Attention boy-racers who won the lottery: Lexus unveiled at the 2008 Australian International Motor Show the IS250 Sports Concept that features a number of performance and visual enhancements.
Lexus modified the brakes, shock absorbers, sway bars, chassis braces, air intake, clutch, short shift kit, exhaust, 19-inch wheels, engine cover and spoilers.
Under the hood Lexus placed a performance air intake, resulting in a three percent power increase and a carbon-fiber engine cover. Vehicles with manual transmissions also receive a short shift kit, resulting in a 35 percent reduction in fore and aft gearshift movement.
Press release after the jump.
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The Australian International Motor Show that is going on now through next week is sometimes overlooked because its smaller and only a week after the Paris show. But real car fans won’t miss it because they know the Aussies are all about power. Local creations such Ford’s FPV 5th Anniversary Falcon GT and HSV (Holden Special Vehicles) GTS are not to be missed.
At the show is a special edition of the GTS to commemorate the 40th anniversary of the first Australian Gran Turismo Sportivo (GTS). The majority of this package on this $80,170 (Australia) car is just little add-ons like stripes, 40th anniversary commemorative logos everywhere and special red or white paint. The reason it doesn’t get any performance upgrades is because the GTS need none. It already has the 6.2-liter LS3 V8 from the Corvette.
If you who feel like the the lucky Aussies get all the sleeper sedans, then you haven’t been paying enough attention. Pontiac will release the G8 GXP for 2009. It’s built Holden’s facility in Australia and stuffed with the same V8 making 415 hp.
Ford Performance Vehicles (FPV) revealed today the FPV 5th Anniversary Edition at the Australian International Motor Show in Sydney. FPV is the high-performance arm of Ford of Australia (like the U.S. Ford’s now defunct Special Vehicles Team.) This special edition of Aussie Ford’s full-size Falcon GT will be limited to only 200 units priced at $71,890 (Australia).
Power comes from Ford’s 5.4-liter quad-cam 32 valve Boss 315 V8 making 432 hp. Transmission choices for the sedan are a six speed manual or ZF six speed high torque automatic transmission with Sequential Sport Shift. To stop all this power, Ford upgraded the brakes to a 6-piston Brembo brake package.
Because this is an Australian car made for the Australian market in left-hand drive only, there are no plans from Ford for this to come to America. But who knows, someday your mailman may just get a little cooler.
Press release after the jump.
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Ford Performance Vehicles, Ford’s specialty vehicle maker in Australia, announced this week that in order to commemorate its fifth anniversary it will unveil a special edition which will be revealed at next month’s Australian International Motor Show.
FPV General Manager, Rod Barrett was coy on revealing too many details, but promised FPV enthusiasts that this vehicle would be a great collector’s vehicle following on from last year’s 40th Anniversary GT and Cobra.
Press release after jump.
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HSV launced on the Australian market the ClubSport R8 Tourer, the company’s first wagon since the all wheel drive Avalanche was released in 2003. A manual ClubSport R8 Tourer is priced from $65,990, which is just $1000 more than the equivalent ClubSport R8 sedan. Automatic transmission is an additional $2330.
The Tourer is powered by the high performance LS3 engine producing 425 hp of power and 550Nm of torque, making this one of the most powerful wagons produced anywhere in the world.
HSV will build around 120 ClubSport R8 Tourers for the Australian market in 2008.
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HSN today officially revealed the W427, a model that was first unveield at the Melbourne Motorshow in ‘showcar’ format. The car began production at the company’s Clayton based facility this week and sales of the seven litre 375kW ‘Supercar’ have begun in dealerships around Australia. The car is limited to only 427 units, and the entire 80 units for 2008 have been pre-sold and will retail for $155,500, plus on road costs.
The W427 is powered by a 7.0 litre LS7 V8 engine with specific HSV calibration that delivers 502 hp. The engine is mated to a 6-speed manual TR6060 high strength transmission.
It features: Front Driving lamps, Projector headlamps, 3 piece rear spoiler in carbon fibre, Unique W427 front fascia, Quad exhaust outlet with active bi-modal rear mufflers and Metallic Paint.
Elfin is working on a new performance car, Type 5, that will be released in less than a month. But until the launch, here’s the first sketch of the car. The car wants to compete with models like Lotus Elise, Caterham 7 and the Ariel Atom.
Type 5 will get a new chassis, exterior styling, interior design and a newly sourced engine. It will have a weight of approx. 750 kg depending on spec level with a 4 cylinder engine to produce around 268 hp of power and 258 lbs-ft of torque.
Price will be somewhere around $65,000 in Australia!
Holden revealed today the Colorado, a new powerful light truck that promises to deliver high levels of performance and load carrying capability.
The Holden Colorado will bring an extensive LCV range to the market, offering consumers a wide choice of body styles, powertrains and specifications to suit all work and recreational applications, catering for both fleet and private customers.
A new sports variant, the LT-R, will combine a number of sports features to create the toughest Colorado yet. Available in 4x2 or 4x4 variants, featuring sports bars, soft tonneau cover, side steps, front fog lamps, 16 inch alloy wheels and sports interior trim. The LT-R 4x4 also adds Bluetooth capability for compatible phones and Rear Park Assist.
Colorado is powered by a range of three engines are available, including a 3.0 litre four-cylinder common rail turbo diesel, which delivers peak torque of 360Nm at 1800rpm and peak power of 120kW at 3600rpm (manual transmission). Also available is a 3.6 litre Alloytec V6 petrol engine and a spirited 2.4 litre four-cylinder petrol engine.
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Elfin Cars, the Australian boutique builder, will unveil a new-generation lightweight sports car in August. The car has not a name yet, but will have "electrifying performance and go-kart handling" with a power-to-weight ratio equivalent to a 630-horsepower Holden Commodore.
The new sports car will replace the Type-3 Clubman, a Lotus 7/Caterham-style Clubman that could be bought in a kit for home assembly.
Under the hood there will be Solstice’s 2.0-liter four-cylinder engine that will deliver 260 hp.
The new Elfin will be priced under $60,000.
Holden Special Vehicles today announced the next steps in the seven litre W427 program, including pricing, volume and distribution strategy. Tom Walkinshaw confirmed the price of the W427 will be $150,000 ($142.000 US dollar), plus on road costs, under the current Luxury Car Tax regime.
The build volume has also been confirmed. HSV will build up to 427 W427s, with vehicles being built to order at the Clayton production facility. HSV has finalised the allocation strategy for the initial batch of cars.
Each Australian and New Zealand HSV Dealer (64 in total) will be allocated one W427, as long as they have a firm retail order. Remaining W427s will be allocated to dealers based on 2007 sales figures.
Lastly, Tom Walkinshaw confirmed the final power output figure for the W427 will be 375kW and 640NM of torque. The Holden Special Vehicles W427 will go on sale in August.
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