Categories
Lamborghini

Lamborghini Gallardo LP 570-4 Spyder Performante

Lamborghini Gallardo Spyder Performante

Lamborghini recently released information on its new Gallardo LP 570-4 Spyder Performante, the soft-top sibling of the Superleggerra. The Sant’Agata engineers have used plenty of Carbon Fibre Reinforced Plastic to help keep the weight down. This approach managed to shed 65kg and the final weight of the Spyder Performante is a respectable 1485kg.

The 5.2 litre V10 produces, as the name suggests, 570bhp (419kW) and can do the 100km/h dash in under four seconds. With a top speed of 324km/h (201mph) this is one rapid convertible. Might mess your hair up a bit, don’t you think!

More pics and full details from Lamborghini after the break. Make sure you take the time to appreciate the Alcantara interior. It’d probably be a bitch to live with long-term, but it is simply beautiful to look at.

Categories
Green Machines Porsche

Jay Leno on the Porsche 918 Spyder

Porsche 918 Spyder

AUSmotive is fast becoming Porsche 918 Spyder central; this is the fourth article on the hybrid hypercar inside one week after all. However, this close up look provided by Jay Leno is one of the best opportunities yet to get a good understanding of the 918’s finer details.

The chemistry between Jay and Porsche Design Chief Michael Mauer isn’t exactly electrifying, if you’ll pardon the pun. But the 8 minutes plus of footage available after the break is very easy watching if you’re a fan of the 918 Spyder.

Categories
Green Machines Porsche

New info on the Porsche 918 Spyder

Porsche 918 Spyder

In late July word came through that Porsche had signed off on production for the stunning 918 Spyder with hybrid drive. Now a prototype 918 is touring the United States. It is understood the car will be on show in California and Florida only.

A series of images apparently taken before the California event have been posted on the Teamspeed forums. Along with the pics came some interesting info that, while it may turn out to be 100% accurate, it’s probably best to treat the following with some reservation.

Production is expected to be somewhere around 1000-2000 vehicles. The current 3.4 litre V8 may have its capacity increased to something like 3.6 litres in a bid to find even more power. There will probably just be the one transmission option for the 918 Spyder, too, a double-clutch PDK unit.

Currently the show car, reportedly worth a cool US$20 million, is an all carbon-fibre body. However, it is likely some panels on the final version will be made from aluminium to help comply with safety regulations.

Inside, the trick touch screen centre console will stay; a first for Porsche. It’s also believed that Porsche want to keep the side wing mirror cameras, with their display shown in the main instrument cluster.

For the outside the massive 22″ inch wheels are likely to be reduced for the production version. Some minor revisions to the rear bumper assembly are expected for practical purposes. It is uncertain if the very cool side exit exhaust tips will make it to production.

There are a number of pics after the break and you can follow the link below for larger sizing and more information.

[Source: Teamspeed]

Categories
Green Machines Porsche

918 Spyder set to become most expensive Porsche ever

Porsche 918 Spyder

The Porsche 918 Spyder now has around 2000 expressions of interest. Last we heard the count was at 900 or so, just 100 short of the minimum number Porsche required to build the hybrid brute; offering a 500bhp 3.4 litre V8 and a 230bhp electric motor.

Now that it looks more likely than not that the 918 Spyder will go into full production, speculation has centred around its pricing. How does €500,000 sound? That’s almost three quarters of a million dollars in Aussie notes. Supposedly that figure comes direct from people with intimate knowledge of the 918 Spyder program. If the rumours are right, that would make the 918 the most expensive car sold by the Stuttgart company.

I’ll take two, thanks.

[Source: Bloomberg]

Categories
Porsche

Quick review of the quick Porsche Boxster Spyder

Porsche Boxster Spyder Here’s another video review of the Porsche Boxster Spyder. It’s a 90-second effort with thanks to Autocar. It’s no surprise that the result is quite promising. It’s also no surprise the manual roof cops some criticism. Check out the clip below.

Categories
Green Machines Porsche

If Porsche builds it, they will buy it

Porsche 918 Spyder

The wonderful looking Porsche 918 Spyder which debuted at the Geneva Motor Show in March is one step closer to reality according to a report published by Bloomberg.

Speaking last week at Auto China in Beijing, Wolfgang Duerheimer, Porsche development boss, said, “I’m confident that we will soon reach the threshold of 1,000. We need 1,000 seriously interested people to make a sound business case.”

Porsche say they already have 900 expressions of interest so I guess this one is done and dusted. Lock in the 918 Spyder for series production and look for it a Porsche dealer near you in the next year or so.

All that’s left to be answered is how green is a car that offers up a maximum of 730bhp, but only has a full zero emissions range of 25km? To be fair, the hybrid powered 918 can achieve a fuel consumption rating of 3l/100km when tested against latest Euro standards. And CO2 emissions from the same test are as low as 70g/km. Yeah, go on, I’d have one too.

Although, perhaps a bigger question remains; will a variation of the 918’s 3.4 litre V8 ever find its way into a 911 chassis? Nah, that’d never happen, would it?

[Source: Bloomberg.com]

Categories
Porsche

Porsche Boxster Spyder image gallery

Porsche Boxster Spyder

The Porsche Boxster Spyder is a car well worth waiting for. Start with a razor sharp Boxster S, give the 3.4 litre flat six a bit of a nudge to 235kW, knock 80kg off its weight, bringing it down to 1275kg, and you can see why the Spyder is worth the wait. The good news is, it won’t be too long before the car is in customer’s hands.

Helping build the anticipation is a new suite of images and press material from Porsche UK. It’s reasonably detailed, too, listing a number of the weight saving measures taken by Porsche engineers. For example, the fuel tanks has been reduced to 54 litres, down from 64 litres, which saves 7kg. Take a few more steps like this, and you soon have you 80kg.

The goodies can be found after the jump.

UPDATE 27 March: Over 40 new images added!

Categories
Audi Motor Shows

Geneva: Audi R8 Spyder V10

Audi R8 Spyder V10

As part of their Geneva Motor Show program Audi have released some new press images of their stunning R8 Spyder V10 5.2 FSI. It’s a pretty nice looking car, so let’s take a look at what they’ve got to show.

You can check them out after the jump, remember all images are available in wallpaper-friendly 2000px super image sizing by simply clicking on the pic you like. For more detail on this 386kW velvet sledgehammer, take a look back at the info posted when the R8 Spyder was launched at last year’s Frankfurt Motor Show.

Categories
Motor Shows Porsche

Geneva: Porsche 918 Spyder with hybrid drive

Porsche 918 Spyder

Just a couple of months after Porsche CEO Michael Macht declared they didn’t want hybrid technology in their sportscars comes this superb looking 918 Spyder concept model. Announced at the Geneva Motor Show, the 918 Spyder features a race-inspired 500hp V8 and is supplemented by 230hp of electric power.

The 918  joins the GT3 R Hybrid announced last month. Add in the Cayenne S Hybrid and you now have three Porsche model lines featuring hybrid technology.

Back to the 918 Spyder, though, and, well it is clearly the most stunning of the trio. All that power is said to propel the car to 100km/h in around 3.2 seconds. Proving further that hybrid doesn’t mean slow and steady wins the race, the 918 can (supposedly) lap the Nürburgring Nordschleife in under 7 minutes 30 seconds. Faster than a Carrera GT, no less.

When you’re not exploiting all that power, Porsche reckon you can return a fuel consumption figure of 3l/100km with CO2 emissions of just 70g/km.

Pretty tidy numbers all round for a mid-engined two-seater with a very tasty 3.4-litre V8 from the RS Spyder racecar.

Check the pics and press release after the jump.

UPDATE 3 March: Two new “next spark” promo videos featuring the Porsche 918 Spyder have been added below.

UPDATE 29 July: Porsche have confirmed the 918 will go into limited series production.

Categories
Audi

If you only give it a chance

Audi R8 Spyder

Audi tv is currently teasing its viewers with this evocative clip showcasing the R8 Spyder V10. You can see the clip for yourself after the jump. Fortunately they didn’t use a car painted in that horrible brown colour.

Categories
Lamborghini Motor Shows

Gallardo LP560-4 drops its top down under

Lamborghini Gallardo LP560-4 Spyder

The Lamborghini stand at the 75th Melbourne International Motor Show, which starts next week, is going to be a good one. Making its Australian debut will be the Gallardo LP560-4 Spyder. The Gallardo is one of the finest looking supercars money can currently buy, if not the finest. And in soft top form it is just divine. That being the case, then, the sound from its 5.2 litre V10 is like divine intervention. It truly is a message from God!

With a lighter transmission, a reworked V10 engine, new suspension and updated all-wheel-drive system the LP560-4 Spyder can sprint to 100km/h in just four seconds flat. It has a top speed of 324km/h, and to keep Bob Brown happy, has dropped its fuel consumption by 18 per cent and reduced its CO2 emissions to boot.

Joining the Spyder on the Lambo stand will be the Gallardo coupé and the Murcielago LP640. The motor show’s Historic Tribute display will show off supercar royalty in the form of a 1960s Miura. I’m not sure the profile of any supercar has bettered the classic lines of this work of absolute perfection.

If you’re heading to show, make sure you check out the best Sant’Agata has to offer. I doubt you will be disappointed.

More pics after the jump. To download the press document from the 2008 LA Auto Show, including full specs; right click, save as HERE (100kb PDF).