Here’s the second and final part of our 2012 Geneva Motor Show photo gallery, featuring manufacturers from L–Z (well V actually). Highlights include the Aventador J pictured above along with a reappearance of the stylish Mazda Takeri concept. The awesome Pagani Huayra is also on show, check the raw carbon fibre model, it looks sublime. Oh, we’d love to hear what you think of the Valmet Automotive Dawn, if it was a person it would no doubt be referred to as one weird cat.
After a couple of days for press previews the doors to the 2012 Geneva Motor Show are about to be opened to the public. Figuring you probably can’t make it we’re bringing you our biggest photo gallery ever. That’s right, there’ll be over 200 images from the floor of Geneva for you to enjoy.
We’ve kept things varied and ensured there’s dream cars, like the Ferrari F12berlinetta and Lamborghini Aventador J, as well as everyday stuff like the new Audi A3 and the Subaru Impreza Hatch. Then there’s the Valmet Automotive Dawn. We’re not quite sure what that is and you’ll see it in part 2 of our gallery, to be added later today.
After the break you can enjoy the first installment where we’ve taken an alphabetical approach and presented manufacturers from A–K.
Word comes through this morning that Bruton Smith, CEO of Speedway Motorsports in the United States, is having discussions to build an exact duplicate of the “Newboogring”. In a radio interview Smith said, “we’re being asked by Germans and what not to build, or duplicate if you would, the Nürburgring.”
The location would most likely be within a 10 mile radius of the Las Vegas Motor Speedway. Smith revealed, “the proposal came up about three years ago.”
“We’re going to have a little bit of a meeting here with the Governor and if the state of Nevada, if they really want it, then we’re going to out there and build a copy of the Nürburgring,” he added.
According to Smith the Bureau of Land Management is prepared to donate 8000 acres for the project. “If we get a go on this thing, well I’ll have engineers in Germany, we’ll do a lot of studying and photographing, aerial topography, and come up with everything exact,” he explained.
Smith says part of the motivation comes from the manufacturers who want to have a Nordschelife they can use throughout the year, with fewer impediments from snow and inclement weather.
At the moment no motor racing is planned for the Nevadaring—or should that be the Vegaschliefe—it would be used mostly for manufacturer testing, although it would also be open to the public much like Touristenfahrten days. But, if it does get built, you’d have to think it would only be a matter of time before competition took place.
So, what do you reckon, could this work?
[Source: Jalopnik]
Last November Danish ace Allan Simonsen set a new official lap record around Mount Panorama in Bathurst. Simonsen’s record mark is 2:04.956 and was set at the wheel of the Maranello Motorsport Ferrari 458 GT3.
Just a couple of weeks ago Simonsen was at it again when he took the same car to a new official race lap record in the Bathurst 12 Hour with a time of 2:06.3311. No V8Supercar has beaten either of those times.
After the break you can watch onboard footage of Simonsen’s 2:04 lap.
[Thanks to Stephen for the tip]
Back in January Porsche revealed the first official photos and information on its all-new Boxster. However, Porsche had always planned to wait until the Geneva Motor Show for the roadster to make its public debut.
There’s no new press material, so we’ve repeated the text from January for you after the break. There are a few new press photos and also a short video from the launch in Geneva.
Bernhard Maier, Sales and Marketing board member sums it up best: “Driving experience, on a winding road, on a Sunday morning. The sun is shining. Good music, the best music is coming from the Boxster itself, the motor. That seems to be one of the perfect days in my life.”
One final thing, imagine how much better the Boxster will look when it’s not in gold or brown paint!
Given our coverage of the Geneva Motor Show so far you could be forgiven for thinking it’s little more than a hot hatch playground. But we’re here to show you how the other half live. Actually, it’s probably more like half of the other half. If that; you get the point. Which brings us to the Rolls-Royce Phantom Series II.
Taking the company’s motto of “Take the best that exists and make it betterâ€, CEO Torsten Müller-Ötvös has overseen a compete makeover of the entire Phantom range. That includes the standard Phantom Saloon—if there’s such a thing as a standard Roller—the Coupé, the Drophead Coupé and the Extended Wheelbase models.
“Today I am delighted to present Phantom Series II, a family of models that feature significant improvements in design, drive-train and technology,” said Torsten Müller-Ötvös. “As a consequence of these changes, we will continue to present with pride the best motor cars in the world, which re-confirm Rolls-Royce’s position at the very pinnacle of the ultra-luxury goods marketplace.â€
Who are we to argue.
Actually, we’d never paid too much attention to the Phantom Coupé before. Maybe its suicide doors are a bit silly, maybe they’re the most practical doors on the market. Who knows, what we do know is the Coupé has a uniqueness about it that makes it quite cool. We’ll let you fight over the other models.
There’s a short press release, a heap of photos and a couple of videos for you after the break. If you had to choose a location to shoot promo videos for the Phantom Series II do you reckon the Ascari race track would be on the top of your list? Anyway, make sure you take the time to watch the second clip. It’s quite long and is an assortment of clips probably not designed for YouTube use, but there’s some quite interesting footage from the production lines towards the end.
A while back I arranged with a mate in Melbourne to test his 997 Porsche 911 GT3 for AUSmotive. Then, a couple of weeks before I arrived he did something stupid and traded it in. True story! But it’s okay, because he managed to come up with what I soon discovered was a worthy substitute. As the title suggests it was a 911 Carrera GTS.
Only thing was, I was sworn to secrecy for a time, for a number of reasons which I shan’t bore you with here. The test took place late at night, actually it was probably early morning, and it was all a bit The Fast and the Furious. It was quite exciting. And that’s even before I’d set eyes on the car.
You see, due in part to being based in Canberra, it’s not that easy for AUSmotive to arrange access to press cars. You also have to remember that this humble website isn’t exactly the first thought that comes to mind of those handing out the keys. Least of all the no doubt lovely and sincere folk at Porsche Cars Australia. (Do you think they’re reading?) So, with grace and great appreciation I have to strike when opportunity presents.
Enough background, time to share. This test would be my first 911 experience. Indeed, it was my first Porsche experience. I was anxious, excited and just a little bit nervous.
Back in January we gave you the inside word that the 160kW 125i was going to be added to the BMW Australia range. Well, now they’ve made it official by releasing a press statement to that effect.
The 125i will be available from March production. Well that’s now, but you’ll need to allow at least 6–8 weeks to get yourself a build slot and then have your fancy new car shipped to Australia.
As expected, pricing starts at $45,700 and until the M135i turns from concept into reality this will be the most powerful F20 1 Series you can buy. Add that to the fact the 125i sends all of its power to the rear wheels and the only stumbling block left is working out if you can deal with its rather unique looks.
Also confirmed by BMW Australia is the availability of the M Sport Package, which costs $5385 and can be added to the 118i, 118d and 125i. But you already knew that too.
The asking price for the M Sport package may seem a tad high, but it does offer M Sports suspension, sports seats, M leather Steering wheel, M aerodynamics kit, 18†M light alloy wheels and more.
Last month Australians signed off on 85,723 new vehicle sales, that’s almost 5000 more than February last year. A bit over half of all vehicles sold were classified as passenger cars. Fair enough. But around one quarter, that’s one in every four sales, is now an SUV. Shame on you people!
FCAI Chief Executive, Ian Chalmers is just happy that punters are splashing their cash. “The SUV market has clearly made a strong connection with auto customers by meeting their diverse needs,” he said. “This is demonstrated by overall SUV sales being up 23.8 per cent (4,505) since last month and 26.6 per cent (9,578) compared with February last year.”
Toyota was miles ahead of its nearest competitor, Holden, on the overall sales charts. While Mazda is having a turn as the third best seller nation wide, a position that generally rotates between them, Ford and Hyundai.
We interrupt our Geneva-based programming to bring you 380kW of fury. If you’ve seen the latest ep of Top Gear you’ll know that Clarkson didn’t rate the Mercedes-Benz C63 Coupé AMG Black. Well, bah humbug to him; we wish we were one of the lucky 32.
Like us, if you want to wallow in self pity here’s a clip showing the C63 Black getting all sorts of angry around the famed Laguna Seca race track in California. Make sure you turn the volume up, okay.
[Thanks to James for the tip]
Vauxhall has just announced details of its aggressive new Astra VXR. In coupé form they have stated clearly they want the VXR to tackle the Volkswagen Scirocco R and Renault Megane RS 250 head on.
Making a good start in that battle is the VXR’s 2.0 litre turbocharged engine which produces 280PS (206kW) and 400Nm. That’s more than either of the German or French weapons.
The Astra VXR is based on the GTC but has been tuned with a view to sharper performance. A mechanical limited slip diff (remember them) and Brembo brakes make the biggest contributions. Also tweaked is Vauxhall’s adaptive FlexRide system. A standard old Sport button is not enough for this car, it has a VXR button as well. Essentially they’ve turned the damper, throttle and steering control up to 11.
They’ve taken a similar approach with the wheels by running 20″ rims as standard. A more aggressive bodykit completes the look.
On paper and in pictures this Astra VXR sounds and looks quite appealing. If you like it, best start nagging Opel Australia and help them build a case to bring the car down under.
UPDATE: Thanks to the super attentive staff at Opel Australia we can share their hopes for the Astra VXR: “As an Opel (as opposed to a Vauxhall) it would be part of the OPC range. We won’t be bringing OPCs to Australia for our launch this year, however we are chasing it for next year—not confirmed yet but we are hopeful.” Sounds promising.
Have you ever thought you couldn’t buy a Volkswagen Amarok because it didn’t suit your freestyle kayaking lifestyle? If you said yes, then you’re in luck, because VW has come up with a concept model just for you.
Dr Wolfgang Schreiber, Head of Development at Volkswagen Commercial Vehicles, explains, “We are using this extreme concept to illustrate one of the many diverse uses of the Amarok. By tuning its design to an extreme sport, we are bringing the original DNA of the Amarok into focus.â€
The Amarok Canyon concept is both taller and wider than a standard Amarok. But, more importantly, Volkswagen knows how much extreme kayakers cherish their colour palettes. As a result this concept has been finished off in exotic “Baladi Orange” paint. Due to the Canyon’s increased ride height there are electrically operated tread plates which lower when stationary to make it easier to step down from the car.
Hmm, so these extreme kayakers love their pretty colours but they can’t step down an extra 40mm without assistance. Are we really getting the full picture?
Extreme power is provided by a gnarly 132kW/400Nm 2.0 TDI. And you can be sure you’ll reach your destination thanks to the switchable 4motion system.
At least the two carbon fibre kayaks in the back are pretty cool.