The Gumball 3000 is back for its 13th rendition in 2012 and it guarantees to be just as wild and crazy as it has always been. The 2012 Gumball 3000, for those that do not know, is a roughly 3,000-mile rally that begins in New York, heads into Canada, and eventually ends up in Los Angeles, all while hitting five check points between New York and L.A.
At each checkpoint, the entire group gets together and throws one massive party with the key party coming at the very end in L.A. Though the Gumball 3000 is touted as a race, it is more of a leisurely drive that features a wide array of celebrities and all types of awesome cars, from the downright powerful and sexy to the economical and environmentally friendly.
This year’s Gumball 3000 is set to kickoff on Friday at noon and is in no way lacking celebrity appearances and tons of flashy rides.
Click past the jump to read more about the Gumball 3000, as well as the cars and celebrities making appearances.
A standard BMW 335i Coupe delivers a total of 300 HP and a BMW M3 Coupe pushes out 420 HP. That’s a pretty big difference between the two, but with the proper tuning package, that difference can be dwindled down to less than nothing. Alpha-N Performance has managed to make the 335i even more powerful than the M3 delivering an impressive 450 HP, while also being 550 lbs lighter than the standard model!
Starting with the exterior, the tuner added a pretty impressive kit with ultra-light material carbon components. It includes a new front bumper and an equally adjustable spoiler, a big rear diffuser, a new trunk lid with protrusive spoiler lip, and a huge, adjustable rear wing. The car sits on a new set of 19" wheels combined with a MAC high-performance braking system.
The same skills were used to tweak the interior, as Alpha-N Performance installed Recaro Pole Position carbon seats with full belt safety harness, a steel cage, and a performance steering wheel. Everything else in the car was ripped out to ensure weight optimization.
Aside from that, the tuner’s main focus was the 335i Coupe’s 3.0 liter six-inline engine. The extra 150 HP was achieved through an Alpha-N engine kit that includes bigger turbo chargers, adaptation of engine electronics, a completely new exhaust system, and an enlarged air-to-air intercooler. The last touch was provided through a reprogrammed ECU.
The sleek and sexy Hennessey Venom GT became a successful model in a very short time and Hennessey is hoping to repeat that success with an open top version of the same sports car. The new Hennessey Venom GT Spyder will be offered with a removable top and will only be produced in a limited run of five units, two of which have already been spoken for. Deliveries will begin in Summer 2012 and prices will start from $1.1 million, about $150,000 more than the Coupe’s top version.
The Venom GT Spyder will be powered by the same Chevrolet sourced V8 engine found in the Coupe with an output of 1,200 HP at 6,500 rpm and 1,155 lb-ft of torque at 4,200 rpm. Because of the added weight from the removable roof, performance numbers should be a tad bit slower than the Coupe, which sprints from 0-60 mph in 2.5 seconds and to 200 mph in 15.9 seconds, on its way up to a top speed of 275 mph. The engine will more than likely send its power to the rear wheels via a Ricardo 6-speed gearbox and handling will be facilitated by a KW variant three-adjustable coilover suspension.
As far as its design goes, the Venom GT Spyder will start off with the Lotus Elise base and will follow along the same extreme design lines as its Coupe sibling. We imagine it will also feature the same active aero system with adjustable rear wing that will deploy under varying conditions on both the road and racetrack.
"With the hardtop in place, the Venom GT offers a very visceral, raw, driving experience," said Hennessey CEO, Don Goldman. "With the hardtop removed, the wind and the growl of the twin turbo V8 will offer our clients an even greater driving sensation."
The 1,200 HP will make the Venom GT Spyder the most powerful convertible in the world. Will it also be the fastest? We believe it will, but Hennessey will have to keep that 275 mph top speed intact.
UPDATE 05/22/2012: Following the delivery of the first Venom GT Spyder to Steven Tyler, Hennessey has dropped two new images of their latest supercar, as well as a video featuring the chassis dyno testing. Enjoy!
The Volkswagen Golf GTI Black Dynamic is a very special vehicle, not because it’s got serious horsepower under its hood. It’s a special ride because it’s the result of a months-long project by nine Volkswagen apprentices - four young women and five young men - aged 18 to 24.
According to Volkswagen, the ’Apprentice Golf GTI 2012’ was started to give young and up-and-coming designers to put their skills to the test in a real automotive project.
The result is the Golf GTI Black Dynamic, which is making its world debut at the Worthersee GTI meet in Austria.
As part of the revamps given to the vehicle, the apprentices fitted a number of key styling upgrades, including a Deep Black Metallic exterior finish combined with flat anthracite film trim, a matte gray hood with honeycomb decals, LED headlamps, and a new set of black rims.
Meanwhile, the custom features of the interior are all produced by the apprentices themselves. For example, the sport seats have been upholstered in black-and-red Alcantara and leather. They also went and dressed the interior door trim with decorative red seams, visually expressing the two-tone red and black themed interior, while also connecting a 1,800-Watt sound system that comes with nine loudspeakers.
As for the engine, the apprentices opted for a 2.0-liter TSI engine and gave it a new gearbox management and a new oversized exhaust system, thus giving the car an extra 150 horsepower, for a grand total of 360 ponies.
Let it be known that we’ve got nothing but praise for the kids involved in this apprenticeship. Not only did they build something that’s truly a definite head-turner, but they managed to do it with the style, class, and professionalism that’s usually reserved for industry veterans.
There have been plenty of aftermarket companies that have released program options for the Mercedes SLS AMG. And with the car’s popularity continuing to soar, you can expect that more and more companies are ready to take a stab at the German supercar. Some of them even have already done so more than once.
MEC Design is no stranger to working on the SLS AMG, so much so in fact that their first design for the car was introduced 18 months ago. Fast forward to this week and the aftermarket company has prepared a new program for the SLS 63 AMG, one that includes an aerodynamic package for a customer from Florida.
MEC Design’s exterior package for the SLS 63 AMG includes a two-piece front spoiler, a spoiler lip finished in carbon, optional LED headlights, new side sills with four optional LED lights per side, a rear trunk-lid lip, a two-piece rear roof spoiler, a roof air scoop, a custom built, stainless steel sport exhaust system, three different diffuser options (Extreme, Formula, or GT3), and a set of mecxtreme3 allow wheels that are available in either 20" or 21".
Inside the car, MEC Design gave the SLS AMG a sports steering wheel dressed in carbon and Alcantara with leather/Alcantara and carbon/leather combinations coming as added options for customers. Speaking of carbon fiber, there’s plenty of the high-end material placed inside to make it look like its swimming in the posh item. Carbon inserts have been applied on the middle console, door guards, entry guard, the seat casings, and just behind the rear seats.
There’s plenty to see if you have the photos to look at. Fortunately, we have a mega gallery that you can consume at your heart’s desire.
UPDATE 05/22/2012: MEC Design may not have one of the most impressive tuning packages for the Mercedes SLS AMG, but their promo package for the sports coupe is definitely one of the most impressive videos we have seen in the past few months. The video was directed by Daniel Michaelis, filmed by Daniel Michaelis and Willi Fast, and narrated by Claudia Black. Hit the jump to check it out!
When it comes to building wide-body tuning kits, you won’t find a tuner that does a better job than Prior Design. Heck, it was only a few months ago when they released a wide-body kit for the Mercedes CL-Class luxury coupe. Apparently, it didn’t take them too long to build off of that with what they call "version 2" of the Black Edition program.
Similar to what we saw previously, Prior Design really went balls-to-the-wall on the Black Edition V2, dressing up the CL-Class with a package that’s far sportier and more aggressive than its predecessor.
For this program, Prior Design fitted the Mercedes with a slew of new bodykit components, all of which are made from Dura-Flex Fiber Reinforced Plastic. The kit includes a new front bumper, a front lip spoiler, larger side skirts, a rear bumper and diffuser, a new front hood, and mesh grilles.
For the entire package, Prior Design has stickered a price of €12,900, which is around $16,500 based on current exchange rates. Given the money customers are likely to invest or have invested on a CL-Class, this kind of purchase shouldn’t be too much of a problem.
Misha Design has become synonymous with building some of the most aggressive body kits for German cars. After their ventures with the Porsche 911 and the BMW M3 netted positive results, the tuning firm has now taken another German vehicle under its wing.
This time, it’s the Mercedes CLS-Class four-door coupe. The luxury sports coupe’s aesthetic credentials are already a sight to behold on their own. But when Misha Design decided that a new wide body kit was in order, nobody really voiced their displeasure against it.
The new kit includes a plethora of new components, including a new front bumper, redesigned with bigger intakes, a gloss black chin spoiler, a retouched grille and bumper, new side skirts, new fenders, a rear diffuser, a roof spoiler, and a trunk spoiler.
Should you wish to add a splash of carbon fiber on the accessories, you can do so and Misha Design will be more than happy to oblige.
No powertrain modifications are in order. Nevertheless, expect the car to still a pack a wallop, thanks in large part to its 4.6-liter direct-injection twin-turbo V8 engine that produces an impressive output of 402 horsepower and 443 lb/ft of torque and a fuel economy of 17 city / 26 hwy.
While Aston Martin is preparing to say good bye to the current DBS with the recently announced DBS Ultimate Edition, German tuner Anderson Germany has created one more tuning package based on the sports car. The final product is called "Casino Royale," as a tribute to the James Bond movie where it was featured, and includes a pretty cool exterior package, as well as the addition of 55 HP.
The new Aston Martin DBS Casino Royale comes painted in a very cool Platinum Grey that is contrasted by shiny gray on the window borders, tailgates block, and radiator case. The car sits on a new set of 21" wheels painted in gray and combined with brake calipers painted in bronze.
The tuner has also installed a carbon exterior packet that includes a front spoiler lip, a rear diffuser, and a mirror besides full tinted glass. There is also a new exhaust system with catalyst, replacement pipes, manifold, and software optimization. As a result, the total output has gone from 517 HP to 572 HP, while total weight has been reduced by 46 lbs.
The interior gets new ventilation, cup holders, door handles, ashtrays, door sills, steering wheel, handbrake handles, and a new center console all done up in carbon fiber.
In 1963, Chevrolet released an all-new Corvette to replace the C1 generation. This Corvette featured a high beltline and the body featured more chiseled lines. The C2 Generation `Vette was nicknamed the “Sting Ray” by its designers, Bill Mitchell and Larry Shinoda, and that eventually became adopted as part of the name and the 1963 Corvette Sting Ray was born.
The 1967 model year was the final one for the Sting Ray, but it was also its peak year, as its top level L88 427 cubic-inch power plant produced upwards of 500 horsepower, even though Chevy claimed it only produced 430 horsepower. The lower engines, the L68 427 and L71 427, were no chumps either, pumping out 400 horsepower and 435 horsepower, respectively.
Classic car specialists, RK Motors Charlotte, decided that the stock Sting Ray was just not enough and decided to heavily modify this classic muscle car. The resulting vehicle is the sexy and ultra-desirable 1967 Corvette Sting Rat Pro Touring, a one-off special edition designed by the folks at RKM.
Typically, we are totally against the hacking up of a classic muscle sports car like the Sting Ray, but RKM has a habit of improving these cars without ruining the original look and feel of them.
Click past the jump to read our full review and see if RKM hit a homerun, or struck out, with this Pro Touring Sting Ray.
The Lamborghini Aventador has become quite the tuning attraction. For a new company like German Special Customs, the onus on building a sick program for the Aventador was important to get their name across in the industry.
To their credit, not only did they make one program for the mighty Lamborghini, they actually made two with one being the limited edition Aventador Estatura GXX.
So far, the Aventador Estatura GXX is still in the pipeline of development, but GSC did release some fresh details on the supercar’s new aerodynamic body kit. Built completely from carbon titanium, the external body kit features a bevy of new components, including a new front bumper, a new rear bumper, side skirts, an adjustable racing, a carbon titanium hood, a titanium black exhaust, and a new set of ultralight wheels.
GSC didn’t say anything about performance modifications for the Aventador Estatura GXX, but we do expect something to be developed when the entire program is completed. For now, the supercar still comes packed with a 6.5-liter V12 engine that produces 700 horsepower and 509 lb/ft of torque.
As soon as more details become available regarding the Aventador Estatura GXX, we won’t waste time passing them along to all of you. For now, though, enjoy the photos of the limited edition suepercar!
