For a place that is known for their onslaught of money and exotic cars, Dubai seemed like a for good spot for Jaguar to release two new packages for the XJ luxury sedan. The new Jaguar XJ Sport and Speed packages were revealed at the Dubai International Motor Show and include exterior and interior updates, as well as aerodynamic updates for better performance.
"The XJ is much more than a limousine. Its power and potential mean it can out-perform many so-called sports cars. The new Sport and Speed Packs allow customers to enhance that sporting dynamism even further and create an XJ that looks as good as it drives," said Ian Callum, Director of Design, Jaguar Cars.
The first new performance driven option pack is called the Speed Pack and was put together for the 510 HP XJ Supersport. The second option pack is the Sport and Speed Pack and was customized for the 470 HP XJ Supercharged. Both packs are available in standard and long wheelbase variants.
Hit the jump to read more about the 2012 Jaguar XJ Sport and Speed Packs.
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Ferrari is an automaker that’s known to march to the beat of its own drum and that has been proven time and time again.
The latest example of this "you-all-do-what-you-want-and-we’ll-do-what-we-want" attitude came to light in a recent interview with Popular Mechanics, when Ferrari engineer Patrizio Moruzzi made it clear that Ferrari will stick to using aluminum for the bodywork of their cars instead of the increasingly popular carbon fiber material.
According to Moruzzi, aluminum is a "multimaterial technology” that is ideally suited to serve a variety of uses, a versatile quality that carbon fiber just can’t match. Their long history using aluminum notwithstanding, Ferrari’s biggest sticking point as far as using carbon fiber was the length of time it takes to build a car using the material. Whereas aluminum, which is as potentially as light as carbon fiber, is a material that’s easy to wok on a mass-production level, carbon fiber is the exact opposite.
The Enzo, for example, used plenty of carbon fiber in its bodywork - and it took Ferrari about a day to build one model. Compare that to the aluminum-bodied 458 Italia, which the company could build at around 25-30 units a day, and the level of productivity, efficiency, and cost-savings is just not a question.
To their credit, Ferrari isn’t closing its doors on experimenting with new materials, particularly metal matrix components - material that’s made up of ceramic fiber-reinforced aluminum that could potentially shave off as much as 20 percent of a car’s overall weight.
So while other automakers are falling over with their carbon fiber-bodied supercars, Ferrari wants to have no part of the craze. They’ve used aluminum for the better part of 70 years, and they’re not about to stop using it in the near future.
No matter how many or few accessories the Lamborghini Aventador LP700-4 has, it’s bound to steal some attention at shows like SEMA. One in particular, that was displayed at the Giovanni booth, was quite a hit with the audience, even if the modifications done on it were limited to a new set of Giovanna’s GFG forged modular wheels.
Everything else about the new Lamborghini supercar remained the same, which really isn’t a problem, especially when you consider that the supercar comes with a throaty 6.5-liter V12 engine pushing out 700 horsepower at 8,250 rpm and 509 lb/ft of torque at 5,500 rpm.
Giovanna has always been a big presence at SEMA and this year was no different. The mighty Aventador was only one of a few supercars that were fitted with the company’s new wheels with the Ferrari 458 Italia, the Bentley Continental GT, the Mercedes SLS AMG, and the Rolls-Royce Ghost among the other exotics on display at Giovanna’s booth, each bearing a distinguished set of the company’s GFG forged modular wheels.
When Porsche announced plans for a new supercar that will take on models like the Ferrari 458 Italia, it was believed that the new model would be built on an entirely new platform. Apparently, Porsche was forced to change its plans because Volkswagen is suggesting that the company use the same platform as the next Audi R8. The logical explanation behind it is that Volkswagen thinks the next R8 platform will provide a suitable architecture for the Porsche, but really it all comes down to saving some cash on development.
Porsche is dead-set on using a bespoke platform, but if they do, they may be delaying the release of their new sports car to about 2020, alongside the third generation of the R8 and Gallardo. That long wait may be the only reason Porsche decides to give in to Volkswagen and use the R8’s underpinnings. The market may lose interest in the vehicle if they are forced to wait that long.
Regardless of Porsche’s decision, the new Audi R8 facelift will be headed to the 2012 Geneva Motor Show for its unveiling. The car will receive both exterior and interior updates, as well as an increase in power. The base 4.2L V8 will jump to 444 HP from the current 424 HP and the 5.2L V10 will be tuned to deliver 533 HP, up from the current 518 HP.
In addition to the BMW 3-Series Carbon Sport Edition, the German automaker is rolling out another special edition Beamer, this time courtesy of BMW North America.
The car is called the M3 "Frozen Silver" Competition Edition and will be distinguished by a number of exterior and interior enhancements that will make this 40-piece edition a unique version from the rest of the M3 lot.
The special edition M3 is limited to only 40 units and was built to commemorate the 40th anniversary of BMW’s world famous M Division. Each model will come with a Frozen Silver Metallic exterior paint, which, according to BMW, is a special BMW Individual matte paintwork that adds a rare metallic luster to the vehicle. The silver paint finish is combined with complementary exterior treatments and black leather and palladium silver accessories in the interior.
As far as power goes, the BMW M3 "Frozen Silver" Competition Edition will be working with the same 4.0-liter, M V8 engine found in the standard model mated to BMW’s M Double Clutch transmission. This setup delivers 414 horsepower and a 0-60 mph acceleration time of 4.5 seconds.
The fact that a special edition model of the car is being offered in limited quantities - and that it’s expected to sell out faster than the time it takes for you to reach for your wallets - is proof enough that 40 years in existence has flown by that fast. And knowing how people go loco over the M3, we certainly expect BMW to hold more celebrations for their M Division in the coming years.
Find out more about the BMW M3 "Frozen Silver" Competition Edition after the jump.
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Since its official debut back in 2007, the Volkswagen Tiguan has become the most successful SUV on the German market. So the fact that Volkswagen has already decided to offer a facelift for most of the line and as many accessories as possible shouldn’t surprise anyone. Joining the bunch is the availability of a new R-Line Package offered exclusively for the ‘Sport & Style’ equipment version.
For the exterior of the Tiguan, the R-Line package adds a black textured rear diffuser, aluminum door sill plates with R-Line logo, and another R-Line logo on the radiator grille. R-Design bumpers will also be painted in the body color, while the R-Line roof spoiler will receive matte chrome insertions. The final touch was given by a new set of 19" Mallory alloy wheels painted in"Sterling silver." For the exterior color, customers will get to choose between "Candy white," "Reflex silver metallic," "Deep Black pearl effect," "Night blue metallic," and "Pepper grey metallic."
For the interior, the R-Line package adds front sport seats, head restraints with integrated R-Line logo, and a multifunction steering wheel with aluminum accents and R-Line badge.
The first rumors about the future BMW M3’s engine sent chills through the automotive industry. Apparently, BMW had plans to put in a tri-turbo V6 engine with an output of about 450 HP in the M3. This new engine would combine two conventional turbos with one electric turbo to help the vehicle’s fuel economy. Those rumors were later squashed by new rumors about a new twin-turbocharged 3.0-liter, six-cylinder engine currently under development. But, alas, the tri-turbo engine returns with a new patent filed by BMW for electric-powered turbocharger technology.
This new electric turbocharger seems to have addressed the age-old concerns engineers have had about turbochargers and the size of their turbines (apparently size does matter). You see, small turbines spool up quickly and provide boost via a compressor, but end up running out of steam at higher RPMs. Big turbines do just the opposite; they provide more power at high RPMs, but take too long to spool up, this creating turbo lag. BMW’s new technology doesn’t take on the traditional mechanical turbo layout because the turbine and the compressor aren’t fixed on the same axle. Thanks to two clutches, both the turbine and the compressor can be uncoupled from the turbine axle. When these two clutches are opened, the electric motor can operate without any load.
Hit the jump to see more details on the new technology and a list of the electric turbo’s individual parts.
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The third Veloster by REMIX to be displayed at the 2011 SEMA Show is for those who do not like Gaming or Music, but just appreciate having the latest technology in their car. The Veloster Tech features a BASF Alpine White paint job combined with Custom Alpine White & Gloss Black headlights, a gloss black exterior trim and exhaust, smoked taillights and reflectors, an Alpine White rear diffuser, and LED puddle lights. The exterior is finished off with a new set of 19-inch TSW rotary forged RF9 wheels, also in white.
The interior of the Veloster Tech continues with the white theme from the exterior with white Vinyl & Suede seats, dash, and door panels, white LED Lighting, a white suede headliner, white floor mats, and Alpine White painted trim pieces.
As for the technological additions, REMIX has added a long list of accessories that would fit well in someone’s home, but the company has strategically placed them into the Veloster to turn it into a rolling media frenzy. It starts off with a Mac Mini with LED illuminated On/Off switch, an RFID reader, and Samsung Galaxy 7-inch tablets, controlled by a wireless keyboard & mouse connected to their custom ports. Owners can make calls off of their included LG 3D thrill phone or sit back and catch their favorite show on the 40-inch Samsung LED 3D TV with Samsung 3D Blu-Ray player & eight pairs of 3D glasses. Don;t have your favorite movie? Record your own with your new Panasonic 3D camcorder. All of these accessories can be controlled by the new Universal Remote MX-6000.
With a setup like this, living in your car may not be so bad.
With the recent unveiling of the ninth generation Civic in early 2011, there’s was no doubt in our minds that Honda would make the coupe its SEMA star. Among the many other cool packages Honda displayed in Vegas, the Compass360 Racing HPD Civic Si Coupe Racecar sat gleaming in its tri-color scheme.
The work on the Compass360 Racing HPD started earlier this year with the Civic bodies-in-white, a program that offers a significant cost and labor savings to race teams. This program offers teams a bare bones chassis to eliminate the time and money spent on breaking down production models for racing. Sales of the body-in-white shells began in July 2011, and HPD has delivered a number of them to licensed race teams thus far, each priced at $3,500.
Since the program began, the company has been busy working on this Compass360 Racing prototype that provides details on the company’s new racing performance parts program specifically designed for the 2012 Civic. These racing parts are tailored for use in the SCCA World Challenge and Grand Am’s Continental Tire Sports Car Challenge. They will be available early in 2012, and full details and pricing will be released at that time.
We still have to wait a few more weeks until we finally get to see the production version of the Toyota FT-86 sports car, but more and more details are sneakily surfacing on the internet. The newest tidbit of information comes from the FT86Club and states that Toyota Racing Development (TRD) will offer a pretty aggressive package for the upcoming sports car.
The new package by TRD will supply a new front spoiler, side skirts, a new rear diffuser, a bootlid spoiler, and a new set of 18" aluminum wheels to jazz up the highly anticipated sports model. The interior will also get a few modifications in new sports seats, a new shift knob, a push start switch, and a sports metering system.
As for the performance updates, the recently leaked 2.0-liter flat-four engine will be joined by a full-length adjustable suspension set, a monoblock caliber kit, a new sports exhaust system with two pipes on each side for a racy look, a door stabilizer, tower bar, sports air filter, sports oil filter, and upgraded brakes. These additions may or may not add a performance boost, but the standard engine produces 197 HP at 7,000 rpm and 150 lb-ft of torque at 6,600 rpm, so expect output to be somewhere along the same numbers.
The new Toyota FT-86 TRD is undoubtedly a response to the recently announced b>BRZ STI Concept; which model would you prefer?
