The worm has turned. The unabashed adulation given the Tesla Roadster and its wide-eyed progenitors has turned into something altogether vitriolic. In other words, payback’s a bitch. Even before the first demo Tesla prototype hit the streets, TTAC called on the media to stop the love fest and wait and see if the company’s product lived-up to the hype (250 miles to a charge! Recharge in three hours! Ready by spring!) The “you can only ride with us but not drive or test” press teasers set off ALL our alarm bells. When Tesla spinmeister Daryl Siry withdrew his offer of a TTAC test drive, we knew the company was full of shit (to use the technical term). In fact, the Roadster STILL HASN’T BEEN FULLY INDEPENDENTLY TESTED FOR SAFETY, RANGE AND RECHARGE TIMES. But the unwinding process has begun. And this shot across Tesla’s bow, via Tony’s Climate Change Blog, could leave a mark.

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Well, it’s official. The Wall Street Journal reports that GM pleaded its case to U.S. Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson. The General’s looking for a mere $10b in “continuation” money to fund its Chrysler “absorption.” That’s a nice cover story for saying that GM cannot muster any other spin on “crying uncle.” Regardless of what Hank “the Hammer” Paulson answers, it’s a safe bet that we’ll be seeing an epic amount of taxpayer money flow into the RenCen’s silos of despondency in the near future. Mark my words: at the end of this, we’ll be saying that never have so many paid so much to so few for so little.

Hey! What happened to TTAC’s invitation to the GM “Night on Bear Mountain” mass test drive? If it’s good enough for Autoblog and Jalopnik, it’s good enough for us. Of course, TTAC’s not in the tank for GM. We might do something impolite, like point out that the Saturn Vue 2 Mode Hybrid is an excellent example of everything that’s wrong with GM. (And that’s without driving it.) For one thing, product overlap. WITHIN SATURN. The Vue 2 [a kill] is the second hybrid system for the SUV, which will now sell alongside (in theory) the existing Saturn “light hybrid,” which was initially introduced as the Vue Green Line. It’s a model/technological distinction that will be completely lost on anyone even remotely resembling a potential customer. So, blissfully married and entirely hetrosexual Alex Nunez, who’s this thing for, then?

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Ford truck marketing manager Doug Scott had a little chin wag with Automotive News [sub]. No surprise there, given that the Blue Oval Boyz have just unveiled the new F-150 (recently reviewed on TTAC by our own JB). Nor are Scott’s opening comments about Ford’s full-size pickup startling in any way, shape or manner. Improved access to the bedside (via steps), rear-hinged doors gone because nobody gave a flip about the old version’s flip-out doors, yada yada yada. And then Dougie launches a salvo at The General’s plans to introduce a gas – electric full-size pickup, after the dismal failure of its hybrid full-size SUVs. “It is a publicity stunt,” Doug says, firing the first barrel. “It is no different than what you are seeing with their large SUVs,” he clarifies, loosing the second chamber. Reload. “They are not selling any Tahoe and Yukon hybrids.” Bang. “It’s about something to advertise.” Bang. And now, the knife… “In our case, we chose to have a democratization of technology like EcoBoost. Get more fuel efficiencies out there in mass and volume to as many people as you can, rather than focus all this energy on a very limited application that isn’t going to be really appealing to many people.” So much for that, then.

For some time now, firefighters have warned of the challenge of extinguishing ethanol fires. Because ethanol cannot be piped due to its corrosive properties, large quantities are delivered by tanker truck or rail car. Pure ethanol can burn at a temperature as low as 55 degrees F (12.8 degrees C). Even when highly diluted in water ethanol remains flammable at higher temperatures. Since oceanic quantities of water would be required to extinguish a large ethanol fire, special retardant foams are generally used– but not readily available (= hours) to many fire departments. Even with that foam, a big ethanol fire can take days to extinguish; the holding tank often burns to the ground. (At least pure ethanol burns cleanly, leaving behind just water and carbon dioxide.) A NIMBY situation arose this spring in the heart of highly populated Alexandria, VA. (FYI, that’s communist country per First Brother wannabe Joe McCain.) Ethanol rail cars started offloading their cargo back in April 2008, but local fire departments didn’t get the appropriate flame-retardant foam for another month afterwards. There’s lots of finger pointing going on, with the city of Alexandria blaming rail company Norfolk Southern for slipping ethanol shipment in without notification.

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A Shropshire, UK speed camera escaped serious damage last week after a vigilante attempted to set it on fire. The Shropshire Star reports that “A tyre was placed on top of the camera in Dawley Road, Arleston, shortly after 4am and a blanket draped over the top. The arsonists then poured a full can of petrol over the top and set it on fire. Sub-officer Alan Wilson, of Wellington fire station, described it as a ‘deliberate attack.'” Ya think? The plan failed, however, when the fire burned upward without generating enough heat to damage the camera housing. “Fortunately for us [the local fire department], and for those who pay for them [the people caught by the camera?], it went upwards and didn’t damage the speed camera. We think it is still working.” Don’t let the English understatement fool you; Big Brother is mighty miffed. “We would appeal for anyone with information in relation to the incident to come forward.” And no wonder…

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Interesting strategy: tell Michigan voters you support the bailout (small “b”) but not THE BAILOUT (big ass “B”). Well, not yet. The position is a nuanced modification of Senator McCain’s previous flip-flop. Regular readers will recall that the presidential candidate was against any bailout to American automakers– before he decided to sacrifice his principles (whatever love is) to appeal to voters inside Motown’s battleground state. The AP [via The Detroit News] reports on Senator McCain’s Detroit dirty dancing on Meet The Press. “Republican presidential nominee John McCain declined Sunday to support an additional $15 billion in funding to help U.S. automakers weather a difficult economic climate but did not rule it out… ‘Let’s get the first $25 billion to them first,’ said McCain, adding that the government could ‘see how that works before we say we’re going to give you some more.'” Right. $25b in no to low-interest loans for “retooling” will save Ford, GM and Chrysler’s bacon. Yes Chrysler. Remember Chrysler? Anway, a refresher: “Obama has also said the loan program should to be doubled to provide $50 billion.” And get this: “The Ann Arbor, Mich.-based Center for Automotive Research has estimated that General Motors Corp., Ford Motor Co. and Chrysler LLC may need a $15 billion bailout to survive the nation’s financial crisis, which has led to sluggish sales and limited the availability of credit for auto loans.” I am astounded that the AP AND The Detroit News would let such an absurd statement go unchallenged. As they BOTH well know, GM is burning through $1b per month. Shame on them.

Forget End of Days. I reckon this is The Beginning of Speculation. The Sunday Times [UK] is pulling rank on the ranks of the autoblogosphere’s recent anonymous attribution afffliction, quoting “senior car-industry sources” for their “story” that FoMoCo is busy selling Volvo to BMW. “Sources close to Ford and BMW said yesterday that there had been preliminary talks between the two automotive giants, although that was denied by the companies. ‘No talks have taken place,’ said a BMW spokesman.” As the non-news spread through the Sunday internet, Ford felt obliged to quash the rumors. Speaking to the Associated Press, Ford spokesman Tom Hoyt said the American automaker wasn’t commenting on speculation about Volvo’s future. Later in the day, he commented, issuing a denial that the Ford was selling their cash-sucking Swedish unit. “To my knowledge, we are not in negotiations with anyone about the future of Volvo,” Hoyt almost clarified.

A TTAC reader writes: “I’d like to suggest a question for the QOTD: ‘What is the most elegant modern car on the market?’ If a person has a lot of money, and could afford any car they’d like, what could they buy that could show intelligence, money, class and taste? What is the modern timeless Talbot Lago? (On the off chance you do use this question, I’d rather not have my name mentioned.) Thanks!”

The LA Times puts a name to Tesla’s previously reported pain: “Tesla Chairman and Chief Executive Elon Musk said Friday that Tesla would cut as many as 87 staff and full-time contract workers, or 24% of the 363-person total. The company also will attempt to raise $25 million, rather than the $100 million it had been seeking.” Displaying the talent for fostering corporate culture for which Musk is becoming famous, Musk said only some of the firings were related to the previously blamed economic downturn/downsizing. “Although some reductions were related to the decision to delay the Model S sedan, Musk said many were based on job performance… ‘There needs to be an excellence throughout the organization,’ said Musk, the co-founder of PayPal Inc., who also heads SpaceX, a rocket company in Hawthorne. ‘Somebody who is a good employee at a typical organization wouldn’t cut it at Tesla.'” That’s crazy talk, as in megalomaniacal meltdown. “Musk added that Tesla would model its hiring process on the stringent approaches used by companies such as Google Inc. and Apple Inc. Musk said he would personally interview all finalists for jobs.” $100 to any of the Best and Brightest who can secure and report on a little job-related face time with the man.

No, the Germans don’t want to start retooling for Panzers and offer the world an opportunity to make it ‘3 out of 5’. But Yahoo! News reports that Daimler-Benz will suspend auto production on December 11th and resume on January 12th, due to flagging demand worldwide. This will be true for ALL Daimler owned plants. Although production may return afterwards… who knows? If the world economy continues it’s counter-clockwise spiral, we could see Daimler retool their plants in a similar way to what Toyota has been forced to do in Princeton, Indiana and San Antonio, Texas.

Thoze of you who were wondering why Chevy would build both the Cobalt AND the new Cruze have stopped wondering by now. Last Thursday, Business Week speculated about cash conflagration-caused cuts to GM product development, including the possibile delay of the new new new Malibu and, perhaps, GM’s Next Small Thing, the Chevy Cruze. The typographically-challenged eGMCarTech.com now reports the Cruze delay as a done deal. I mean, a not done deal. “As times get worse, GM is doing all it can from laying off salaried workers, selling brands and closing plants. Latest reports from sources say that the much anticipated 2011 Chevrolet Cruze, which was supposed to be GM’s major opportunity to lure in fuel-efficient conscious customers, will be delayed almost a year. The 2011 Chevrolet Cruze was originally set to arrive in April of 2010 as a replacement to the Cobalt. Sources now say it has been pushed back to 2011.” What about that $500m investment in Lordstown for Cruze engine production? That’s SO two months ago. Hmmm. For a business operating on five-year product cycles, how bad must thingz be for the General to make such a quick– and public– about-face? Very bad indeed.

Porsche 996 GT3 RS vs, Nissan GT-R on Nordschleife

TTAC called it over a year ago: diesel market share in Europe was destined to drop because of the narrowing gap in fuel consumption with the new “downsized” turbo-charged gasoline engines. And so it has come to pass. According to Auto Motor und Sport [print], oil burners’ share of the 2008 German new car market’s down to 30.6 percent, year-to-date. The fact that diesel now costs about the same as gas in Germany, due to lower taxes for diesel, also plays into the arithmetic. But the consumption numbers (ECE combined) for these two almost identically powered Golf IV versions really tell the tale: 140hp TDI – 5.4L/100km (43.56mpg); 160hp TSI – 6.0L/100km (39.2mpg). The TDI’s consumption advantage is down to a mere 10 percent. But the diesel engine costs considerably more. The 1.4 liter TSI engine, which combines a very diesel-like torque curve with smoothness and rev-ability, would make a terrific budget GTI in the new Rabbit.