Author: Liam

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Lamborghini Motor Shows

Gallardo LP560-4 drops its top down under

Lamborghini Gallardo LP560-4 Spyder

The Lamborghini stand at the 75th Melbourne International Motor Show, which starts next week, is going to be a good one. Making its Australian debut will be the Gallardo LP560-4 Spyder. The Gallardo is one of the finest looking supercars money can currently buy, if not the finest. And in soft top form it is just divine. That being the case, then, the sound from its 5.2 litre V10 is like divine intervention. It truly is a message from God!

With a lighter transmission, a reworked V10 engine, new suspension and updated all-wheel-drive system the LP560-4 Spyder can sprint to 100km/h in just four seconds flat. It has a top speed of 324km/h, and to keep Bob Brown happy, has dropped its fuel consumption by 18 per cent and reduced its CO2 emissions to boot.

Joining the Spyder on the Lambo stand will be the Gallardo coupé and the Murcielago LP640. The motor show’s Historic Tribute display will show off supercar royalty in the form of a 1960s Miura. I’m not sure the profile of any supercar has bettered the classic lines of this work of absolute perfection.

If you’re heading to show, make sure you check out the best Sant’Agata has to offer. I doubt you will be disappointed.

More pics after the jump. To download the press document from the 2008 LA Auto Show, including full specs; right click, save as HERE (100kb PDF).

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Categories
Ford

1970s Ford GT stash uncovered in South Africa

Ford Fairmont GT stash in South Africa

Many readers will have great memories of the Australian muscle car era. The best years were the 1970s and one of the best examples of the age is the XW/XY Ford Falcon GT. Not as many of you will remember that during that era a whole bunch of Falcon GT parts were exported to South Africa where they were assembled into Fairmont GTs. Recently (or perhaps not), a large haul of Fairmont GTs was unearthed making Ford enthusiasts across the country go weak at the knees.

There were a few cosmetic difference between the Fairmont and Ford GT models, but essentially they are the same car. Indeed, in the areas that matter, these were fair dinkum Falcon GTs.

There appear to be scant facts around about the way this collection was built, but interweb rumour suggests the cars were purchased individually in South Africa with the sole intention of exporting them back “home”. The idea being, of course, that the home grown collecter market would gobble these GTs up at some profit to the importer.

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Ford News

Eric Bana’s “Love the Beast” – Sydney premiere

Eric Bana’s feature length movie about his first car Love the Beast is due in cinemas on 12 March. Sydney residents, however, have the opportunity to see the movie next Thursday 26 February with a special screening at the Hayden Orpheum in Cremorne. This session will include a live presentation from Eric Bana, as well. Tickets are $20 and are now on sale through MCA-TIX.

You can see a preview of the flick above. For more information, check out the movie’s official website or YouTube channel.

(Thanks to Shaun for the tip.)

Categories
Motor Shows News

Geneva Motor Show to launch television channel – salon-auto.tv

Geneva Motor Show, 5-15 March 2009The 79th Geneva International Motor Show starts in under two weeks and if you can’t be there you needn’t miss a thing. Each day from 10am (8pm AEDT) an internet television channel will have footage of all the latest from the show. If you’re keen, you can bookmark the page now: www.salon-auto.tv.

The show runs from 5-15 March, however the web-TV channel will run for four extra days (2-16 March), covering events in the lead up and conclusion to the show.

As is to be expected, there are a host of manufacturers revealing new models in Geneva, including Aston Martin, Audi, BMW, Mazda, Renault and Porsche. There is also some speculation that a new hot Golf R20T could be revealed.

A full list of model premieres will be available soon on the show’s official website. The full press release announcing salon-auto.tv can be read after the jump.

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Formula 1 Honda News

Will Honda be saved by F1 virgin?

Will Honda still be f**ked if saved by Virgin?

With just six weeks to go until the 2009 F1 season begins in Melbourne time is fast running out for the former Honda Racing team to find a buyer. The BBC reports that there is hope with several buyers sniffing around the back of the Honda garage. One of those has been confirmed today as being Richard Branson. “We are negotiating with several buyers and one of these parties is the Virgin Group,” a Honda spokesman said.

While the team could be sold for as little as £1, the new buyer would have to stump tens of millions each year just to get to the grid each weekend. It is understood that Honda is willing to offer some cash if a buyer can be found, as this will be cheaper than paying out contracts of the 700-strong workforce.

The F1-Team-formerly-known-as-Honda has negotiated a deal to use Mercedes-Benz engines for the 2009 season, but the German giant has put a deadline in place for the deal to be finalised. According to the BBC report it is expected that deadline could end within a week.

Since Honda announced their withdrawal from Formula One speculation has been fairly constant that buyers are on the lookout for a deal. There was a strong rumour in late December that Mexican telco billionaire Carlos Slim Helú was prepared to be Honda’s saviour, but that proved false.

Also in BBC’s report is speculation that three Honda Racing executives could partner with current team bosses Nick Fry and Ross Brawn to form a consortium prepared to bail out the team.

With the season approaching fast, and the F1-Team-formerly-known-as-Honda still needing to undertake much needed track and crash testing before they get to Melbourne, I guess we will find the answer to this story sooner rather than later.

Source: BBC

Categories
News

Banana republic

Drivers Republic

Here’s a bit of a shout out to the more eminently resourced and thoroughly excellent online publication Drivers Republic. And, in some ways, this is a shout out to all the AUSmotives the world over. You see, the internet is here, and the internet is staying.

Drivers Republic claims their site traffic grew by as much as 200% in the period June–December 2008, while at the same time sales of leading UK print titles slipped between 4–14%.

The immediacy and flexibility of information offered by digital media is hard to compete with. Print media will always have a place, there’s no doubt about that, it just may no longer be at the top of the tree.

More after the jump.

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Categories
Fiat

Fiat Abarth 500

Fiat Abarth 500

The new Fiat Abarth 500 has recently been launched in the UK. The car was loved by Jeremy Clarkson on Top Gear and the rekindling of the Abarth’s scorpion badge is sure to get a few pulses racing.

Powered by a 1.4-litre 16-valve turbo engine the Abarth 500 produces 100kW (135bhp) at 5500rpm. With the use of the, now apparently mandatory, Sport mode peak torque reaches 206Nm at 3000rpm. That’s enough to take the little Fiat from rest to 100km/h in 7.9 seconds, not earth shattering performance by any means, but spritely all the same.

However, if you want more power from your Abarth Fiat has you covered with the esseesse (SS) upgrade. For an extra £2500 the lads at the Fix It Again Tony garage will tweak your engine’s ECU to taking power up to 120kW (160bhp). To allow for better breathing a BMC air filter is also included. That’s not all, though, as uprated brakes and suspension are also included in the conversion which can be retro fiitted within the first 12 months or 20,000 kilometres of ownership. You even get to keep the box your esseesse kit is delivered in.

I’ve never been a huge fan of the Fiat 500 look. It’s cute enough, it’s city enough, but the awkward looking headlight treatment makes the car appear to have four funny eyes. Never mind that, though, getting some time behind the wheel of the esseesse model would no doubt be a barrel of laughs.

Full presser and more pics after the jump.

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Categories
BMW Fifth Gear

Jebel Hafeet Mountain Road – the best in the world?

Is the tight, twisty and ultra smooth Jebel Hafeet Mountain Road in Abu Dhabi the best in the world? In Series 15, Episode 7, Fifth Gear sent Tiff Needell to the middle east and gave him the keys to a BMW M3 to find out.

You can see the 11km stretch of tarmac on Google Maps, or read more about Jebel Hafeet on Wikipedia.

Categories
Audi

Audi A4 allroad quattro

2009 Audi A4 allroad quattro

Soccer mums rejoice! Audi’s newest allroad model is set for its public debut at next month’s Geneva Motor Show. However, the lads from Ingolstadt have been kind enough to show us a few pics before it goes on display.

Based on the A4 Avant the allroad has plenty of visual clues that hint at its alleged off road capabilities. The cosmetic clues include flared guards and a revised grille treatment, giving the car a more rugged look. I think it looks great, and, if anything, looks better than the regular tarmac-locked A4 Avant.

Of course, there is the 37mm increased ride height, as well, giving the car a total ground clearance of 180mm. Not so immediately obvious is the wider track, which has been increased by 20mm.

The metal bash plates at either end of the car are said to be stainless steel, so, depending on how far under the car they go, they could actually provide some bona fide protection should the A4 allroad ever see dirt road duties. Of course, the allroad is never going to displace the role of the Land Cruiser, but having previously owned a 2001 Subaru Outback it is surprising how far these types of cars can be pushed, if you remain sensible.

Being an Audi there is enough electronic trickery on board to assist the driver as well, including Offroad Detection (ORD). Okay, it sounds a bit daft and obvious, but the system will modulate the ESP capabilities to suit the road conditions. For example, in off road conditions the system allows more slip than usual which therefore enables the torque to be sent more quickly to the wheels with grip. In regular road situations the quattro system sends 60% of the car’s torque to the rear wheels.  When required, a maximum of 85% can be sent to the rear wheels, or a maximum of 65% to the front wheels.

Buyers can choose from three engines, all meeting EU5 emissions targets, and include a new 155kW/350Nm 2.0 TFSI four cylinder (which will also power the next Golf GTI), a 125kW/350Nm 2.0 TDI four cylinder and a 176kW/500Nm 3.0 V6 TDI. Six speed manual or S tronic transmissions will be available. Although, with the news that the new Q5 will come to the Australian market in S tronic guise only, it will be interesting to see if Australian buyers will be offered a manual option in the A4 allroad.

UPDATE: No need to wonder what transmissions will be available for the Australian market, I’ve just had it confirmed that the A4 allroad is not on Audi Australia’s radar.

More pics and press releases from Audi UK and Audi AG can be viewed after the jump.

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Categories
Carmageddon MINI

MINI axe jobs and reduce production

MINI production at Plant Oxford

MINI is the latest manufacturer to feel the brunt of carmageddon with news they are set to axe up to 850 jobs from their Plant Oxford facility. An additional 150 workers will be cut from the engine plant about 50km down the road in Swindon.

Worldwide sales for MINI dropped by almost 35% in January forcing BMW to reduce production from seven days a week down to five. The change in production patterns will commence in early March. Meanwhile, Plant Oxford has been shut down for one week and production will resume on 23 February.

A statement released earlier today said, “While MINI has been weathering the economic downturn, it is not immune from the challenges of the current situation. Against this backdrop the company felt that a review of its shift patterns was necessary.”

Source: Reuters UK, MotoringFile & news.com.au (Thanks to Wes for the tip.)

Categories
Audi Volkswagen

A closer look at Audi’s new 7 speed S-tronic transmission

Audi's 7 speed S-tronic transmission

Audi’s new Q5 and the new Volkswagen Mk6 Golf will be the latest in the Volkswagen Audi Group to provide the option of an all new 7 speed S-tronic transmission. The Q5 is due for release in March, while the new Golf will be in Australian showrooms later this month. The only difference being, the transmission is called DSG on the Volkswagen options list.

Audi’s dual clutch transmission technology can trace its roots back to 1985 when Walter Röhrl was at the top of the world rally charts. Current S-tronic technology offers super smooth gear changes, as well as better acceleration and improved fuel economy over traditional manual transmissions. Its lightning quick gear changes have all but made a mockery of some the more fancied names offering “F1-style” flappy paddle gearboxes.

Australian motorists first got a taste of the previous 6 speed dual clutch transmission through the Volkswagen Mk5 Golf, most notably on the GTI. No matter what car the gearbox is fitted to in the Volkswagen Audi Group model range it nearly always brings wide acclaim. The new 7-speed version is likely to attract similar levels of praise. Although, as noted in our interview with a current Mk6 Golf owner in Germany, the 7-speed does tend to race through the gears quite quickly when left in “automatic” D mode.

Aftermarket tuners will be most pleased to learn that the new 7 speed S-tronic is designed to cope with maximum revs of 9000rpm and is said to be capable of handling up to 550Nm of torque.

Included below is a detailed press statement that touches on the inner workings of the latest S-tronic transmission. Hopefully it will satisfy the inner car geek within. You can also click on the image above to load a 2000px version, just in case you need to get even closer to all those cogs.

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Categories
Fifth Gear Renault

Fifth Gear dogfight: Renault Megane R26.R v Caterham CDX

Renault makes some might fine hot hatchery, and the Megane R26.R has to be up there as one of their best. But surely Renault’s latest balls out track special is no match for a raw, lithe and uncompromising Caterham?

Join Fifth Gear’s Tiff Needell to find out. Be prepared from some froggy cornering goodness.