Categories
BMW

Baby M confirmed for 2nd quarter 2011

BMW 1 Series M spy shot

A bit more news on the 1 Series-based M car, which has now been confirmed for release in the second quarter of next year. Dr Kay Seglar, head of BMW M GmbH, has also ruled out the M1 badge for this model. This will please the purists wanting to protect the history of BMW’s 1970s M1 supercar.

Which leads to the question of what will this entry level M rocket be called? The best guess now seems to favour a 135i M badge, but other possibilities include 1 M, 135 M and 135tii.

[Source: auto-news.de via BimmerFile]

Categories
Volkswagen

Volkswagen Golf R ready to make a splash

Volkswagen Golf R

The eagerly awaited Volkswagen Golf R is not far from its official Australian launch. AUSmotive understands it will take place in about two weeks from now.

Further evidence of the Golf R’s imminent release came via email announcing a new Golf R dashboard—it’s fancy RSS reader basically. When you customise yours, make sure you add AUSmotive to your list.

Other news confirming the Golf R is not far away is given in the small print of Volkswagen’s current end of financial year sale. For the Golf and Tigian range VW are currently picking up the tab for all on road costs. Obviously the sale ends on 30 June and the fine print reads, in part, “Promotion excludes Golf Wagon, Golf R & Golf GTD”. So, we’ll definitely be seeing the R and GTD before the end of the month.

Back in March AUSmotive brought you the first pics of a Golf R in Australia after it had docked in Fremantle. Expected specs for the 188kW hot hatch surfaced at the same time. It seems the only thing we don’t know is the price. Although, we’ve been told they will come in under MkV R32 pricing.

For those buyers in waiting, and fans of the R alike, here are 15 new images from the Volkswagen UK press archives. Click on the pics to launch wallpaper-friendly 2000px super images.

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Categories
MINI

MINI Cooper S facelift spotted

MY11 MINI Cooper S facelift

MINI is about to give its bread and butter model range a bit of a spruce up. While development cars have been spotted in the past these pics from Auto Express give us the best look yet at the 2011 spec MINI which is close to production.

The car photographed is the Cooper S model and you can see at the front the lower grille has some new intakes—which offer increased cooling to the front brakes. It is understood buyers will be able to option a Chrome Line package which would see those new intakes have the brightwork shown in these pics. If you’re a real trainspotter you might even notice the headlight cluster has had a minor tweak as well.

Round the back of the car (see pics below) more chrome trim has been added to the lower skirting to match the front. While this car is mostly undisguised there is still some tape covering the rear tail lights. Likely to be hiding the expected LED lighting detail.

From the side on view you also get a good look at the new Cooper S alloy wheels. Euro customers should be seeing these changes in their MINI Garages around August. That means we’ll probably have to wait until September-October here in Australia.

As always more detail on the latest MINI news can be read over at MotoringFile.

[Source: Auto Express]

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Categories
Lancia

We can be heroes

Lancia Delta Integrale

Over at Evo there’s a nice story from Stephen Dobie about meeting his automotive hero. In this case it was the iconic and super, super awesome Lancia Delta HF Integrale. It’s a car that I have yearned for as well. Somehow or other Lancia arranged a mish-mash of awkward boxes to create one of the coolest cars of its era.

What they also made was one of the most effective rally weapons ever produced. And in those Martini Racing colours, well, it just doesn’t get any better than that.

So, what is the Lancia actually like to drive. Today, in the 21st century?

According to Dobie, “It’s slow (my Clio long-termer felt like a rocket on the return trip home), it has no brakes (there was a ‘disconcerting’ moment approaching my first roundabout…) and its list of idiosyncrasies is hilariously long. Not being able to read the speedo no matter how I positioned the seat was a highlight.”

But in true hero fashion those idiosyncrasies weren’t enough to deter him from drawing this conclusion, “Yep, it’s flawed, but it’s fantastic. I’ve met my hero, and I love it.”

I’ve been through a similar process recently after the purchase of a 1980 Mk1 Golf GTI. I hold the same opinion as Dobie, too, that my hero in a modern day context makes little sense. But as a driving experience it rewards like no modern car can. So, leave your thoughts in the comments section below, and tell us what is your automotive hero? One that, if it were for sale today, you would consider buying.

[Source: Evo]

Categories
Aston Martin

FOR SALE: The world’s coolest car

James Bond's Aston Martin DB5

Here at AUSmotive HQ we rate the Aston Martin DB5 from the James Bond films as the world’s coolest car. The allure of the Aston Martin marque and classic 1960s styling coupled with the Q-branch gadgets make it so. Soon, for the first time in over 40 years you will have a chance to buy the car.

Up for sale is the sole remaining example from two DB5s used during the filming of Goldfinger and Thunderball starring Sean Connery. It will go up for auction in late October at RM Auction’s annual “Automobiles of London” sale.

Amercian radio broadcaster Jerry Lee is the current owner and has held possession of the DB5 since he persuaded Aston Martin to sell him the car back in 1969 for the princely sum of $12,000. Mr Lee intends to use the proceeds of the sale for his Jerry Lee Foundation charity, which targets social problems associated with poverty.

“The James Bond car has brought me much enjoyment for some 40 years,” said Jerry Lee. “Even as I sell it and use the proceeds to fund the Jerry Lee Foundation, the car will continue to give me great pleasure as it furthers the mission of the Foundation to do good around the world.”

So, there you have it. Your chance to buy one of the world’s most desirable cars and do a good deed at the same time. Who knows, buy this car and you might even meet Pussy Galore.

Full press release after the break.

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Categories
Formula 1 Red Bull Racing

Webber talks Turkey

Mark Webber

One of the drawbacks of being an F1 driver is the constant demand for feeding the media machine. I’m sure the last thing Mark Webber wanted to on Sunday night was talk about the events of that race earlier in the day. But that’s what he did and the video from the Red Bull website can be seen after the jump.

As well as the video Webber has also filed a report for his regular column in the Daily Telegraph. Webber is keen to sort things out with Vettel and move on, “Seb and I will sit down and have a chat about it because we need to avoid costly slip-ups like this in the future. We’ll probably have a difference of opinion about what happened on Sunday until we go to our graves, but we’re both adults and we need to find a way of racing together that doesn’t compromise the team.

“If we’d been fighting for 18th and 19th positions when this accident occurred, no one would have cared; as it was, we were fighting for the lead and it’s all anyone wants to know about.”

Also posted to the Red Bull website is a new Q&A article with Christian Horner. It’s pretty much the cleared propaganda version of events. A situation perfectly highlighted by this response to a question asking why Webber was blamed for the crash, “Ultimately we win as a team and we lose as a team and on Sunday we lost as a team, as a result of our two drivers having an incident. Having looked at all the information it’s clear that it was a racing accident that shouldn’t have happened between two team-mates. After looking at all the facts that weren’t available immediately after the race, Dr. Marko also fully shares this view.”

Talk about saying a lot without actually saying anything. Included after the video below is an open letter from Mr Horner.

One thing is clear, Webber has generally handled himself with dignity in the aftermath of the Turkish Grand Prix. For his sake, let’s hope a good result in Canada will have the F1 world talking about the good things he and the Red Bull Racing team can achieve.

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Categories
Citroen

VIDEO: Citroën C4 MkII

Citroen C4 MkII

Following the first look at the new C4 MkII this morning, Citroën have released this video of the C4 which shows the car from a variety of angles. What do you think? Do you reckon The European would actually buy this one.

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Categories
Citroen

First look at the 2011 Citroën C4

Citroen C4

Citroën have revealed these first images of the new C4 MkII. The new model is set for a full reveal at the Paris Motor Show in September. Australian buyers will be able to get their first taste of the new C4 around this time next year.

They’ve rounded off the edges of the old C4 and come up with quite a smart looking car. Based on these pics anyway. The interior, too, has a quality look about it. Let’s not mention the wheels, though. They have a certain a la Tempe about them.

Okay, overall maybe the look of the C4 is a bit on the safe side. On paper, at least, it works and presents a credible option to buyers that can sit alongside the class leaders. We’ll be better placed to judge after the Paris Motor Show.

More after the break.

UPDATE: More new pics have been added below.

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Categories
Audi

Eye pad

Audi TT

Audi have recently given the TT a bit of a spruce up. You know, the usual mid-cycle facelift stuff—a tweak of a front grille here, some new interior trim there and a few improvements in the engine range. Nothing spectacular, but worthwhile changes all the same.

This video runs through the model enhancements. There’s some new wheels and new colours, too. Just make sure you keep a look out for those eyes as Audi pads out their marketing script!

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Categories
Ferrari Formula 1 Lotus McLaren Mercedes-Benz Red Bull Racing Renault

2010 Turkish Grand Prix in pictures

2010 Turkish Grand Prix

There’s been plenty of talk about this race, thanks to the Vettel-Webber incident. Maybe it’s now time to take Vettel on his word when he says, “There is no fight. This is something that happens. We do not need it but there is nothing we can do now.”

Similarly, Christian Horner has told Autosport he is going to bash the heads of Vettel and Webber together and make sure they bury the hatchet before the next race, “The most important thing, and I have had this situation before with drivers in different formulas, is to get issues out into the open, deal with them and that is exactly what we will do here.

“There is no animosity between the drivers. They are both competitive. They are both hungry animals, and it is down to us to ensure that they learn from this and it doesn’t happen again.”

Oh, that’s right, in case you missed it, Lewis Hamilton won the race and pictures of him and plenty of others can be seen after the jump.

Who else is looking forward to the Canadian Grand Prix in two weeks time? I can’t wait to see what happens next.

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Categories
Formula 1 Red Bull Racing

Red Bull Racing: Trouble in paradise?

Red Bull Racing - Turkish GP crash

Before the events of the Turkish Grand Prix you could be excused for thinking life at Red Bull Racing was akin to a motoring paradise. The RB6 has granted the team pole position in all of the seven races to date. In all of those races, for the most part, the team has had a winning opportunity. Either reliability or pit wall strategy has cost them the ultimate prize in fifty per cent of the results achieved. Until now.

As you can see from this image captured during yesterday’s Turkish Grand Prix the two Red Bull Racing drivers collided. And for Vettel, on the right, that meant instant retirement from the race. Webber quickly went to the pits for a new nose cone and some new tyres and was able to continue to racing. He finished third behind the McLarens of Lewis Hamilton and Jenson Button. The 15 points earned by Webber takes him to a total of 93 and gives him an outright lead in the title race.

So what went wrong? Were there any issues in the build up to this unnecessary accident, or was it simply a “racing incident”?

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Categories
Citroen The European

The European: Do as I say, not as I do

AUSmotive.com - The European
Citroen BX GTi

I really like Citröens. A lot. And even when they were mundane and faceless. Way back when the DS was something even your dad had forgotten about and they’d long since done everything they could to make their cars as conformist as KRudd. The thing is, during this period they actually turned out some hidden gems. Gems like the BX GTi, a car that really had the whole everything-you’d-ever-need-from-one-car all wrapped up. (Addendum to my last note to Audi: So you don’t have to spin off 452 body styles from the A4 platform of decreasing marginal distinction, how about getting one just right instead? Ask the French for advice.)

The GTi in 16 valve form had 119kW and could meet 100km/h in the mid 7s, which is frankly not slow. And, yet, it rode like the proverbial magic carpet. In all reality this is what you actually want from a car, right? To feel like suspension design has evolved past the antiquity of the horse and cart. Plus, the Gallic charmer could slip around a twisty back road with alacrity. It even raced, and raced well, at Bathurst – confirming their advertising slogan, “Built for driving, not for garages”.

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