At first, this prototype for the next-generation Porsche 911 didn't look like much. In fact, it didn't even look like a new test mule given all the 997-series bodywork. But look closer and it's clear there are a few changes to this prototype that aren't on the current model.
Most notable is the "double bubble" roof, although in this case it's less like individual bubbles and more like a dent in the middle. Also note the covered tail section and revised rear bumper. Hard to tell what's going on back there, but clearly some changes are in store as nearly every prototype we've seen has featured similar camouflage.
The news that the Chevrolet Camaro beat the Ford Mustang in June sales is being heralded by GM as some sort of breakthough, a triumph of good product over weak sales.
To some degree, GM has it right. The new Camaro is a compelling product and deserves some credit for getting buyers to pry open their wallets during one of the worst recessions of all time.
But let's face it, the Camaro hype machine has been running overtime for years now. From concept cars to movie cars to prototypes in the desert, the Camaro has enjoyed so much advanced publicity that anything less than a sell out would have been catastrophic.
To call a victory for the Camaro in the pony car war at this point seems a little premature. Let's wait until the early adopters get their cars and then see how sales pan out. Right now the overabundance of SS models being sold suggests that most of the buyers are true enthusiasts, but as we all know, it's the V6 models that end up carrying cars like the Camaro and the Mustang. We'll see how long that lasts.
This is one new problem GM is more than happy to discuss. Yesterday, officials told Inside Line news that demand for the Camaro has outstripped supply, forcing the company to work overtime at its Oshawa production plant.
According to GM, SS models account for about 70% of its current orders. Black is also the most popular color as 25% of all models are ordered that way. "We think this may stem from the SEMA Black Concept, which was the most popular GM car at SEMA last year," Chevrolet spokesman Adam Denison told Inside Line.
This is one of the dyno rooms at the AMG's headquarters in Affalterbach, Germany. Strapped to the stand on this particular occasion was the 6.3-liter V8 headed for duty in the upcoming SLS gullwing coupe. It's expected to generate 571-horsepower and 507 pound-feet of torque when it goes into production early next year.
According to our editor on the scene, AMG puts all of its engines through a test procedure that includes 800 hours of wide-open throttle operation, pausing only to sample the oil and change dynamometer operators every 20 hours. Yes, that's over a month of full throttle operation before the engine is signed off. That should make anyone who drives an AMG vehicle a little less squeamish about hitting the redline every once in awhile.
The turbocharged Hyundai Genesis Coupe may be the base model in the lineup, but from day one it's been the model tuners have been dying to get their hands on. MODE racing is one of those tuners and its been building a time attack Genesis coupe for a couple months now. So far, most of the modifications are relatively mild (reprogrammed ECU, exhaust, intake), but on its latest dyno run their coupe managed to crank out 250-horsepower and 270 pound-feet of torque. Not bad for a base coupe.
Sure, the 2010 Chevrolet Camaro SS is fast and all, but next to the latest 2010 Ford Shelby GT500 the standard Camaro doesn't stand a chance. To even things up a little, we snagged a supercharged Hennessey Camaro to see how it matches up.
Contributor John Pearley Huffman was tasked with burrning the rubber off of both cars and in the end he came away with a clear winner. Which one would you choose?
What? This seems odd to you? A British luxury sports car builder embarking on a program to develop a small, awkward looking city car?
Well, welcome to the world of corporate average fuel economy (CAFE), a U.S. regulation that now says cars and trucks must meet a combined average of 35.5mpg by 2016. Given that the most fuel efficient model in Aston's lineup doesn't even get 20mpg on the highway, the company is clearly going to need some help to prop up its average.
Enter the Toyota iQ citycar, a pint-sized two-seater (there are rear "seats", but few humans could use them as such) that boasts mileage in the 55-60mpg range. Aston Martin intends to use the iQ as the basis for what it will call the Cygnet. Aston Martin CEO Ulrich Bez says now is the time for Aston to embark on such a project.
"Much work is still required, but I am confident that this project could become reality in the not too distant future. This concept - akin to an exclusive tender to a luxury yacht - will allow us to apply Aston Martin design language, craftsmanship and brand values to a completely new segment of the market," said Bez.
According to a Aston Martin spokesperson, the Cygnet won't be sold on the open market. Instead, only those who already own an Aston Martin will be able to purchase the vehicle, sort of like an errand car to use when you want to downplay your conspicuous consumption.
Guess it's only a matter of time until we see a Porsche version of the Volkwagen Up! too.
This car could sell on looks alone, but it has a notable racing history thrown in for good measure. According to RM Auctions, this Corvette was owned by Georges Filipenetti, a Swiss racing enthusiast who brought the car to LeMans in 1968. It went on to race at LeMans for the next five straight years - a record that remains unbroken by a single chassis. The car was recently added to the roster at RM's Pebble Beach weekend auction in August.
Yeah, yeah, we know, you're sick of Hennessey Camaros already. But just for fun, take a look at this video of an LS9 V8 up and running in a 2010 Camaro.
Not only is the prospect of having the 638-horsepower monster under the hood of a new Camaro enticing, but just listen to what an ultra-modern V8 can sound like when it not all corked up with emissions/noise controls.
Mercedes-Benz has officially announced a U.S.-based version of its AMG Driving Academy. Originally developed at AMG's Alfalterbach home base in Germany, the school is designed to teach driving enthusiasts how to get the most out of AMG's ridiculously powerful cars.
The U.S. version will be held at three different venues:Lime Rock Park, Palm Beach International Raceway and Laguna Seca Raceway. There are two levels, an entry-level Stage I program that lasts one day ($1,895) and a more advanced two-day Stage II program for experienced drivers ($3,495). There's also a special Stage I program at Laguna Seca that will include a drive of the upcoming SLS coupe ($2,295).
Not sure if this is a good sign or not. On one hand, the fact that you can score a new supercharged Hennessey HPE550 Camaro on Ebay means it actually exists, or will exist in the near future.
On the other hand, if Hennessey is already resorting to Ebay auctions to sell his latest creation, maybe demand isn't quite what he had hoped. The bidding started at just under $60,000.
You hear guys talking about "chipping" their cars for more power all the time. What you can't be sure of is how much of their bluster is BS and how much is for real.
To clear things up a little, our resident turbo expert Engineering Editor Jay Kavanagh put our recently-reflashed long-term 135i on a dyno to get some hard numbers.
And his conclusion? Turbocharged cars are fun to play with if you know what you're doing. How does an extra 55-horsepower sound? Click the link to see the full breakdown complete with dyno sheets.
The plight of the Ferrari Enzo has become almost mythical ever since some unknown Swedish dude split one in half on PCH. This is the latest casualty, a rare Canadian car that caught fire somewhere in British Columbia. According to WreckedExotics, this is the 16th Enzo involved in a serious accident.
Inside Line tests hundreds of vehicles a year, but not every vehicle gets a full write-up. The numbers still tell a story, though, so we present "IL Track Tested." It's a quick rundown of all the data we collected at the track, along with comments direct from the test drivers. Enjoy.
As factory track models go, the 2009 Nissan Nismo 370Z is not the most hard-core beast ever built on a production line. Then again, it's no sticker-and-stripe-job either. Underneath the aggressive new bodywork is a substantially revised suspension and a slightly more powerful version of Nissan's latest 3.7-liter V6.
So how does it all work, you say? Well we wanted to find out too, so we took the new Nismo out to our test facility to run some numbers. Then we compared the results to our long-term 2009 370Z Touring.
It was a moderate day in terms of temperature for both tests, but both of the 370s had auxiliary engine oil coolers so all the track work wasn't much of a problem. Once the results started to come in, however, the Nismo continually failed to deliver any better numbers than our standard car. Whether it was braking (worse), acceleration (same) or handling (same, but scarier), the Nismo never came out ahead. Actually, it did beat the standard 370Z in one category -- full-throttle decibel level. See the full results and explanations after the jump.
Now that Chrysler has emerged from bankruptcy, it can finally resume production at the numerous plants it idled weeks ago. And which plant did it decide to fire up first? That would be the Conner Ave. assembly plant that produces the Dodge Viper.
It only employs 115 people, so maybe Chrysler figured it should start small. According to the article in the Wall Street Journal, Chrysler still expects to end production of the high-end sportscar by the end of the year.
Mustangs and Challengers in the Nationwide Series next year? That's what Fox Sports is reporting. According to Lee Spencer, when the Car of Tomorrow debuts in NASCAR's second-tier series next year, it will include the Dodge and Ford pony car designs.
"Ten-fold better than a Cup car," a NASCAR official said of the designs, which must be submitted for approval by June 26 according to the NASCAR Rule Book.
Spencer also noted a conspicuous absence of talk about the Camaro, a possible consequence of GM's financial condition. Toyota is also stuck without a coupe, so it will most likely continue with its Camry sedan.
Clearly, the move is designed to bring back fans who grew bored with the cookie cutter designs of today's Sprint Cup cars, but the "Win on Sunday, sell on Monday" mantra may not have the draw even with the new designs.
Last week we showed you a pic of John Hennessey's LS9 Camaro conversion in the early stages of its engine swap. The engine is now in and it fits quite nicely. A shame that Chevrolet is unlikely to perform the same upgrade anytime soon.
Sources in Japan have unearthed a few new details on the production version of the upcoming Lexus LF-A supercar. Yeah, you know the car that seems to only exist on autoshow stands and the Nurburgring?
Well, it's back on again and should make yet another auto show appearance in its finalized form at this year's Tokyo auto show in October. The attached rendering is based on both the recent Nurburgring prototype and additional details from an inside source at Holiday Auto, a prominent Japanese car magazine.
Our own insider also adds that of the 500 units destined for production, 350 of them will be left-hand drive. All LF-As will get 6-piston calipers with carbon ceramic brake rotors, titanium mufflers, run flat Bridgestone tires and a six-speed automatic sequential gearbox.
They call it "Wild Thing" and it seems quite appropriate. Never mind the Green Lantern paint, this Corvette Z06 by Geiger Cars of Germany boasts twin turbos, 890-horsepower and a top speed of 220mph. If that doesn't grab your attention, well then, move along and let us bask in the ridiculousness.
Maybe you've had enough supercharged Hennessey Camaros for awhile. Fair enough, but we figured you might want to check this one out anyway.
As you can see from this early build shot, the Camaro up on the lift is getting a full-fledged heart transplant, specifically, a supercharged LS9 just like the ZR1 Corvette. That means at least 638-horsepower will be on tap even if Hennessey doesn't start messing with stuff. And how often does that happen? Should make for an interesting Camaro.
International forecasting firm IHS Global Insight has released a detailed report on how it thinks the Chrysler/Fiat alliance will shake out over the new few years.
According to a Chrysler representative, only one measly offer of $5.5M was submitted for the Viper business prior to yesterday's sale of Chrysler to Fiat. The low-ball offer didn't sway bankruptcy judge Arthur Gonzales who promptly transferred all of the Viper assets to Fiat along with the rest of Chrysler.
Does this mean the Viper will live on? Don't get your hopes up. Fiat will most likely spruce up the business and sell it at a later date once more investor money starts getting tossed around.
Do something enough times and patterns become apparent. Dyno testing is no exception.
For example, supercharged cars usually produce their best dyno result within the first few pulls. Heat soak tends to quickly get the best of the intercooler circuit and erode the engine's output. Once this happens, we call it quits and review the data to select the run that represents the car's stabilized output.
Not so with the 2010 Shelby GT500. With each pull on MD Automotive's Dynojet chassis dyno in Westminster, CA, we witnessed the power from the supercharged 5.4-liter V8 creep up further and further. Five, six runs in and the power was still climbing.
Finally, upon the seventh run, the output of our color-coordinating GT500 stabilized. And we saw that it was good.
This new Shelby appears to have the thermal capacity of an industrial meat locker. That, and Gary and Jeff deserve a high-five for their efforts.
Jump for the dyno chart, video and the lowdown on Gary and Jeff.
Three weeks ago, Inside Line attended the introduction of the Nissan Nismo 370Z at Willow Springs International Raceway in Rosamond, CA. The event was to be a half-day of track driving in the new Z. We started the day with some sunrise powerslides in the car - the only example in the country -- for our photographers.
By mid-day, after four journalists had rotated through the car, its differential expired in an anticlimactic failure which quickly landed it on jack stands for a rear-end swap with a Sport Package Z, which uses the same viscous limited-slip differential.
Normally, this wouldn't be such a big deal - parts break, cars fail -- but this time it feels like news.
If Jay's dyno test left you thirsty for more Hennessey HPE550, you're in luck. We have a full test of the first blown 2010 Chevrolet Camaro SS, and its numbers are downright impressive.
562 horses to the meaty Pirelli P Zero Rosso tires, a 12.1-second quarter-mile and a 4.3-second sprint to 60 mph. That cuts nearly half a second off the stock SS's 0-60 time, and almost a full second off of its gallop to 1,320 feet.
Whether it is the whining of the blower's 6 pounds of boost or the Yenko-inspired throwback graphics, the Hennessey HPE550 shows that American muscle is not dead - even with the looming CAFE standards.
Last month we showed you the 1957 Ferrari 250 Testa Rossa that managed to fetch $12.1 million amidst a recession. Now check out the next potential record breaker. It's a 1936 Bugatti Type 57C Coupe owned by Ettore Bugatti himself and it's scheduled for auction at Pebble Beach in August.
The vehicle's history is a lengthy one. It was originally built for Bugatti as a birthday present, and then survived WWII tucked away in Molsheim on the French-German border. Following the war (and Ettore's death) the lime-green-machine was revamped with new interior accessories, a one-off engine and tranny combo and a few other improvements under the hood. It changed hands a couple times over the next fifty years, but - most surprisingly - has maintained its flawless state and never been restored.
Mark the weekend of August 15-16 on your calendars if you're into high-end collector cars as this Bugatti will be just one of many up for sale by Gooding & Company at its annual Pebble Beach auction. -- Mike Lysaght, Contributor
The Aston Martin One-77 has finally come together in production form after showing up at several auto shows in bits and pieces. This video from Autocar in the U.K. features Aston CEO Ulrich Bez explaining the idea behind the $2.1M supercar. Even better, he gets in and fires it up so you can hear the 7.3-liter V12 roar to life. It's worth a listen.
What's that? You're a power addict and the 426 horsepower with which Chevrolet endowed the 2010 Camaro SS is weaksauce?
Here's your fix. The orange 2010 Camaro SS you see above has been given the full Texas-style treatment, and I'm not talking about barbeque. Hennessey Performance Engineering, headquartered in Sealy, Texas, coerces more power out of more than just Mopars and Mitsubishis these days, and he's turned his attention to Chevy's latest pony car.
It's called the Hennessey HPE550. The centerpiece of the conversion is the breathing enhancement delivered by a Magnuson Roots-style blower and liquid-to-air intercooler. Supplementing the 6 psi generated by the supercharger is a cold-air intake and free-flow exhaust. Owner John Hennessey tells us that the package swells peak power to 562 hp as measured at the flywheel.
Aftermarket horsepower claims are notoriously optimistic, so we did the obvious thing and strapped it to MD Automotive's Dynojet in Westminster, California. The result was anything but weaksauce.
Yes, that's its official name: Z4 sDrive 35i. Makes no sense, but the Germans often don't. Get past that, however, and the new Z4 isn't so hard to understand. Test Director Dan Edmunds discovered that this Z4 is about more than just its new retractable hardtop, it's a real performance roadster. It's also a real expensive roadster too, but Dan seems to think it's worth it.
The 2009 Audi AS5-R by Abt Sportsline bolts up a twin-screw supercharger that helps to deliver a much healthier 503-horsepower. There's also 457 pound-feet of torque available, so the stock S5's softness off the line should is cured. At least that's what contributor Matt Davis says after a drive in the German countryside. We hope Audi has something similar in mind for the RS5.
After signing off from the Tonight Show last week, Jay Leno figured he would have a weekend of doing nothing but playing with his cars. Which of course made this past weekend no different than any other weekend for Jay. This time, however, he pulled out one of his more interesting and rare toys: the EcoJet, turbine-powered concept.
You might remember the EcoJet concept from the 2006 SEMA show. It uses a 650-horsepower Honeywell turbine for power and runs on biodiesel, lots and lots of biodiesel. Underneath, there's an all-aluminum Corvette Z06 chassis, while the body of the EcoJet is made entirely of carbon fiber and kevlar. In other words, this sucker was expensive.
We'll hand it to Jay though, he said back then that he would drive it on public roads, and yesterday he delivered on that promise. And say what you will about the design, when this thing pulled into the parking lot with its turbine wailing, all the open-piped Cobras on hand suddenly seemed quite tame.
No, there is not a word missing in the title. They're called the BMW M3 Edition models. Maybe it's a bad translation, or there really isn't a good translation, either way it's an odd name for what looks like a pretty cool, although mildly upgraded, set of M3s.
Available in four colors -- Alpine White, Black, Dakar Yellow and Monte Carlo Blue -- all cars features dark chrome grill insets, side gills and exhaust tips along with black hood scoops and side mirror caps. The interiors get contrasting stitching on the seats and door panels in varying colors depending on the exterior.
A lowered suspension (-0.4") and unique 19-inch wheels are also standard. The light alloy, double-spoke wheels come in a variety of finishes including polished with white accents. Thankfully, that option is limited to black, white and blue versions only.
BMW says the M3 Edition models will be available worldwide starting in July. Strangely enough, that doesn't always include the U.S., but given the fact that these cars are nothing more than a minor cosmetic trim package, there's a good chance we'll get them too.
Will we ever get this hopped up TT in the U.S.? The jury is still out, but as contributor Alistair Weaver points out, as good as it looks on paper, the Audi TT-RS doesn't always feel like the Boxster-killer that its spec sheet suggests. See why in our exclusive test drive from Europe.
A report in the German press of an all-electric Audi R8 appears to be a little optimistic. Auto Motor und Sport claimed that the alt-power R8 would appear alongside the R8 convertible at the 2009 Frankfurt Auto Show.
When we contacted Audi to confirm the story, a spokesman gave us a much different and very precise answer: "Nope, not true."
So at this point, it depends on who you believe, but we won't be expecting anything more than the convertible in Frankfurt at this point.
When GM engineer Mark Stielow was reassigned from the dying High Performance Vehicle Operations unit to the group that handles the hybrids, he created the coolest, most powerful "hybrid" we've ever seen.
This hybrid of a 1969 Camaro body with the engine, brakes, wheels and tires of a Corvette ZR1, called "Jackass" puts more than 500 horsepower to the rear wheels, through a Viper transmission and a live rear axle. Sounds exactly like something a Jackass could appreciate.
You see GM Engineer Mark Stielow's alter ego is that of a famous Pro-Touring hot-rod builder by the name of Mark Stielow. His series of reworked first-generation Camaros that go and turn and stop have made him something of a hero in the muscle car world.
Jackasses that we are, we might even get a drive in this creamy yellow screamer very soon. The car is seen here very near the end of its 20-month gestation.
A source has told Inside Line news that the latest version of the Lexus LF-A production car is now capable of hitting 220mph. Toyota engineers has previously expressed disappointment with the top speed of the earlier LF-A prototypes.
Changes to the car's aerodynamics and a few engine upgrades were largely responsible for the increased speeds. The same source also said that the final production car is expected to arrive at the Tokyo auto show in October with a price tag between $220,000 and $250,000.
Ah, the shaker hood scoop. Short of running no hood at all, it's one of the best ways to stay in touch your beloved V8 from behind the wheel. It's a rare factory option these days, but of course, the aftermarket has stepped in to make it happen.
In this case, it's Cervini Auto Designs of Vineland, New Jersey. The company figured the new Dodge Challenger would look good with a shaker scoop and it was right. Available for any V8-powered Challenger, the kit includes an all-new fiberglass hood, shaker scoop and a 9-inch K&N air filter. The starts at $1,600 for an unpainted hood and will be available in mid-July.
A report in Automotive News says that the 2011 Chevrolet Camaro is still almost two years away. Chevrolet spokesman Terry Rhadigan told the industry trade paper that Chevrolet had initially intended to release the convertible in ealry 2010, but now it's looking like it will have to wait an extra year.
Sounds like a major disapointment, but let's face it, this isn't a great time to launch a completely unnecessary car. By the time the 2011 Chevy Camaro rolls out, the economy should be in much better shape. .
Say what you will about Chevrolet (and you will), but it has for decades led the industry in production of sometimes-tasteful, often-not special editions of its cars. In this way, Chevy is very much like the Bugatti Veyron, Maybach and Mercedes-McLaren SLR. Otherwise not so much.
This marks the first time Chevrolet won't produce an Indy pace car replica on the years when the Camaro has paced the race ('67, '69, '82, '93).
This may or may not have something to do with the fact that the company will produce an unspecified number of Bumblebee replica Camaros, timed to go on sale when the second Transformers movie opens this summer.
Here's your chance to vote for your favorite special-edition. Will it be the 2010 Bumblee Camaro? The 2010 Indianapolis 500 Pace Car Camaro that won't exist? Or the 1974 Oleg Cassini American Motors Matador?
You may have seen various reports earlier this week concerning the underpinnings of the new Mercedes-Benz E-Class coupe. The thrust of the story was the claim that the new midsize coupe was actually built on the smaller C-Class platform instead of the larger, more expensive E-Class sedan architecture.
According to Mercedes-Benz that's not entirely accurate. In a carefully worded statement sent to the media yesterday, Mercedes says that the E-Class coupe shares "more than 60% of its components and technology with the E-Class sedan." It goes on to state that like all luxury manufacturers, Mercedes-Benz "harvests the best of our engineering and technology from across the product portfolio to ensure new models deliver a unique Mercedes-Benz customer driving experience."
So there you have it. The E-Class coupe isn't built on the C-Class platform, but there's a good chance that it shares various technologies with the smaller sedan. At least according to Mercedes-Benz.
Given that the Mercedes-Benz E-Class Coupe is now on sale in Europe, the appearance of various upgrades by Brabus should come as no surprise. In typical Brabus fashion, the available options include everything from power increases to new wheel and tires.
For added power, Brabus punches out the standard 5.5-liter V8 to 6.1-liters, New camshafts, reworked heads and a revised exhaust deliver up to 456 horsepower and 453 pound-feet of torque. A height-adjustable coil over suspension system is also available along with six-piston front brakes and up to 20-inch wheels. There's a body kit too, of course.
A bit overkill? Sure, yeah, whatever. that's what the 2010 Aston Martin V12 Vantage is all about.
It's the classic American muscle car formula -- stuff the biggest engine available into the smallest car in the lineup. It rarely fails.
In this case, the results are predictable. The car is an absolute missile and Aston even saw fit to make it look like one. But as European Editor Alistair Weaver points out, it comes with a price. A big, huge price that make you wonder if it's all worth it. That's a muscle car for ya.
Don't bother lamenting the fact that we don't get the Scirocco. Yeah, it's cool looking and all, but how many people in the U.S. would pay $35-$40k for it? As far as Volkswagen is concerned, it's not worth trying to find out.
That said, there's still some potential news here. The upgraded 2.0T used in this Scirocco is the same motor pegged for the Golf R20 we showed you on the Nurburgring last week. The revised engine uses a reinforced block and stronger con-rods to handle its output of 261-horsepower and 258 pound-feet of torque. That power goes through either a 6-speed manual or 6-speed DSG transmission. Volkswagen's XDS differential control manages front wheel torque to get the most power to the ground.
Will any of this matter? The best answer we can give you now is maybe. Volkswagen knows the Scirocco is too expensive to sell in the U.S., but a Golf R20 probably wouldn't be cheap either. If the market improves considerably by the end of this year, Volkswagen could change its mind and give it a shot but don't get your hopes up.
Deliveries of the 2010 Chevrolet Camaro started last month and the demand is still running strong. Browsing completed Ebay auctions reveals plenty of buyers who just couldn't wait for their local dealer.
The 2SS RS shown above went for almost $7,000 over sticker two weeks ago. With over 100 Camaros currently up for sale in Ebay, however, we wonder how long it will continue to pull in such strong money.
You'll remember that we re-tested our long-term 2009 Nissan GT-R after it had its launch control reprogrammed and you'll remember that we picked up a couple tenths in the both the 0-60 (3.6 seconds new vs. 3.8 old) and quarter-mile tests (11.6 new vs. 11.8 old). That was with a 3,000-rpm launch.
But now a GT-R owner from Abu Dhabi claims on NAGTROC (North American GT-R Owners Club) that a 4,000-rpm launch is possible.
He writes, "i did the TCM update last week and found out that u can launch GTR at 4000, just when the RPM goes to 2500 or 2800 RPM release and the before the RPM go back to 1000 kick it again and it will reach 4000 RPM."
Another member participating on the forum reports, "I tried it [with the transmission temperature] at 80C and it reached to 3K. Try 85C+ it should work. Just to be clear, it took me well over 5 tries to achieve 3900."
As evidence, he submits two videos of his GT-R doing a 4,000-rpm launch. Hmm, wonder if we should give this a shot with our Godzilla.
You've seen and heard the supercharged Hennessey Camaro SS on the dyno. Now watch it pull an apparent 11.67-second quarter-mile at 121 mph on a dragstrip. But first watch it do a burnout to prime the project car's 20-inch drag radials. Then, make fun of its icky side decals.
If true, an 11.7 quarter-mile would go some distance toward justifying whatever thousands of dollars the HPE supercharger package is likely to cost. We've timed a stock 2010 Chevrolet Camaro SS at 13 seconds flat for the quarter-mile with a trap speed of 110.9 mph.
You read our feature on the Hennessey Camaro SS project car, so you know it hadn't made a full-on pull on the Magnuson chassis dyno with its HPE550 supercharger package.
Now it has.
Hennessey was aiming for 562 hp at the crank (the stock 2010 Camaro V8 makes 426 hp). In this pull, the Camaro makes a claimed 550 hp and 503 lb-ft of torque at the wheels, suggesting that goal has been satisfied and then some. Inside Line will be doing its own test on this car once all modifications are complete. And, yes, listening to the blown Hennessey Camaro on the dyno will be the highlight of your weekend.
Is there any reason not to be happy about the arrival of the 2010 Chevrolet Camaro? Possibly, says the Financial Times. The newspaper points out that GM has 12,000 orders in for the 2010 Camaro -- enough to justify adding a Saturday shift at its Oshawa, Ontario, plant.
Yet, the Camaro seems not to be the sort of car that can hold the attention of the President's automotive taskforce.
"The Camaro does not exactly fit the eco-friendly image that politicians in Washington -- who now have effective control of the company -- are pushing GM, Ford Motor and Chrysler to adopt," says FT.
So what do you think? Would it really be better if the 2010 Camaro was some sort of hybrid or electric car, rather than a rear-drive, V8 muscle car? Or does it even matter given GM's rather dire situation?
One prominent car on the auction block at the Mecum Indy auction this weekend is this 1965 Shelby Cobra Daytona coupe. This isn't a kit car replica by any means. It's Shelby Cobra CSX 2601, the car Bob Bondurant drove to victory in the 12 Heures du Reims on July 4, 1965, beating Ferrari's GTOs. This win was enough to secure the FIA championship for Team Shelby, aka Team America.
This Cobra is part of a lot scheduled to be sold at 8 p.m., Friday May 15 (editor's note: date corrected) in Indianapolis. If we had to guess, we'd hazard to say someone will pay too much for it.
We've already written about how Benz's CLK successor, the 2010 Mercedes-Benz E-Class Coupe, drives. Now watch it crash. We wonder if the dummies were using the Drive Dynamic seats' massage feature at the time of impact. Then again, Pre-Safe probably cut off the fun a few nanoseconds prior.
We stumbled upon this Dodge Challenger R/T project car on some sort of advertising microsite for Popular Mechanics. At first the Eco + Muscle Challenger, as it's called, looks like a pretty straightforward albeit incredibly lavish project car. Its creators have swapped out the intake, exhaust, headers, filters and spark plugs, and done an ECU retune. They've put on a shorter final drive, replaced the entire suspension, and fitted Brembo brakes and, shall we say, understated 20-inch wheels wrapped in Michelin Pilot Sport PS2 rubber. And custom paint. No big deal. Sure.
Oh, and there's a nitrous system, so this Challenger apparently laid down a 4-second 0-60 and a 13.4 quarter-mile at 114 mph. Stock Challenger R/Ts, like our long-termer, run about 5.5 and 13.9 at 103 mph.
And here's where the Eco + Muscle Challenger takes a turn for the are you freaking insane. A separate electric drivetrain has been added to this car. That means a rear-drive, brushless DC electric motor (the kind used on production hybrid cars) that weighs all of 89 pounds. Plus, there's a battery pack -- as in a cache of 28 car batteries (albeit deluxo Exide batteries) residing in the space formerly known as the backseat. Plus, there's a fuel cell! And dual throttle control!
Follow the jump for priceless video footage of the Eco + Muscle Challenger accelerating from a standstill in both gas and electric mode.
It's only three seconds long, but that's long enough to see the 2010 Ford Mustang coupe's occupant compartment hold up well in NHTSA's frontal-impact test.
And sure enough the 2010 Mustang coupe earns five stars for this performance. NHTSA hasn't issued side-impact ratings, yet, but the agency does list a five-star rollover rating.
Reports of the theft of a Nissan Skyline GT-R used during filming of the mega-hit Fast & Furious may be - slightly - exaggerated.
Yes, a Nissan Skyline used during the filming of Fast & Furious was stolen from a warehouse in Sun Valley, California. But, according to Fast & Furious Picture Car Coordinator Dennis McCarthy, it wasn't a GT-R. Instead it was a less exotic Skyline GT-S model that had been redecorated as a GT-R. In fact it was wrecked during the production, sold by Universal Studios and then restored by new owner, drifting competitor Chris "Milano" Kregorian.
According to Milano, he was away in Georgia for the Formula D event at Road Atlanta this past weekend and returned to find the door of his shop in tatters and the Skyline missing. In getting the Skyline out of the shop, the thief (or thieves) hit several other vehicles including a Porsche Boxster, a classic Studebaker and a '69 Camaro. "There's blue paint from the Skyline on all of them," Milano told Inside Line over the phone. Since there was never any intent to drive the car (it would only be displayed), Milano had decided to forego insuring it.
While the Los Angeles Police Department is investigating the theft, Milano has developed several promising leads of his own. And he has hired private investigators to follow those leads and is hopeful that he'll soon recover the car intact.
On Monday we posted the first video of Hennessey's supercharged Chevy Camaro SS. There wasn't much to it other than a claim that it made 562-horsepower. Luckily, we had a guy on the scene who witnessed the runs first hand. He said there's no reason to doubt the horsepower claim, but it's still very much a work in progress.
I know it's hard to believe, but in this video Jay Leno praises every single thing about the new 2010 Chevy Camaro SS. Shocker I know. But Jay is unpredictable. A wildcard. And that's what makes him so great. --Scott Oldham, Inside Line Editor in Chief
See that open garage door? That would be the front of the warehouse where a GT-R from Fast and Furious was being stored. This security shot shows a couple thieves driving it away after breaking in to the Sun Valley storage facility. The owner said the car was worth at least $75,000, but was not insured. Agent O'Connor would not approve.
Volkswagen has built another "image" car, and this time it got the formula right. Unlike the misunderstood Phaeton, the CC doesn't take much explanation. It looks good, feels good and doesn't cost a fortune. Executive Editor Michael Jordan didn't even mind the base four-cylinder engine. Is this the halo car Volkswagen has been waiting for?
It lives. Yes, the Lexus LF-A still exists and it has returned to the Nurburgring, We assume it's moving closer to production, but that's what we thought the last time it showed up.
There are some minor bodywork changes this time around. The C-pillar treatment has obviously been altered and the front end looks a little different. Thankfully, the unique exhaust arrangement is still intact. If this on-again, off-again project ever gets finished up, expect to see it debut at this year's Tokyo auto show in the fall.
And now for some more uplifting news on the 2010 Chevy Camaro SS. Hennessey Performance Engineering has just completed a dyno run on its new supercharged Camaro and the result was pretty impressive. How does 562-horsepower sound to you?
Actually, the teenager wasn't driving the Camaro. That distinction went to one lucky owner who had just recently picked up his new pride and joy. The teenager in question was driving another car that failed to stop before laying a substantial lick on the new Chevy. As you can see, the Camaro took the impact quite well. No word yet on how the owner is taking it.
F1 star Kimi Raikkonen walked out of a Ferrari dealer on Thursday to find a parking ticket on his Ferrari 612, and the video cameras were there to capture the drama. Only there was none. The Ferrari factory driver climbed into his high dollar ride without a word and drove off.
And so the question is, which would you rather: Kimi's 612 or that awesome old school California?
Its inventory often reflects every gearhead's dream garage, so when Fantasy Junction posted an ad for this immaculately restored AMC Javelin Trans-Am car we couldn't resist giving it a little airtime.
Piloted by Peter Revson in '68 and 69', this Javelin includes a long list of documentation and even an original team jacket. Asking price: $345,000.
Here's your chance to own the "most collectible and valuable of all the 789s built," says n2a, the California design and engineering company that built it. Blending elements from '57, '58 and '59 Chevys, the 789 is build on a sixth-generation Corvette chassis and powered by an LS2 V8.
There's nothing about this car that appeals to us, but it's doing well on Ebay so far. Current bidding is up to $75,000. Then again, n2a charges $135,000 if you just order one, so maybe the market isn't quite as robust as the company had hoped.
Yeah, well it's all kosher now as Millen and Co. have managed to squeeze a proper Hyundai V6 under the hood. It makes 480-horsepower and 570 pound-feet at the wheels according to Millen which should be more than enough power to get those rear wheels spinning at Road Atlanta for the second round of the Formula Drift series.
Last week we were alerted to one of the first known breakdowns of the 2010 Chevrolet Camaro. Turns out it may not have been an isolated incident as GM has now issued a recall to realign a battery cable that could cause a short.
According to the recall, it only affects certain Camaros with a V8 engine. Turns out the positive battery cable rubs on the starter housing which could eventually wear the protective insulation away and cause a short. GM is advising owners not to drive their cars and will provide courtesy transportation to the dealership.
Our shooters in Germany finally caught a glimpse of the 2011 BMW 6 Series. Sporting a soft convertible top and BMW's now trademark camouflage swirls, the big coupe looks as though it's sticking with its current shape and size.
A good thing? We'll reserve judgment on the styling at this point. For now, we'll be content just listening to this early prototype running the Nurburgring as it sounds quite healthy. And let's face it, the 6 Series needs a healthy motor to move that much weight around.
Here they are, your new Chryslers. Well, maybe they'll still be badged as Alfas or Fiats, nobody really knows at this point. What we do know is that these four vehicles and the Fiat 500 will represent the bulk of Fiat's contribution to Chrysler's lineup.
They include the Alfa Romeo MiTo (bottom right), an upcoming replacement for the Alfa 147 (top left) that will be renamed Milano, the Fiat Grande Punto (top right) and a version of the Fiat Panda utility vehicle (bottom left).
We knew Nissan was looking to get into the hybrid game with its own technology, but we didn't know how far it would go. A report out of Japan unearthed by 370Z.com predicts a hybrid version of the Nissan 370Z by the 2012 model year.
Just a few weeks ago, Japan's Nikkei daily reported that Nissan would offer its first in-house hybrid system in its Fuga luxury sedan, which is known as the Infini M35/45 in the States. The new hybrid system will reportedly use a new lithium ion battery pack that delivers more power and shorter recharged times.
Bankruptcy documents submitted in court yesterday don't bode well for vehicles like the Dodge Viper and even the Jeep Wrangler. Problems trying to offload the Viper business have been discussed for months now, but the new documents also point out the difficulty of trying to sell Jeep as a separate brand. One consultant estimates it would take as much as $1B to restart a product as a stand alone brand.
An amateur shooter caught the on-set crash of a Ferrari during the filming of an upcoming Nicolas Cage movie in New York City. Two people were hurt in the incident, but the damage was fairly limited given how out of shape the car was when it hit a storefront. Video after the jump.
The 2010 Mercedes-Benz E-Class sedans will cost substantially less than their 2009 counterparts according to a report in Automotive News. In order to bring the new sedans closer to its traditional transaction prices, Mercedes-Benz reduced the base price of the E350 sedan by $4,600 to $49,475. The base E550 sedan gets a $5,400 price cut to $57,175.
The new 2010 E-Class Coupes, which replace the current CLK Coupes, get only minor reductions in price. The base E350 coupe will start at $48,925 while the E550 coupe will start at $55,525.
A diesel-powered E350 sedan is slated to arrive next March followed by a wagon in June and a convertible around the same time.
Usain Bolt, the current world record holder in the men's 100-meter dash, crashed his BMW M3 in Jamaica yesterday. He suffered only minor injuries, but his M3 looks pretty well toasted.
There have been cop Camaros since the late 1970s. The ponycars second, third and fourth generations all made it into the hands of the man (some photos after the jump) and chances are the new 2010 Camaro will do the same. This video shows the best rendition of a 2010 Cop Camaro we've seen. The guy got it right, down to the push bar and extra lights.
After a public debut on March 23 in Mumbai, the Nano officially went on sale from April 9-25. For a fee of around $6, customers could apply to purchase a Nano at more than 30,000 locations in 1,000 cities across India. Orders could also be submitted online.
The response to this unusual booking process appears to be overwhelming, so much so that Debasis Ray, Tata Motors' head of corporate communications, told Inside Line the results are still being calculated days after the order books were officially closed. Several Indian media outlets have reported that Nano bookings could reach 1 million, though Ray said he had "no idea" where these publications were getting that figure.
Check this out. Avis will rent you a 2010 Chevy Camaro. One that seats 4, has air conditioning and the rare luxury of power steering. Automatic transmission too of course, as Avis has no interest in frequent clutch replacements.
Camaro5 member BUMLEB was stranded on Sunday when her yellow 2010 Chevy Camaro 2SS automatic conked out without warning. She had just bought the car and had driven it for only 20 minutes before needing her AAA card and a big white flatbed.
Now that Pontiac is officially dead, it's easy to pick at its bones and catalog everything that went wrong -- from "A" for Aztek to "P" for Parisienne and "S" for Sunfire. But Pontiac is where the muscle car was invented and it was where it came closest to being perfected.
Discounting race-only specials like the radically lightened "Swiss cheese" 1963 Catalina and 1963 Super Duty Tempests, here are the 10 greatest Pontiac muscle cars of all time. Pontiac itself will go away, but these 10 cars will be impossible to forget.
Yeah, you read that right, Chevrolet Camaro SS Sedan. If there can be a BMW M3 sedan why not a four-door Camaro?
The Camaro and the G8 already share a platform and although their engines aren't exactly the same they're pretty close. Leave the Impala for family duty and keep the rebadged G8 what it should be -- a full fledged sport sedan.
After far too many "teasers" of its upcoming supercar, Aston Martin will finally unveil a complete One-77 Concept at the Concorso d'Eleganza on the shores of Lake Como, Italy.
The all-aluminum sports car most recently appeared at the 2009 Geneva Auto Show, but only its stripped-down chassis and an exterior styling buck were on display. Aston Martin promises a complete interior and running drivetrain this time around.
Power will come from a 7.3-liter V12 with at least 700 horsepower, says Aston Martin. A paddle-shifted sequential transmission will handle the shifting. Aston expects a 0-60-mph time of around 3.5 seconds and a top speed over 200 mph.
Earlier this week, Volkswagen announced that it would build its new minicar lineup in Slovakia starting in 2011. The new vehicles would be the production versions of the Up! minicars shown at the 2007 Frankfurt and Tokyo shows.
Today, Volkswagen of America told Inside Line News that this lineup was definitely headed to America. Which models and what they would be called are still being determined.
There's been considerable talk lately about some early build 2010 Chevrolet Camaros that arrived at dealer lots with weights attached to their brake calipers. After much speculation, Camaro5 got an official answer from GM. Spokesman John Fitzpatrick said the weights were added as a damper to reduce noise and only early build cars would need them.
Sounds like an odd engineering change at the last minute, but as our own Dan Edmunds pointed out just yesterday, BMW apparently had a similar issue with the 1 Series. Turns out that our 135i long-term car has some extra mass added to its calipers as well (green arrow), most likely for the same reason as the Camaro.
What would happen if a tape-and-name special edition turned out to be something genuinely interesting and not just another shameless grab at the wallets of the Corvette faithful? Would we not make fun of it?
The answer is, "Yes, we would not make fun of it." Thankfully, such is the case with the 2010 Chevrolet Corvette Grand Sport. While the production Grand Sport isn't exactly the wicked racer that in the way the original '60s. But neither is it just a couple of piece of tape on the fender.
Porsche engineers told Inside Line that an RS version of the latest GT3 is definitely in the works. It will arrive in Europe later this year as a 2010 model. The U.S. version will take a bit longer, more like early next year as a 2011.
The talkative engineers also gave us one more bit of interesting information. Remember that 911 prototype that was spotted on the Nurburgring with the huge fixed wing stuck to its rear end?
Well, turns out that was just another 998 prototype. The engineers thought it would be amusing to see what kind of speculation it generated. See, those Germans aren't so stuffy after all.
At this point we've seen the upcoming Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG in the flesh, but never completely uncovered. These latest shots reveal more exterior detail than ever before and it's looking quite promising.
The shapes of the greenhouse and nose section are clearly visible now and they both show clear signs of the SLS's retro-inspired design. Smaller details like the headlights, drilled brake rotors and vents holes in the front quarter panels add a few more clues to the look of the final design.
Camaros are finally starting to reach customers and one of those lucky owners is Hennessey Performance Engineering. No surprise there and the tuner has already announced various upgrade programs for the latest Camaro.
In this case, Hennessey has set up a blog to chronicle the build up of its new Camaro SS. According to the most recent post, they've already squeezed some additional power out of the 6.2-liter V8 with some minor modifications. Expect some more serious work to yield the ridiculous horsepower numbers Hennessey is known for.
Audi of America will drop use of the Volkswagen-derived, narrow-angle VR6 six-cylinder engine for the 2010 model year.
The engine, which dates back to the '90s VW Corrado/Passat days, has grown to 3.2-liters over the years and produced 250 horsepower in the 2009 TT and A3. But the VR6 doesn't use direct-injection like Audi's newer engines (2.0T and 3.2 V6). The company will also drop the front-drive 2.0-liter turbo TT.
The company will also limit use of its more conventionally arranged 3.2-liter V6. The 265-hp V6 will no longer be available in the A4 sedan. Almost all A4s will be powered by the 2.0 turbo. The S4, that arrives later this year, will be the step up engine in the line. It will use the supercharged 3.0-liter that's just gone into the A6. It will be available in the A5 coupe, but only with the automatic transmission. In other A5 news, the ubiquitous 2.0T will be offered as the base engine in the two-door.
And you better get your order in for your V-10-powered S8 super-sedan soon because that model will be discontinued for the 2010 model year. The S6 carries on with the Lambo-sourced V10 and so does the R8 5.2 V10 which also arrives in the U.S. as a 2010 vehicle. And the range-topping, black-tie-wearing A8 W12 is dead too. Not a big surprise given that the car sold only about 100 units last year (no, we didn't forget a zero in that number).
Inside Line tests hundreds of vehicles a year, but not every vehicle gets a full write-up. The numbers still tell a story, though, so we're running a feature on Straightline called "IL Track Tested." It's a quick rundown of all the data we collected at the track, along with comments direct from the test drivers. Enjoy.
Hyundai says it wasn't out to build a better Mustang when it was designing the 2010 Genesis Coupe. Maybe so, but it's hard to ignore the similarities between the new Korean coupe and the latest Ford Mustang GT.
They have just over 300 horsepower, rear-wheel drive and similar price tags. They also have surprisingly comfortable interiors with four seats and all the latest technology.
Of course, these cars are designed for performance above all else and they both deliver, although in slightly different ways. See how the numbers stack up and what our test driver thought as he put them through their paces in our latest track test shoot-out.
This year, the GT is back, but it's flowing lines have been interrupted by the realities of production. There's a full interior this time around and a much larger greenhouse to open up more passenger room. Unfortunately, the new shape makes the car look awkward and unfinished. If Geely wants to make a name for itself with a flagship coupe, it's going to have to channel a little more of the concept into the finished product.
Oh come on, you weren't expecting anything else from the next-generation 2011 Porsche 911 were you? It has looked this way for decades, so no matter how extensive the mechanical changes are to the 998-series of this classic sportscar, it's always going to look familiar on the outside.
More info and video of this prototype on the Nurburgring after the jump.
We spotted this 2010 Chevrolet Camaro SS with RS package on an open carrier at the Flying J truck stop in Frazier Park, California, on Saturday evening. But don't get too excited: It had manufacturer plates and is likely destined for the press fleet, like every other vehicle on this carrier. We got a rare look at the underside of the Camaro, but a dying camera battery kept us from getting anything more than one blurry shot.
The way we figure it, there have been 10 generations of Mustangs. And within each generation, there's one version of the Mustang that stands out above the rest as the most emblematic of the breed. Not always the fastest or quickest, mind you, but the one that's the quintessential Mustang of its era. And the one that looks best today, exactly 45 years after the first Mustang was introduced.
So here are the top 10 Mustangs of all time; one from each generation of the pony car.
Our only apology is for the Mustang II King Cobra. To explain ourselves, all the other Mustang IIs were even worse than the King Cobra.
It appears as though there's a bit of a Fiesta movement going on in Europe already. The bite size hatchback became Europe's best selling car in March with 52,805 units sold. Volkswagen's Golf had previously held that title.
That said, we're still waiting for the Fiesta here in the U.S. and it won't be headed our way anytime soon. Sure, Ford handed out 100 Euro-spec cars to obsessive Twitter tweakers so they could tell everybody how much they like the car that isn't costing them a dime, but actual customers will have to wait until next year to buy U.S. versions.
Since everybody has been calling the Hyundai Genesis Coupe the "Korean Mustang" since it was introduced, the folks at Hyundai figured it was only fitting that they acknowledged the Mustang's 45th birthday.
Last we heard, Mr. Keenan of Tool fame was making wine in Arizona. Thankfully, the Mustang has continued its role as a burnout machine unabated during its entire existence.
The Mustang's story of initial success is one of those fables we Americans learn alongside George Washington and the cherry tree and Abraham Lincoln's birth in a log cabin.
Exactly 45 years ago, on April 17, 1964, Ford debuted the Mustang at the New York World's fair and put it on sale at dealers across the country. Before the day was through, they had sold more than 22,000 of the new sports coupes and convertibles with prices starting at just $2,368.
Just 12 months later, a staggering 417,000 had found buyers. By early in the 1966 model year, over 1,000,000 were out on America's highways. And last year Ford sold its 9 millionth Mustang.
You may have seen the findings of an IIHS report released earlier this week. It showed the shocking truth behind collisions between vehicles of different sizes. The conclusion? The bigger one wins. To see for yourself, watch the video below.
Remember the Ferrari 599GTB that D-list celebrity Fabio smashed up over the weekend. Well, it turns out that the owners of the car, World Class Driving, were not too happy with Mr. Fabio's assertion that the car's "brakes gave out" causing the crash.
It has now issued an official statement, "After preliminary investigation, World Class Driving found the car was in excellent working condition prior to the incident and that brake failure was not an issue. The car in question also has computer data logging that is in the process of being checked to determine what caused the incident."
Checking the black box? We predict healthy amounts of throttle and steering input prior to the crash.
We strapped our new Challenger R/T to a local dyno to find out what it's really putting to the rear wheels. Turned out to be a very solid number for a very solid muscle coupe.
Maybe you've seen pictures of the 2010 Audi RS5 before. The prototypes were caught roaming around the California desert in varying degrees of camouflage last summer. But other than indicating that the program was indeed proceeding, the cobbled-together test mules didn't expose any details.
Now the RS5 is undergoing high-speed testing on the Nurburgring, and the prototypes look a little more finished. Our spy video also gives us our first chance to hear the high-performance coupe, and it delivers a good hint at what's under the hood.
Yesterday, Motor Trend reported that the Cadillac Converj concept had been approved for production.
Today, Cadillac officially denied the report to Inside Line News. "There is no change to the status of Converj," said Cadillac spokesman David Caldwell. "It is a concept -- a proposal -- and it's being reviewed, and the review is not completed."
Used by permission of the Pebble Beach Concours d'Elegance. All rights reserved
First it was the addition of the LeMons class to Pebble Beach, and now comes the first ever motorcycle class at the Pebble Beach Concours.
"International interest in collecting classic motorcycles is on the rise, and we want to celebrate them and do all we can to support their preservation and restoration," said Sandra Kasky Button, Chairman of the Pebble Beach Concours.
This year's class will focus on British-built motorcycles built before 1959. Two legendary Vincent HRD V-Twins are expected to show up -- the famed 1947 works racing machine known as "Gunga Din" and a 1948 bike built for US sportsman John Edgar and often nicknamed the "Bathing Suit Bike" due to the scant attire of its primary rider, Roland "Rollie" Free.
The Pebble Beach Concours is scheduled to run Aug. 16th at the Pebble Pebble Beach golf course on the Monterey Peninsula.
The Toyota/Subaru coupe kerfuffle continues. This time a report in the Japanese magazine Best Car says two very different prototypes have been spotted testing. Both ride on the platform used for the new Subaru Legacy, but Best Car didn't speculate on the styling of either coupe.
The magazine claims to know the exterior dimensions, however, pinning the length at 165.4-inches, the width at 68.9-inches and the height at 51.2-inches. Those numbers would make it considerably smaller than the Hyundai Genesis Coupe in every dimension. That said, Best Car still claims that both of the coupes will have rear seats, although it does describe them as "emergency"seats, so they will be small indeed.
The 2009 Formula Drift season opened in Long Beach over the weekend. Ryan Tuerck, 23, took first place in his Gardella Racing Solstice coupe. He was joined on the podium by second-place finisher Samuel Hubinette (Dodge Viper) and third-place Tanner Foust (Scion tC).
Looks like Fabio's driving skills are as keenly honed as his taste in hairstyles. According to TMZ, he put this Ferrari 599 into a guardrail on Mulholland Highway, just above the Rock Store judging by the photo.
Luckily for Mr. Fabio, the car wasn't his. He was just borrowing it from World Class Driving, an exotic car club that rents out supercars by the day. A representative for World Class Driving told TMZ, "We are not very proud of the fact that Fabio wrecked our car." If it were Tom Cruise would they be "proud"?
#NYIAS Though the 2009 Nissan Nismo 370Z first saw the light of day (well, the first official light of day) at the Morrell Wine Bar, we couldn't resist the favorable lighting conditions in the Nissan booth today at New York's Javits Center. We've got video, too. --Erin Riches, Senior Editor
#NYIAS We didn't know it was going to show up, but calling the 2010 Kia Forte Koup a surprise is a bit of stretch. The production version of the Kia Forte sedan debuted in February and a concept version of the Koup was shown in New York at last year's show.
If anything, we're surprised how faithful the production Forte Koup is to the original concept, and that it kept its kooky Koup name. Strangely, the rear of the production model is actually more aggressive than the concept thanks to a finned diffuser that hugs a pair of chrome exhaust tips. Can't remember the last time that happened.
It's a nice-looking package though. At 176.4 inches long, 55.1 inches high, 69.5 inches wide and riding on a 104.3-inch wheelbase, the Koup is within an inch or so of the Honda Civic coupe. It even shares the Honda's front-end design to some degree, yet thankfully the Koup goes its own way toward the back.
#NYAIS I just spent a couple of hours crawling in and around a Mercedes SLS AMG prototype. The interior was finished, but the outside wore much of the same camouflage as the cars we've seen running around the Nurburgring for months (notice the black tape on the red car above). Photos were not allowed, nor could we open the hood or trunk, but everything else was fair game.
Now we've already published a number of stories on this car, so learning new info with such restrictions wasn't easy. Here's the new stuff we walked away with:
At $273,295, the Supersports is the most expensive Continental coupe by a wide margin. For the extra cash, you get unique bodywork, a 621-hp version of the standard twin-turbo W12 and carbon-fiber brake rotors.
Oh, and starting in 2010, the Supersports will be capable of running on ethanol. We hear it's finally going to catch on big next year. -- Ed Hellwig, Lead Senior Editor, Inside Line
It might be a little premature to be looking past the Mercedes SLS AMG since it won't even hit the road for another year, but today, more than one AMG insider confirmed that a convertible version of the gullwinged supercar will follow it to the market. Of course, it won't have the dramatic gullwing doors of the coupe, but it will get a power-retracting soft top like the one Mercedes used on the SLR.
Cost? We're almost afraid to ask, but it'll make the expected $250,000 price of the coupe look like Tic Tac money.
Look for it to top the Mercedes range in about two years. -- Scott Oldham, Inside Line Editor in Chief
#NYIAS Does that whole Chrysler/Fiat merger seem unlikely to you? You're not alone, my friend -- and Chrysler knows it.
In order to instill a little confidence that Chrysler is working hard to make it happen, Vice Chairman Jim Press drove a Fiat 500 onto the show floor. Isn't it cute?
He then used the first 10 minutes of his speech to tell everyone how promising the merger looks. "This would be a great marriage with no overlap in our product portfolios," Press said.
He said it with conviction, but not many in attendance seemed to believe it. At least not yet. -- Ed Hellwig, Lead Senior Editor
#NYIAS You wouldn't want to be drinking a glass of really nice Cabernet and also trying to understand the mass dampers on the 2009 Nissan Nismo 370Z. But tonight at Manhattan's Morrell Wine Bar in Rockefeller Plaza, the new Nismo Z and the 2010 Nissan 370Z Roadster were just there to hang out. Well, they weren't in the bar, but out on the sidewalk -- the better to be noticed by passers-by.
This is really their official 2009 New York Auto Show introduction. They'll be at the company's booth tomorrow, but there won't be a press conference.
We've written detailed stories on both the 2009 Nismo 370Z and 2010 370Z Roadster, so you know they're going on sale in June and July, respectively. In between sips of wine too rich for our blood, we took a few more photos.
Notably, Nissan's head of design, Shiro Nakamura, was on hand to toast the debut of the roadster and the Nismo Z. Although both trace their basic lines to NNA designer Randy Rodriguez, final design work on these two was completed in Japan. -- Erin Riches, Senior Editor
Why muck up your GranTurismo daily driver when you can have a dedicated track car like the GranTurismo MC? Designed to compete in the GT4 European Cup class, the GranTurismo MC uses the same 4.7-liter V8 as the production GranTurismo S. Revised engine mapping bumps output to 450-horsepower while the chassis has been stiffened and race-grade brakes installed. A full roll cage and racing slicks are also part of the package.
And the cost? A mere 135,000 Euros. Just call Maserati Corse and they'll arrange pickup of the money. We're sure you'll get a car eventually.
Faster that we expected. Probably faster than even Ford expected. It's a monster at the dragstrip and it doesn't turn half bad either. Get the full story from Chief Road Test Editor Chris Walton as he puts you behind the wheel of the 2010 Ford Shelby GT500.
You would think that a movie centered around street racing and modified cars might want to include the latest new models. For the most part Fast & Furious does just that, expect for one notable exception.
Turns out the new Hyundai Genesis Coupe was supposed to get a starring role, but was left out at the last minute. It came about after another manufacturer started squawking about screen time for its own vehicles. Thankfully there are more than enough interesting vehicles to make the Hyundai's absence largely unnoticeable, but be sure to look for it in Faster & Furious next year.
Maybe you heard that Steve Saleen has a new company called SMS Supercars. He started it after he was more or less booted out of his old company. Soon after his departure, the new owners issued a statement saying they were not responsible for honoring the warranty on Saleen vehicles.
Given the complex ownership structure of the "new" Saleen, vehicle owners were pretty much out of luck if they were hoping to start a fight over their sudden lack of coverage. Thankfully, and quite shockingly, Steve Saleen has stepped into the fray to resolve the situation.
From here on out, SMS Supercars will honor the warranty on any Saleen vehicle purchased before February 2, 2009. "This unusual step in uncertain times is a measure to assure that my past and future customers, as well as Saleen and Ford dealers around the United States, continue to have faith in products bearing my name", said Mr. Saleen.
Sure, any old GT-R can hit 193mph with enough room, but hitting that speed from a dead stop in only a mile is a little bit more difficult.
In this case, the Hennessey-tuned Nissan GT-R had help from upgraded turbos and intercoolers, revised plumbing, a new blowoff valve, waste gate and an electronic boost controller. The result is roughly 700-horsepower and 630 pound-feet of torque. No word on whether they used launch control to get out of the hole quickly. Video after the jump.
There's an interesting story behind the 19-inch sport package wheels on the 2009 Nissan 370Z. Randy Rodriguez, the Nissan designer who penned the original sketches for the 370Z (and who showed up to our Z-car party in his 240Z), owns an MV Agusta F4-750, you see. He stores it behind his desk at Nissan Design America in San Diego.
"A digital modeler showed me the eBay auction for a stripped MV's frame, engine and suspension," says Rodriguez. "This was in the morning that I first saw the ad, and then I blasted to Sacramento in a truck and by late evening it was parked beside my desk at work.
"Within 3 months I had it mostly complete and running. I got parts for it from all over the world.
"In doing that, I got really familiar with the various parts of the bike, and the 19-inch wheels for the 370Z were inspired by the triple clamp on the MV (and the one on the Ducati 999). I morphed it into the spoke, which became part of the wheel."
The MV isn't just an office sculpture, either. "I totally ride it hard -- when it's safe to do so of course," Rodriguez says.
It feels like we've been waiting too long for the 2010 Audi RS5 to arrive. First spotted in prototype form last summer, the high-powered coupe was expected to debut in Geneva.
Instead, we got the RS version of the TT. Not a bad placeholder, but hardly the big-displacement coupe we were hoping to see. These new spy photos prove there's definitely an RS5 on the way, however, so it shouldn't be long before Audi unleashes the V10-powered coupe.
This latest prototype shows off some revised bodywork in back, but the wheels certainly aren't new. Expect to see something a little more exotic at each corner when the production version debuts later this summer.
It's no secret that the Dodge Challenger SE could use a little help in the performance department. With its lowly four-speed transmission, the base Challenger struggles to put its 250-horsepower to the ground with much authority.
The Challenger SE Rallye edition that debuted today at the Spring Festival of LXs marks the introduction of a little help. From now on all Challenger SE models will get the same five-speed automatic transmission used in the V8 models. Chrysler didn't give any acceleration estimates, instead it took the politically correct route and noted that the extra gear helps the new-and-improved SE deliver 25mpg on the highway.
In addition to the new transmission, the SE Rallye also features several cosmetic enhancements. The 18-inch, black-accented wheels are standard along with dual hood and deck lid stripes. There's also a body-color spoiler, chrome fuel door and "Micro Carbon" interior accents. The SE Rallye package will begin production next month with a base price of $26,490 including destination.
Already on sale in Japan, the Nissan GT-R SpecV is the first of what promises to be a long line of upgraded GT-Rs. This particular version doesn't add any power, but it does shed some weight and upgrade some hardware.
So how fast is the GT-R now? Find out in our exclusive full test of the SpecV direct from Japan.
During Hyundai's webcasted press conference for the Genesis Coupe, product chief John Krafcik was asked whether or not there was still a replacement for the Tiburon in the works. In response, he basically reiterated a statement he's made in the past.
There is still another coupe to come from Hyundai and it will be a smaller, front-wheel drive model based on the Elantra platform. The Veloster concept was a clue to the styling direction, but Hyundai is still up in the air whether or not it will be called Tiburon. In fact, Krafcik openly asked for input on the name, so if you like Tiburon let Hyundai know.
Curious what it's like to go to a manufacturer press conference? Well, here's your chance.
Hyundai will broadcast its Genesis Coupe presentation live on its website starting at 8:00. Just go to www.genesispresspass.com and register. We can't promise you it will be exciting, but that's why they call it a press conference.
Update: Among the numerous questions discussed at the press conference was the topic of benchmark vehicles used during development of the Genesis Coupe.
Product chief John Krafcik said the Infiniti G37S Coupe was the main target along with the BMW 335 Coupe to some degree.
He also made a point of mentioning that the Ford Mustang was never a target.
Inside Line tests hundreds of vehicles a year, but not every vehicle gets a full write-up. The numbers still tell a story, though, so we're introducing a new feature on Straightline called "IL Track Tested." It's a quick rundown of all the data we collected at the track, along with comments direct from the test drivers. Enjoy.
So yesterday we showed you how the new 2010 Chevrolet Camaro V6 stacks up against the Hyundai Genesis V6. Not exactly your typical foes, but as the numbers showed, a surprisingly even matchup.
Today it's a more traditional fight, Chevy versus Dodge. A classic rivalry maybe, but let's face it, the Dodge is a little overmatched here. What used to be considered adequate power for a V6 has now been rendered, well, just adequate.
The sizes of their engines only vary by a tenth of a liter, but the Camaro's 3.6-liter direct-injection V6 out muscles the Dodge's 3.5-liter V6 by 54 horses. Add in the Challenger's extra 100 pounds of weight and four-speed automatic and it never really had a chance.
During its big debut in Mumbai yesterday, Tata chairman Ratan Tata told reporters that although the Nano doesn't currently have anti-lock brakes, airbags or significant bumpers of any kind, it could meet U.S. safety and emissions standards within a f
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