I failed. It eventually left the driveway on the back of a tow truck.

Today, though, there is a growing segment of drivers who don’t have anything against Fiat: people who hadn’t been born yet during its last stint in the U.S. Fiat is banking on these buyers this time around to help it sell 50,000 cars here annually.

Chevy’s ZL1 Camaro Engine Gets Hotrod Treatment (Video)

Following its unveiling of the 550-horsepower Camaro ZL1, Chevrolet released a video of the new engine’s cylinders being machined by what looks like a giant reciprocating drill. To many people this is perhaps a half-step above watching grass grow. But for motor heads, a look inside the engine shop is a gift. So is the process the video illustrates.

The 6.2-liter ZL1 V8 engine block goes through a critical extra step in production called deck plate honing. The term has long been associated with specialty engine builders, racing teams and the highest-performance road cars. In simple terms, deck plate honing helps engines last longer while producing less friction and more horsepower. Here’s how it works:

You can see a video from the engine shop after the jump.

Infiniti Etherea: Is The Hatch Back?

Infiniti released pictures of a concept car it plans to unveil at next month’s Geneva Motor Show. The compact, four-door hatchback, called the Etherea, is meant to be a preview of a possible entry-level Infiniti model.

The Etherea’s curvy profile is a departure from other compact luxury cars, like models from Lexus, Mercedes-Benz and BMW that resemble shrunken versions of larger sedans. It also reflects a continuing effort at Nissan Motor Co.’s luxury unit to develop its identity as something beyond a stable of dressed-up Nissans.

Is the Panamera Hybrid the Most Fuel-Efficient Porsche Ever?

Sports-car maker Porsche AG says its Panamera S Hybrid, a high-performance sedan scheduled to debut later this year, consumed just 6.8 liters of fuel per 100 kilometers traveled when equipped with low-rolling resistance tires and tested to current European fuel-economy standards.

Even when it has stickier performance tires it burns 7.1 liters per 100 km — still low for a large, fast car. But don’t reach for your conversion charts, because they won’t accurately predict how the car will perform in the U.S., Porsche says. Testing methods in Europe differ so much from those in the States that a straight conversion to miles-per-gallon can result in unrealistically high estimates.

Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue Has Auto Eye Candy (Video)

Lexus has been trying to shed its dowdy image and appeal to a younger, more hip audience for at least a decade. This year it is taking a bigger-than-usual step in that direction with a supporting role in Sports Illustrated magazine’s annual swimsuit issue.

Instead of using an exotic location for the shoot, the magazine picked an exotic car, the Lexus LFA. The 552-horsepower two-seater ran wheel-spinning “donuts” around model Rianne Ten Haken in an aircraft hangar to create a hazy burned-rubber background. Ten Haken did her own stunts for the shoot, entrusting her well-being to professional rally and hill-climb driver Rhys Millen, who drove the LFA around her in tight, drifting circles.

You can see a behind-the-scenes video of the shoot after the jump.