MINI has just released images of its new Roadster Concept. It’s the twin to the Coupé Concept, which was revealed a couple of weeks back.
There’s not much new in regards to technical specs, so just take a squiz at the new images after the jump. MINI’s press release is also yours after you’ve checked out the images.
For more in depth coverage of MINI at the Frankfurt Motor Show drop in to MotoringFile or the Switchback.
Cute little city car, here we come! That’s the first thought when you see Volkswagen’s new zero emissions E-Up! concept. The company has high hopes for the car and has described it the “Beetle of the 21st Centuryâ€.
Tipping the scales at a releatively light 1085 kilograms the E-Up! has one basic fundamental right, low weight. When you consider the car’s Lithium-ion battery is a hefty 240kg that’s actually some achievement.
With an electrical charging point hidden behind the bonnet mounted VW emblem the 60kW/210Nm powered E-Up! can be recharged in around 5 hours. To ease the load on the engine, the car’s eletrical system is powered, in part, by the car’s solar roof panels. Even the interior sun visors are fitted with solar cells that can supplement power generation by flipping them out towards the sun. Those Germans think of everything!
It seems marketers can too, given they came up with the label Human Machine Interface (HMI) for the car’s interior controls. In addition to the expected monitoring of available charge remaining and usual heating and lighting controls, the HMI has some pretty nifty features, including remote capability that allows the use of an iPhone to commence recharging. Ideal for taking advantage of off-peak electricity charges.
At just 3.19 metres in length, the E-Up! uses flexible seating arrangements to maximise its practicality. Volkswagen describes the E-Up! as being a 3+1 seater. Mainly because the passenger’s seat sits a couple of inches further forward, offering more rear seat legroom behind the front passenger. The seating position behind the driver is best suited to a small child, or it could be used as extra cargo space.
Volkswagen expects the E-Up! to be ready for launch in 2013. Heaps more after the jump.
Check out this little gem from the Frankfurt show. This is the Seat IBZ Concept, based on the company’s Ibiza platform. If there’s a more funky mid-size family friendly wagon on the market I am yet to see it.
The side profile shows a number of crazy and sharp angles that would normally set me off on a machete waving course of negativity. But, somehow, Seat Design Director Luc Donckerwolke has made this work. And work beautifully at that.
Okay, the car itself doesn’t appear to be anything special. There’s not even any mention of engine specs in the release below. It’s just a great reminder of why we like cars. Because, sometimes, they just look superb!
Bravo Seat, it might be “just a wagonâ€, but I love it! The production version of the IBZ is scheduled to go on sale in Europe around the middle of next year. Such a shame we won’t ever see this car in Australia.
More after the jump.
The highly anticipated Golf R32 replacement is almost here, as these leaked images show. The old 3.2 V6 engine has made way for a turbocharged four cylinder unit, which is essentially the Audi S3 engine. Perhaps the best news is that it appears, unlike the Scirocco R, the Golf R—as it will be named—will have a Haldex all wheel drive system.
Power is rated at 195kW (261bhp) with 350Nm of torque. The 0-100 time is rumoured to be around 6.5 seconds for the six speed manual, and 0.1 second less for DSG equipped models. These figures seem a bit low compared to Audi’s official claims for the S3, which are below 6 seconds for the 0-100 dash. Is the Golf R fitted with a marketing speed-limiter by Volkswagen perhaps? That is, the car may be just as quick as the Audi, but we have to pretend its not.
Other styling details in terms of LED lighting and body kit seem to follow the path set by the Scirocco R. More details and pics as they come to hand.
[Source: Autocar]
UPDATE: Official details and images now available HERE.
Before today it was widely accepted that Audi would be launching an electric powered R8 at Frankfurt this week. Tomorrow, in fact.
These leaked images, which first surfaced a few hours ago, all but confirm the the rumours of the car we know will be called the e-Tron. For now, we don’t know much else, other than we won’t have long to wait for details to be confirmed by Audi.
[Source: Autocar]
You may remember the pics and details from Peugeot’s Audi TT clone that were about released a month ago. Now, Peugeot has announced that they want a piece of the green market too, with this RCZ HYbrid4 concept.
Headline figures are around 3.7l/100km, CO2 emissions of 95g/km and all while still having a smidge under 150kW to play with.
That’s not tricky part, though. The real headline feature of this car is that the power supplied is split between two engines, one driving the front wheels, the other powering the rears. A 2-litre diesel offering 120kW provides the go up front, while an electric engine sends an additional 28kW to the rears. Torque to the front is a healthy 300Nm, while that tiny leccy engine sends 200Nm of torque to the rear axle.
A pretty neat interpretation of all-wheel drive then!
The fifth round of the Australian MINI Challenge was held at Phillip Island last weekend. The first race on the program was held on Saturday and was televised live on Channel 7. If you missed it, fear not as here are two YouTube clips showing the broadcast in full. Nathan Caratti, from Glory Team Racing, completed a clean sweep of all three races and further highlights from the round are scheduled for Aussie TV screens this coming weekend.
Championship leader Paul Stokell had a shocker, mechanical gremlins only allowed him to score points in the third and final race. His lead is now a slender 30 points over teammate Grant Denyer. Each race win is worth 60 points, which means there are a maximum of 180 points up for grabs each round.
Also of interest in this round was the Uber-Star Car which saw motorcycle daredevil Robbie Maddison at the wheel.
Round 5 results and driver quotes are sure to be added to the MINI Challenge website soon, so make sure you keen an eye out for more info.
Bernd Schneider, five time DTM touring car champion, takes Mr Giggle for a spin around a track in the Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG Gullwing. You do get a some feel for the car’s aural delights, even over the cheesy German to English voiceover.
Also, after the jump, you can see another SLS clip (in German), sourced from IAA TV.
Things have been a bit quiet in car land for the last day or two. The calm before the Frankfurt storm, clearly. One little tidbit that has popped up, though, is this nifty little gadget from Volkswagen. It is a new, more realistic, 1 litre two seater concept city car.
The “1 litre” name is inspired by the car’s fuel consumption goal of being able to travel 100 kilomtetres on a single litre of petrol. An earlier concept, in black, was previously revealed by former VW CEO Ferdinand Piech. He used the car for a publicity stunt, using it to drive to Volkswagen’s AGM, back in 2002.
The new, more production ready model is understood to be powered by sub-30kW two cylinder diesel engine, mated to a 7 speed DSG transmission. There’s talk there could be an electric engine, of sorts, hidden away in the 500kg bodywork as well.
Volkswagen have previously stated they would like a car of this ilk to go in to production. Possibly as early as next year. So, it seems, along with all of life’s other secrets, all will be revealed at the Frankfurt IAA later this week.
[Source: Bild am Sonntag via autoblog]
Lotus have turned their “luxury” tourer, the Evora, into an out and out racer. The Type 124 (one twenty four) meets full FIA racing specifications and has been designed for endurance racing. There is a reasonably extensive factory backed calendar of races in line for the 124, starting with next year’s Nürburgring 24 hour race (15-16 May 2010). Sepang, Silverstone and Dubai are also on the endurance race calendar for the Evora.
Luke Bennett, Director of Lotus Cars Limited, said, “Motorsport has been in our blood ever since our founder, Colin Chapman, built the first Lotus back in 1948. We are proud of our motorsport history, which includes victories in Formula One, Le Mans, saloon car, rally car and sportscar racing around the world; more recently, we won the British GT3 Championship in 2006 with the Lotus Exige. The Lotus Evora Type 124 Endurance Racecar is from the same unique stable and we expect it to be a competitive racecar when we enter various endurance races next year.â€
Power from the Toyota sourced 3.5 litre V6 will be upped by as much as 100kW, from 206kW to 300kW (400bhp). While the target racing weight is somewhere below 1200kg, down from the road car’s 1350kg. Should be quite a rocket ship, then.
There’s a six-speed sequential transmission (with paddle shifts), six piston AP Racing brakes and race tuned Bosch ABS. Helping grip the racetrack will be 18 inch wheels with Pirelli racing rubber, 9 1/2″ wide on the front and 11″ wide at the rear.
More detail and pics after the jump.
If you follow F1 you’ve been following the race fixing charges against the Renault F1 team, which focus on Nelson Piquet Jr’s crash at the 2008 Singapore Grand Prix.
It is alleged the incident was premeditated and created to force a safety car. With the knowledge the safety car was going to be introduced Renault number one driver Fernando Alonso was able to alter his refuelling strategy to gain an advantage over his rivals. An advantage that saw him win the race.
A string of unsatisfactory results in 2009 saw Nelson Piquet Jr sacked by the Renault F1 team in July. Since then he has not been hiding his anger at the team’s decision, with most of his resentment directed to team boss Flavio Briatore.
At the end of July 2009 Piquet Jr made a statement to the FIA detailing his side of the story from last year’s Singapore Grand Prix. You can read the statement in full after the jump, but it is the following paragraph that will cause Briatore and his team the most concern:
“…I was asked by Mr Flavio Briatore, who is both my team manager and Team Principal of the Renault F1 Team, and by Mr Pat Symonds, the Technical Director of the ING Renault F1 Team, to deliberately crash my car in order to positively influence the performance of the ING Renault F1 team at the event in question. I agreed to this proposal and caused my car to hit a wall and crash during lap thirteen/fourteen of the race.”
Assuming the statement made by Nelson Piquet Jr is a true and accurate reflection of events, you can expect both he and his former team to be heavily sanctioned by the FIA.
In many ways this is a far worse situation for the sport than the infamous ‘Stepneygate’ spy saga from 2007. The outcome of that controversy saw the McLaren team heavily fined and removed from the Constructors’ Championship. If the race-fixing allegations against Renault are proven, one can only imagine how dramatically the FIA will react.
UPDATE 12 September: Falvio Briatore hits back with counter claims of blackmail, backed by Renault launching legal action against both Nelson Piquet Jr and Nelson Piquet Sr.
[Source: F1SA | Thanks to Tim for the tip]
Following the official, and not so official, leaks of information Lexus has finally revealed a set of images showing its LF-Ch Concept Hybrid in full. This is the car Lexus hopes will eat into the Audi A3/BMW 1 Series market.
The presser below doesn’t go into too much detail, but it does explain the LF-Ch will have a full hybrid powertrain, including the possibility to drive the car in full electric mode.
I guess we’ll have to wait a few more days before we find out just what the range of the LF-Ch is in electric mode, not to mention the actual performance specs, which Lexus claim will meet the expectations the market demands from a premium hatch.
Given Audi is said to be releasing a 250kW RS3 the performance expectations in the premium hatch segment look set to rise!