will be showing the all-new 2013 SRT at the on Wednesday, in what will undoubtedly be one of the biggest reveals of the show. While we’ve already seen , , , , and from the forthcoming Viper, this new teaser is our best official look yet.
Too bad then, that it’s not so good – just a blurry, poorly lit image that seems like it’s more Photoshop than photo. So we went ahead and tried to enhance the image we plucked off of SRT’s page ourselves. If there’s one thing we can see for certain from these pixels, it’s that the new hood design – with two front-mounted, rear-facing scoops – is confirmed.
While we eagerly await the rest of the picture, the good news is that there’s just two more days to go.
Check out all four official teasers of the new Viper in our .
When the goes on sale this fall, it will be the first mid-size family sedan in North America to be offered with start-stop technology. But since not all buyers are open to the idea of having their engines turn off at stop lights to save fuel, will be offering it as optional equipment, and the automaker has now announced that the stand-alone feature will cost $295.
The 2013 Fusion will launch with three powertrains (not including Hybrid and variants), but only the 1.6-liter EcoBoost inline-four is available with start-stop. This engine produces 172 horsepower and 179 pound-feet of torque, and can be had with either a six-speed manual or automatic transmission. As of this writing, it’s unclear whether or not start-stop will be available with both transmissions. The Fusion’s other powertrains – a 2.5-liter naturally aspirated inline-four and 2.0-liter EcoBoost four – will not be available with the technology.
According to Ford, the 1.6-liter Fusion should be good for up to 37 miles per gallon on the highway, putting it at the top of its class in terms of fuel economy. Based on its calculations, Ford estimates that drivers who opt for the start-stop-equipped Fusion will save “about $1,100 more than other midsize sedan owners during five years of driving.”
We’ll be interested to see what the take rate is on start-stop once the Fusion goes on sale later this year. For the full details, to read Ford’s press release.
The Dodge Viper SRT10 ACR currently holds the unofficial production car record for a Nürburgring lap with . The is the first four-door to show up on the list of lap times with a 7:52.00. The Audi RS6 Avant is the quickest wagon with a time of 8:09.00, and the first thing resembling a sport utility vehicle is the at 8:24.00. That right there would be the target for a were someone to bring one to Germany for a ‘Ring run. Last September, somebody did.
Piloted by the eminently qualified Sabine Schmitz, the Jeep Grand Cherokee SRT8 did the deed in 8:49.00. Ouch. That’s 25 seconds behind the X6 M and slower than even the front-wheel-drive Chevrolet HHR SS (8:43.52). Still, you can’t be taken seriously as a performance machine these days until you pay tribute at the Green Hell. And watching something attempt a high-speed ‘Ring run that was originally designed to rock crawl is always fun. to watch the official lap vid from SRT.
is bringing its diesel-powered to the States after all. But don’t get too excited – it’s only coming in the form of a concept car at the . At least, for now.
We last saw the Alltrack at the in November where VW announced that it would offer the all-wheel-drive wagon in the UK with two versions of the 2.0-liter turbo-diesel inline-four. The engines are rated at 138 and 168 horsepower, the smaller of which is available with a manual transmission.
Despite the fact that the Tokyo show car was a full-on production model, VW is calling the New York-bound Alltrack a concept to presumably gauge the U.S. public’s perception. If Americans seem open to the Alltrack, it would be a welcome alternative to ’s pricey Allroad and granola-flavored .
Check out our Tokyo Motor Show below, and for the official press blast. Be sure to tell us if you think the Passat Alltrack should come to the states in our poll, as well.
We’ve seen some dumb ideas before, but this one may take the cake. The post-jump video shows what happens when a dragster that should stick to the strip goes on a track that requires a mild left turn. Actually, this “track” looks more like the cart path at the local golf course, except most owners wouldn’t put the path this close to a ditch.
Of course the dragster ends up in said ditch, and we’re thinking the driver is mighty lucky that his car rolled back into the upright position, or he could have been in a heap of trouble. to watch the video for yourself, if only to enjoy the second vantage point of the crash, which shows just how useless a steering wheel can be in a drag car.
Here it is, folks. This is the car that was a few days ago, and it’s going to be called the Fisker Atlantic when it debuts this week at the . These two images of the car appeared today on a , and the rear shot clearly shows a license plate bearing the name “Atlantic.”
Previously called Project Nina, the Atlantic will slot in Fisker’s fledgeling lineup below the , and reportedly cost considerably less. While any talk of pricing is just a guess at this point, rumor has it the Atlantic will be about half the price of the Karma, putting it squarely in the $45,000-$55,000 range. It’s a plug-in series hybrid, just like its big brother, but the Atlantic will reportedly use a turbocharged four-cylinder from as its range-extending generator.
We’ll have more detailed information about the Atlantic when it officially debuts at the this week, so come back for our live show coverage on Wednesday and Thursday, April 4-5.
It appears the right-wing wall against the is starting to crumble. Following months of beating on the Volt, Fox News aired a puff piece on earlier this week. Now we hear that for his son Neil as a birthday present. As our friend Chelsea Sexton , “Can’t wait to see what Fox News makes of that!”
In a sense, the Bush family should be among the first to buy one of GM’s plug-in hybrids, since the $7,500 federal tax credit that the car qualifies for was put into place during President George W. Bush’s second term. Since President Obama has also , that makes the Volt a vehicle that presidents from both major American parties can agree on.
Soon will disocntinue the as it ushers the new F12 Berlinetta into production, but until then the GTO holds its place as king of the hill. So before the ultimate incarnation of the 599 is swept off into retirement, Romeo Ferraris has developed a series of enhancements to the Ferrari flagship.
Given that Maranello has put just about everything it has into the 599 GTO, there wasn’t a lot of room to play around. So the tuner has released two small upgrades. Stage 1 encompasses a new air filter and exhaust for a 15-horsepower boost, while the Stage 2 kit remaps the ECU as well for 40-horsepower upgrade to bring overall output up to 710 hp – putting the final iteration of the 599 within spitting distance of its replacement’s 740 hp.
A series of extra carbon fiber components are also offered, but Romeo Ferraris apparently holds enough reverence for the donor cars to keep the modifications to a minimum.
We pity the fool who don’t think this is cool. Put aside the celebrity provenance of this “authentic replica,” allegedly “certified” by George Barris, for now and just take a look at the thing. It appears to be a spot-on knock-off of , the perfect midlife-crisis toy for anyone who grew up watching The A-Team. Imagine how cool it would be to drop the kids off at school in this?
Okay, the traffic snarl during drop-off time won’t clear out any faster, but when it comes to “,” you can’t top this custom 1983 G10. Wait, what’s that you say? B.A. drove a ? Of course he did. But this is a replica, and one that seems to have been built from a nearly identical Chevy donor.
The seller claims the van was built for none other than Mike Myers, he of Wayne’s World and Austin Powers fame. We’d like to see some documentation of this celebrity provenance, though it’s not the sort of thing that we’d see too much value in, regardless. We’re also curious about the last line of the sale ad: “Movie coming out in June!” It was back in June 2010 that the A-Teamfeature film debuted, which makes us think the seller might be willing to deal on his $20,000 price.
BMW i, the sub-brand within with its eye towards the future of mobility, has unveiled its third concept, the i8 Spyder. Based on the that debuted last year alongside the i3 city car, the i8 Spyder is at once an obvious followup, but also appears to be a couple of steps closer to the production models that will eventually go on sale to the public.
Like the coupe, the i8 Spyder is a plug-in through-the-road hybrid with a 96 kW (131 horsepower) electric motor up front powering the front axle and a mid-mounted turbocharged three-cylinder gas engine (presumably with a displacement of 1.5 liters like the coupe) producing 223 hp that powers the rear. A pack of lithium-ion batteries are located in a center tunnel between the two power sources, which together can produce a total system output of 354 hp and 405 lb-ft of torque. On electricity alone, the i8 Spyder can travel about 19 miles before the gas engine turns on to recharge the batteries. BMW says the system is good for 94 miles per gallon on the Imperial cycle, which converts to upwards of 78 miles per gallon on our own EPA cycle.
The beauty of the i8 Spyder’s drivetrain is the car can be front-wheel-drive, rear-wheel-drive or all-wheel-drive depending on whether efficiency, performance or all-weather traction is called for. Like the coupe, the i8 Spyder also features a perfect 50:50 weight distribution, and BMW claims to have completely cancelled out the extra weight of the hybrid drivetrain through extensive use of lightweight materials like carbon fiber and aluminum. Performance is also impressive, with 0-62 mph happening in five seconds and a top speed governed at 155 mph.
Not everything between the coupe and spyder is the same, though. The i8 Spyder has a slightly shorter wheelbase and overall length. Its upward-swiveling, windowless doors are also different. The car’s developers have also whimsically included a pair of electric scooters underneath a glass panel in the rear. Aside from a few more exterior tweaks to accommodate the open air design, which can be closed again with a two-section folding roof, the rest of the i8 Spyder is identical to the coupe, including the interior that features a slightly warmer choice of colors.
Scroll down for the official specs and info from BMW, and stay tuned while we hunt down the i8 Spyder for some in-person impressions. Though BMW makes no mention of its appearance at next week’s , the timing of this debut suggests it will be there.
“Fleet” is sort of a dirty word when describing vehicle sales, and the Detroit Three have traditionally been quite smitten with bulk buyers. Unfortunately fleet sales have been demonized for a reason. They can adversely affect resale values, and since fleet buyers tend to expect warehouse store pricing, they’re obviously not great for the bottom line, either. But one automaker seems more than happy to sell to fleets: Ford.
Bloomberg reports that a larger percentage of Ford’s overall sales are going to fleets, rising from 22 percent of in 2006 to 27 percent in 2011. Of those vehicles, 41 percent reportedly went to the likes of Hertz and Enterprise. That leaves the rest of the sales at the local, state and federal level, plus a smattering of commercial buyers. In other words, needy customers with cash in hand. And those buyers tend to want high-margin rides like trucks, crossovers and SUVs; vehicles Ford make money on.
Ford fleet director Kevin Koswick tells Bloomberg that the automaker knows what it’s doing, adding “I don’t see it as an issue as long as you manage your fleet and you’re balanced in what you do.”
We’re big fans of the bus, from the original Type 2 and its descendants, to the Vanagon that replaced it, and even the front-drive Eurovan. While since it discontinued the Eurovan in 2003, the rest of the world has enjoyed the Transporter T5 for the past decade. The VWs are immensely popular camper vans in Europe (especially those with pop-top roofs), and the novel Doubleback conversion shown above takes the formula to another level.
With an electric, slide-out rear pod similar to what you find on many modern RVs, the Doubleback can extend a Transporter by an additional six-and-a-half feet, offering an entire rear bedroom. The company says the extra room adds only 286 pounds to the vehicle’s curb weight and extends in under 45 seconds. The conversion eliminates any rear seating, so your camper will be a two-seater, or you can get a front bench installed to fit an extra passenger in the middle.
At today’s exchange rates, the Doubleback sells for about $87,975, including British taxes, or the company can convert your vehicle. Be sure to check out to see more of this cool bus.
Sales of the are down five percent so far in 2012, but that won’t stop from increasing North American production. Automotive News reports that Toyota will spend $80 million to retool its Woodstock, Ontario plant to increase production from 150,000 crossovers per year to 200,000. The increased production will also lead to the hiring of an additional 400 workers at the plant.
Some speculate that Toyota is ramping up North American production to combat the high Japanese yen. Only 13 percent of the RAV4s sold in North America in 2012 have been Japanese imports. Toyota has steadily decreased its reliance on Japanese plants in general; it’s only building 35 percent of its vehicles in Japan this year, compared to 53 percent in 2006.
Toyota spokeswoman Carly Schaffner tells AN that there are currently no plans to build the RAV4 exclusively in North America. Schaffner says that the reason for the production increase is that Toyota is finally able to get enough supplies to the plants after the catastrophic earthquake and tsunami that hit Japan a year ago. That said, Toyota has already moved all Highlander production to North America and could do likewise for the RAV4 if localized demand for it warrants a similar move.
It’s also important to remember that the RAV4, basically unchanged for several years, is due for a makeover, so the plant upgrade might coincide with a model refresh.
Nobody packs it in like the . Every spring, the exposition boasts more debuts than we could count on all the fingers on all our hands combined.
It’s a mind-boggling venture to cover it all, but with this year’s show now behind us, it’s time to look back on all there was. And for that reason, has put together this nifty infographic that catalogs all the new cars unveiled at the Swiss expo this year and arranges them all by color. This year’s predominant colors? Silver and white. Check out the rainbow in all its colorful, expandable glory .
Cash-strapped enthusiasts may not have had much to get all sticky over from Camp in recent years, but the automaker’s new / coupe promises to mine a rich paystreak of driving enjoyment. And while we’re big (okay, huge) fans of the car’s low-speed dynamic thrills, not every enthusiast is so forgiving of its rather middling power and acceleration figures. We knew it wouldn’t take long for the aftermarket to remedy this perceived power deficit with things like forced induction and ECU reflashes, but we foolishly expected a full engine swap to take a bit longer than it apparently has.
What you’re looking at here is Manabu “Max” Orido’s Toyota GT 86 prepped for drifting in D1 Grand Prix events. In this case, that means the two-door has been gutted and stuffed with the 5.0-liter V8 from the , one of Toyota’s more emotive offerings thanks to its honkin’ great eight.
Orido’s GT 86 is shown here undergoing shakedown testing, and from the looks of things, the transplant appears to be going rather swimmingly. At first glance, we even dig the more aggressive widebody look, lack of paint and all. Check it out for yourself , and be sure to have your speakers on.
Arguably more than any other mainstream automaker, is serious about its heritage. So much so that it – former chief executive of , and – to head up its classics program. In this capacity, Paefgen oversees the heritage departments of each of the group’s brands, but while its commercial vehicles operation may seem the least likely to preserve its past, today’s announcement proves that assumption wrong.
The Oldtimers department of Volkswagen Commercial Vehicles just recently moved into a new 7,000 square-meter facility in Hannover, Germany, where its staff of 13 dedicates itself to the restoration and preservation of old VW Buses. Although the garage has been active for several years, working on the company’s own vehicles, the Oldtimer department has now opened its doors for private owners to bring in their vehicles for any degree of service.
Have an old Bus in need of some TLC? Click for the press release for further details and check out the gallery of high-resolution images for a closer look inside the workshop.
Congratulations are in order for after its new earned top scores in the crash tests. This now means that every new Buick model is on the Institute’s Top Safety Pick list.
The Verano’s safety credentials weren’t really in question though, since the Chevy with which it shares a platform also made the Top Safety Pick list.
“When we started the vehicle development of Buick Verano, we had a comprehensive safety strategy that enabled us to achieve the highest safety rating and to be among the best safety performers in the segment,” said Sigit Santosa, General Motors’ Engineering Group Manager of Vehicle Safety Performance Integration.
to read GM’s official press releas on the Verano’s ratings. There’s a video of the new Buick compact being smashed up, as well.
When a McLaren hits the race track, the competition had better watch out. The British outfit is, after all, one of the most successful in Formula One, having won 176 grands prix, a dozen drivers’ championships and eight constructors’ titles. But McLaren’s prowess extends beyond F1. The Woking firm was a force to be reckoned with in Can-Am in the late 60s, and the last time it built an endurance racing sportscar – the famed F1 GTR back in 1995 – it trounced even the advanced prototype racers to win the 24 Hours of Le Mans.
Now, McLaren is back in the sportscar racing game with the new MP4-12C GT3. Based on the MP4-12C road car, the GT3 racing version took only a year to develop, and McLaren GT has delivered 25 examples of its racing car to independent racing teams around the world. Included in the purchase price are test sessions organized by McLaren and access to the team’s advanced driving simulator and deep expertise in all things motorsport.
The cars are set to compete in the Blancpain Endurance Series (where the MP4-12C also serves as safety car), the VLN series at the Nürburgring, German’y ADAC GT Masters, the International GT Open and the FIA GT1 World Championship. The first of these are set to take place in Germany this weekend at the Nordschleife and Oschersleben, where the MP4-12C will be making its parallel race debuts. Can’t wait that long? We’ve got two high-quality video clips of the car undergoing testing for your viewing pleasure (together with the full press release) and a fresh crop of high-resolution images added to the gallery above.
What started as only a cute little hatchback, the will now be growing into a full range of models. The new and versions have already launched here in the United States, and we just got our first glimpse at the larger (pictured above) during the . But now, Automotive News reports that an even larger 500 crossover, dubbed 500X, will be heading into production next year.
Like the 500L, the 500X will use a widened version of Fiat’s small car architecture that currently underpins the in other markets. The new crossover will be built at the company’s Mirafiori, Turin plant, and will replace the current Sedici (a rebadged version of the crossover).
As of this writing, it’s unclear whether or not the 500X will be offered in the United States. But that doesn’t mean we’ll miss out on some small CUV goodness. Automotive News also reports that the 500X will be built alongside a new crossover, currently codenamed B-CUV, which is set to launch in the U.S. in the second quarter of 2014. It will be smaller than both the current and , and reportedly be offered with a Trail Rated designation here in the States.
is recalling 554,000 crossovers to repair the low-beam headlights. The models affected are the 2002-2004 Honda (pictured above) and 2003 . A possible fault with in the headlight switch wiring could cause the low beams not to work.
We don’t need to tell you why that’s hazardous.
Honda will notify owners beginning in late April, at which time they can take their vehicles to dealers for repairs free of charge. The company has where owners can check if their vehicle is part of the recall, and customers can reach out to Honda directly by calling 1-800-999-1009 (select option 4), as well. for a press release with more details.
