Audi Quattro Concept – Click above for high-res image gallery
We knew was up to something when it invited us to late last year. The coupe, currently based on the architecture, pays homage to the original Ur-Quattro from 1980, and by inviting the media to drive the delicate concept, Audi wanted to show us how serious it is about someday offering a production version.
Now, Inside Line reports that a decision about whether or not the Quattro will get the green light should come in September, before the . Stephan Reil, head of Quattro GmbH, admits that the final decision about whether or not Audi will build the Quattro concept has indeed been delayed, but that he is “optimistic” about the concept getting the green light.
Reil told Inside Line that, if produced, the Quattro would be a low-volume product with a production run of around 500 to 1,000 cars. Part of the Quattro’s goodness is its focus on lightness, and with a target weight of only 3,086 pounds, plenty of exotic (and expensive) materials will need to be used in the car’s construction.
Furthermore, the RS5 powertrain will need to be revised quite extensively, with Reil citing that the Quattro will need to be more powerful, and that the engine will have to be mounted longitudinally rather than transversely. Even so, Reil said that if given the green light, we could see a production Quattro in about two to three years. Here’s hoping.
Consumer Reports make/model table – Click above to see entire article
Thanks to its countless hours of research and testing, is able to provide detailed and accurate assessments of pretty much every new car out there. Some of the data they compile results in the all-important reliability and safety ratings.
On the other hand, some of the stuff they come up with is a little more trivial. Like how many American-made individual models each automaker produces. Not important, but kind of a fun fact to flex your car knowledge muscles with. The list was compiled by counting each automaker’s list of individual models. In other words, the counts toward Honda’s total, but the Civic Si does not.
For 2011, and top the list with 12 each, followed by at nine and and at eight. topped the corporate ladder with 21, followed by FoMoCo with 14 and with 12.
Did you know that just the steering wheel in a modern F1 racer costs about as much as your car? That a driver will lose about four and a half pounds over the course of a grand prix? Or that an F1 car gets about 3.1 miles to the gallon?
The numbers in Formula 1 racing are absolutely staggering, but fortunately, our friends over at Netcars have mapped it all out in the most user-friendly way possible: that’s right, an infographic.
Some other tidbits of information: an F1 car takes just 1.7 seconds to hit 62 miles per hour from a standstill, and can top out around 257 mph. And to slow the car from 200 mph coming down a straightaway to 115 for a sweeping corner, it takes about as much force as it would to make an elephant jump 33 feet in the air. Seriously. But we don’t want to give it all away – click on the to view the infographic in full detail.
Today is the 4th of July – Independence Day – and as a country, we’re all taking a break from the normal work routine to celebrate America’s 235th birthday. (She’s looking good in her old age, isn’t she?) Like many of you, we’ll be kicking back with family and friends today, but never fear, we’ve still got plenty of content coming your way.
In the spirit of Independence Day, be sure to check out our , in which two of our editors argue over which droptop muscle car is the most American – the or . Cast your vote for which car should be most honored to wear the Stars and Stripes, but fair warning: The Mustang is already off to a commanding lead.
From all of us here at Autoblog, Happy Independence Day.
BMW M3 CRT – Click above for high-res image gallery
Thinking about dropping your kid’s college fund on the new ? With about 100 pounds of excess weight stripped out, four doors and the a bored-out 4.4-liter, 450-horsepower V8 under the hood, it’s bound to be an instant collector’s edition. But don’t head down to your local dealership with bearer bonds in hand just yet, as reports indicate that all 67 examples sold out almost as soon as they went on sale.
No problem, you figure. You’ll just place your order for the slick instead. Well, not so fast, bub. Apparently that one sold out just as fast, with the entire run of 20 cars gone in a scant 34 minutes. Don’t worry, though, because with sales moving this fast, you can bet BMW will offer another special or two before the car is phased out later this year. Just be on the ready – cash in hand – when it does.
If you ever looked at that suggested their station wagons were the next logical step up from a , well, you can stop snickering. Sure, it may still be a long shot, but appears to be getting serious about offering performance-oriented automobiles.
A couple of weeks ago, we brought you a that indicated Volvo was forging a closer relationship with Polestar, the racing outfit that fields the company’s entries in the Scandinavian and World Touring Car Championships. Volvo, it seemed, had already turned to Polestar to squeeze a bit of models, and according to the report, was prepared to utilize Polestar’s talents even more in the future.
A clearer picture of that that partnership is now emerging, and so far, it looks promising. Their first collaborative project is tipped to be a production version of the baby-blue, unveiled last year. If given the go-ahead, we could be looking at a limited run of 500 cars priced around £50,000 in the UK – about the same as a .
Like the concept, the production Volvo/Polestar C30 would be the first to carry the PCP badge – referring not to the chemical narcotic, but standing, somewhat repetitively, for Performance Concept Prototype. Similar high-performance versions of Volvo’s other products would follow and wear the same nameplate, creating a subdivision for Volvo that would be equivalent to what has in AMG and what does with its M division.
Aston Martin V12 Zagato – Click above for high-res image gallery
Take a look at ’s website and you may notice a new model listed in its portfolio. Slotted in between the One-77 and the sits the V12 Zagato, effectively confirming the new model’s place in the company’s production lineup and accompanied, in the fourth slide showcasing the model, by the statement “only a strictly limited run of road going cars will be built”.
The V12 Zagato is based on the Aston Martin , but features fresh bodywork penned by the namesake Italian design house. The car celebrates of fifty years of collaboration between Aston Martin and Zagato, dating back to the original DB4 GT.
Following the at the Concorso d’Eleganza Villa d’Este in May and the model’s at the Nürburgring, this is the closest thing to an actual production confirmation we’ve seen so far. Given where Aston has placed the model among its existing products, a very high purchase price is probable. We look forward to further official confirmation regarding the V12 Zagato’s market availability.
Fortune joined this weekend’s parade of all things USA with its list of “100 great things about America.” Be forewarned: the list itself is exceedingly dopey. After all, Clif bars, 60 Minutes, GEICO commercials, and LeBron James are among the things that Fortune somehow manages to rank ahead of the men and women collectively serving in our armed forces. (They’re number 64, for whatever that’s worth. Fortune separates out the SEALs, ranking them #5.)
Thanks to our nation’s obsession with them, cars and car-related items dot the list as well. A few even crack Fortune’s top 25: Detroit (#14), the (#11) and interstate highways (#2). sits at #51, drive-in movie theaters (the remaining few) occupy the 87th spot, Kevin Spacey’s Honda commercial voice-overs rank 41st (not making any of this up) and Exxon Mobil comes in at #88.
To read the whole , head over to Fortune, where you’ll also learn that duct tape (#16) ranks ahead of the Bill of Rights (#17).
Fortune joined this weekend’s parade of all things USA with its list of “100 great things about America.” Be forewarned: the list itself is exceedingly dopey. After all, Clif bars, 60 Minutes, GEICO commercials, and LeBron James are among the things that Fortune somehow manages to rank ahead of the men and women collectively serving in our armed forces. (They’re number 64, for whatever that’s worth. Fortune separates out the SEALs, ranking them #5.)
Thanks to our nation’s obsession with them, cars and car-related items dot the list as well. A few even crack Fortune’s top 25: Detroit (#14), the (#11) and interstate highways (#2). sits at #51, drive-in movie theaters (the remaining few) occupy the 87th spot, Kevin Spacey’s Honda commercial voice-overs rank 41st (not making any of this up) and Exxon Mobil comes in at #88.
To read the whole , head over to Fortune, where you’ll also learn that duct tape (#16) ranks ahead of the Bill of Rights (#17).
When you buy beef jerky, some Bridgestones or a Bulgari, you don’t spend six hours researching how much the retailer paid for the product. For that matter, when you buy a building, you don’t ask how much the builder put into it. When it comes to cars, though, consumers can never be deterred from scrutinizing the dealer’s actual costs. Hence the spotlight shined on dealer ‘holdback,’ which is a sum of money paid to a dealer by the manufacturer after a car is sold.
, holdback makes up anywhere from one to three percent of the price of a car. In the most nefarious interpretation, holdback is a built-in rebate that spikes the dealer’s invoice price. If a manufacturer wanted $20,000 from a dealer for a car, knowing that it might need to pay a two-percent holdback once the car is sold, the manufacturer makes the dealer pay $20,400 for the car. That $20,400 is now the official invoice price that appears on the breakdown. Once the car is sold, the dealer gets a check for $400.
Holdback is an inexact number. It could be pegged to the base MSRP or the configured invoice or the configured MSRP, for instance. But it can allow the dealer a number of follow-on benefits, including being able to sell a car at invoice price and still make money. Not that a dealer would let it go for invoice, and $400 isn’t much on a $20K transaction, but you get the point. TrueCar has a table of holdback percentages for various manufacturers, but be as wary of having too much information as too little.
We worked this 640i Coupe on the autobahn and on the many squeaky clean and manicured twisting two-lanes southeast of Munich where the low hills start to rumple up toward the Bavarian and Austrian Alps.
In that grand tradition, the editors at Autoblog have dug in on which of our country’s convertible muscle cars is the most American – the 2011 Ford Mustang GT Convertible or the 2011Chevrolet Camaro SS Convertible.
America’s Big Three automakers continued to post impressive sales gains while gobbling up market share from their Asian competitors.
Also of interest:
Browse our archive of Daily U-Turn posts or subscribe to the RSS feed
We’ll get to see the next , codenamed 991, during September’s Frankfurt Motor Show, and among the things we have already discovered is the possibility of . brought a few folks down to South Africa for rides in some pre-production cars, and Car and Driver has shared some of the tidbits, among which are confirmation of that seven-speed manual in a 400-horsepower Carrera S, as well as a hybrid drivetrain to be fitted in 2016.
The base Carrera will receive 350 hp from a 3.4-liter engine that C/D claims it will share with the S. That engine would be a drop of 0.2 liters from the current Carrera, but would have five more horsepower than the current car. The S engine stays at 3.8 liters but adds 15 more horses to its output. Both transmissions – PDK dual-clutch and manual – will get launch control, and the 991 range will have electronic parking brakes.
Being a 911, don’t expect the overall design to change too much, but the 991 will be 2.5 inches longer and its wheelbase will be stretched by a whopping four inches. Front and rear tracks are also said to be beefier. That could help explain that Inside Line, who was also in South Africa, describes feeling in the passenger seat during some hard driving. The application of electric steering, though, will have everyone wondering if Porsche can maintain its lock on the world’s best steering feel. And if you want to know what the interior looks like, head over to for a couple of shots. Think . Naturally.
You can forget baseball – it seems like Americans have a new favorite pastime on their hands. No, we’re not talking about saddling up to the feeding trough at the local Golden Sizzlin’. Now more than ever, we love to argue. As a country, we’ll leap into a debate half-cocked, half-informed and fully armed faster than you can say, “You’re fired!”
In that grand tradition, the editors at Autoblog have dug in on which of our country’s convertible muscle cars are the most American – the or the . Motoring out across the Lady Liberty’s wide open spaces in a topless muscle car is more patriotic than all the flag pins in Congress. They give our homecoming queens a perch from which to wave and make drive-in movies all the more magical.
In a twist of test fleet fate, two of us have been granted the keys to these beasts for the most American of holidays, Independence Day. Editor/Test Fleet Manager has taken up the FoMoCo banner, leaving Associate Editor to lead the Bowtie charge. Who will stand victorious?
Since it’s the Fourth of July weekend and this is America, we’ll leave that for the people to decide. Click to read the respective arguments for both cars and cast your vote.
GT Convertible vs. 2011 Chevrolet Camaro SS Convertible [w/poll]
GT Convertible vs. 2011 Chevrolet Camaro SS Convertible [w/poll]
McLaren MP4-12C GT3 – Click above for high-res image gallery
The Goodwood Festival of Speed kicks off this weekend, and it promises to be a veritable smorgasbord of high-performance machinery. Not the least of them will be the new MP4-12C GT3, which McLaren has been fine-tuning since its debut barely two months ago.
Following extensive ongoing development work, McLaren has given the 12C GT3 a new radiator and gearbox cooler, as well as a retuned aerodynamics package with a new front splitter, rear wing and diffuser, louvered fenders and door blade, all of which promise to help the first GT racer produced by McLaren since the F1 GTR running fast and running long ahead of the pack.
To support the field of 20 cars that will be fielded by privateers starting next season, the Woking-based outfit has also launched the new McLaren GT division in conjunction with the CRS Racing Team.
The updated GT3 will run in its latest form up the hill at the Goodwood estate this weekend, and to mark the occasion, McLaren has released a fresh batch of high-resolution images which we’ve added to the launch photos. Check ‘em out along with the press release .
It’s a good thing for Google that have all of the money in the world. A federal judge has announced that the Silicon Valley giant can be sued for any damages . As you may recall, earlier this year, it was determined that when the mapping machines passed by areas with unsecured WiFi networks, the hardware mounted on top of the roofs was inadvertently able to snag passwords, emails and a whole host of other information that was unknowingly ripe for the picking.
According to Wired, Google is going on the defensive and claims that unsecured WiFi networks are akin to radio communications. Anyone can grab a radio signal out there, and Google believes grabbing onto an open network is similar. Google has also stated that it was initially unaware of the data being snatched up by its roving fleet.
The implications from this case could prove very interesting for both Google and anyone using an unsecured WiFi network. We’ll bring you updates as the story develops, and we’ll be sure to change the password on the Autoblog router. (ProTip: Don’t go with #12345, even if it matches the combination on your luggage).
1955 Ferrari 750 Monza Spider chassis #0492M – Click above for high-res image gallery
Classic cars change hands all the time. What brings them to the spotlight is usually one of several factors. It might have a track record distinguished by race wins. It might be in particularly good shape. It might have had a starring role in a major motion picture. It might be a particular rarity from a small production run, or maybe it served to showcase the manufacturer’s offerings at a major auto show. Having all these factors come together on one specific automobile is a rarity, but that’s what we’re looking at with this stunning 1955 750 Monza Spider.
One of only 35 built, Ferrari displayed this Spider at the 1955 Brussels Motor Show, after which it was brought to America by famed importer Luigi Chinetti who sold it to his rival importer John von Neumann in Los Angeles. Neumann set the Monza on an aggressive race program up and down the West Coast that saw it win twice and score another nine podiums at various sportscar racing events, bringing on board, among others, no less a talent than Phil Hill to man the wheel.
Most notably, the car was driven by Fred Astair in a fictionalized post-apocalyptic grand prix in the movie On The Beach. Since then, chassis 0492M has been part of several prestigious collections, but after a comprehensive two-year restoration is now heading to the auction block at Pebble Beach, where RM Auctions will be putting it up for grabs with prices reportedly expected to top $3 million. With a 260-horsepower 3.0-liter DOHC four similar to that found in the that RM , this Monza Spider is described by one noted Ferrari expert as the best she’s ever seen.
for more details in the auction listing and scope out the spectacular high-resolution images in the gallery for a closer look.
Lotus Exige Cup 260 – Click above for high-res image gallery
The ambition in the Hethel offices of appears to know no bounds, its road car program rivaled only by its expanding racing operations.
The British automaker already participates, in one manner or another, in Formula 1, IndyCar, GP3 and GT racing. The company is also said to be working on a new LMP2 program to challenge for the second-tier Le Mans category. But before that comes around, reports indicate that Lotus is working on an in-house rally project.
Rather than compete in the top-tier WRC or IRC classes, reports suggest that a production-based is in the works for privateer entries, presumably for tarmac rallies, set to debut at the upcoming Frankfurt Motor Show in September. Despite the fact that the Exige has gone out of production, it remains a popular choice among privateers who have Lotus road cars converted to rally specifications by independent outfitters, a slice of whose pie Lotus apparently is keen to take.
The growing motorsport division at Lotus is headed by one , who followed CEO Dany Behar over from , where he was once the F1 team’s manager. And, like his former boss Jean Todt, Berro comes from a background as a rally co-pilot, navigating a Talbot Sunbeam Lotus through the Group 2 Italian Rally Championship in the early ’80s.
Forza 4 is set to hit stores on October 11th, and Turn 10 Studios wants you ordering the game before the leaves start to change color. A limited collector’s edition has been announced, which is chock full of goodies, both virtual and real. For $79.99, Xboxers will receive a special tin that contains the game, a 96-page photo book titled Cars of Forza Motorsport 4 presented by Top Gear, vinyl stickers and a slew of downloadable content.
Those who opt for the limited collector’s edition will be able to download the VIP Car Pack and Ship Bonus Car Pack. The former includes the , Ferrari 458 Challenge, , Noble M600 and . The Cars of the Ship Pack are a , Koenigsegg Agera, 1997 Lexus SC300, and Tesla Roadster. A pack of 10 muscles cars will also be available, as well the winning cars in a Forza-sponsored design challenge contest.
Speaking of BMW, the serves as the cover car for the limited collector’s edition version of the game. The furious four-door is, of course, also available within the game.
Texas Gov. Rick Perry and Queensland, Australia Premier Anna Bligh celebrate V8 Supercars agreement
It’s official – Australia’s V8 Supercars series is set to bash fenders in Austin, Texas in 2014. The news comes hard on the heels of the Austin city council Formula One race at the Circuit of the Americas.
The FIA-sanctioned touring car series has signed a five-year contract and the two 124-mile (200-km) races will be televised live on SPEED. The 3.4-mile Circuit of the Americas will also play host to MotoGP bike racing, having sewn up that series from 2013 to 2022. Check out the full details in the press release after the jump.
The Saudi authorities have stepped in to temper the momentum of Saudi Women for Driving. It is against religious law for women to drive in the Arabian country, a fact of life that Saudi women have now decided to fight. The campaign began earlier this year, headed by Manal al-Sharif, with and her taking to the streets behind the wheel of a car, then with a in The Kingdom. In early June, 40 Saudi women drove en masse, in an escalation of their efforts, and since then scores more have driven through the capital and other cities.
The authorities didn’t respond to those provocations, but they have to this latest one: five women were arrested while driving in the coastal city of Jiddah. There’s been no update on their situation, with another rights activist only able to wonder, “We aren’t sure what it means at this point and whether this is the start of a harder line by the government against the campaign.”
