Audi Germany have come to the party with nine new wallpapers of the R8 GT. You can access all of them right here on AUSmotive in 1920x1200px sizing by simply clicking on the images you want.
These new pics give us a bit more of a look inside Audi’s latest supercar, including the engraved model number detail on the shifter of the R tronic gearbox. Also available for download at the Audi site is a screensaver and some MP3 files, which you can hear below.
[Source: Audi.de]
The Volkswagen Passat R36 has been around for a while now. After a recent drive, though, I learned the R36 still remains a worthwhile option for those who crave performance from their family car.
Its mid-60s asking price makes it something of a performance bargain in the Volkswagen range. Although, compared to some rivals, the R36 does ask a premium.
Given its R badge, VW reckon this car has some go. And they’re right, too. The R36 is the fastest car Volkswagen currently sells in Australia. You’ll need just 5.6 seconds to propel the sedan to 100km/h, with a further 0.2 seconds in the wagon. At well over 1700kg this is no mean feat, but possible thanks to a 4motion all-wheel drive system and a sublime six-speed DSG transmission, which is mated to one of the most charming engines on the market.
The R36 is powered by a narrow angle 3.6 litre V6 offering 220kW. That’s around 300 horsepower in the old money. It’s an engine that can trace its roots back the Golf VR6 from the 1990s. And the R36 represents the last chance you have to enjoy its delights before Euro V emissions consign it to the history books. A fate that has already claimed the Golf R32.
Audi has just released official info on their latest R8 supercar. Badged the Audi R8 GT the car is limited to 333 examples and boasts an enhanced 5.2 litre V10 engine producing 412kW (560hp). With 100kg of weight stripped from it, the R8 GT, with standard R tronic transmission, can accelerate to 100km/h in 3.6 seconds.
Those numbers represent an improvement of 26kW and 0.3 seconds over the regular R8 V10. Other differences include a revised body kit, first seen in last week’s spy shots. You can pick it by the carbon fibre front splitter and rear diffuser. Also note the aluminium side mirror mounts and fixed rear wing. The side “flicks”on the outer front wings also give the game away, while helping to increase the GT’s downforce. Revised LED daytime running lights, now form a constant strip of light, also indicate this is a more special R8.
Weight reduction of the R8 GT was achieved in obvious areas such as lighter seats and battery, resulting in a combined saving of 40kg. Use of a thinner glass windscreen and polycarbonate elsewhere yielded a net loss of 9kg. Carbon fibre reinforced plastic body panels also saved over 13kg of precious weight. The level of detail sought is impressive, though. For example, careful selection and trimming of materials for the carpets, insulation, the air intake, the braking system, the fixed rear wing and more contributed to the GT’s diet. Over 2.5kg was saved through the use of thinner sheet metal with addition cutouts, as well.
Given those weight savings it is surprising, perhaps, that few luxuries have been lost inside the cabin. Climate control and power windows you can probably excuse. But a standard navigation system and 465 watt Bang & Olufsen stereo seem a little counter-productive. The alcantara covered steering wheel is a nice touch, though. Its a shame the same can’t be said for the white dials.
The quattro all-wheel drive system sends 85 per cent of the car’s power to the rear wheels under normal driving conditions. The car’s 43:57 weight distribution and tweaks to its ESP parameters allows “spectacular, but safe, oversteer when accelerating our of a corner”. That’s what we like to see.
Wheels are 19″ in size and made from forged alloy. Up front they are 8.5″ wide, while 11″ at the back should help in getting all that power down. Carbon fibre ceramic brakes are standard in the GT, set off nicely by red anodised six pot calipers under the front wheels.
Die hard track day warriors can also option a bolt in roll cage and a four-point harness system to keep them in place.
Available in just four colours—Samoa Orange metallic, Suzuka Gray metallic, Ice Silver metallic and Phantom Black pearl effect—you can secure an R8 GT in Germany for the tidy sum of €193,000 (approx AU$280K). If the R8 GT does find its way down under, expect to pay almost double that. But, if you could, you would. Wouldn’t you?
More pics and Audi’s press release after the break.
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.â€
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]
At the Auto China show in Beijing BMW had what they called a Design Night. An insight into the company’s design culture they said. To celebrate the event BMW were kind enough to go to the trouble of bringing along a new design concept. They have called it the Gran Coupé.
Four-door “coupés” are the new black it seems and this latest effort from BMW does look quite nice, it must be said. From some angles there is a lot of 3 Series coupé inspiration, as well. Mostly due to BMW’s well loved Hofmeister kink.
Not much detail is given in the press release below, but you can get some extra information thanks to the video published to YouTube by Autocar. All yours after the jump.
The Ferrari 599XX made its public debut at the 2009 Geneva Motor Show. For some reason, back then, it missed the AUSmotive rounds. Although the car was featured here a few weeks ago thanks to Steve Sutcliffe and Autocar. Sutcliffe was the first non-Ferrari person to drive the car and he described the experience as “absolutely chuffing mervellous”.
Now, of course, the 599XX is back in the media spotlight thanks to its sub-7 minute lap time at the Nürburgring Nordschleife. Ferrari are claiming that as some sort of record, with various caveats attached. But how do you categorise a car of which less than 30 will be made, can only be driven on the track, and will never be raced? Anyway, more on that later.
For now, just feast your eyes on the pics after the jump and think what you would do with a specially engineered 6.0 litre V12 producing 540kW if it came up to you in that chassis and asked “how you doin'”.
Williams F1 driver Nico Hülkenberg has driven the Porsche 911 GT3 R Hybrid around the Nürburgring Nordschleife ahead of the third round in the VLN championship.
It was the first time “The Hulk” had driven around the Ring in a tin top racecar and speaking after his drive he said, “This circuit is unique—you can’t compare it to any other track in the world. This is certainly not the last time I’ll drive here. Surprisingly, in the slow corners, the 911 is not far off a Formula 1 car. The mechanical grip is impressive.”
Hülkenberg’s opportunity came about due to Williams Hybrid Power supplying the electromechanical flywheel system used in the GT3 R Hybrid. The unit provides energy recovery, storage and distribution found in the car.
More pics, video and Porsche press release after the jump.
[Thanks to Obi for the tip]
Ferrari have broken the 7 minute barrier around the Nordschleife with their limited 599XX hyper car. The time set was 6 minutes 58.16 seconds. At the wheel was long time Ferrari factory test driver Raffele De Simone.
Ferrari claim this is a new lap record for production-derived sports cars. That’s a wink and a nod to the Radical SR8LM, which set a lap time of 6 minutes 48 seconds in August last year.
The 599XX features a specially developed 6.0 litre V12 engine, producing around 540kW of power, and is a track-only car based on the 599 GTB Fiorano. The 599XX also inspired the recently launched 599 GTO.
Let’s leave the semantics over rights to be claiming records to one side for a moment and simply revel in what is a truly stunning lap. Doesn’t matter who makes them, what their daily capabilities are, anything that can lap the Ring in under 7 minutes is a very special car.
Video of the lap can be seen after the jump, along with extra pics, all accessible as wallpaper-friendly 2000px super images.
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.
The international media launch of the Audi RS5 took place in Spain today and while AUSmotive wasn’t in attendance we can bring you the latest images from Audi’s press archives. There’s 75 of the blighters for you after the break, all accessible as 2000px super size images. An extensive press release from Audi should keep you busy, as well.
In case you needed reminding the RS5 is powered by a naturally aspirated high rev 4.2-litre V8 FSI. The RS5 produces peak power of 331kW (450PS) at 8250rpm, with maximum torque of 430Nm available from 4000-6000rpm. Coupled with a specially reinforced 7-speed S tronic transmission the RS5 is able to accelerate to 100km/h in 4.6 seconds. This is the first of Audi’s RS models to be fitted with a double clutch transmission. At this stage, there is still no word on a manual gearbox option.
The RS5 will be available in a total of eight colors: Ibis White, Suzuka Gray, Monza Silver, Misano Red, Sepang Blue, Daytona Gray, Phantom Black and custom blended Panther Black reserved for Audi’s high-performance machines.
Naturally the RS5 features a quattro all-wheel drive system. There’s some new trickery hidden inside the RS5 quattro, too. Including a crown-gear centre differential with torque vectoring and an optional sport differential. You can get more of an insight into those systems through a couple of YouTube clips—available here.
For now, though, feast your eyes on some very tasty images thanks to Audi. When you’re done here check out Top Gear’s coverage of today’s launch.
A specially prepared 150kW electric powered MINI has just lapped the Nürburgring Nordschleife in under 10 minutes. The MINI E Race is based on the MINI E road car which was first announced in October 2008.
Modifications to the standard MINI E include the addition of a roll cage, KW Variant 3 suspension, MINI Challenge inspired front spoiler and rear valance, along with an optimised ECU program and race tuned ABS. As well as the add-on bits MINI was able to reduce the overall weight of the car by more than 200kg.
At the hands of racing driver Thomas Jäger the MINI E Race lapped the Ring in 9:51.45 achieving a top speed of 187km/h.
Jäger, the 2006 MINI Challenge champion said, “The power of the electric motor has an incredible effect, as you can access its full reserves of torque at all times. Another element of this fascinating experience is the lack of noise from the drivetrain. All in all, that was certainly the cleanest and quietest race lap I’ve ever driven.”
With the MINI E Race being a full electric vehicle this is the first car to complete a lap of the 20.8km Nordschleife circuit in race-like conditions with zero emissions. This is a great first from BMW, although there are currently no plans to enter the electric MINI in any competitive races just yet.
More pics and further detail after the break, including a brief promo video.
Audi have just given its TT range a bit of a freshen up. To be introduced with Model Year 2011 production the changes are mostly minimal, with subtle styling tweaks for the exterior and interior. Most obvious on the outside is the new lower spoiler design at the front. There’s a new chrome detail for the foglights, too, just in case you missed it.
New front grille treatments have been added to the TT and TTS models and the rear bumpers across the range have been tweaked to match the styling cues up front.
Inside there’s a few extra bits of aluminium and piano black trim, but that’s pretty much it. The TT’s colour palette has been fiddled with meaning there’s more options to choose from, inside and out.
The most significant changes have been made to the engine line up. Mostly, though, this just brings the TT inline with the rest of the Audi range. For example, the old 3.2 V6 has been dropped, the 147kW 2.0 TFSI has been swapped in favour of the 155kW version found in the Golf GTI, and so it goes. Hmm, I was under the impression these engine tweaks took place with the MY10 round of updates. Maybe not.
There’s more pics and Audi’s full press release available after the jump.
UPDATE: 39 extra images added at the end of the article.