Last week Ken Block’s Gymkhana Two infomercial was unleashed to the world. Well, just in case you missed the ‘Gymkhana One’ video here it is.
For more info on this clip and its star, the 530whp Subaru Impreza WRX STi, check out 0-60mag.com.
Author: Liam
According to Renault UK, and most leading motoring press, that famous posterior is the only view of the Mégane R26.R that other manufacturers are seeing.
With a press statement clearly aimed at unsettling the new Ford Focus RS, Renault are bragging about how quick their little media darling is around some of the UK’s best loved race tracks.
Of course, the Mégane R26.R holds the front-wheel drive record for the fastest lap around the Nürburgring Nordschleife. Now it can add the a host of UK tracks to its honour board, including Silverstone, Bedford Autodrome, Millbrook and Bruntingthorpe.
For more check out the press release below. And, you’re right, we don’t get this car in Australia. Forty outdated Clio Sport R27 thingys, yes. But a track focused car sure to sell a limited release in no time at all, no.
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Californication
More than a year after making its internet debut the Ferrari California has landed on Australian shores. A bit of a shame, then, that there’s only easy access to left hand drive images.
When images of the California were first revealed I called the car ‘beautiful’. On reflection I think went a bit early. Some aspects of the car are quite striking, the bold bonnet with the old skool squared off scoop is one example. The simple side profile another. But the swooping rear lines over the door are fussy and too complex. Likewise the whole rear end, which is disappointingly incoherent.
None of this will bother the Australian customers who will be taking delivery of their new wheels later this month, of course. For their $472,000 the new owners will be getting their hands on Ferrari’s first mid-front mounted engine road car. That sounds a bit complicated, but the explanation goes the engine is front mounted, but behind the front axle—hence, mid-front mounted.
The engine in question is an all aluminium 4.3 litre V8 sending 338kW and 485Nm through a 7-speed dual clutch transmission. Ferrari reckon the California can sprint to 100km/h in under four seconds and reach a rather rapid 310km/h.
The other unique feature for a Ferrari is its retractable hard top. More aluminium has been employed to save weight and you’ll need to allow 14 seconds to tuck the roof away out of sight.
As with other modern Ferraris these days there is a whole world of electronic trickery under the skin and rather than try and fit all the highlights here you can read the official press release, along with a few extra images after the jump.
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Lotus Evora – Australian specs and pricing
The Lotus Evora is now available for Australian order. To help its customers go through the decision making process Lotus Australia have released pricing and specification details.
The first bit of news is quite good. List pricing, before statutory and delivery charges, for the entry level Evora 2+0 will start at $149,990. This figure is $13,000 less than the price announced at the Melbourne International Motor Show earlier this year. The up-spec 2+2 will begin at $156,990.
The Evora is equipped with a 3.5-litre V6 which produces 206kW of power and 342Nm of torque. Matched to a 6-speed manual box this is good enough to propel the coupé from rest to 100km/h in a smidge over five seconds.
For the record, the Evora’s official fuel consumption figure is under 9 litres, at 8.7l/100km, and 205g of CO2 are emitted every kilometre. Not that too many Lotus buyers would bother much with those figures.
The car will be on Australian roads some time after July and special ‘Launch Edition’ models will be available in Ardent Red or British Racing Green. Presumably these are the colours they can’t sell in Europe as all other from the Lotus palette are available for order at an extra cost.
Further to the special ‘Launch Edition’ colours are three option packs. These packs will be available as a cost option after the initial run of higher specification vehicles is completed. (That probably brings us back to the original pricing announced at MIMS in February.)
The three packs are Tech, Sport and Premium and add items such as a touch-screen display, iPod connection, cruise control, parking sensors, accent lighting, full leather trimming in selected colour, traction control, sports diffuser and switchable sports mode.
A full press release from Lotus and comprehensive specs are all yours after the jump.
Another pass mark for TGA this week. The main challenge, making an armoured car, did have as many holes in it as the cars by segment end. But it was what it was—a harmless bit of fun. The hosts are interacting better and the show continues to improve.
Steve’s piece on the two Elfins was pretty good value, although he does scream a bit doesn’t he. The production crew deserve yet another mention here, their camera angles and post-production techniques hit the mark perfectly once more. To the cars themselves, there’s no doubt the aural V8 symphony from the Streamliner MS8 is the better sound, but I’d be taking the turbo four powered T5 package every time. It just looks like a proper club racer. Mike Simcoe got the looks of the Monaro right in the late 90s, but his Elfin Streamliner isn’t such a success. Both cars set reasonable times on the track, too, with the T5 being the quickest.
HG Nelson was this week’s guest and he made sure his time on Top Gear Australia was memorable by being the first celeb to barf up while putting the Bog Standard Car through its paces. Fortunately we didn’t see any vision of the HG heave.
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Formula1 onboard video
Fans of Formula One will be sure to enjoy the ability to see flying laps of all the circuits from around the globe. A full season of clips, in high quality, can be viewed at Formula1.com, and all for free.
Even better than the onboard flying laps are edited race highlights from each round.
Enjoy!
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Webber finishes second in Turkey
 
Australia’s Mark Webber has finshed behind the unstoppable Jenson Button to claim his equal best F1 finish at the Turkish Grand Prix held in Istanbul. Webber’s second placing matches his result from the rain affected Shanghai race earlier in the year.
The boy from Queanbeyan started the race from fourth on the grid, behind his Red Bull Racing teammate Sebastien Vettel who held pole position. However, it was Webber’s superior two-stop strategy that saw him edge ahead of a fast finishing Vettel, who employed a three-stop plan.
Button’s win was his sixth from seven starts and the race was notable for the BrawnGP team as it saw their first retirement in a Grand Prix, with Rubens Barichello ending his race 10 laps from the end.
Button leads the title race on 61 points, 26 ahead of Barichello (35 points). Followed by the Red Bull Racing duo of Vettel (29 points) and Webber (27.5 points).
UPDATE: Quotes from the post-race press conference are now available at Formula1.com.
Good news, it looks as though the Top Gear YouTube channel now allows video embedding. That means I can take another stab at posting the Porsche Carrera GT clip from Series 4, Episode 4.
Turn up the volume and enjoy…
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Hungry like the wolf
You are looking at the Volkswagen Amarok. If you were to say ‘wolf’ while speaking Inuit, Volkswagen have reliably informed, that the word you would say is amarok. I think Duran Duran put it best…
In touch with the ground, I’m on the hunt I’m after you,
Scent and a sound, I’m lost and I’m found,
And I’m hungry like the wolf.
However, Stephan Schaller, CEO of the brand Volkswagen Commercial Vehicles doesn’t seem to care much for 1980s pop, so he said it like this, “This name fits to a tee the characteristics of our pickup, which will set new standards in its class. We took great care selecting this name, which can be used globally. The Amarok is meant to invoke positive associations in all relevant international markets and make a more convincing argument than its established competitors right from the start.”
The concept car, pictured above and after the jump, was on show at the Melbourne International Motor Show earlier this year. Formerly referred to as the plain old Pickup concept, or sometimes even the Robust, the car will be launched in South America first, before coming to Australia. No official dates have been announced for the Aussie launch, but pencil in late 2010 at this stage.
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Changes at the top for VW Australia
VW Australia brings us news of changes at the top of their managerial structure. Jutta Dierks, Managing Director of Volkswagen Group Australia since 2005, will be heading back to Volkswagen AG in Germany where she will take up the role of Executive Director for the Americas. She will be responsible for Volkswagen’s North and South American sales.
Replacing Ms Dierks here in Australia will be Anke Koeckler. Ms Koeckler joined Volkswagen AG in 1996 and has worked in sales and marketing positions for the Scandinavian, Spanish and German markets. Details of Ms Koeckler’s start date will be announced shortly.
Official VFACTS data tells us that 75,439 new vehicles were sold in May. That’s around 13,000 cars (14.9 per cent) down on May 2008 figures.
If we delve a bit deeper we can see that the drop in sales to business buyers is around half the overall figure at 7.2 per cent. The Federal Chamber of Automotive Industries says this is due to the current tax bonus on offer, allowing up to 50 per cent tax deductions on new car sales to business purchasers.
“The business tax break is proving extremely effective, providing a much needed boost to vehicle sales and stimulating economic activity,†FCAI Chief Executive Andrew McKellar said.
Year-to-date figures, however, show a larger drop in sales with the current 2009 figure of 352,374 down 19.2 per cent at the same stage last year.
Toyota heads the charts so far in 2009 with 15,481 sales, ahead of Holden with 9,177 and Ford with 8,440.
FCAI press release after the jump. You can also visit the FCAI website for state by state and vehicle segment breakdowns.
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Oh, the humanity!
Earth to earth, ashes to ashes, dust to dust; in sure and certain hope of the resurrection into eternal life.
This sorry sight is what happened after the owner took his 1995 McLaren F1 for a run after six months in storage. The car is now a total write off. If every cloud has a silver lining, this one is that the F1 was insured for US$3 million.
[Source: Press Democrat via Jalopnik]