Author: Liam

Categories
Porsche Top Gear

Top Gear tea break – Porsche Carrera GT

Top Gear Porsche Carrera GT review

Here at AUSmotive we love Top Gear and we love nice cars. Very nice cars. To celebrate the recent arrival of the official Top Gear YouTube channel here is a Top Gear tea break. Set aside a few minutes—7 minutes 58 seconds in this case—and enjoy Jeremy Clarkson’s review of the Porsche Carrera GT. Sure, this clip may be a few years old now, taken from way back in Series 4, but the car in question is absolutely timeless. One of my all time favourites. At the time The Stig’s best lap of 1:19.8 was the fastest time recorded around the Top Gear test track. Sadly, the Top Gear boffins have prevented embedding of their YouTube clips, but click on the image above to be taken to the clip and, as Jeremy says, “LISTEN TO THAT ENGINE!” … it is one of the best automotive sounds ever created.

Categories
Ford News

Ford Australia boss resigns

Ford Australia boss Bill Osborne resignsFord Australia has been shocked by President Bill Osborne’s sudden resignation. He will leave the company in September. See GoAuto for more detail.

Ford Australia Statement

John Parker, Ford Motor Company Executive Vice President of Asia Pacific and Africa, today announced that Ford Australia President Bill Osborne has elected to leave the company, effective September.

Osborne will relocate back to North America to take up a position outside the automotive industry. His replacement will be announced in due course.

“Bill has made significant contributions during his career with Ford Motor Company, and we wish him and his family all the best with his future endeavour,” said Parker.

“Ford Australia will continue to play a vital role in the future success of Ford Motor Company and within the Asia Pacific and Africa region, with greater input and alignment across all areas of the business, particularly product development, information technology, purchasing and marketing and sales,” added Parker.

Categories
News Safety Issues

Pay attention – It could save your life!

AAMI Crash Index 2008If you believe the shock tactics of many state governments around Australia all it takes to be a safe driver is to make sure you stay under the speed limit. That’s it! An over simplified view, perhaps, but filed in the tell-us-something-we-don’t-know drawer is a new report from AAMI that declares “almost half of all crashes on Australian roads could be averted by drivers simply paying more attention”. Nothing could be more simple than that.

Commenting on the release of the 2008 AAMI Crash Index, Public Affairs Manager Geoff Hughes said, “Absent-mindedness is a factor in 44 per cent of all car collisions, with drivers much more likely to crash due to their own inattention than from speeding, fatigue and alcohol combined.

“While speed, fatigue and alcohol are factors in 37 per cent of car crashes, AAMI’s research shows inattention is the number one reason drivers crash into another vehicle or stationary object.”

Given the fact there is so much shock advertising in our daily media it is astounding to see that 34% of those surveyed knowingly exceeded .05 yet still chose to drive. A bit hard to pay attention if you’re pissed. Again, in keeping with the theme of inattention AAMI’s research showed that 20% of crashes happened due to a failure of a motorist to give way.

AAMI’s media release is shown below and the AAMI Crash Index can be downloaded from their website, or here on AUSmotive (700kb PDF).

Continue reading “Pay attention – It could save your life!”
Categories
News Top Gear

Shift into Top Gear on YouTube

Top Gear now on YouTube!

Our favourite television show now has an official YouTube presence. Epic! Thing is though, this will be excellent when you need a helping hand to get your motoring related fix across the line. Watch the intro clip above explaining what to expect. And on that bombshell…

Source: CarAdvice

Categories
Volkswagen

Golf GTI Pirelli treads down under

Volkswagen Golf GTI Pirelli

Although not officially confirmed, it is believed that Volkswagen Australia will soon have a limited edition Golf GTI Pirelli in a showroom near you. The GTI Pirelli was first announced at the Wörthersee show in 2007, and launched for UK sales in April this year. The model features a distinctive body kit and reworked 2-litre TFSI engine, yielding figures of 169kW, up 22kW from the regular GTI, and torque has been bumped 20Nm to 300Nm. The Pirelli GTI also features model specific 18″ five spoke ‘P’ alloys, wearing Pirelli P-Zero rubber, of course. The wheels hark back to the original 1983 Mk1 GTI Pirelli, with its ‘P-slot’ wheels. Styling tweaks continue inside with yellow stitching and some choice tyre tread patterned seats. Okay, then. Not such a successful addition. Never mind.

So how much will all this Pirelli bling cost you? Expect pricing to be around $47,500 for the 3 door and $49,000 for the 5 door, offset by the fact only 300 will be delivered to Australia, all fitted with DSG transmissions. Thankfully, other colours will be available in addition to the unique Sunflower yellow featured in these pictures. The extra colours are Diamond Black (or possibly Black Magic as is currently available), Blue Graphite and Reflex Silver, the latter two being familiar to the usual GTI palette.

Look out for an announcement at the Sydney Motor Show in October, in the meantime check out the original European press releases and more pics below. Or you can just muck around with the configurator on Volkswagen’s UK website.

Continue reading “Golf GTI Pirelli treads down under”
Categories
Fifth Gear

Fifth Gear – Series 14, Episode 2

Fifth Gear - Series 14, Episode 2 - Porsche 911 GT2

So the next episode of Fifth Gear has been and gone and if you can’t wait for it to air on Foxtel’s Lifestyle Channel, here’s a quick recap. Tiff brings back the shoot-out, starting with Mazda’s revised RX-8 up against Nissan’s 350Z. Whoa, that beeping rev limiter on the RX-8 is just daft. Just as well the Zed is quicker, then. Tim Shaw—epic fail. ‘Nuff said. Vicki spent a day with Lewis Hamilton to see if she could find someone who loves Lewis more than James Allan. Jonny flashed £3K around to see what would be the best used motor on offer. He started with an E34 BMW M5, then toyed a Ford SportKa before deciding to keep half his money and buy a first gen Mazda MX-5. Plato fangs about in a new Porsche 911 GT2. Very tidy. Tom is let out in a Benz SL63 AMG and reckons the old one was better. The show ends with a Fifth Gear crash test. They used a Peugeot 306 Cabrio …  it was ugly! The crash results, not the car.

Categories
Peugeot

Family touring in a 308

Peugeot 308 Touring

Remember your old summer holidays, with a long family drive in scorching heat. Your dad’s big 308 would scream past the semis on the highway and you just knew when you grew up you wanted a a beefy 308 too! Well son, I’m sorry to tell you, things have changed a bit. Holden doesn’t make a 308 any more, it has turned into a 427—stone the flamin’ crows, that’s 7 litres—and you need to be a Russian oligarch to afford its fuel bill. Fear not, because Peugeot shared your dream and they have already given us a new worldy, grain-fed 308. Yes, a small European hatchback is now what the kids of today dream of, and their memories of summer holidays will not be of long highway drives, but trips to the solarium or to the latest organically approved market to pick up some lima bean fed yak milk, or something. And, as if it couldn’t get any better, Peugeot Australia, in a fit of family fury, has just announced their 308 Touring range. So you see, your 308 dream car can come alive once again. This time with as many as five are-we-nearly-there-yets in the back. Seven seats in all. Happy days indeed!

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Categories
Accessories & Tech

iPhone Apps – Dynolicious

Never heard of Dynolicious before? It’s an accelerometer-based performance meter that can measure your car’s 0-100 and quarter mile times, as well as make a reasonable guestimate at your car’s power if you punch in an accurate weight. It’s kind of like a G-Tech Pro, which retails for several hundred dollars. But, here’s the killer, Dynolicious is a piece of software that costs just AU$15.99, available through iTunes for use on your iPhone 3G or iPod Touch. If you already have the hardware then you’re miles in front compared to the G-Tech setup. But costing less than a lobster is Dynolicious any bloody good? US outfit Garage419 tested their R56 MINI Cooper S on a real dyno and then did a few runs at their local drag strip. Watch the clip above and see how the iPhone App fared.

Source: MotoringFile

Categories
Porsche

Will the 4 door Porsche Panamera be “too good”?

Porsche Panamer

According to a drive.com.au article the answer is yes! Porsche Cars Australia spokesman Paul Ellis was quoted as saying, “My understanding is that the car, from a performance point of view, has an issue in that it is almost too good … it has exceeded the benchmarks.” The iconic 911 must remain as the Porsche hero car, so will the first Porsche four door saloon have to be brought back a peg or two?

The Panamera is due for release at next year’s Geneva Motor Show and has been scheduled for Australian delivery in the latter half of 2009. Read the drive article in full by clicking HERE.

Categories
Audi

Audi unleashes 426kW RS6 sedan

Audi RS6 Avant

Audi have just unleashed the RS6 sedan. With the same 5-litre V10 twin turbo from the Avant, the engine produces a mammoth 426kW (580bhp) and this is one car that sure needs reigning in. Let’s not forget the 650Nm or torque, available from as low as 1500rpm. Epic! Australia’s first taste of this rocket ship is just weeks away with RS6 Avant deliveries expected in September, while the sedan will be in showrooms from the first quarter of 2009. The Avant has a list price of $259,000 and pricing for the sedan will be announced closer to local release.

Full release below, including more images.

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Categories
Audi

Audi R8 Spider seen unmasked at Nürburgring

Audi R8 Targa

NextAutos is reporting sightings of an Audi R8 Spider on roads near Germany’s famed Nürburgring. The Spider—although naming has not been confirmed—is believed to be available with the existing 4.2 litre V8 engine as well as the 5.0 litre V10, as the large tailpipes on these shots would indicate. The familiar side blades of the R8 hard top have been removed in the conversion to the soft top roof, but this certainly hasn’t lessened the eye candy appeal of the stunning R8. Expect to see an official release from Audi at the Geneva Motor Show in March 2009. Make sure you follow the link below to the NextAutos article, which has more images for your visual pleasure!

Source: NextAutos via autoblog

Categories
BMW

2009 BMW E90 3 Series

2009 BMW 3 Series

BMW’s most important model, the 3 Series, has recently been given a bit of a spring clean. And look at that, the lads in Munich still had a few extra crease lines in the back of their cupboards that needed some air. Good thing then, that, despite negative hype, BMW actually do know how to design a car. This mid cycle refresh has kept the 3 Series looking sharp, both figuratively and literally.

Other more obvious exterior changes included a revised headlight cluster, now with LED turn signals. The famous BMW kidney grille has been enlarged and better suits the reskinned bonnet lines. The lighting changes continue at the back, too, with a more L shaped design employed, fitting into a restyled boot detail.

Inside there is a reworked iDrive system, an 80GB hard drive for music storage, and perhaps more importantly, it can also be used for map storage to aid navigation capabilities. A few other minor cosmetic tweaks have been made, including a repositioning of window switchgear.

More detail can be read below in BMW Australia’s press release, including a full suite of photos. You’ll be able to see the new 3 Series range in Australia in early 2009.

Continue reading “2009 BMW E90 3 Series”