has slapped a sticker onto the latest addition to the lineup, and the all-new will carry at sticker of $76,895 (including the $895 destination charge) when it goes on sale this summer.
The 640i is the first variant of the segment-splitting “4+1″ sedan, which gets power from the ubiquitous TwinPower turbocharged and direct-injected 3.0-liter inline-six putting out 315 horsepower and 330 pound-feet of torque. A 4.4-liter twin-turbocharged V8-powered 650i Gran Coupe will be on offer later this year in both rear-wheel and all-wheel-drive guise, although BMW is holding off on pricing those two 445 hp models until closer to launch. Full details in the press blast .
Okay, this is an easy one. If we told you to pick a performance winner between the and the , we’re guessing the vast majority of you would pick Godzilla to come out on top. Both vehicles feature over 500 horsepower, but the weighs over 400 pounds more, and the GT-R counters with one of the world’s most impressive all-wheel-drive systems.
That didn’t stop the Autocar team from pitting the M5 against the GT-R in a test of acceleration, cornering, braking, G-force and general feel. Given the GT-R’s 0-60 time of 2.8 seconds and its reputation for otherworldly handling, you know how this one is going to play out. But will the Nissan super coupe take all five tests? To be honest, a few of the tests were a bit closer than we would have thought. to check it out.
is headed back to the Australian V8 Supercar Series. The Japanese Automaker was famously ousted in 1993 when the sanctioning body behind the series adjusted the rules to require all entries be V8-based. Nissan had dominated the series for three years with the company’s , laying waste to the front-engine, rear-wheel-drive dinosaurs from and with a high-tech combination of all-wheel drive and turbocharged six-cylinder fury. In 1991, the company set a top-speed record at the Bathurst 1000 that wouldn’t be touched for nine years. The following season, the company was forced to carry 100 kg of weight and run reduced boost pressure. It didn’t matter. The GT-R still cleaned up.
Nissan is entering the series under the fairly new Car of the Future program, which was designed to make the series more attractive to competitors and sponsors. Interestingly enough, the Car of the Future Program was started by none other than Mark Skaife, the man who piloted the GT-R to many a win in the early ’90s. Nissan’s racer will be forced to use a generic V8 drivetrain to conform to the rule book, so don’t expect to see any more turbo sixes dotting eyes on the track. Likewise, the all-wheel drive of the GT-R will be off the table.
Still, any amount of diversity in a series that’s been Holden versus Ford for so long is a step in the right direction. As far as we know, four cars will carry the Nissan badge in the 2013 season and be campaigned by Kelly Racing. for the full press release.
The true jewels of most auto shows are often hidden, requiring a bit more legwork to find. During our third pass of the , we stumbled upon a display from the . Tucked away in a corner behind low aluminum railing, we found a stunning full-size two-door hardtop: the 1954 Mercury XM 800 Concept.
When it was first introduced at the 1954 , the XM 800 made quite an impact. Mechanically speaking, it was fitted with a 312 cubic inch engine rated at 270 horsepower. A Ford-O-Matic automatic transmission, sending power to the rear wheels, was standard. Its design was noted for an expansive greenhouse offering passengers an almost 360-degree outside view. Benson Ford, running the Lincoln-Mercury Division at the time, pushed for the XM-800’s basic design to be added to the Mercury lineup. The plan to move forward was only extinguished because the automaker switched gears to work on Edsel.
The fiberglass XM 800 traveled extensively in 1954 and 1955, making appearances at most major car shows and special exhibitions (including the Chicago Auto Show). It even had a featured role in Hollywood, appearing in the 20th Century Fox production Woman’s World. In the late 1950s, the concept car was gifted to the University of Michigan’s Automotive Engineering Lab to be used for training and design inspiration. Ten years later, the Mercury ended up in storage outside a barn on a farm in central Michigan. Thankfully, the deteriorating concept car caught the eye of an enthusiast who purchased it and began a 20-year frame off, nut-and-bolt restoration.
Today, the 1954 Mercury XM 800 is considered to be one of the most significant concept cars ever produced. It recently sold at the RM Auction for $429,000. Check out the for its interesting history and our gallery for some beautiful design.
is set to debut an all-new later this year, and the Japanese automaker has given us a better picture of what to expect from the vehicle’s cabin. Leather heated and cooled front seats are part of the package, while occupants in the second row will enjoy heated thrones of their own. Nissan focused heavily on making the third row easier to access. The company incorporated larger rear door openings to make ingress and egress a simpler affair, and the second-row seats feature a child-seat mode that still allows rear access even with a booster seat in place.
Speaking of the way-back seats, the next-generation Pathfinder will feature a reclining 50/50 folding bench in the third row. Both the second and third row fold flat for more cargo area.
There should be plenty of technology on board, too, including a 13-speaker Bose stereo and the handy Nissan around-view monitor. Click for the full press release as well as a quick video of the SUV’s cabin.
debuted the 2013 Veloster Turbo at the earlier this year, adding some more oomph and a more aggressive look to the funky three-door hatch. We felt that an additional 63 horsepower and 71 pound-feet of torque was just what the little Hyundai needed, and we were especially digging the available matte gray paint once the Veloster hits showrooms this summer.
Here at the Hyundai is offering a completely different take on the Veloster Turbo with a special graphics package. The decals feature a gray and yellow stripe running the length of the car, yellow trim on the front spoiler, side skirts and rear fascia, as well as a checkered flag theme on the side and roof spoiler. It’s definitely over the top, but still tastefully done.
So will this graphics package make it to production? Hyundai says ‘no’ for this particular look, although they are working other (likely more subtle) graphics that will be available to customers.
You can see the 2013 Hyundai Veloster Turbo with the graphics package in detail in the gallery above.
It’s getting harder and harder to purchase a genuine stripped down vehicle these days. Manufacturers have discovered that it’s both cheaper and easier to offer every model with a surprisingly high level of content rather than build multiple variations on the same theme. That’s why tricks like power locks and windows are all but ubiquitous, even on bargain-basement models.
Not so in Japan. is offering buyers a stripper version of the company’s new GT86 sports coupe. The vehicle comes as a blank canvas just waiting for your personal touch. Outside, the stock 17-inch alloy wheels are replaced with 16-inch steelies, and the bumpers, side mirrors and door handles all arrive unpainted. Don’t expect to find any fog lights, either.
Indoors, niceties like a stereo, air conditioning and even trim work around the steering wheel and shifter are nowhere to be found. Toyota even went so far as to ditch the plastic intake cover under the hood. The vehicle doesn’t come with a limited-slip rear differential, but the sacrifice seems worth it to us. For starters, the GT-86 RC carries a price tag of 1.9 million Yen, or $24,601 at current conversion rates. That’s significantly less than the standard model. Then there’s the fact that the RC weighs nearly 100 pounds less than the base GT-86.
Sadly, we doubt either or will offer a similarly stripped-down version of their respective or models, though history disagrees with us. Scion did, in fact, offer a stripper version of the back in 2007 called the .
General Motors unveiled the company’s refreshed at the 2012 Chicago Auto Show yesterday, and if you were paying attention, you may have noticed something curious about the vehicle. While the new Acadia looks considerably better than its predecessor, a few components of the design looked more than a little familiar. Upon closer observation, it appears that GM has simply repurposed elements of the now defunct Saturn Outlook crossover on the 2013 Acadia. Both vehicles seem to share the same wrap-around rear glass, back hatch, tail light openings and exaggerated, squared-off fender arches.
While the vehicles are differentiated by badging, tail lamps and a rear valance, there’s no denying the similarities toward the vehicle’s rear. Up front, both share similar fenders, though adjustments have been made for the varying headlight designs.
That’s good news if you just can’t imagine life without the Saturn Outlook.
GM isn’t the only automaker to pull something similar. Parts sharing is a smart way to keep costs as low as possible, and recouping the design and manufacturing costs the automaker poured into the Outlook is a smart way to keep GM’s earnings headed in the right direction. For example, famously reused tail lights in the first-generation . We just aren’t accustomed to seeing this sort of recycling on such a grand scale or after so much time has elapsed.
has taken home the first ever Kelley Blue Book award for Total Cost of Ownership among consumer brands. As you might expect, the award goes to brands and vehicles with the lowest projected ownership costs. KBB examines depreciation, fuel costs, fees associated with finance and insurance, maintenance costs and state fees. Both the sedan and CUV helped Kia cinch the win this award’s inaugural year.
Kelley Blue Book also examined the cost of ownership among luxury brands, and took the top nod in this category. KBB specifically pointed to the German automaker’s low depreciation and good average fuel economy as reasons for the brand’s win. The , and all helped the automaker in the total cost of ownership evaluation.
The award is also broken up by individual vehicle categories, and there were some surprises among the winners. The took the Hybrid Car award while the nabbed the Electric Car win. We would have expected to see the and take those categories, respectively. for the full press release that reveals individual winners in each model category.
While the current A-Class has stood as something of an odd man out from the rest of the line-up, the new A-Class promises to be a proper Mercedes. And fortunately, with that territory, all signs point to the German automaker planning on including an AMG version.
The trouble is that while AMG has a wealth of experience boring out big engines, the small sort of mills capable of fitting under the hood of something as compact as the A-Class is outside its realm of expertise. Fortunately, Mercedes has another division that thrives on getting the most out of compact powerplants.
That division is Mercedes-Benz HighPerformanceEngines, the Northamptonshire, England-based firm formerly known as Ilmor that constructs the F1 engines for McLaren, Force India and Mercedes’ own F1 team. It happened to have been run by Ola Kallenius until he switched over to AMG. Although HPE has until now been operated largely as a stand-alone business, Mercedes has been integrating it into its broader operations, and this – according to reports – could be the first road-car project on which it’s called to work.
Until recently, F1 was expecting to switch to small, turbocharged four-cylinder engines, leading HPE to work on such a unit. Since that was scrapped in favor of a V6, the development work is reportedly being applied instead to a new high-output engine for the AMG A-Class.
Tipped to be called the A25 AMG, the veritable hot hatch is targeting the 335-horsepower Audi RS3, only is expected to carry even more power. The engine is also expected to find its way into the new CLC25 AMG, which bodes well for the B-Class-based four-door coupe and shooting brake.
has pulled back the sheets on the first images of its production V12 Zagato. The road car is headed for an official debut at this year’s Geneva Motor Show in March.
Following in the tradition of the automaker’s ultra exclusive One-77, the V12 Zagato will take more than 2,000 man-hours to manufacture thanks to hand-hewn body panels, including the hood, roof and doors. Not surprisingly, Aston Martin has committed to building just 150 examples. The V12 Zagato will also make extensive use of carbon fiber, with the front and rear fenders, trunk lid and door sills all constructed from the composite.
Aston Martin created four new colors especially for the V12 Zagato, and paint alone takes 100 hours to complete. Indoors, it takes a full seven hides to cover the cabin in hand-stitched, quilted leather.
The V12 Zagato effectively rides on the same underpinnings as the V12 Vantage, which means buyers can look forward to a 6.0-liter V12 engine with 510 horsepower and 420 pound-feet of torque, while a six-speed manual transmission puts the power to the ground. for the full press release.
This is the new station wagon, which will debut at next month’s and then arrive in European showrooms this summer. At 184 inches, it’s longer than both the and (by three and seven inches, respectively).
Inside, there’s 17.6 cubic feet of cargo space with the seats up, and up to 52 cubic feet with the seats folded. Drivers will get to choose from a range of gasoline (1.6, 1.8, and 1.4T) and diesel (1.7 and 2.0) powertrains, and the long-roof Cruze arrives with available.
Australians will get a Holden-badged version, but as for us? Sorry, guys. Don’t expect anything in the near future. Chevrolet spokesman Michael Albano says, “No plans on bringing the wagon to US at this point. But we’ll continue to evaluate market as needed.”
The official press announcement is pasted , and you can click on the image above to see a larger version.
The is back: is considering a top-dog model based on the . The GT-R running gear is impressive with its 500-plus turbocharged horsepower and sophisticated all-wheel drive system, but anyone who’s driven Nissan’s supercar will tell you that it lacks the finesse you’d expect from an Infiniti.
“We have three or four proposals we are looking at right now.” Infiniti Advanced Planning chief Francois Bancon told . Of course, automakers create lots of internal proof-of-concept models that never see the light of day, so having proposals doesn’t necessarily have any bearing on what might make production. “It would have to be softer than the GT-R,” continued Bancon, acknowledging, “You can’t easily tweak the GT-R to deliver the sophisticated, more refined performance we would need on an Infiniti.” Whether an Infiniti version of the GT-R is mere rumor or eventual reality, there’s going to be a wait. For now, Infiniti is focused on launching a smaller model for 2015, and a GT-R-based halo car would come after that program is successfully under way.
With the first test session of the season now under way in Jerez, Spain, the remaining teams – that is, at least, the ones that have their cars ready – are presenting their new designs for the 2012 Formula One World Championship. The latest among them: Scuderia Toro Rosso.
Long known as the Red Bull B-squad, STR positions itself as something of a training squad for new drivers moving into F1 as an extension of the company’s young driver training program. And for that reason it (Jaime Alguersuari and Sebastian Buemi) in favor of fresh talents Daniel Ricciardo and Jean-Eric Vergne.
Like most (make that all so far except McLaren), the new STR7 which they’ll be driving this year is distinguished from last year’s field by a rather unsightly, platypus-style stepped nose and tighter sidepods and hindquarters. Ferrari once again provides its Type 056 V8 engine, driving through a seven-speed gearbox and assisted by a Kinetic Energy Recovery System (KERS) and Drag Reduction System in the rear wing.
With its new drivers and car, Toro Rosso hopes to finish sixth or seventh in the championship this year; an ambitious goal considering that the last time it finished that well was in against all odds – a victory that still stands as the only podium finish out of the 108 races the team has contested in its six years of racing. We’ll be watching to see how they fare.
The problems for and its Dutch factory, , began with that common bogeyman, the . At the end of ForFour production, there was no vehicle in the pipeline for Mitsubishi or then-partner DaimlerChrysler that could be built in the Dutch factory and put its 180,000 cars-per-year capacity to use. Now that the European economy is teetering on the edge of implosion, Mitsubishi is pulling its Colt and models from Born and putting the plant up for sale. The latest production figures report that NedCar is building just 50,000 cars per year, and since Mitsubishi has a factory under construction in Thailand, located closer to more robust emerging markets, it makes more sense to move where the food is. NedCar workers are naturally unhappy, .
The plant, which started life in the 1960s building both the DAF 44 and 55, was partly underwritten by the government of Holland to provide employment to a regional workforce that had lost a lot of jobs when the mines in Limburg closed. Volvo bought DAF and kept the plant busy with the 66 and 343 through the 1980s. Mitsubishi and the Dutch Government joined Volvo as joint stakeholders in the plant in 1991 as a way to keep it humming at capacity, since Volvo could only manage 120,000 cars per year on its own. Ten years later, Mitsubishi bought out the other two-thirds of the plant and now the Outlander and Colt are going to be out by December 2012.
, but Mitsubishi Motors President Osamu Masuko will want to see your plan for the 1,500 workers before selling the factory so cheaply. All hope is not lost for the workforce just yet, there are looking to swoop in and start building a new car in the plant by 2015, creating about 800 jobs in the process. The logical money is on that automaker being Volvo, though Gothenburg has been mum so far.
At first glance, pitting the against the Audi R8 Spyder is a bit like throwing a trout in a five-gallon bucket with a piranha. After all, the big boasts over 100 horsepower more than the baby . Throw in the fact that the puts its power to the ground through all four wheels while the is left to manage with just two, and the fight looks even more bleak for Stuttgart’s finest. Still, the Audi R8 Spyder isn’t a lightweight by any stretch of the imagination. The vehicle needs all 430 horsepower from its 4.2-liter V8 to move the sports car’s 3,858 pounds around the track.
The Porsche Boxster Spyder, meanwhile, weighs in at over 1,000 pounds lighter. That 100 horsepower gap doesn’t seem so big now, does it? EVO Magazine recently took the time to put the two vehicles to the test and worked up a quick video of their exploits. Who came out on top? You’ll just have to to find out for yourself.
UPDATE:EVO’s embed code is busted, so to watch the video.
At first glance, pitting the against the Audi R8 Spyder is a bit like throwing a trout in a five-gallon bucket with a piranha. After all, the big boasts over 100 horsepower more than the baby . Throw in the fact that the puts its power to the ground through all four wheels while the is left to manage with just two, and the fight looks even more bleak for Stuttgart’s finest. Still, the Audi R8 Spyder isn’t a lightweight by any stretch of the imagination. The vehicle needs all 430 horsepower from its 4.2-liter V8 to move the sports car’s 3,858 pounds around the track.
The Porsche Boxster Spyder, meanwhile, weighs in at over 1,000 pounds lighter. That 100 horsepower gap doesn’t seem so big now, does it? EVO Magazine recently took the time to put the two vehicles to the test and worked up a quick video of their exploits. Who came out on top? You’ll just have to to find out for yourself.
debuted the earlier today at the , but it wasn’t the only vying for our attention on the show floor. In fact, we had a hard time keeping our eyes off this Vibrant Red beauty.
The pony car in question? A 1993 SVT Cobra R, the pinnacle of the Fox Body Mustang. The standard SVT Cobra made its official debut at the Chicago Auto Show back in 1992, and its reappearance in the Windy City was a fitting reminder of the .
So what makes the 1993 SVT Cobra R so special? For starters, just 107 were produced, making it one of the rarest Mustangs ever built by Ford. The 235-horsepower 5.0-liter V8 is the same powerplant as the one in the standard Cobra, but the R model had less weight to push around thanks to the removal of the rear seats, radio, air conditioning and all sound deadening material. Ford also fitted the Cobra R with adjustable Koni shocks, larger front and rear brakes, 17-inch wheels shod with Goodyear tires, an external engine oil cooler and power steering fluid cooler, aluminum radiator and more.
The particular Cobra R brought to the show by Ford is literally a time capsule from the early ’90s and in incredible condition. Amazingly, the odometer reads just over 4,100 miles. You can check out the car in detail in the gallery above.
The was commonly known for years as a truck show, with automakers using the McCormick Place to show off their sport-utility vehicles and pickups. And while trends have indeed shifted in the automotive world (SUV is a dirty word these days), some companies still take time to debut a special truck or two here in the Windy City. , Chrysler’s pickup truck arm, has brought its new to Chicago, offering full-size truck buyers a host of upscale standard amenities in a decidedly classy package.
The Ram Laramie Limited’s exterior is attended to with the addition of big alloy wheels and chrome accents, while inside, there’s a smattering of leather upholstery with contrast stitching, deep berber carpets, heated seats, a heated steering wheel, unique gauges, LED ambient lighting and navigation, among other amenities.
The Laramie Limited is available in 1500, 2500 HD and 3500 HD configurations, and will hit dealerships later this year.
Daimler is shuttering Maybach in 2013 after seven years of production. In that time, the company’s ultra-ultra-luxury arm managed to sell just 3,000 units, and CARreports Daimler lost somewhere around $500,000 on each and every one of them.
Even with a ludicrous price tag of over $370,000 for an “entry” Maybach 57, the brand couldn’t quite recoup the dizzying $1.33 billion Daimler poured into it since its (re)inception. Rumors ignited over a possible tie up with that would have resulted in a range of new and attractive models, but Daimler has instead decided to snuff out Maybach altogether.
We can hardly blame them.
will pick up the ultra-luxury slack with a new range of sedans based on the . Those bruisers will likely bow in 2013 just as Maybach turns out the lights for good.
