The Alfa Romeo 4C Concept was one of the clear stars of the 2011 Geneva Motor Show. So most readers will be pleased to see this short film released by Alfa showing the preparation of the 4C prior to the show.
To refresh your memory the 4C has the madness of a KTM X-Bow under the skin, enveloped by a series of stunning Behind the driver’s seat rests 150kW of turbocharged power, which sounds modest until you realise there’s just 850kg of weight to shift.
What’s not to like?
The the Ferrari Challenge Trofeo Pirelli kicked off at Monza on the weekend, which meant it was the race debut for the new 458 Challenge. What better way to bring you closer to the action than by taking you onboard the new racer for a full lap of the famous Italian circuit. Stefano Gai, 2010 Ferrari Challenge Trofeo Pirelli winner, is at the wheel.
Walter Röhrl, Porsche luminary and Targa Tasmania competitor, has taken to the track in a beautifully restored 904 GTS. The car is part of the excellent rolling Porsche Museum which makes sure its car go as well as they show.
With Röhrl at the wheel, the sleek coupé still has the ability to powerslide through corners, all while looking as stunning today as it did when it made its racing debut back in 1963.
Enjoy the footage after the break. Oh, we’re disappointed the Autoblog footage of Walter spinning the 904 didn’t make the final edit.
[Thanks to Wayne for the tip]
Last year’s runner-up in the F1 World Championship, Fernando Alonso, has taken out the team’s new F150 on Ferrari’s Fiorano test track. You can see more pics and a brief video after the break.
Ferrari has published plenty of video highlights from the launch of its 2011 Formula One car, the F150, to its media portal and we’ve been adding them to the AUSmotive YouTube channel. To begin with you can see Team Principal, Stefano Domenicali, explain the thinking behind the F150 name, before expanding further on the team’s plans for the upcoming season.
Also interviewed are Chief Designer, Nikolas Tombazis; Technical Director, Aldo Costa and Engine and Electronics Director, Luca Marmorini. You can see those clips after the break.
There will be further video added to this post later in the day, so make sure you check back.
In the meantime, why not read this excellent analysis the F150 from well known F1 writer Craig Scarborough.
UPDATE: Three further clips have been added. The first is a general highlights clip from the launch. This is followed by a couple of clips featuring Luca de Montezemolo, then drivers Fernando Alonso and Felipe Massa.
The Evo magazine YouTube channel brings us this video of the new Pagani Huayra. It’s only a short clip, but in it we get to see inside the car and its dash layout. We also get to see what effect a 700PS V12 has on the pooch you see above.
Almost six months after revealing its new four-door coupé model Mercedes has now taken the wraps of the CLS 63 AMG version. With a beefy 5.5 litre V8 biturbo this beast has 386kW (525hp) to throw around. Driven by 700Nm of torque it’s sure have more than enough pace for its owner.
Or does it? Apparently not, as there is an optional AMG Performance pack. Here, the engineers have turned the wick on the M157 V8 biturbo from 1.0 bar up to 1.3 bar, resulting in peak numbers of 410kW (557hp) and 800Nm.
Zero to one hundred can be reached in just 4.3 seconds. Surely that’s enough pace for this four-seater. Amazingly, despite such prodigious performance, if you behave yourself, Mercedes reckon you can sip fuel under 10l/100km; just.
So, check out the gallery of pics after the break. There’s also a promo video and the official press release, of course.
[Source: Daimler AG]
In the latest C9 teaser video from Pagani the Huayra model name has been confirmed. In fact, the news is revealed by Horacio Pagani himself. Here’s the full transcript of what he had to say:
We wanted to give shape to the wind
An energy, subtle, elegant, yet strong and persistent
In seven years we have carved our latest sculpture
We are Pagani Automobili
Huayra is our wind
You can watch the clip in full after the break. The final reveal of the Huayra is expected by the middle of next week.
Pagani has released its third installment in the build up to the launch of the Zonda successor. This clip is titled “The shape of the wind”, which gives credence to the theory the car, codenamed C9, will be called the Huayra (a South American wind).
Not much detail given away here, check out the clip for yourself after the break. There’s two more teasers to go before the car’s launch on 26 January.
Word has come through via twitter that the MINI Countryman All4 has crashed out of the 2011 Dakar Rally. Ironically the race-ending incident happened during a test run on the rest day.
Despite suffering technical problems on the first day of racing and dropping to 78th, the MINI had been making good progress since then and had consolidated a top ten outright position.
It’s understood that while driver Guerlain Chicherit was kept under observation following head trauma, he was not hospitalised and no major injury was suffered.
UPDATE: Picture of the crashed MINI added—look at the state of it—courtesy of the Stage 7 Dakar update (see below).
[via MotoringFile]
Back in July BMW released a press statement to acknowledge the 25th anniversary of their almighty M3. AUSmotive followed by trawling through BMW’s press archives to bring you an image gallery befitting such an occasion. Now, BMW has just released a new video to its official YouTube channel which celebrates, yep, you guessed it, 25 years of the BMW M3.
Check it out after the break.
Here are the official pics of the 2011 Audi A6. Following this morning’s leak there’s no surprises in regards to the look, which is straight from the familiar Audi playbook.
Audi say the new model is lighter than the car it replaces. The figure published is 1575kg, but finding a reliable figure for the kerb weight of the previous generation is proving a bit tricky. Around one fifth of the new model is made from aluminium.
At launch, in Europe at least, there will be five engines on offer, with a mix of four and six cylinders. Peak power will range from 130kW (2.0 TDI) to 220kW (supercharged 3.0 V6). There will also be an A6 hybrid model on offer with a total power of 180kW.
The usual electronic gadgets and driver aids are included, of course. These are headlined by the optional MMI navigation plus system featuring Google connectivity and a Bang & Olufsen stereo.
Inside the expected level of finish and quality materials has been delivered once again. The “wrap around” dash also looks quite nice. On some models Audi has used timber veneer which has pushed that look away from the older style walnut look, and towards a stylish speedboat theme. It looks pretty good in the pics, too.
After the break you will find all the images you could hope for along with some intro press material. A detailed press release can also be downloaded for those that really want to sink their teeth into detail of the new A6. Those wanting to see and touch the new A6 for themselves will be able to do so early next year. Local buyers will have to wait a bit longer as usual, but for now, Audi Australia aren’t saying when.