By almost anyone’s standards, Audi’s R8 with the Lamborghini-derived 5.2-liter V-10 is a fast car. The engine puts out some 525 horsepower and 391 ft-lb. of torque, which is enough to get the R8 V-10 Coupe from zero to sixty in 3.7 seconds, or 3.9 seconds for the R8 V-10 Spyder. Top speed on the coupe is said to be 196 miles per hour, which is annoyingly-close-but-just-shy-of 200 miles per hour. If you’re lucky enough to own either version of Audi’s 5.2-liter equipped R8, it’s easy to understand why you’d want to make it just a little bit faster.
Enter Heffner Performance, a tuner with a significant history of making Audis, Lamborghinis, Ferraris, Ford GTs, and Dodge Vipers faster, yet still docile enough to drive on the street. Their latest bolt-on package for Audi’s V-10 R8s - the Twin Turbo "bolt on" system with twin Garrett GT35R turbochargers at 6 psi - will get you 725 horsepower at the wheels, on 93 octane pump gas. That’s an increase of 200 horsepower from stock, yet the car retains its sophisticated, grand-touring demeanor.
As the English philosopher Francis Bacon once said, "Nothing is pleasant that is not spiced with variety." Most car manufacturers, after efforts like the 2012 Bentley Continental GT, would have been happier to call it a day. However, Bentley looked at this automotive Adonis and decided "everything can be improved." This style of constant tweaking has resulted in multiple versions of the GT Continental. The first of these "tweaks" for the 2012 Bentley Continental GT is the new GT Speed.
This Adonis in an Armani suit will be given a shot in the arm. The previous GT Speed had 9% more power and 15% more torque than the base GT Continental. If this same increase applies to the new GT Speed, the W-12 will be pump out around 621 horses and 590 ft/lbs of torque. This would install the GT Speed as a next door neighbor to the top of the line Continental Supersports.
When most people just see a Nissan GT-R, they are in awe of this seminal feat of engineering. This car offers super car performance and practicality that perhaps makes it the best daily driver on the road today. Yet the Chicago based tuning company, AMS Performance, looked at the GT-R and set themselves a monumental engineering challenge. Cue dramatic music; they set out to build the fastest GT-R . To make this daunting challenge even harder the engineers from AMS kept the GT-R’s stock interior and amenities like air conditioning.
To accomplish the task, they endowed a GTR with 1,500 horsepower. That’s 300 more horsepower than a Bugatti Veyron Super Sport. This car is like showing up to an 8th grade science class with a Polaris missile while everybody else has a stomp rocket.
So did these engineers from Chicago accomplish their lofty goal? The answer is a resounding yes. This car posted the fastest GT-R quarter mile in history, posting a time of 8.97 second a astonishing 169 miles an hour.
Check out the video of this record breaking quarter mile run!
When you ask most Americans what comes to mind when you say Fiat, one word consistently came up: "broken." Now with Fiat making a re- entrance behind their fantastic 500, feelings are changing. Although the Fiat 500 has only been on US soil for about a year, it is already gaining momentum like a blue whale rolling down a hill. It has just been announced that the long awaited Fiat 500 Abarth will make its American debut at the 2011 Los Angeles Auto Show and go on sale in the first half of 2012 . This is a huge move forward because according to Inside Line, the initial debut for the Abarth models was supposed to be introduced in the first half of 2013.
When this hot hatchback hits the market its major competitors will be the venerable VW Golf GTI and the Mini Cooper S. The angle that the Fiat successfully utilizes is that over the years both of its competitors have gone somewhat soft and strayed quite far from their roots. In the Fiat Abarth, the lineage is as clear as day and also adds a touch of warm nostalgic familiarity. As soon as your right foot hits the gas, a direct channel to your adrenal glads will be opened. The exhaust note from this peppy 1.4 liter engine reminds us of a little Boston terrier behind a fence, it sounds big but it’s really not. These primal signals will serve as a reminder of how a ’hot’ hatchback can enrich your life.
We adore the little Fiat. Its sense of style, presence, and plucky attitude make it a must have vehicle. This admiration will be multiplied with the Abarth version of this venerable Italian hatchback. The Fiat 500 Abarth serves as a case in point for automakers; in order to move forward, one must often look back.
America has been known for many years as the "land of opportunity", now it can be known as the "land of the insane engineering." This change of title is due to a car which defies convention and could be considered the Bell X-1 of tuned sedans. This vehicle truly breaks down what is possible in the tuning market and plows a new path. This seminal vehicle is the 2012 Hennessey Twin Turbo V1000 CTS-V Coupe. The guys over at Hennessey were the only people to look at the 2012 Cadillac CTS-V and think "ya know, we need to make it as powerful as a medium sized ICBM," and the outcome is simply staggering.
This latest offering from the Texas based tuning company boasts 1,000 horsepower and 950 ft/lbs of torque. This will push the sports car to 60 mph in 3.5 seconds and will allow it to do the quarter mile in 10.9 seconds at 136 mph. All this while pushing it all the way to a top speed of 230 mph.
If you’re screaming "I want one!", you will have to a right a large check (somewhere north of 150K). You will also have to be quick because only 12 are being made. If you are lucky enough to have this automotive Hulk, you will undoubtedly love to get under the skin of other super car owners. They will roll their eyes at this pauper, but as soon as you press the loud pedal, you will definitely give their Mercedes SLS AMG and Ferrari 458 Italia models a fright.
Hit the jump for more details on the Cadillac CTS-V Coupe Twin Turbo V1000 by Hennessey.
