This image was taken from the 330d press material. It’s a pretty cool shot. Click on the image above to load a 2000x1320px version. I hope you like it.
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Tag: wallpaper
With the imminent arrival of the M3 Sedan and Convertible, BMW Australia has announced pricing for all three models in the M3 range. Those in the cheap seats will need to start with the Sedan where pricing begins at $145,000. The iconic Coupé starts at $162,901 and only captains of industry need apply for the Convertible—for the wife, of course—with a list price of $176,142.
The Sedan comes with quite a list of goodies, such as, an 8.8″ screen Satellite Navigation system (with TV), voice recognition, bluetooth mobile phone prep, LOGIC7 hi-fi, heated leather seats and adaptive xenon headlights.
Formula 1 technology boffins will delight at the M3’s Brake Energy Regeneration system which channels energy from overrun and braking to recharge the battery, thereby allowing maximum power to be applied. Which is just what you want when you have 309kW of power and 400Nm or torque willing you on to 100km/h in under five seconds.
The M3 Convertible shouldn’t be too hard to find in Australian showrooms as you read this, and the Sedan will be available from 22 November.
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2009 Audi S3 image gallery
Hope you enjoy this selection of images of the 2009 Audi S3 range, including images of the familiar 3-door Coupé and the newly introduced 5-door Sportback. Also included at the end of the gallery is Audi’s press release from the Paris Motor Show and technical drawing of both models.
Click on an image to load a 2000x1320px super image.
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Audi RS6 Avant opens up
Audi’s bahnstorming RS6 Avant is now on sale in Australia. Starting at $270,946 it’s fair to say buyers of this car won’t be feeling the squeeze at the petrol pump. Which is just as well, because extracting 426kW from the 5.0 litre V10 twin turbo takes a fair amount of fuel. That said, some may consider a combined urban/highway fuel consumption claim of 14.0l/100km a small price to pay for such stupendous performance. Fair enough too.
Although, there’s probably not too many that wouldn’t wince at the Luxury Car Tax giving $50K a very serious nudge, this, on top of 20-odd-thousand in GST. Wowsers!
There’s not much else to say other than enjoy the pics and stats below. Oh, the RS6 sedan will arrive in Australia in the first quarter of 2009. If you’d like to check out video footage of the RS6 Avant in action, then check out Fifth Gear‘s take, filed by Tiff Needell.
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Nissan 370Z shows a need for speed
Nissan has jumped the gun a little by pre-releasing three official images of the upcoming 370Z. From what you can see here the more organic approach, compared to the angular 350Z, gives the updated car a stronger connection to earlier Z models, most notably the 240Z. Nice! Only a very short message was released with the images, which confirmed the 370Z will make its public debut at the LA Motor Show on 19 November.
What Nissan have been more forthcoming with is their deal with Electronic Arts’ new console game Need for Speed: Undercover, which will enable gamers to beat reality by one day. Need for Speed: Undercover goes on sale in the US on 18 November. Nissan’s Vice-President of Marketing in the US, Christian Meunier, is pretty happy about the match too, “By launching the all-new 2009 Nissan Z first through Need for Speed: Undercover, we also gain the spirit and energy that EA gamers experience so strongly. Together with EA, we have truly integrated the all-new 370Z in the overall game experience in a meaningful, multi-layered and profound way.â€
More images and full press statements after the jump.
Monday night’s episode of Top Gear Australia was a bit of a hit and miss affair. The amphibious car challenge (pictured above) was quite good, if a little predictable. But, like previous TGA segments, it didn’t really forge a meaningful conclusion. Although, watching the car start up first go and drive out of the water was pretty cool.
Charlie’s test of the Audi R8 had all the right ingredients, but he, and the SBS crew didn’t quite get the mix right. Good, but not spectacular. Oh, I love watching a car doing donuts as much as the next person, but it really is time for Top Gear Australia to drop the fascination. Repeated power sliding, good. Repeated donuts, bad.
The Toorak Tractor gag was actually pretty good I thought. However, where Top Gear (Series 12 starts in a few days) almost stumbled into being irreverent with similar stunts, being forced from the outset doesn’t always come off every time for TGA. Still, I liked this clip, even if the Saab at the end was probably a set up.
As much as I am loathe to say it, Shannon Noll was the surprise packet in this episode of Top Gear Australia. “Yeah mate!” Can’t say I’m too keen on his music, but the kid can drive. And more power to him for that.
Steve’s BMW 135i review was not too bad. Mainly because the 135i is shaping up as being a truly modern classic. The camera work was well shot, and despite sneaking in a few faster public road sequences, the let’s-drive-slowly-and-not-upset-the-wowsers still doesn’t look as exciting as the cars deserve. I expect there’ll be a few complaints from said wowsers, too, at the 135i crossing double white lines at one stage.
After last week’s episode, this week’s was a minor disappointment. Sticklers continuing to compare the show, blow by blow, to the UK original will no doubt be very harsh in their criticism. Those willing to judge the show for the light entertainment it is intended to be, however, will still be looking forward to next week’s show.
More pics after the jump.
Well, unless you’ve been hiding under a rock you’ll be well aware of the hype and publicity created by the Nissan GT-R. Now, in an official capacity at least, the GT-R will be heading down under. The country that gave the car its Godzilla nickname (courtesy of Wheels magazine) will be in Australian Nissan showrooms in April 2009. Okay, a select few Nissan showrooms—the GT-R will be sold at just 11 Nissan High Performance Centres.
The GT-R will be available in two specifications, GT-R ($148,800) and GT-R Premium ($152,800). The Premium model doesn’t add any extra power, just a few bling items like smoked alloy wheels, better sound system and the like. There will be a choice of six colours, Super Silver, Vibrant Red, Gun Metallic, Black Obsidian, Titanium, and Ivory Pearl.
Orders will be taken at the Australian International Motor Show from 9 October. For Nissan’s full release and a massive image gallery, comprising of 30 pictures at 2000x1320px, make sure you read below…
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2009 MkVI Golf GTI image gallery
Fourteen photographs of the 2009 Volkswagen Golf GTI—click on each pic to load wallpaper sized 2000x1320px super images.
Isn’t she beautful! This is a rare Mercedes-Benz 300 SLS which was in Australia last year competing in the Classic Adelaide rally. Based on the 300 SL, the car all AUSmotive staff agree is the most beautiful car in the world, the SLS was brought to Australia from the Mercedes-Benz Classic Centre in Stuttgart to participate in last year’s rally. Mercedes reckon “its elegant body and powerful six-cylinder engine engage the senses in a way only few cars can”. Pretty hard to argue with that.
Of course, it would be cruel to have given you only one image wouldn’t it…
To celebrate the Belgian Grand Prix here is a 1920×1200 pixel aerial photo of the awesome Spa-Francorchamps Grand Prix circuit. The current track is a fraction over 7km, but the original layout was over 14km in length. The Belgian Grand Prix was first held here in 1924 and the Eau Rouge–Radillon corners—part of the original layout—form one of the most famous sections of Grand Prix track in the world. Rivalled, perhaps, only by the Monaco street circuit. However, it is the Blanchimont corner on the back straight that drivers find the more fearsome corner, according to Wikipedia. More detail on the track can be found on the official Formula 1 website.
To download the 1920×1200 pixel version of this image, simply click on the image above.
Credit for the image goes to Chubbennaitor, sourced from Wikipedia.
While trawling the press archives at AUSmotive I often stumble across some pretty cool images. Rather than keep them all to myself, I figured it would be nice to share a few from time to time. In the first of what will become a randomly updated series, I trust you enjoy this image taken from the 2006 Targa Tasmania. Click on the image above for a 2000x1320px version. Should you choose to use this as a wallpaper/desktop image that size should cover most monitor resolutions. If not let me know what size you need and I’ll see what I can do.