Fourteen photographs of the 2009 Volkswagen Golf GTI—click on each pic to load wallpaper sized 2000x1320px super images.
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Author: Liam
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BMW-web.tv celebrates 1st birthday
Short, sweet and to the point. Here’s a brief promo clip celebrating the first birthday of BMW-web.tv. Make sure you check out the site from time to time, it provides a great insight into BMW.
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Details of next Golf GTI emerge
Details of Volkswagen’s MkVI Golf GTI have been revealed on the autocar.co.uk website.
Like the regular Golf VI range the new GTI has taken an evolutionary approach with a minor reworking of the front grille treatment being the largest immediate difference compared to the previous MkV iteration. The all new body kit is entirely different, with a more appropriate use of color coding all round. “The effect is to visually widen the GTI to make it look much more aggressive and sporty,” said exterior design chief Mark Lichte.
There is a single exhaust tip at each edge on the rear and the interior keeps the flat bottomed steering wheel treatment.
Official details of the MkVI GTI will be released at next week’s Paris Motor Show, but it is believed the base GTI will be powered by the same engine used in the Edition 30 models (approx 160kW). An all wheel drive GTI-R model with around 200kW is also expected to be revealed at some stage in the future, this will replace the hole left by the demise of the VR6 powered R32.
More images can be seen after the jump and stay tuned to AUSmotive for higher resolution pics as they become available.
*update* More pics can be seen at evo.co.uk, of note is the interior image where it looks like the speedometer now only indicates up to 260km/h (MkV GTI was 300km/h) and the dash illumination is more Audi like with white dials and red needles, so it appears the familiar Volkswagen blue-lit dials have been scrapped.
Isn’t she beautful! This is a rare Mercedes-Benz 300 SLS which was in Australia last year competing in the Classic Adelaide rally. Based on the 300 SL, the car all AUSmotive staff agree is the most beautiful car in the world, the SLS was brought to Australia from the Mercedes-Benz Classic Centre in Stuttgart to participate in last year’s rally. Mercedes reckon “its elegant body and powerful six-cylinder engine engage the senses in a way only few cars can”. Pretty hard to argue with that.
Of course, it would be cruel to have given you only one image wouldn’t it…
There’s quite a few preview clips for this weekend’s Singapore Formula 1 Grand Prix out there in cyberspace. Here is Red Bull Racing‘s effort with Mark Webber talking us through a lap.
The first F1 race to be held under lights—it should be a belter!
Ford today announced Marin Burela its new President and CEO. The appointment comes after the shock resignation last month of former president Bill Osborne. Raised in Geelong, Burela started working with Ford Australia in 1984. An engineering graduate of Ford of Australia’s graduate program, he has held positions in Manufacturing, Sales and Marketing, and Product Development areas.
His time with the Ford Motor Company has taken him around the globe, with stints in Asia, Europe and North America, including senior management and board level roles within Land Rover and Jaguar. Most recently he has been working with Ford Europe and he will commence his new role on 1 October. As head of Ford Australia Burela will report directly to John Parker, Executive Vice President, Asia Pacific and Africa.
“Burela’s strong leadership and broad experience within Ford Motor Company will be vital to driving the successful future of Ford Australia’s operations. As a Geelong native, his return to Ford Australia allows him to lead not only one of Ford’s more strategic global markets, but one for which he has such a strong affinity,” said Parker.
At the second attempt, the Federal Government had its controversial Luxury Car Tax (LCT) bill rubber stamped by the Senate late last night. For vehicles costing more than $57,180 the LCT will now increase from 25% to 33%. After failing at the first attempt to have the bill passed at the start of the month, and without an outright majority in the upper house, the Government agreed to some compromises as set out by the Greens and Family First, exempting some fuel efficient cars and offering a refund system for eligible farmers and tourist operators. A last gasp attempt by the opposition to have the 33% threshold raised to $90,000 did not get through. Under the coalition plan cars between $57,180-90,000 would remain taxed at the current 25%.
Under the Greens amendments cars costing less than $75,000 with a fuel consumption figure under 7l/100km will be exempt from the new LCT. Greens Senator Christine Milne says she is pleased the Government is willing to compromise, “This is the first time I have known of where a Government has actually been prepared to look at a tax as anything other than revenue raising and actually drive a behavioural outcome, particularly in relation to the environment.”
Chris Evans, leader of the Government in the Senate, was circumspect when commenting on the changes, “We didn’t get everything we wanted but we got the majority of the bill intact. I think the point to make here is this was the first bill which people had to come to terms with in this way and we were all learning, and I think it will be easier to make progress in the future.”
Source: ABC Online & News.com.au
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Audi supercharges all new S4
If you’re looking for a new mid-size saloon, or estate for that matter, that can take you from rest to the legal speed limit in a shade over five seconds, while using less than 10 litres of fuel per 100 kilometres—and let’s face it, who isn’t—then Audi have the car for you. The all new Audi S4. Powered by a brand new 3-litre V6 engine, it puts out bona fide performance all of its own, while whetting the appetite for the next gen RS4. Just don’t bother trying to work out what TFSI stands for. Back in the day it meant Turbo Fuel Stratified Injection, but now, in this world of “mehcanical turbo charging”—yes that’s it, what you and I call super charging—it is probably best just to leave it to Audi to define. The addition of the blower helps the new V6 produce the very respectable numbers of 245kW/440Nm.
You may have guessed that AUSmotive is generally a fan of all things Audi, and the new S4 is no exception. Due for its first public reveal at the Paris Motor Show in a couple of weeks I can’t wait until I can get my own eyes on one when they arrive down under in the latter half of 2009.
More pics and details below. As always, click on each image for larger versions.
This episode started with a proper old skool hot hatch, the iconic Volkswagen Mk2 Golf GTI. I’ve been fortunate to see a great example of these up close and they really are bloody good cars. Take a well loved Mk2 GTI to a tight mountain pass and it will keep any current hot hatch very honest indeed. Jonny was out to see what sort of improvements he could make at his local tuning shop. After Tiff set a benchmark time, Jonny started the mods. They started with the easy stuff like new suspension and exhaust, but also undertook a complete engine rebuild that was hoped to give a very tidy 50hp increase. The first part of the clip is shown above, check the second part to see how well the mods work at the end of this article.
Read on to see what else was in store for this episode…
In the lead up to the first ever Formula 1 night race, the Vodafone McLaren Mercedes team have been busy preparing their car for the difficulties the Singapore Grand Prix will hold. They’ve released a teaser video so you can see how they’re getting on. Make sure you tune in to your favourite broadcaster next Sunday, 28 September, to see how these modifications go.
If I said you could buy a 2006 F1 car for under AU$200,000 you would say I’ve got a few crew members loose in pit lane. However, that is exactly what happened when a 2006 chassis Super Aguri went under the hammer recently. The SA06 racer sold at an internet auction for £85,600 (AU$194,000). The auction was run by SHM Smith Hodgkinson on behalf of Super Aguri’s liquidators. SHM’s Richard Mascall said, “We were absolutely delighted with the outcome. The car sold for £85,600, which is a more than respectable figure and easily more than the original reserve figure.”
The Japanese buyer will now have the keys to the ultimate track day weapon at a price that would raise the interest of captains of industry the world over. Fair enough, the logistics and running costs might up the price a bit in real terms, but it would be pretty ace to own your own F1 car.
The Japanese team made their Formula 1 debut in 2006, but financial difficulties forced their withdrawal from F1 earlier this year, after just four races.
Source: autosport.com (Thanks to Tiaan for sending this in. Pic courtesy of MickyD.)
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Top Gear Australia teaser
Spotted on CarAdvice, here is a two and a half minute teaser for Top Gear Australia. The first episode will air nationally on SBS on Monday 29 September. If this teaser is anything to go by, I reckon the show will be a bloody good value.