Day: 24 September 2013

Categories
Alfa Romeo

Alfa Romeo 4C to be priced from AU$75,000?

Alfa Romeo 4C

Everybody loves the Alfa Romeo 4C. And all of us have probably, at some stage, thought about buying one. So what would you think if us Australians could buy a 4C for $75,000? Hmm, an A45 AMG hot hatch or a rear-wheel drive sportscar?

The 4C has the potential to mix it with the exalted Porsche Cayman and for almost half the price. Of course the truth may bear some difference, but a $75K starting price was the word coming out of the 4C’s recent launch in Italy.

A sub-$80K price rumour has been on the cards for several months now. However, it’s always nice to hear such rumours continue as the local launch draws closer.

The 4C ‘Launch Edition’ is confirmed for Australia and is expected to be around $20,000 more than the regular model.

Limited to 1000 examples worldwide, 400 ‘Launch Edition’ models will be shared between Europe, Africa and the Middle East; 500 to the United States and the remaining 100 cars to be shared between the rest of the world.

We asked Alfa Romeo’s Australian contact for a comment on the $75K rumour. Our question and the official reply can be read after the break.

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Categories
Ferrari Formula 1 Red Bull Racing

Mark Webber talks taxi rides

Mark Webber aboard the Alonso Taxi

Mark Webber has taken to twitter to share his views on being reprimanded for his post-race taxi ride at the Singapore Grand Prix. It’s fair to say he doesn’t agree with the ruling.

Earlier today Autosport reported: “Not only did Webber not have permission from the marshals to enter the track at Turn 7, but he was in fact explicitly told by track officials not to do so.”

However, Webber refutes that allegation in his tweets, which you can read after the break. Mark also shared a photo of Derek Warwick, one of the stewards for the Singapore race, hitching a ride aboard Gerhard Berger’s Ferrari.

According to the official report Mark was reprimanded for failing to have permission to enter the track. Alonso was reprimanded for stopping in an unsafe place. And it’d be hard to argue the middle of Turn 7, partially obscured on entry, was not an unsafe place to stop.

That’s to say the taxi ride itself was not subject of the stewards’ inquiry. Anyway, in true F1 fashion a mountain is being made out of a molehill. While having sympathy for Mark—it did make great television—it’s his accumulation of three reprimands that has unfortunately dictated the penalty he has been handed down.

It’s probably best for everyone if they just move on.

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Categories
BMW

New BMW M3/M4 promises more than 317kW

BMW Concept M4

We’ve already been given a visual preview of the new BMW M4 and now Bimmerpost is promising an unofficial preview of the much awaited technical details. So far they say we can expect the F80 M3/F82 M4 to have more than 425hp (317kW) and over 370lb-ft (500Nm) of torque.

For comparison, the old E92 M3 produced 309kW/400Nm from its 4.0 litre normally aspirated V8. So far we only know the new M3/M4 will be powered by a turbocharged inline six cylinder, probably of 3.0 litre capacity. Exact specs remain unknown.

Apparently we’re going to be impressed by the new model’s weight, or lack thereof. For now though, wait is all we have. Hopefully we’ll know more very soon.

[Source: Bimmerpost]

UPDATE 25 September: Here’s the official word from BMW.

Categories
Porsche

Porsche 911 Turbo Cabriolet revealed

Porsche 911 Turbo Cabriolet

If you put a 911 Turbo and a 911 Cabriolet together you get a missed opportunity. Oh, you also get a 911 Turbo Cabriolet, of course. And speaking of missed opportunities, Porsche doesn’t do them with its 911, so that’s why they’ve just given us an all-new 911 Turbo Cabriolet.

Why anyone would actually want a 383kW 911 hairdresser’s car is anyone’s guess, but it’s a free world and all that. Perhaps they don’t, they might want the 412kW Turbo S version, and good luck to them.

We’d just stick to a GT3 and perhaps a Boxster, too, if we were that desperate to the feel the wind rush past where our hair used to be.

For those of you do want a roofless 911 Turbo there’s more pics and a couple of press releases waiting for you after the break. There’s a video as well, but even Porsche understands the pointlessness of it all; there’s as much air time for the hard top models as there is for the cabrios.

Australian buyers will have to wait until the second quarter of 2014 to get their hands on one of these and you’ll need the best part of $390K for the regular model and over $460K for the Turbo S. Yes, really! And that’s without on road costs.

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Categories
Alfa Romeo Video

Chris Harris plays with the Alfa Romeo 4C

Alfa Romeo 4C

As you know the Alfa Romeo 4C was launched last week. Alfa did this by inviting a bunch of motoring hacks to Italy and threw them a set of keys. Initial thoughts via Top Gear were less flattering than perhaps we wanted. So what did Chris Harris think?

Well, we’ll let you watch the video of course, suffice to say he thinks the basic ingredients are right: “There’s something about a light, mid-engined, car that just feels right, isn’t there.”

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Alfa Romeo Audi BMW Chevrolet Citroen Ferrari Infiniti Jaguar Lamborghini Mercedes-Benz Motor Shows Nissan Porsche Rolls-Royce Seat Skoda Subaru Tesla Volkswagen

2013 Frankfurt Motor Show in pictures

2013 Frankfurt Motor Show

The lights have been turned off at the 2013 Frankfurt Motor Show and the mammoth task of dismantling the huge displays has begun. To recap what you may have missed here’s a selection of 120+ pics reminding you what was on show.

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