General Motors’ new transmission plant in its Mexico’s Silao complex has been in the news since it began operations last month.

The $660 million plant builds a new six-speed rear-wheel-drive family of gearboxes, which uses 4 percent less fuel compared to regular transmissions in certain applications. 1,500 of them are built everyday which are distributed to other countries, where they will find application in 25 different vehicles.

However, the gearboxes will not be exported to the U.S or neither will they be fitted on vehicles assembled in Silao.

The Silao complex currently employs 3,900 people and the transmission plant will employ 1,100 workers at full production. The Silao complex opened in the year 1995. It assembles the Chevrolet Suburban, Avalanche and Silverado Crew Cab, GMC Sierra Crew Cab and Cadillac Escalade EXT models.

GM's mexican plant grabs attention originally appeared on topspeed.com on Thursday, 21 February 2008 15:54 EST.

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I just had the pleasure to meet Gabriel Storchi, a Soft developer that is making an incredible journey, from Buenos Aires, Argentina, to Alaska on a Chevy Opus coupe 78.

The name of the expedition is "Alaska a Caballo" (Alaska to Horse), because the final destination is "Dead Horse". "The name comes from there, is going to Horse, no in horse", Gabriel says.

The idea of making this trip is a dream that Gabriel had for years, "When i was a kid, y always planed to go to Alaska. I’m making this as a tribute for my father, who passed away this year, and another series of complications i had on my life this year. There is only one life, and you have to live it at full". Said Gabriel.

The goal is to get to a town called Dead Horse, on Alaska, United States. If the first stage goes ok, the plan is to send the car to Sweden, and make a trip from there t India.

The car was conditioned specially for this trip, reinforced floor, frontal protector, a roof carrier to take the extra wheels, a bed inside, and a solar panel on the back to charge the batteries for the notebook, an IP phone and the wireless connection.

If u want to see more images of the car, go to the original article in the Spanish site of TopSpeed in here

From Buenos Aires to Alaska in a Chevy originally appeared on topspeed.com on Saturday, 2 February 2008 14:25 EST.

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Check out those picture taken at the Sambodromo of Sao Paulo. The muscle car mania is spreading farther south than we thought, and it is very refreshing.

Brazilian Muscle originally appeared on topspeed.com on Friday, 24 August 2007 10:32 EST.

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Armored Bmw M5: Safer but Not as Fast? originally appeared on topspeed.com on Wednesday, 2 May 2007 12:14 EST.

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The Road of Deathis a 38 to 43 mile road (depending on source) leading from La Paz to Coroico, 35 miles (56 km) northeast of La Paz in the Yungas region of Bolivia. It is legendary for its extreme danger and in 1995 the Inter-American Development Bank christened it as the "world’s most dangerous road". One estimate is that 200-300 travellers are killed yearly along the road.

Road of Death - Bolivia originally appeared on topspeed.com on Friday, 13 April 2007 04:00 EST.

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Yamaha to boost motorcycle output in Brazil originally appeared on topspeed.com on Tuesday, 30 January 2007 00:00 EST.

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Mitsubishi Motors to develop and launch flexible fuel vehicle originally appeared on topspeed.com on Monday, 22 January 2007 09:00 EST.

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Ford’s EcoSport dominates Brazil’s compact SUV segment with a commanding 80 percent market share.

This month, Ford Brazil launches a new version of the SUV with automatic transmission for distribution to dealerships in Brazil, Argentina and Mexico.

Ford Ecosport originally appeared on topspeed.com on Wednesday, 20 December 2006 13:00 EST.

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