In one of the first non-official leaks in the lead up to the Frankfurt Motor Show we can get a sneak peak at the Audi R8 Spider. It’s a bit brown isn’t it!
We don’t really know much about the Spider just yet, other than these pics tend to indicate the range will be headlined by the V10 5.2 FSI engine. For a reminder of what the car looks like with its roof up, and what the V10 sounds like, check out this video posted back in June.
More details as they come to hand.
The Gullwing has landed! Just a few days out from the car’s official debut Mercedes-Benz have released a suite of images showcasing the SLS AMG ‘Gullwing’.
There is an extensive press release below that outlines all the goodies you would expect such a car to have, from creature comforts to technological details. Of course, the gullwing doors get plenty of mentions, along with the awesome (on paper at least) 570bhp 6.3 litre V8 engine from AMG. There’s even a couple of trick new paint colours including AMG Alubeam silver, which is said to “shine like liquid metal”. There’s also two matte colours in designo magno Allainte Grey and AMG magno Sylvanite Grey. They sound pretty cool too.
This is one car that has had plenty of previews out there in internetland, including a leaked ordering guide. So, without further ado here are 36 45 wallpaper-friendly images of the big Benz supercar which is due in Australia around the middle of 2010.
UPDATE: Nine more pictures added!
Here are two official videos from McLaren Automotive which showcase the new MP4-12C. In the clip above, Ron Dennis talks about his new baby, while in the second clip we see Antony Sheriff, Managing Director McLaren Automotive, waxing lyrical about the 12C.
Celebrity car guy Jay Leno gets an inside look at the McLaren MP4-12C and is kind enough to share that look with the world. Someone really should give him a new shirt for Christmas, that denim number is getting a bit of a workout.
Anyway, the clip is quite good and there’s a nice snippet showcasing the MonoCell carbon fibre chassis. Naturally, Leno makes a play for getting the first US delivered MP4-12C. Well, you would too wouldn’t you!
After the jump you can watch a brief clip in which the car’s designer Frank Stephenson talks through some of the detailing. You’ll have to forgive the less than stellar audio.
McLaren Automotive is back, and back in a very big way. Seventeen years after the creation of the almighty McLaren F1 road car the company from Woking in Surrey is preparing its sequel.
McLaren wants to bring hypercar performance in to the supercar market. That means they reckon the MP-12C will be up there with the Bugatti Veyron for outright performance, but at a Porsche 911 Turbo price point. To put that in to numbers, McLaren expect their new creation will cost between £125,000 and £175,000 (AU$240,000-340,000) when it is ready for market release in 2011.
For pure performance numbers, the 12C will have a new 3.8 litre V8 ‘M838T’ engine good for a very healthy 600bhp and an impressive 600Nm of torque. At this point, McLaren haven’t published a kerb weight for the MP4-12C, but today’s press release has the words “light weight” scattered throughout. Expect the power to weight ratio, then, to be staggering. The 12C will have a seven speed Seamless Shift dual clutch transmission. McLaren is already pontificating about the engine’s fuel efficiency and comparatively low CO2 emissions.
This time there is a conventional two seat layout. What is not conventional, though, is the construction of the chassis. Made from carbon fibre, McLaren have dubbed it the Carbon MonoCell. It tips the scales at just 80kg and can be formed in around four hours. Lightness, longevity and torsional rigidity are just three of the benefits of the MonoCell.
The McLaren MP4-12C is bespoke car with no carry over parts from any other manufacturers. Production will be coordinated solely by McLaren Automotive. Ron Dennis, McLaren Automotive Chairman is clearly excited by today’s news. And there is more to come.
“It is a long-held dream of mine to launch a range of high performance sports cars that set new standards in the industry,” said Dennis.
“We began designing and building cars for aficionados of thoroughbred sports cars almost 20 years ago. Incorporating the leading edge technologies that the McLaren Group has built up within its various companies, I believe we are now perfectly placed to open up this new chapter in McLaren’s history as well as play a part in the regeneration of high-tech manufacturing in the UK and global automotive environment,” he concluded.
As a pure design statement, Frank Stephenson (of MINI fame) has created a car that speaks performance efficiency, albeit lacking the drama such supercars usually possess. However, one gets the feeling that the drama from this car will come from the driving experience which is sure to be devastating, and I mean that in a very good way.
There’s plenty of photos of the McLaren MP4-12C after the break, all accessible as wallpaper-friendly 2000px super images by simply clicking on each image. The press release is lengthy, and rather than reproduce it here, you can download the Word document by clicking here.
The organisers of the Australian MINI Challenge have come up with one pretty cool idea. It’s a try before you buy scheme that enables prospective racers an opportunity to drive one of the JCW racecars with current team owners present to offer advice and answer questions.
There will be three dates on offer, taking place along the eastern seaboard towards the end of this month. The MINI Challenge roadshow will be stopping in at Melbourne—Sandown, Sunday 20 September; Sydney—Oran Park, Thursday 24 September; and Brisbane—Queensland Raceway, Friday 25 September.
“It’s a fantastic opportunity to show off what these cars are really capable of,” says Chris Brown, Marketing Manager of MINI, “we’re confident that when someone gets in and has a real go they’ll be keen to step it up and go racing in the MINI Challenge. It’s that simple.”
Applicants need to apply for one of the three test sessions by 5pm this Friday, full details can be found in the press release after the jump.
A reminder, too, for MINI Challenge fans to check their local guides for television coverage of this weekend’s round of racing from Phillip Island. The usual three race format will take place with one race live on Channel 7 this Sunday, with a highlights package to follow next weekend.
Has Audi Cape Town let the RS3 cat out of the bag? The above entry on twitter would seem to indicate, yes, it has!
While speculation has been around for some time that Audi would be fitting the 2.5 litre inline 5 cylinder into the A3 platform to make an RS3 model, nothing has been officially announced.
Interestingly, assuming the above info is on the money, the RS3 has been detuned by 5bhp to be down on the 340bhp produced by the TT RS.
There’s a spyshot after the jump showing was is understood to be an RS3 test mule in testing at the Nürburgring in March this year. For more, check out WorldCarFans.
[Source: German Car Blog | Thanks to David for the tip]
UPDATE 14 September: The AudiCapeTown twitter feed claims they suffered a security breach and the above tweet was not the view of Audi Centre Cape Town. But I reckon it’s pretty safe to say there is more to come on this story.
Volkswagen New Zealand has recently launched a Golf GTI section on their website. Surely, Australia can’t be that far away now! After all, new model GTIs have been in the country for at least a month.
Although, to be fair, it’s probably not worth expecting the New Zealand and Australian model roll outs for Volkswagen to follow any sort of sequence, especially as Kiwis get the lovely Scirocco coupé and Australia doesn’t.
A quick glance of the Volkswagen NZ Golf spec sheet (130kb PDF) shows that Kiwi-bound GTIs are only available in five doors and all fitted with the six speed DSG transmission. No Golfs over the pond are available with a manual box.
Other tidbits of note are the prices. Entry level pricing for the GTI is over NZ$57,000 (AU$46,000) and the 18″ Detroit style alloy wheels featured in most of Volkswagen’s press shots are a NZ$2000 (AU$1620) option. Previously in Australia those wheels have only been available over the parts counter for a not so attractive AU$4500.
Until we hear otherwise, the best guess for a local GTI release is October/November. Hopefully the former of those two options.
[Thanks to Luke for the tip]
A new image has emerged showing the front of the new Lexus LF-Ch concept hybrid. This is the car Lexus hopes to eat into the premium hatch market. Think Audi A3 and BMW 1 Series.
Hmm, I know it’s hard to judge concept cars sometimes, but that face, well, it’s a bit fussy. It’s not unattractive at all and I’m sure there will be a market out there for this car. But I’m just not sure those currently attracted to the German marques will see much here to tempt them away from teutonic designs.
The sketch of the LF-Ch that Lexus released a while back (see below) is less contrived at the front, but then it does lack the finer details shown above. As for detail, as soon as Lexus gives us more on this car, you’ll be reading it here.
New images of the Mazda MX-5 Superlight have emerged on the evo website. The Superlight will make its debut at the Frankfurt IAA along with pretty much anything else with wheels. Expect the Mazda PR department to hit the ground running with these in the next day or so. In the meantime check out the article at evo—the interior shot will have track purists watering at the mouth!
[Source: evo]
Top Gear presenter Richard Hammond spoke with The Times recently and shared his thoughts on the show, discussing, among other things, how the series might end.
“We’ve talked about it and said there are a couple of ways to end this,” says Hammond. “One way would be by saying, ‘That’s the end of the show, the series and that’s the end of Top Gear. Goodnight.’ I love to think that one day we would have the courage to do that.”
The good news is that, despite some nerves created at the end of Series 13, the show will be back in the (UK) winter. Jeremy Clarkson had this to say in response to the rumours that Series 13 was the show’s last, “I can assure everyone I’ll be back in November doing Top Gear. We’re filming the next series and already have several things in the can. I couldn’t think of anything I’d want to do more.”
So when will Top Gear end? One thing the speculation from the last series has done is given the show an insight in the mind of the audience that it probably wasn’t expecting. And, in some ways, the final Aston Martin segment from S13 has proven to be some sort of test case for the show’s eventual closure.
Hammond didn’t give much away on the topic, other than to highlight the quandary ending the show a high presents, “The problem is that the correct time to do that is while it is still working, but while it is still working we are still enjoying it and don’t want to stop. The moment you feel you are ready to give it up it’s too late already—by definition. The only moment [to stop] is when you are thinking, ‘I am having a great time’—then that’s a great time.”
So, for now, it’s business as usual. Keep an eye out for Series 14 of Top Gear later in the year. As speculated I have made an educated guess for a return on Sunday 15 November.
[Source: The Times]
News has emerged that Valentino Rossi was in discussions with Ferrari that could have seen him make his Formula One debut at Monza next weekend.
According to Rossi himself it was only a combination of bad timing and concerns about a lack of physical preparation that scuppered this dream opportunity.
In the build up to this weekend’s San Marino MotoGP Rossi explained, “We spoke with Domenicali, but we had two big problems.
“The first one is the neck, because I don’t know if I would be able to finish the race with my neck. Monza is not very strong (hard) for the neck, but anyway it still needs great effort.
“And also, because we’re fighting for the (MotoGP) championship, for sure the race at Monza would be a big stress and it’s better to stay in MotoGP.”
Don’t you reckon the tifosi would have gone completely nuts if Rossi was driving a Ferrari at Monza! I suppose fellow Italian Giancarlo Fisichella is the next best thing.
[Source: autosport | Pic: Yamaha Racing | Thanks to Dylan for the tip]