It takes a fast and agile car to keep pace with MotoGP racing bikes. Fortunately the M division is up to the task, providing safety cars (or what we’d call pace cars on this side of the Atlantic) to the race organizers of the top-level motorcycle racing series.
The most recent vehicles to perform the duties have been the and the crossover, but now BMW is introducing a the new coupe to the mix. It’ll debut in safety car guise as pictured above at the Nürburgring this weekend.
While it’s unclear whether any modifications have been made to the 552-horsepower twin-turbo V8, the M6 MotoGP safety car has been upgraded with new spoilers front and rear, special lighting equipment and BMW’s traditional blue, blue and red striping on a white body. And if we were betting men, we’d put our money on some upgrades to the brakes, suspension and tires, too.
There was nary a peep of discontent about the looks of the revealed at the 2011 Tokyo Motor Show. But when everyone was clamoring for Scooby to transfer the Advanced Tourer’s looks to a production vehicle, never once did people ask for that transfer to be foisted on the WRX. A report in Motor Trend, though, says that’s what’s happening: the concept “was actually an early look at the next-generation .”
MT’s sources said the front end Advanced Tourer’s front end will go onto the WRX, with other aspects of the concept made more aggressive to suit the personality of Subaru’s rally-ready racer. And if the concept also presages the next WRX’s dimensions, then you can expect the next-generation sedan and hatchback to be larger (though in truth we don’t anticipate a big gain in footprint).
Notice the name “” hasn’t appeared anywhere in our discussion yet. Subaru is reportedly dropping the name in an attempt to get more ‘Likes’ for the WRX by making it more approachable, so the next model will relinquish its association with the Impreza line and be more performanced focused even as it is receives a better interior and is morphed into a “more-mature sporty grand tourer.” Engine choices are still being debated for the car due in 2015; the rumored options include 1.6-liter and 2.0-liter turbocharged four-cylinders and a hybrid version of the 1.6-liter.
No, that’s not a in a fat suit, it’s the automaker’s brand-new all-electric race car, and it’s set to take on the in July. This isn’t the first time we’ve seen an EV enter the Pike’s Peak challenge – for battle last year, a car that set the bar for all future electric racers.
says that its race car, dubbed i-MiEV Evolution, uses the same motor, drive battery and other major components as the standard, bean-shaped electric car that we haven’t quite grown to love. Aside from the additional bodywork, the chassis has clearly been lengthened and widened, and the race car now uses an all-wheel-drive configuration rather than the rear-wheel drive of the standard i-MiEV.
To give you an idea of just how big the racer is, a quick glance of Mitsubishi’s specs show that the i-MiEV Evolution’s dimensions are within a few inches of the stock . We wouldn’t be surprised if the all-wheel-drive system was sourced from the Lancer, as well.
Mitsubishi will also be bringing two more of its EVs to the Pike’s Peak event, including an i that has been updated with a more aerodynamic front bumper and new safety equipment, as well as a bone stock model. for the official press blast.
is an automaker not without its own racing pedigree, but the bulk of that is anchored in the 1920s and at Le Mans, to which it returned in winning form in the earlier part of the new millennium with the . The latest development could, however, see the Flying B marque enter into another class of motorsport competition altogether.
That opposite end of the endurance racing spectrum is the torturous Dakar rally. We first published of Crewe’s consideration of the possibility back in November, but according to CAR Magazine, those rumors are apparently kicking into high gear.
That much is owed largely to the emergence of the above-pictured EXP 9 F program, Bentley’s concept SUV currently under development. Well, sorta. Bentley’s parent company recently withdrew from the Dakar rally after winning it three times in a row – ostensibly to focus on its new World Rally Championship effort, but spurring rumors all the same of it transferring the team to another brand.
Given that the EXP 9 F is based (or would be, anyway) on an architecture related to the – the race model of which is what the VW team used to dominate the event – the facilitation of Bentley’s take-over of the program could prove even more straight-forward than the manner in which successfully supported Bentley’s Le Mans team.
To wit, the boys from Crewe are said to be in the process of buying back all the rigs – complete with their 2.5-liter twin-turbo diesels producing 300 horsepower and 442 lb-ft of torque – that Volkswagen sold to privateer teams upon its departure, suggesting rather poor planning and perhaps only a passing resemblance to the eventual production EXP 9 F (which, incidentally, isn’t expected to look like the concept above).
There was a lot of built-up excitement surrounding the larger and less costly , but the anticipation deflated among critics when the model’s less-than-impressive interior was revealed to the world. Critics chided the cheapened cabin, and quite a few negative reviews followed.
It’s tough to argue that in the process of its upsizing, the Jetta’s interior wasn’t downgraded with lesser plastics and trim. The does a much better job in this regard, but even then there are some areas where it feels like cost has been taken out of the cabin. But none of that is apparently enough to stop designer Jae Min from taking issue with these characterizations. Ward’s Automotive reports that VW’s chief U.S. designer claims that the Jetta and Passat interiors were not the victims of cost-cutting. Min claims that the money was simply re-purposed, with money shifting “from here to there.” The designer went on to add that the automaker was able to lower the starting price of both vehicles in part because of more flexible vehicle architectures and shifting production from Germany to the States.
While Min sounds convinced that no pennies were pinched, we’re not so sure – unless when he says money was shifted “from here to there” he means “from where you can see and feel to where you can’t.” Regardless of what we think, one statistic is impossible to argue: Jetta sales have shot up 43.9 percent this year and Passat sales have skyrocketed by 80.9 percent. That, ladies and gentlemen, is letting the numbers do the talking.
Slammed Skodas, Seats, and Polos are all well and nice, but at the end of the day, the annual gathering of performance enthusiasts at Lake Wörthersee in Austria is about the . That much isn’t lost on Volkswagen, so in addition to bringing the new along with all the aforementioned corporate cousins, the German automaker has rolled into the lakeside expo with the tricked-out concept car you see here.
Called the GTI Black Dynamic, the show car is the work of nine lucky (and apparently talented) student interns at Volkswagen. The team dropped the suspension 35 mm lower than stock, bumped the output up by 150 horsepower to a prodigious 360, upgraded the gearbox and brakes to cope with the extra power and fitted an 1,800-watt sound system.
Of course all that kit couldn’t go unnoticed, so the Black Dynamic GTI was also treated to a deep black paint job with matte anthracite trim and red detailing. The team even went so far as to hand-craft the GTI letters on the lift-gate and gave the car a custom interior, too. You can read more about it in the pair of press releases , or better yet see it from all the angles in the high-res image gallery above.
recently unveiled of the impossibly old – promised to be the final one before a complete redesign. But the overripe vintage of the first SUV to fall from Volvo’s vine isn’t stopping corporate parent Geely from absconding with the platform to launch a new high-end brand for China.
According to China Car Times, Volvo’s will be launching in 2014, and after that the original will soldier on in China, at least in some form. The report does not make clear whether the first-generation XC90 will merely be re-badged, or if the platform will be used for a new Geely design.
Geely launched its first SUV, the GX7, at this year’s , according to the report.
If you thought the Group was about to wind down the endless stream of concept cars based on the new Up! city car, think again. Because not only is the Volkswagen brand itself keeping the train a-moving, so are its sister brands.
Skoda has its own version of the Up called the Citigo. But what racing fans know the Czech subsidiary for best is its rally program that has become a dominant force in the Intercontinental Rally Challenge and the basis for VW’s own foray into the World Rally Championship. Now Skoda is bringing the two together with an exciting concept car previewed by the rendering above and confirmed in the press release below.
Following in the footsteps of the tantalizing unveiled last year, the Citigo Rally concept is to be the centerpiece of the Skoda display at the Volkswagen Group’s annual hot-hatch gathering at Lake Wörthersee in Austria. Details are scarce, but the show car will feature rally-inspired bodywork complete with 18-inch white alloys packed into aggressively flared wheel arches, a substantial rear wing and vents aplenty.
It will be joined by a second Citigo converted into a mobile DJ booth with a 100,000-watt sound system that will be scoring the Skoda booth at Wörthersee, but our eyes will be on the rally concept.
The annual GTI festival at Lake Wörthersee in Austria has exploded over the years into a celebration of all things hot-hatch in the Group – including concept cars and new debuts from , Seat and Skoda – but the event has always been about VWs at heart. And the brand central to the empire isn’t about to sit it out.
At the heart of VW’s motorcade for this year’s pocket-rocket fest is the Polo WRC Street, a preview of a special edition modeled on the actual rally car which Volkswagen Motorsport will be fielding in the top-level rally series next year. The street version features a 220-horsepower 2.0-liter TSI four-cylinder – significantly more than the existing 180-hp Polo GTI and a whole lot of muscle for such a little car – with an aggressive aero package and of course the requisite decals. In other words, it is, for all intents and purposes, a Polo R with some stripes.
VW will also be showcasing the competition-spec . And Wörthersee being centered around the , is also bringing the that debuted in concept form at the same location last year and in production form at the just a couple of months ago, plus a pair of black and white GTI concepts. Keep reading for the full press release and scope out the trio of images previewing the Polo WRC Street for a closer look at what Wolfsburg is driving eastwards.
Are you one of the few people looking to put a brand-new in your driveway? Better act fast. Inside Line reports that Toyota’s luxury division has killed off its slow-selling HS model:
“Production of the HS 250h ceased in January, 2012. Lexus continues to monitor sales for each product and we make adjustments to make sure that we meet market demand, and the discontinuation of HS was part of that adjustment. The ES 300h is not replacing HS in our lineup. It’s merely part of the hybridization of many of our existing vehicles in the Toyota and Lexus lineups.”
We can’t say we’re surprised. Reports first surfaced in November of 2011 indicating that . After selling 10,663 units in 2010, which was already well shy of projections, HS sales dropped a whopping 73 percent to just 2,864 in 2011.
It’s interesting that says the ES Hybrid is not a replacement for the HS, but we’d be a bit surprised if another standalone hybrid model made it into Lexus showrooms to replace the canceled HS – it seems to us that the current hatchback and ES 300h ought to satisfy the needs of Lexus hybrid shoppers.
Forget the . The still carries the sales gravitas that the CX-5 aspires to, but for now, the C-segment sedan and hatchback that has provided eight years of sales bedrock is still the most important model. That’s why, after making hay with the debut of the CX-5 crossover and its innovative powertrain, the tried-and-true Mazda3 was the next in line for the engine, transmission and aero-tweak hat trick that’s allowed the car to claim a 40 miles per gallon highway fuel economy rating.
Putting a new engine in an older car as a way to boost interest and sales isn’t a new idea, of course. Sometimes it works, and other times it’s not enough to re-float sales that have run aground on the sandbar of customer ennui. The Mazda3 has also consistently pleased enthusiasts, so we wanted to find out how its comportment has changed after the heart transplant.
When you’ve got the in the world, even the best driver can struggle with getting that power to the pavement. The 662 horsepower and 631 pound-feet of torque the 2013 is packing can easily turn its rear tires into expensive clouds of smoke. That’s why the 2013 Ford Shelby GT500 is the first Shelby Mustang to be factory-equipped with launch control. “With so much more power and torque on tap from the new 5.8-liter V8,” says SVT senior engineer John Pfeiffer, “launch control makes it easier for drivers to take advantage of the performance.” What’s different about the Shelby GT500s launch control is that drivers can engage it by just pressing a single button, and it’s also capable of being fine-tuned for the best reesults.
Launch control is by now a familiar technology, with systems operating by holding engine RPM at a set point to help facilitate clean, repeatable launches. “Launch control is essentially a special mode of the traction control system that integrates the brake and engine management systems to keep the tires balanced on the peak of the mu-slip curve,” explains SVT’s Pfeiffer. In plain English, it’s designed to send as much torque to the tires as they can handle. What’s different about the system in the 2013 GT500 is its flexibility. “Most of our competitors’ launch control systems have a fixed engine launch speed,” says SVT Engineering supervisor Eddie Khan, but since “not every driver has the same style, and surface, tire, and climate conditions vary,” he points out, “we’ve given Shelby GT500 drivers the ability to adjust the engine speed to achieve the best and most consistent performance.”
Drivers can use through the instrument cluster or tap a switch to the left of the instrument panel to enable the system. Through TrackApps, the engine launch rpm can be adjusted between 3,000 to 4,500 rpm with steps of 100 rpm. There are other tricks up the GT500s sleeve, too. Extinguish the traction control while using launch control and you’ll get an rpm-only mode that keeps the brakes out of the picture to avoid sacrificing any possible speed. Launch control also works with the different stability control modes to allow some wheelspin when that’s the fastest way out of the hole. “It’s not as intrusive as some TC systems have been in the past,” said SVTs Khan. “We’e given our drivers the ability to exert control over all the power and torque this Mustang can produce.”
Shelby GT500 features clever variable-RPM launch control
If you’re looking to give your an added dose of performance, look no further than Brabus. The aftermarket tuning house specializes in customizing Daimler’s finest, and doesn’t stop at upgrading the engine and running gear, either. With packages like the suite, Brabus will turn your , for example, into a 219-mph high-tech office on wheels. In other words, it’ll make it more like a private jet. But what if you want your jet to feel more like your customized Mercedes? Brabus can help with that, too.
The new Brabus Private Aviation division is set up in response to customer demand and follows a similar project launched recently to outfit yacht interiors. It allows discerning and well-heeled clients to either retrofit the cabins of their existing private jets or commission the accoutrements to be fitted to new aircraft direct from whatever aerospace concern is building their new private jet.
The focus is on both luxury and business capabilities, which Brabus is currently displaying with two concepts at the European Business Aviation Convention & Exhibition in Geneva. Scope ‘em out in the high-resolution image gallery above, the press release and the dedicated website beyond .
Lola may not be a name recognized by the average consumer, but racing fans will know it well. The British concern has built and continues to build race cars that have spanned an enormous variety of series and disciplines since its founding in 1958, including (but not limited to) Formula One, Le Mans, CART and just about every formula feeder series you could think of, including Formula Two, Formula 3, Formula 3000, Formula 5000 and A1GP. Now, unfortunately, the company is filing for bankruptcy protection.
The reasons are pretty simple: too many expenses and not enough revenue, although tax credits it was due from the British government are also said to be partially to blame. As a result, the outfit responsible for – among numerous other accolades – five LMP2 titles at Le Mans since 2000 alone is entering financial administration as it seeks new investors.
Along with it, Lola Cars is taking Lola Composites, however the effect this might have on its concerns in defense and aerospace (among other areas) remains to be seen. As is the future of the track car which Lola builds for Caterham, or the countless racing teams that continue to count on Lola to build and support their sports prototypes. But with so many racing programs at stake, we can hardly imagine the company’s considerable capabilities and expertise will go unclaimed for long. for the official announcement.
Given the spate of new models has introduced in the past few years, from the to the to the to the , it sometimes seems like has forgotten about the original model, the plain old hardtop. It was last redesigned for the 2007 model year, which seems like a long time ago because, well, it is. Which is why Mini will shortly introduce an all-new hardtop Cooper, which our camera spies have captured testing in Europe.
We’re told that the new model is codenamed F56, but more importantly, its underpinnings are said to be shared with the next-generation . While Mini will continue to put four-cylinder engines underhood, there’s presumably a three-cylinder in the works as well, though we’re not sure whether that model will make it to our shores.
While we’ve seen some before, these seem to confirm that the car will grow a bit in size, both length and width. We are told that the longer hood and greater front overhang may be the result of fake front body panels, but the new front and rear glass appears to accurately represent the forthcoming production car, which will have a more raked angle to its windshield and rear window.
is expected to start production of the 2014 Mini Cooper early next year.
Diners, Drive-ins and Dives persona Guy Fieri is making more news with garages these days than kitchens. The Food Network host, who recently had his and then , has been selected to drive the at the Indy 500 this year.
Guy’s an admitted car fan, and he should feel at home in the ; he owns seven models that span the decades from 1968 to 2011, and a ESV. He’ll be pacing the field in the 638-horsepowerspecial edition Arctic White coupe on Sunday, May 27 at noon EST.
This post isn’t for the weak of stomach or faint of heart. The sad truth of being an automotive enthusiast is that we’re all hoarders on some level. We yearn to collect various bits of paraphernalia plucked from our favorite race teams and derelict junkyard hulks. Now Charly Molinelli Design has elevated our pack rat tendencies to high art. Or at least clever interior design. Using the cubed remains of an indistinguishable , the designer set about crafting a coffee table that doesn’t look like it belongs tucked away in a tacky man cave.
Behold, the Crashed Ferrari Table. The designer calls wedging the squared remains into the glass case “a dead hero placed into a coffin.” Sounds fitting to us. There’s no word on how much one of these would cost you if you wanted to take it home. Then again, there’s something more than a touch depressing about seeing all that red crammed into a pine box. Head over to the for a closer look at the table’s creation.
The sequel to Frankenstein is being written in Swedish, by . The ostensibly former car company could teach the good doctor about life after death, having earned itself more good news by of the Swedish Touring Car series. Team Tidö’s black racer was on pole and carried that lead all the way to the checkered flag. Driving it was Linus Ohlsson, whose past triumphs include taking third in the 2011 Carrera Cup Scandinavia series.
Just to be clear, all the cars in the series are , with Saab, , and Citroën bodies . Still, it was the body with the Griffin badge that beat the rest, and we all know Saab’s faithful could use something to cheer about these days. for a video recap of the race; it’s in Swedish, so hit the CC button for English subtitles if you need ‘em.
Ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls of appropriate ages, your requisite dose of big-screen fast driving is here. And it looks pretty darn funny, too.
The movie in question is called Hit and Run. It was written and directed by Dax Shepard, who also stars in the film alongside such notables as Bradley Cooper, Tom Arnold, a couple of girls named Kristen, a custom ‘67 Continental hot rod and a 700-horsepower off-road racing buggy. The comedy (not to be confused with the 1924, 1938, 1957, 1959, 1966, 1975, 1996, 2000, 2002, 2004, 2005, 2007, 2009, 2010 or 2011 movies of the same name) centers around a guy whose past as a bank-robbing getaway driver comes back to haunt him, forcing him and his girlfriend to hit the road.
It tickles us in all the right places, but we’ll let you judge for yourself from the . Look for it at local theaters from August 24.
“We are ready to make this car the top seller if the customer agrees.”
started Job One production for the at its Smyrna, Tennessee plant today.
Nissan has big plans for the fifth-generation Altima, which was the number-two selling car in the United States in 2011. The company is adding a third shift at Smyna, and shifting models around between this plant and its Canton, Mississippi plant with an eye toward the Altima passing the as the top-selling model in America.
Toyota sold 308,510 Camrys last year, compared with Nissan’s 268,981 Altimas.
“We haven’t built and designed this car the way we have, and made all these changes with a goal of being number-two,” said Nissan Americas vice chairman Bill Krueger. Krueger admits that the consumer will vote on whether the Altima becomes the top selling car. “But we are ready to make this car the top seller if the customer agrees.”
Tennessee Governor Bill Haslam chimed in on the rivalry. “We are going to give the folks down in Georgetown [Kentucky] a serious run for the money,” said Haslam, speaking of Toyota’s plant in the neighboring state.
Nissan definitely has the capacity to pass the Camry, as it builds Altimas at two plants.
Krueger says he is not willing to cut and slash profit margins to chase the top-seller number for Altima. Nissan has long been more aggressive in incentive spending than its Japanese rivals in large part because it does not have the brand cachet and reputation for durability and quality that and have.
Nissan built 570,000 vehicles in the U.S. last year and is adding a third shift to Smyrna. Nissan executives, however, won’t pinpoint what total capacity is for Smyrna and Canton for competitive reasons. But it definitely has the capacity to pass the Camry’s sales, as it builds Altimas at both plants.
Driving impressions of the 2013 Altima are embargoed until May 25, but we are allowed to tell you about a new feature we think is pretty cool. The tire pressure monitoring system not only tells the driver specifically what tire is low, but when you inflate each tire to the ideal, manufacturer-specified level, the car’s horn sounds. Pretty neat, huh?.
