The 2012 Targa Tasmania has officially come to a close, and while we were a long, long way from the action this year, YouTube closed the distance with a slew of day-end recaps aimed at keeping us up-to-date on the action. This year, Jason White took his all the way to the top of the podium despite running into a tuning issue late in the event. Wet weather made for slippery conditions with low visibility more often than not, and more than a few competitors were forced to retire due to unintended departures from the course.
Day three saw some impressive driving from Sam Tapping and his Holden Commodore SS Ute. The duo ran down a total of three competitors on the same stage, including two models. That’s some impressive driving given the Ute’s tail happy nature and the wet asphalt. Of course, there are plenty more highlights that are well worth your time. to check out all five recap videos for yourself.
We have a thing for high-end detailing jobs. We’re not talking about what the guy at your local drive-through car wash does for an extra $10. We’re talking about the kind of detailing done by highly trained professionals that costs thousands of dollars and could take hundreds of hours to complete.
We normally get our fix of before-and-after photos from friend-of-the-site , whose work we’ve featured on Autoblog before. This time, however, we bring you some work done on a well worn Ferrari Enzo by a company in the UK called .
Instead of before-and-after images, Polished Bliss produced an excellent six-minute video with production quality that matches the 144-hour(!) detailing job it chronicles. If you’ve ever wanted to watch these masters practice their craft, then to start the show.
has just unveiled a special concept version of the company’s Q3 at this week’s 2012 Beijing Motor Show to commemorate the year of the dragon. The 2012 Q3 Jinlong Yufeng, or “Golden Dragon In The Wind,” caters to the kite surfers of the world thanks to its two roof-mounted carbon-fiber reinforced polymer boards and a clever kite pouch that can also be used to hold wet articles of clothing or serve as a beach umbrella. Designers have also thrown in a set of removable, wireless video cameras that can easily be attached to a sail bar or helmet.
The Q3 Jinlong Yufeng wears Liuli Yellow paint outside as well as a few special off-road body components based on production pieces. Brushed stainless steel running boards, LED spotlights mounted in the grille and integrated dual-exit exhaust are all part of the package. Indoors, designers have stitched the vehicle’s surfaces with yellow contrasting thread. The seats use woven leather covers and each door panel features a yellow leather insert.
A turbocharged 2.5-liter direct-injection five-cylinder engine delivers 310 horsepower through a seven-speed transmission and Quattro all-wheel drive – enough, Audi says,to power the Q3 Jinlong Yufeng to 62 mph in 5.5 seconds. Hit the jump for the full press release.
“Stock” is a relative term. Stock cars, for example, like those raced in NASCAR, are anything but showroom stock. And at the opposite end of the spectrum, “stock” is just the starting point when ordering a new . The high-end marque offers its customers a virtually endless array of personalization options, and to drive that point, home Rolls-Royce is showcasing the show car seen here at this week’s .
Called the Six Senses concept, this specially equipped is designed to stimulate each of the five senses – sight, sound, scent, taste and touch – and proffers the singular luxury of a Rolls-Royce as the sixth sense. Sure beats seeing dead people.
The concept is painted in pearlescent Carrara White, with unique forged alloys and an interior decked out in walnut burr veneer, deep-pile lambswool carpeting (even in the trunk), leather headliner with panoramic sunroof, an upgraded sound system and champagne cooler. Check it out in the gallery above and follow the jump for the details in the press release.
Considering the rate at which the Chinese market gobbles up models, you’d think it would be a prime market for . Yet the House of the wasn’t present in China at all in recent years, as the brand has just announced at the its return to the Chinese market.
In the coming months, it will begin selling both the 300C and the Grand Voyager, and to mark the occasion it has presented a special designconcept of its top-of-the-line sedan. Much like sister-brand for its special-edition , the Chrysler brand went with the Ruyi – a scepter-like object symbolizing prosperity and good fortune – for its 300 show car.
The design concept is distinguished by unique ten-spoke 22-inch wheels, dark chrome trim to complement the black paint and tone-on-tone “speed stripe,” aero kit, custom grille, tinted glass and special badging. Meanwhile the interior is done up in a variety of metal finishes, with French-stitched beige suede and leather upholstery. Check it out in the gallery above and the press release by .
has finally spread its plug-in hybrid technology to the . The German automaker unveiled the A6 L e-Tron technology study on Monday at the 2012 Beijing Motor Show, complete with an all-electric driving range of nearly 50 miles at 37 mph. Liquid-cooled lithium-ion batteries power the 95-horsepower electric motor, though a 211-hp turbocharged 2.0-liter four-cylinder can step in at any time for more acceleration or additional range. The A6 L e-tron can operate in fully-electric, hybrid or gasoline mode as needed. While the A6 L e-tron concept is technically an engineering study at the moment, Audi does admit the sedan could indicate what a Chinese-built A6 hybrid could look like in the future.
The cabin offers buyers the same level of space and comfort as the internal-combustion A6 L, though a new instrument panel and vehicle information display conveys data on battery charge status, range and available drive system power. Audi’s engineers have have also specifically calibrated the sedan’s MMI touch system to recognize 29,000 Chinese characters, which we can only imagine was no mean feat. for the full press release.
The alliance between the Group and SpA has been a two-way street: Auburn Hills has given Lancia a new lease on life, for example, while Alfa Romeo has given the underpinnings for the new . And now Dodge can return the favor in the form of the vehicle you see here.
Called the Viaggio, it’s essentially a Fiat-badged Dodge Dart with a few minor tweaks here and there. But don’t expect a shipment of Fiat badges to be arriving at the assembly plant in Belvedere, Illinois, anytime soon: what you’re seeing here is actually the first Fiat that will (starting in June) be built in China for China, through a joint venture with Guangzhou.
The resulting GAC Fiat enterprise unveiled the Viaggio at the following released a couple of weeks ago. The result looks like a Dart with some extra chrome. Buyers in China will be able to choose from 120- or 150-horsepower versions of Fiat’s 1.4-liter T-Jet four with either a five-speed manual or six-speed DCT. for the full press blast and take a look at the high-res image gallery.
We record Episode #279 of the Autoblog Podcast tonight, and we’re joined by Jim Hall of 2953 Analytics. Drop us your questions via our Q&A module below, and chime in to direct our conversation. Subscribe to the Autoblog Podcast if you haven’t already done so, and if you want to take it all in live, tune in to our (audio only) channel at 10:00 PM Eastern tonight.
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We’ve already seen the production-ready . In fact, we named it after it officially debuted at the earlier this month. But what we haven’t seen is the full color palette that will be offered, and our spy photographers recently caught a Viper prototype out testing sporting a fresh coat of yellow paint, as well as some new, more sedate wheels.
As for that color, we aren’t sure how we feel about it just yet, granted, we’ll want to see it in person and without all of the hastily bolted-together panel gaps of this prototype. Moreover, we’d like to see how the new SRT looks in a proper GTS white/blue paint job. Be sure to let us know what you think of the new yellow paint in the comments.
The don’t-call-it-a- Viper officially launches this year, boasting 640 horsepower and 600 pound-feet of torque from its monstrous 8.4-liter V10. We’re eagerly awaiting our first stint behind the wheel, but for now, this new batch of high-res photos will have to suffice.
MG has taken to the 2012 Beijing Motor Show with its Icon Concept, a hatch that’s somehow intended to pay tribute to the MGA and MGB GT models of old. The automaker is marking its 50th anniversary this year, and chose the Chinese show to mark the occasion with the funky-looking concept you see above. Aside from a general hatchback shape, we don’t see too much of the Icon’s predecessors in the design – in fact, we see as much anything else. The tall ride height and flashy wheels certainly look as if they’d be at home on a modern roadway, however.
Details are scarce as far as the concept’s drivetrain is concerned, though MG says the Icon can accommodate four occupants, and the rear seats fold into the floor to optimize the available cargo area. A brief press release is .
Every year on Holocaust Remembrance Day, the people of Israel take two minutes to honor those who died in the Holocaust. When the sirens go off, everything stops, including traffic. This year, the two-minute ceremony was unfortunately marked with a pair of accidents due to the abrupt stop in traffic.
The Times of Israel reports that a woman in her 60s was run over as she was standing outside her car and another was struck as she stood by her vehicle on the highway. Both women were hurt badly enough to require medical attention and the older woman was listed in serious condition.
The incidents scarred an already solemn occasion, but after watching the post-jump video, we’re surprised more people aren’t injured. to watch the unorganized chaos of freeway drivers pulling over at different times. Just as unorganized is the minute after the sirens stop, when everyone seems to want to leave as quickly as possible.
has long been labeled as a “youth brand,” so perhaps we shouldn’t be surprised to read word of parent turning over the marque’s aging nameplates so quickly. According to Ward’s Auto,Scion is set to kill off its and models – the first a onetime icon for the brand, the latter an econobox that never truly caught on with buyers (not unlike it’s predecessor, the xA).
A model like the xB was always going to be a love-hate proposition, and indeed, the subcompact sharply divided opinion because of its its t-square styling and funky stance back when it was introduced in 2004. But enough buyers fell enough with its good qualities – remarkable space efficiency, solid fuel economy, ease-of-driving and low pricing that the xB sold surprisingly well, in the process becoming something of a totem for the brand. The second-generation model, which bowed for 2007, seemed to alter all the things that made the original so endearing: the xB grew substantially, had the uniquely sharp corners of its design chamfered off, and it gained more power without adding much in the way of performance because the vehicle had been so radically upsized. Fuel economy dipped, too, as did the xB’s popularity with shoppers. Last year, Scion only moved about 17,000 examples – in its heyday, the xB sold over 60,000 units.
A couple of years ago, Jim Farley, Ford’s vice president of global marketing, told Autoblog that Scion’s intent wasn’t to be a youth brand at all – it was to be an experimental division, an incubator for product and marketing techniques. Farley, as you may recall, was one of the driving forces behind Scion, ascending to the role of its vice president before being reassigned to . By Farley’s yardstick, perhaps Scion had pushed the xB and xD as far as they could go, and now it’s simply time to test new vehicular hypotheses. Indeed, more recent models like the tiny and coupe show the brand experimenting in bold new directions… exactly the sort of innovation we can get behind.
Go back just a few years ago, and you’d easily conclude that and hybrids would go together about as well as ice cream and pickles. But a lot’s changed since then, and Ferrari is making no secret of the fact that it’s developing hybrid powertrains of its own.
The first system it developed is the Kinetic Energy Recovery System, a type of regenerative braking device developed with its sister company, Magneti Marelli, for use in Formula One. That lead to a similar system installed in an experimental version of the called the displayed at the 2010 . More recently reports surfaced that Ferrari had patented a more conventional hybrid powertrain system, leading to speculation that the KERS type had been abandoned for road-car use – most poignantly in the upcoming successor to the Enzo. But while Ferrari apparently pursues development of that more conventional hybrid system, it appears that its next mid-engined V12 hypercar will adopt an evolution of the HY-KERS system displayed on that green 599 two years back.
A revised HY-KERS system has just been announced by Ferrari at the , where the Prancing Horse also marked the Asian debut of its new F12 Berlinetta. Ferrari says the new system – installed on a V12 engine mounted amidship – is more effective than the one that preceded it, bringing emissions down to 40 percent of what a conventional engine with the same output would produce (compared to a 30 percent reduction from the previous incarnation), all while bringing engineers closer to their target of producing one kilowatt of energy for every kilogram of weight the system adds.
As for the F12, Ferrari has revealed that its latest supercar set a lap time at Fiorano of one minute, 23 seconds, making it the company’s quickest road car yet: a full second quicker than the 599 GTO it replaces, and about two seconds quicker than the Enzo, the and the 430 Scuderia. With that kind of progress, we can count on the new hybrid V12 hypercar to set an even quicker time still. for the press release and video clip.
Cadillac’s new XTS isn’t just headed to China, it will be built there. The forthcoming full-size luxury cruiser had already been earmarked for production in General Motors’ Oshawa, Ontario Assembly Plant, but the automaker has just announced in that it will also be built in China with its joint venture partner Shanghai General Motors.
is still a relatively small player in China’s premium segment, with just 68 dealers and 30,000 sales last year. However, it’s growing quickly, with March sales up more than 35 percent year-over-year to 2,745 units. Better still, General Motors says Cadillac’s average buying age is very young – just 35 – and it expects to have 120 dealers online by the end of this year to meet growing demand.
The idea of local XTS production strikes us as a smart one, as China is enjoying a swell in demand for luxury cars, and it has always maintained a strong demand for vehicles with large rear seats. Cadillac already has a solid track record building in the communist nation, as it first began assembling the China-only SLS Executive Sedan – essentially an extended wheelbase – back in 2006.
has used the to launch two new concept cars that it says “show the direction of mass-production models Honda will introduce to the market next year.”
First up is the imaginatively named Concept C. According to the automaker, ‘C’ stands for “Cool, “Challenge” and “China.” As much as we wish we were making that up, we aren’t. The car itself, though, looks pretty bold, with striking character lines down each side and a fascia that would look right at home on the next Battlestar Gallactica spinoff. We’re curious to see how much of the C’s conceptual styling makes it into production when a mass-market version hits the Chinese market in 2013 – if it were toned down just a bit, we think Honda could do worse than inject some of this boldness in its American lineup, though some might suggest the grille has overtones of the controversial styling decisions seen at .
Moving along, we have the Concept S, which supposedly stands for “Stylish,” “Smart” and “Surprise.” Like the Concept C, Honda says Concept S will spawn a production model that will debut in China in 2013, with global sales following thereafter. Honda isn’t saying exactly what is powering the S other than mentioning it’s a hybrid.
below for the complete press blast from Honda, but not before perusing our two high-res image galleries of the Concept C and Concept S.
has created the BMW i sub-brand for its upcoming production plug-in models, which currently include three concepts: the and the i8 Spyder. After keeping that third model away from our eager cameras at the New York Auto Show, BMW finally showed off the i8 Spyder Concept in the metal at the today.
The car itself we’ve already , but seeing it on stage shows once again that BMW is serious about putting cars like these on the road (toned down from the concept’s style, of course, perhaps with ). We’re more than ready for the through-the-road, plug-in hybrid that packs a 96-kW (131-horsepower) electric motor in front and a turbocharged three-cylinder gas engine offering 223 hp in back. 0-62 in five seconds and maybe 78 MPGe? Yes, please.
BMW is also making official the “eDrive” name, which is the new catch-all name for all of the electric drivetrain components: motor, battery and motor management system. First , the eDrive designation will be used “for the drive technology of all future electric and plug-in hybrid cars,” so get used to seeing it a lot.
Much as it is to any automaker doing business there, China has grown to become a vital market for the brand. In fact, the group’s iconic SUV brand sells more vehicles in China than anywhere outside North America. And so to celebrate its success in the Chinese market, Jeep has rolled into with the customized you see here.
What sets this designconcept apart from any other Wrangler Unlimited is the dragon motif that dominates throughout. Jeep started with a Rubicon Unlimited, blacked out everything from the fenders and bumpers to the wheels and roof and applied bronze-gold dragon decals to the hood and left flank, the spare tire cover, the unique carbon-fiber engine cover and the interior. Bronze-gold trim complements throughout, with a gold and black leather interior with gold snakeskin bolsters to top it all off.
More than a simple decal job, the Wrangler Dragon design concept looks pretty convincing, and if demand in China is high enough, Jeep might even build it. Just don’t count on it showing up in your local dealership on this side of the Pacific, though – you’ll just have to scope it out in the high-res image gallery above and for further details in the official press release.
The super-SUV is, arguably, the most significant debut of the . Maybe not in terms of sales volume, but at it’s a completely new direction for the modern Lamborghini brand (nevermind the “Rambo Lambo” from the ’80s), and moreover, it shows the first glimpse into the new premium SUV architecture that will gradually make its way through the entire Volkswagen Group portfolio.
We’ve already divulged about the Urus, including the meaning behind its questionable name (it’s a Spanish bull – go figure), but now it’s time to take a look at the bruiser live on the stage in Beijing. Before its debut, we were skeptical about how a high-riding Lamborghini SUV would look, but if we’re honest, we like what we see. It’s absolutely in-tune with the rest of Lambo’s design language, and it’s not nearly as enormous as you might think. We just wonder how much space there is in the back seat and how much utility is offered by the cargo bay.
Click above to peruse through a high-resolution gallery of images live from Beijing, and to watch a video of the SUV’s unveiling live from the Chinese expo.
has a long and storied history of being an innovator since its creation in 1986. As the first luxury brand from Japan, the marque brought with it the first variable valve timing technology, the first drive-by-wire electronic throttle, the first in-dash navigation system and the first instance of torque-vectoring all-wheel drive.
Laudable accomplishments, all of them, and Acura reaped rewards for the technological advancements it brought to the automotive realm. Venerable nameplates like and launched Acura into first place in the premium luxury car segment in 1987, the brand’s first full year of sales.
And then things started to go downhill. The Legend was replaced by the poorly received and the discontinuation of the Integra in 2001 and the a few years later in 2006 left Acura without a proper entry-level model. Acura sales peaked in 2005 and have floundered ever since.
Is Acura’s new ILX the machine it needs to inject some much-needed life into its lineup?
Back in January at the , Volkswagen a concept car called the E-Bugster. A chopped-down, electric-powered roadster, the E-Bugster cut a lean, mean, green profile. The only thing that was missing, ironically, was a chance to see the convertible with its top off.
If you’re going to make a roadster, at least have the courtesy of showing it off with the roof down, right? Fortunately, has fixed that in time for the concept’s Asian premier at the , revealing a cowled rear deck replacing the rear seats inside the chrome bezel surrounding the cabin.
Aside from the open cockpit, the E-Bugster you see here is the same as the Detroit car, complete with its 114-horsepower electric powertrain that can take you up to 100 miles and quick-charge to 80-percent capacity in just half an hour. Scope it out with its hair down in the gallery above and with it up in the gallery below.
