Singer DLSA 911

California鈥檚 Singer Vehicle Design, together with Williams Advanced Engineering (part of the Williams Grand Prix Engineering Group), have built what could be described as the most advanced air-cooled Porsche 911 in the world. Visitors will find it at Michelin鈥檚 stand, as the latest and greatest Singer-developed 911 is equipped with Pilot Sport Cup 2 Connect tires wrapped around 18-inch lightweight forged magnesium monoblock wheels from BBS. Williams Advanced Engineering developed the 4.0-liter normally aspirated, air-cooled flat-six, with technical advice and consultancy from Porsche鈥檚 legendary engineer Hans Mezger. The engine features titanium valves, dual overhead cams, a lightweight construction, F1-inspired upper and lower injectors and a unique oiling system that improves lubrication and cooling. It also has four valves per cylinder and four camshafts, and puts out 500 HP at a stratospheric 9,000 rpm. Williams also worked on aerodynamics, optimizing the design of the ducktail spoiler at the rear, increasing downforce and improving engine intake and cooling performance through the side window ram-air intakes and rear decklid vents. The F1 outfit also handled torsional stiffness, mass efficiency, the full carbon body and the suspension. Other interior features include a raised, manual gear shifter with exposed titanium and magnesium linkage, shift lights in the tachometer, drilled carbon and titanium pedals, lightweight air-conditioning and heating system, and custom instrument gauges. It鈥檚 worth visiting Michelin鈥檚 stand and viewing the ultimate air-cooled 911 for yourselves. 1.8 million or so, you can become the proud owner of the 75 examples that will be manufactured, and of course tailor it to your own specs. Are there faster cars out there costing a fraction of the Singer鈥檚 price? Sure. But this isn鈥檛 just any 911; better consider it a personal statement of exquisite taste and appreciation for one of the finest cars available at any price.

Takata is slated to declare on December 31, 2016, that 鈥渁 large batch鈥?of parts are defective, but GM wants a 365-day deferral to complete a long-term aging research study with aerospace and defense manufacturer Orbital ATK. UPDATE 9/26/2016, 10:45 a.m.: Takata revealed in a recent report that it neglected to notify NHTSA of a 2003 rupture of one of its airbag inflators in Switzerland, according to Reuters. NHTSA began looking into problems with Takata airbags in 2010, but Takata officials did not mention the Swiss incident to the agency at the time. In the newly released report, Takata said the Swiss incident did not relate to the NHTSA investigation and noted that Takata made production changes shortly after the 2003 incident. Japan-based parent company, 鈥渨as primarily responsible for the development, testing, and production of the inflators at issue in Recall Nos. 15E-040, 15E-041, 15E-042, and 15E-043.鈥?Other recently released Takata documents also revealed that 660 airbag inflators ruptured during testing of 245,000 of the devices, Bloomberg reports. The company continues to reiterate that its airbag inflators are more at risk when they鈥檙e subjected to humid climates and as they age.

UPDATE 9/28/2016, 10:00 a.m.: Honda announced today that the driver鈥檚-side airbag of a 2009 Honda City ruptured in a September 24 crash in Johor, Malaysia, in which the driver was killed. This marks the fourth Malaysian death this year linked to a Takata-supplied airbag that ruptured in a Honda car. Honda said that it has completed replacements of 211,000 Takata front-airbag inflators in Malaysia, which is 54 percent of the total number currently under recall. UPDATE 10/21/2016, 7:30 a.m.: Honda and NHTSA announced that a 50-year-old woman, Delia Robles of Corona, California, died of injuries that resulted from the deployment of a defective Takata airbag in her 2001 Honda Civic. The crash occurred on September 30 in California鈥檚 Riverside County. According to an Associated Press report, the vehicle鈥檚 driver鈥檚-side airbag inflator had been part of a recall since 2008; however, it was never repaired. Automotive News reported that more than 20 recall notices had been mailed to the vehicle鈥檚 registered owners.

The deceased woman bought the car at the end of 2015, the AP report said. This is the 11th confirmed death in the United States that has been caused by a defective Takata-supplied airbag in a vehicle, all but one of which were in Honda vehicles. UPDATE 10/26/2016, 5:00 p.m.: Toyota has recalled another 5.8 million vehicles around the world because they might contain defective Takata airbag inflators. According to Reuters, the recall includes roughly 1.47 million vehicles in Europe, 1.16 million in Japan, and 820,000 in China, as well as vehicles in Central and South America, Africa, the Near and Middle East, and Singapore. Various Corolla, Yaris/Vitz, Hilux, and Etios models built between May 2000 and November 2001 and between April 2006 and December 2014 were recalled. UPDATE 11/9/2016, 1:00 p.m.: In an effort to seek out recalled Takata airbag inflators that haven鈥檛 yet been fixed, Honda has partnered with CCC, a software provider for 22,000 automotive body shops across the United States.

When a Honda vehicle is entered into the CCC system for an estimate on repairing body damage, Automotive News reports, an alert will appear onscreen if the vehicle has an unresolved open Takata recall. UPDATE 12/12/2016, 3:30 p.m.: To date, at least 184 people have been injured by Takata airbags in the United States, according to a new report released by NHTSA on the recall鈥檚 progress. This is the first hard number the agency has specified since investigations began in late 2014. Repairs won鈥檛 be finished until at least September 2020 (in May, NHTSA set December 2019 as the end date). Another round of cars鈥攊ncluding Tesla products, supercars from Ferrari and McLaren, and additional model years of previously recalled models鈥攈ave been added to our master list of vehicles plagued by the defective Takata inflators. By 2020, NHTSA expects there will be 42 million vehicles with at least 64 million inflators under recall.