Want to see more Lamborghini Murciélago images like this? Then head on over to My Car Portal where you will find ten pics in all. Photography duties were handled by William Stern and I have to say, he’s done a pretty good job, too.
[Source: My Car Portal]
Images of a prototype BMW M5 have been appearing all over the web lately and Autoblog has new set of images showing the car with a bit less camouflage than earlier pics. Based on the F10 5 Series the next-gen M5 should debut, in pre-porduction form at least, at the Paris Motor Show in October.
Expect the super saloon to be powered by a twin-turbo V8 with near on 600bhp. Already we’ve seen a similar engine in the X5 M, so with more development and a few extra tweaks the folk at M should have no problems in finding a few extra horses hidden in the couch.
[Source: Autoblog]
Vicki-Butler Henderson has got her hands on the Porsche Boxster Spyder for the benefit of her Fifth Gear Web TV audience. Even better she took it to the track and gave a jolly good spanking. She reckons the car has a fantastic chassis, but is it worth the extra cash over the regular Boxster S?
Check out the video after the jump to find out.
[Thanks to Wayne for the tip]
Apologies for what has to be one of the cheesiest and least successful puns ever on AUSmotive, but, well, those white socks don’t leave a lot to work with. Stand back, though, and you see those white feet belong to the late, great Ayrton Senna. He is at the wheel of the Honda NS-X and is flogging the bejeezus out of it around the Suzuka race track. Got your attention now?
You can see the clip after the jump and learn the art of sportiv driving from the master. Speaking of which, note the Yoda-like inspection of the car prior to Senna’s drive, and the amount of cameras capturing his svelte moves prior to heading out on the track.
Actually, Senna’s mid-corner throttle modulation is very interesting to watch.
[via Steve Pizzati]
A pre-release Porsche 911 GT2 update has recently been spotted during testing on the Nürburgring Nordschleife. According to reports the next GT2 will use the same 390kW 3.8 litre flat six from the Turbo S. However the GT2 should weigh in a bit lighter than the Turbo S, so expect an improvement on the 0-100 time of 3.3 seconds. A small improvement, I guess.
You can see from the pic above that the front spoiler is changed over previous GT2 (see image below), with a more aggressive look, with rearranged LEDs allowing the car to gobble up more air. The GT2’s rear wing appears to be left untouched. With any luck we might see this car revealed, along with official details and specs, at the Paris Motor Show in October.
[Source: Autoblog]
UPDATE: More GT2 gossip over at Motor Trend. Thanks to Matt for the tip.
UPDATE #2: According to Dale over at Bridge to Gantry the GT2 will lose around 100kg to tip the scales 1300kg and have 600bhp, or more. Nice!
Below is a brief press release from my UK rounds. It’s from Auto Windscreens and explains how the latest car designs are using more and more glass in manufacturing. In turn this is having an effect on replacement costs and insurance premiums.
Nigel Davies, Auto Windscreens Sales and Marketing Director, explains, “Windscreens of standard production cars are becoming increasingly sophisticated as designers seek to improve aerodynamic efficiency, driving comfort and safety, as well as appearance which, unfortunately, is hitting the pocket of the modern motorist.”
For example, according to Auto Windscreens the costs of windscreens in three popular models has increased by an average of 59%; BMW 5 Series up 50%, Ford Mondeo up 59%, Volkswagen Golf as much as 68%.
It might pay to look into the cost of your car’s windscreen replacement next time you’re assessing your insurance options.
Peugeot will take part in its first Nürburgring 24 hour race next month. To help boost the launch of their RCZ coupé the French marque will enter two cars featuring 147kW 2.0 litre turbo diesel engines.
There will be one team of French drivers (car #200) and a team of German drivers (#201). The numbers represent Peugeot’s 200th anniversary.
Doing burnouts on public roads is bad, m’kay. Just ask Lewis Hamilton. But burning a bit of rubber on a street that is blocked off and surrounded by advertising hoardings is just fine and dandy. Good thing, then, that a couple of the Audi DTM pilots obliged at last weekend’s 2010 season launch in Wiesbaden, Germany.
Timo Scheider, Oliver Jarvis and Mattias Ekström are the guys behind the wheel and you can check out their handiwork after the break.
[Source: quattroholic]
Euro wagons are cool, it’s the AUSmotive edict, and this snazzy new Shooting Break Concept from Mercedes is no exception. Inspired by the F 800 SRV, SLS ‘Gullwing’ and the 2008 ConceptFASCINATION the “four-door Coupé CLS” is set to make its public debut at the 2010 Beijing Auto Show.
Under the bonnet is a next-generation 3.5 litre V6 which pumps out 225kW (306bhp) and 370Nm of torque. There’s full LED headlights, as is the style these days and there’s even a special storage compartment in the back for your golf balls. Brilliant!
Mercedes reckon what you see here paves the way for their future design language, which means we should be seeing some very sharp looking Benzes in showrooms near you in the not too distant future.
Plenty of pics and a brief video can be seen after the jump.
Following written reports of the Audi RS5 from Autocar and Car and Driver come these five videos filmed by motoring hacks at the RS5 press launch, held at the Ascari Race Resort in Spain. There’s a mix of aggressive and timid on track action, as well as some footage filmed on the fun looking winding roads near the Ascari track.
As far as the handling and performance of the RS5 goes not a lot is given away in the clips that follow, suffice to say the car does seem quite well balanced, its 4.2 litre V8 sounds pretty nice and the 7-speed S tronic does seem willing to bounce of the rev limiter, rather than forcing the driver to endure an unwanted upshift.
If nothing else you get a pretty good idea of the elevation changes on the track layout used for the launch. You also get to see some not so special overtaking moves on a public road.
UPDATE 21 April: Better make that SIX videos—a new clip filmed on public roads has been added below.
The Volkswagen Scirocco R, one of AUSmotive’s favourite cars, is set to feature in a new one make series to support the DTM category in Germany. To help kick things off for the first round at Hockenheim this weekend five motorsport legends will participate in the racing action. Names such as Derek Bell, Frank Biela, Martin Brundle, Jacques Lafitte and Carlos Sainz will take to the track in the 275bhp race-prepped Sciroccos.
The horsepower legends will be a series within a series during the full nine race Scirocco Cup and Volkswagen will invite five new legends for each race. It’s a similar approach to the Uber-Star Car concept used in the Australian MINI Challenge.
In all 25 cars will take to the track for the Scirocco Cup with 20 regular drivers competing for either the Junior Cup or Pro Cup, depending on their previous motorsport experience. As the Hockenheim round Frank Biela will be competing against his own daughter, Isabella, who is one of the Junior Cup entrants for 2010. A father and daughter competing against each other in the same race, can’t say that happens every day!
The other headline feature of the Scirocco Cup category is its use of bio natural gas fuel which reduces the CO2 emissions of the field by around 80%. Clean, green motor racing, then. This new series is a further development on the two Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) Sciroccos that took part in the 2009 Nürburgring 24 hour race.
Based on the Scirocco R road car the race car uses a push-to-pass system that offers drivers shorts bursts of extra power. In standard trim the Scriocco Cup car produces 165kW (down from the road car’s 195kW), but the push-to-pass system boosts power up to 202kW. The system can be used strategically to initiate or defend overtaking moves.
Until we see a Scirocco on Australian shores—and there is at least one on its way—the Scirocco Cup provides great exposure for one of Volkswagen’s best looking models in their current line up. More pics and press releases follow below.
US website Left Lane News has some great spy pics of a new MINI John Cooper Works prototype. It’s understood sales of the flagship JCW model have been below expectations and to help put things right MINI plans to make the model more attractive to buyers.
One angle MINI has chosen to tackle the issue is to give the bodywork a once over to make it more unique against the regular MINI range. You can see from the image above that there are plans for a rear diffuser which is heavily inspired by the MINI Challenge racecars. The camouflage also indicates changes to the side skirts and front end spoiler are also in the pipeline. It is expected this new aero-kit will be factory-fitted for MY11 JCW models.
MotoringFile expects power for the JCW to be up slightly to around 215bhp (160kW) with efficiency improvements of around 10%, as well. MF also tells us production is expected to start in September and the car will be on display at the Paris Motor Show in October.
There’s plenty of pics in the Left Lane News article, so make sure you check them out.
[Source: Left Lane News via MotoringFile]