Land Rover Australia has revealed a new styling package inspired by the 2004 Range Stormer Concept Car. Available only for the 2009 Range Rover Sport TDV8 or Supercharged models the Stormer kit is priced at $9,990.
The package includes: Stormer front and rear bumpers, extended rear spoiler, body colored side cladding, rectangular, chromed, exhaust finishers, honeycomb radiator grille and front Park Distance Control (PDC).
For the exterior colors customers can choose from: Santorini Black, Alaska White or Stornoway Grey.
Jaguar seems to be clearing out the last of the 2009 XKs in Australia with a special edition. It’s called the XK-S, and its nothing like the XKR-S of last summer. Where the Europe-only XKR-S was a supercharged Jag with a great handling package, the XK-S for Australia is basically an appearance package.
This Jag comes with 20-inch Senta alloy wheels, luxury sports interior, brushed aluminum gear knob, bright finish pedals, as well as a few more exterior enhancements. It also gets the standard 2009 XK engine, which is the 4.2-liter V8 that makes about 300 hp. Not a bad engine, but we’ll probably wait for the upgraded 385 hp 5.0-liter V8 that is already announced for the 2010 model.
The production will only be limited to nine units, which means this car will at least be exclusive. This is a good thing considering eachexample has an asking price of about $138,000 U.S. ($209,400 in Aussie cash).
HSV revealed today a limited edition run of E-Series Senators. It will be limited to only 89 units, 30 manual and 59 auto, and prices will start from $69,990.
The Senator comes with leather onyx seats as standard and is available in Heron, Sting, Phantom, Nitrate, Karma, Voodoo and Evoke. It is powered by HSV’s LS3 317kW V8 engine, with HSV performance suspension. Nineteen inch billet silver Senator wheels host silver brake callipers incorporating the black HSV logo, while the Senator logo features on the front and rear headrests.
After seeing the American version, and also the European version of the Volt electric car, today is time for the Australian one. Production version is expected on the Australian market in 2012.
Like the Chevy Volt, its Australian brother has the ability to travel up to 64 kilometres on electricity before using petrol or producing exhaust pipe emissions.
For trips of up to 64 kilometres, Volt is powered solely by the electricity stored in its battery without using petrol or producing exhaust pipe emissions.
When the battery’s energy is depleted, a small petrol-powered engine generates electric power for the vehicle to travel hundreds of additional kilometres .
Advanced technology enables the vehicle’s battery to be charged in less than three hours on a standard 240v power outlet. Charge times are reduced if the battery has not been fully depleted.
It has been over three months since we’ve seen the Aussie-only FPV F6 E, and back then the images were pretty grainy. Now the car from Ford Performance Vehicles (FPV), is back with some new details. FPV is the high-performance arm of Ford of Australia (like the U.S. Ford’s now defunct Special Vehicles Team,) so we expect some interesting things from this down under sedan.
Power comes from a in-line six cylinder engine. While that may sound like the basis for most sedans, this one is a large 4.0-liter unit that has been turbocharged to 415 hp at 5500 rpm. The F6 E also features a ZF six-speed high-torque automatic transmission with Sequential Sports Shift. The F6 E receives performance 355 x 32mm cross-drilled and ventilated front rotors with Brembo 6-piston calipers and 330 x 28mm cross-drilled and ventilated rear rotors with Brembo 4-piston caliper as standard.
FPV hopes to put the car on sale for a price of AU $78,190 (about $50,000 US). Unfortunately unlike the Holden HTS GTV/Pontiac G8 GXP siblings at GM, Ford has not made any plans to export the FPV F6 E.
Toyota Australia revealed today the HC-CV (Hybrid Camry Concept Vehicle), a concept that will be revealed at the 2009 Melbourne International Motor Show.
The hybrid Camry uses a four-cylinder petrol engine linked to a powerful electric motor. It produces more power than a conventional petrol-engine vehicle while delivering better fuel economy.
"HC-CV is our expression of the contemporary hybrid sedan." The front of the car is characterised by expressive, sharp lines and taught surfaces. It echoes the latest Toyota Hybrid styling cues, with vertical fog lamps, larger lower opening and a streamlined upper grille.
The headlights are symbolic of Toyota’s hybrid image with a blue hue. They fuse technical elements with natural forms. Some lenses have a waterfall impression, while others are functional, lightweight and technical in appearance. The rear LED lamps, also with a blue hue, provide an unmistakable hybrid look.
The body colour is unique - a satin white pearl with subtle blue highlights to provide a serene, calm feeling. The paint allows intricate detailing and features to show through.
The TopGear Australia boys got in a little trouble for the damage they caused in the first series. One of the stand out examples was $30,000 AUD (less than $20,000 U.S.) of dings to some Holden Astras, so we couldn’t resist showing the offending video. Enjoy.
The boys over at TopGear Australia seem to be in some hot water over their damage for this season: $200,000 AUD (about $132,000 U.S. dollars). I was prepared to let this go, but the story seems to be picking up steam. So instead I’m weighing in with my opinion.
Some manufactures are upset that the cars were returned in less than pristine condition. This includes having to respray luxury cars after chips from stones (something that is routinely done for pre-owned luxury cars), and one stunt where $30,000 AUD worth of damage was done to two Holden Astras during a game of “lawn bowls” (it was cool to watch).
"We have no appetite for automotive Jackass," the spokesman for one of the damaged brands said.
"When they revisit series two, they will encounter a lot of shut doors," said another.
The TG Australia boys should respond by using a classic British saying: “Shut it!”
Did the manufactures not see Toyota Aygo/Volkswagen Fox Soccer on original TopGear? Or the lesser-known time when they decided to crash test on a Renault Megane without telling Renault they would total the borrowed car? Of course there is going to be destruction, THIS IS TOP GEAR NOT THE KNITTING HOUR!
Cars get dinged up all the time on TopGear. Manufactures are supposed to be fine with it because every feature is a ten minute commercial for their product that people are actually willing to watch. Over the eight episode run, the damage amounts to about $16,500 in U.S. dollars per episode. Car companies spend more than that to advertise on a program, so manufacturers shouldn’t be upset or withhold cars because they have to expense that out for their test fleet.
The TG Aussie boys had tough shoes to fill. They were cast not as their own men, but as the personalities of original hosts with new accents. TopGear Australia didn’t have a spectacular first season, but some of it was good fun and they are finding their own voices. Even the first series of this incarnation of original (British) Top Gear had some real kinks to work out. In fact, the British second series dropped Jason Dawe for James May.
The Aussie boys absolutely deserve their second series. I only say shame on them for not causing more damage.
With all that open land, and a possibly bigger love for V8s than even the U.S., its surprising that it took the Aussies this long to get back in the business of making home-grown supercars. Bolwell first made the Nagari sports cars in the late 60s and early 70s, and now its back. Australia’s domestic sport car will go on sale at a price of $198,000 AUD (about $130,000 U.S.) The Nagari is powered by a mid-mounted Toyota-sourced 3.5-liter 24-valve quad-cam V6 engine that delivers 295 hp and about 250 lb-ft. of torque.
The features list is pretty long for the Nagari. It comes with a carbon fiber composite body, 19-inch alloy composite wheels, ABS brakes, an underbody aero kit (front and rear), sports exhaust, UV-protected windscreen, Recaro seats (with Nagari emblem), leather trim, a Momo steering wheel, remote central locking, cruise control, air-conditioning, electric windows/mirrors, height- and reach-adjustable steering, door sill scuff plates, and a Polaris GPS stereo comprising sat-nav, rear-view camera, DVD/CD audio system.
Although the regular version of the Nagari has not actually hit the streets yet, Bolwell is already working on variations. As reported back in September, there is already an electric-powered sportscar in the works.
This special edition for the Aussies only was launched to celebrate the arrival of spring. Remember, while many of us are bundling up for winter, Australia is starting to heat up. Nothing better than to keep warm thoughts than a hot Aussie model in a convertible (we’d probably not even be posting this story otherwise.)
For the first time in Australia, the Aero convertible will feature the 1.9-liter, 177 hp TTiD diesel engine in addition to the 2.8-liter, 376 hp V6 Turbo and both engine variants can be matched to six-speed manual or six-speed automatic transmissions. The Special Edition features 18” wheels in silver, new front bumper treatments and sports steering wheel.
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