A coupe is a car body style with a close-coupled interior offering either two seats or 2+2 seating (space for two passengers up front and for two occasional passengers in the rear). Through the 1950s convertible models were sometimes called convertible coupes, but since the 1960s the term "coupe" has generally been applied exclusively to fixed-roof models. Coupes generally, but not necessarily, have two doors, although automobile makers have offered four-door coupes and three- and five-door hatchback coupes, as well.
The current lap record for a road-legal car around the famous Nürburgring track is held by the Radical SR8 LM with a time of 6:48. The record was established on August 19, 2009 with Michael Vergers behind the wheel. However, it looks like things might be changing.
When McLaren designed the new P1 supercar the company announced it focused on making the car racetrack fast and not a top-speed monster.
Well, an image that just surfaced on the internet (above) makes it look like McLaren has accomplished this goal, and then some. This image alludes to the fact that the P1 circled the ’Ring in just 6:33, which would make it the fastest street-legal car to perform said task. In fact, this result would make it even faster than the non-street-legal Zonda R, which lapped the same track in 6:47.
Until McLaren officially confirms this result, we’ll just have to hope it’s for real! We do have serious doubts on its legitimacy, however…
UPDATE 5/23/2013 @ 2:07 p.m.: Thanks to Jalopnik for digging up more info from McLaren on this topic. It turns out that this slide is an official one from McLaren, but it is not an official time. Rather, it is part of a "mood board" as inspiration to the design team. Engineers are working on getting the P1 around the `Ring under 7 minutes, though, so this still may be a reality some day.
Click past the jump to read more about the McLaren P1 and learn which are the fastest cars around Nürburgring.
Back in January, Chrysler announced that the new-generation SRT Viper would not be offered in Europe. However, this doesn’t mean the European customers won’t be able to drive one! The problem is that they will need to opt for an unofficially imported Viper.
U.S. car specialist, GeigerCars, announced recently it will import the new Viper and will put it on sale at a price of €139,900 (around $180,500).
Yes, you read it right: that’s almost double an American customer has to pay for a standard Viper, which is priced at $97,395. We are not sure how many units GeigerCars will import, but there will certainly be plenty of Viper-hungry Europeans standing in line to pick one up.
After all, who would turn down the opportunity to be one of the few people in your region to own one of the best sports cars launched in the past year?
Click past the jump to read more about the SRT Viper.
If you’ve been visiting these pages for the past couple of years, you might remember Holger Schubert. If you have a hard time recalling the man, he was the one who decided to build a state-of-the-art garage in his Los Angeles home for his beloved Ferrari 512 BBi.
That was back in 2010. Recently, the boys over at Petrolicious were able to pay a visit to Schubert’s remarkable garage and see for themselves exactly what makes this supposedly simple room such a technological wonder.
We’re not going to spoil a whole lot of the details because the video above does a remarkable job of showing you the garage in all its glory. But to give you an idea, the whole setup comes with a ten-foot-long, fifteen-foot-high bridge that has a hydraulic ramp on one end installed where the 512 BBi can go in and about its business.
And if you’re thinking this was a project everyone can partake in, Schubert actually spent $1.5 million to build the entire thing.
Click past the jump to read about the Ferrari 512 BBi
Until Porsche finally decides to officially add the 918 Spyder to its lineup, we continue to look back and remember what a great car the Carrera GT was. Unveiled back in 2004, the supercar was limited to only 1,270 units and the guys over at Carlex Design had the chance to update unit No. 1,035.
If you have followed the automotive industry in the past few years, you know that Carlex Design is a tuner known for upgrading the interiors and this is exactly what it has done for the Carrera GT.
For the Carrera GT, Carlex paid close attention to the smallest details when restyling the supercar’s interior. It includes yellow-contrast-stitched black Carbon Optic leather combined with Alcantara. The yellow stitching also helps tie the inside to the outside, as it perfectly matches the yellow brake calipers.
The tuner also offers lots of luxury extras and add-ons, like the Alcantara floor mats in rhombus stitching; rearview mirror in Alcantara; and trunk lining decorated with a nice stitching.
Click past the jump to read more about the standard Porsche Carrera GT.
Ferrari had a big problem with its 400 series when it debuted in 1959. Sure, the car packed a racing V-12 and all the gravitas a Ferrari badge can bring, but its brutal style made the front-engine 2+2 GT car a tough sell in one of Ferrari’s fastest-growing markets: the United States.
An emergency refresh was undertaken. Gone was the 400’s square grille and quad headlamp setup, replaced by Ferrari’s delicious oval slatted grille and single round headlamps under glass at each corner. Suddenly, the 400 Superamerica SWB Coupé Aerodinamico was as gorgeous as its two-seat siblings.
This very car, one of 36 built, is owned by famed driving instructor Skip Barber and is set for auction this weekend on May 25th by RM Auctions in Lake Cuomo, Italy. The pre-sale estimate is between $2.4 and $3 million, but the bidding could well reach $5 million before the dust settles.
Beneath the Superamerica Aerodinamico’s sumptuous bodywork lies the vanguard of Ferrari tech at the time, much like the Ferrari 456GT and current FF. Part of the “America” series of cars that included the 330 GT and 365 GTC, the plan in Modena was to leverage the flexibility offered by their small-scale Pininfarina bodywork team to create unique shells that would sell cars in crucial markets, like New York and Los Angeles, as well as Firenzi and Roma.
Click past the jump for the full review and photo gallery of this timeless classic, the 400 Superamerica Coupe SWB Aerodinamico.
Earlier this year, the SRT team announced that the new-generation Viper is preparing its return to the famous 24 Hours of Le Mans race after an absence of 13 years. Now it looks like the company has big hopes for the 81st edition set for June 22nd and 23rd at Circuit de la Sarthe in Le Mans, France.
SRT, in cooperation with Riley Technologies, is preparing two identical SRT Viper GTS-R models for the race. The two cars were rigorously tested during four ALMS races in 2012 and during the full 2013 racing season. Car No. 91 managed to obtain three consecutive top-five finishes, including a position on the podium at Long Beach, where it finished third.
The two Viper GTS-Rs will be driven by Marc Goossens, Dominik Farnbacher, Jonathan Bomarito and Kuno Wittmer, joined by Tommy Kendall and Ryan Dalziel for the endurance events.
Click past the jump to read more about Viper’s experience at Le Mans.
It’s been a while since we last caught the upcoming BMW M4 Coupe testing, but it’s definitely worth the wait. Today, our spy photographers managed to catch the car testing at the famed Nürburgring racetrack in some slippery conditions.
As you can see, the car is still heavily camouflaged but it is still pretty easy to see that for the first time, the M4 Coupe is wearing something other than its typical black paint. This may seem insignificant on the surface, but it is a sign that BMW has reached the next level of testing and that an official unveiling is drawing near.
BMW also tipped its hand by equipping this particular model with a set of gold-colored calipers, which indicates that this 4 Series features the M Carbon Ceramic brakes.
As for the engine, rumors indicate that the M4 will be powered by a S55 3.0-liter in-line six-cylinder engine with an output of 415 horsepower.
Click past the jump to read more about the BMW M4 Coupe.
For all of you that have a Mercedes CGI turbocharged engine in your late-model Mercedes – engine codes M270, M271EVO and M274 – Carlsson has announced that it now offers CB kits to help bump power by up to 28 percent.
The base CB kit is an adapter plug that goes between the vehicle wiring harnesses and the factory ECU. This little nugget of joy communicates with the various electronic systems within your Benz, assessing the driving situation and conditions, and making adjustments to optimize power.
There’s no need to worry about reliability when you install this kit, as it includes safety checks that help prevent damage that some other tuning kits may cause. First, the CB kit waits for the engine oil temperature to reach 50 degrees Celsius (122 degrees Fahrenheit) before the performance boosts activate. Secondly, the CB kit closely monitors the limits of the CGI engine (oil temperature, coolant temperature, etc.) and drops the ECU to its normal performance if these limits are reached.
This kit’s improvements range from a 24-horsepower gain in the A 180 and B 180 to a 42-horsepower gain in the A 250 and B 250.
For those that want some extra power from the M271EVO engine lineup, the CBS kit is available too, which adds a larger and freer-flowing intercooler to the base CB kit. The power increases from the CBS kit range from 35 horsepower in the C 250, E 250 and SLK 250 to 45 horsepower in the C 180.
When you purchase this kit, Carlsson further shows its dedication to keeping your Benz running by taking over the manufacturer’s drivetrain warranty for two years or 100,000 km (62,137 miles).
Click past the jump to see the full specification sheet
Don’t look now, but Orlando-based tuner Ultimate Auto is back at it with yet another fantastic aftermarket program.
We’ve seen what the company can do when presented with a sports car. Imagine what kind of work it can produce with a muscle car, like the 2013 Chevy Camaro ZL1?
Well, we won’t have to wonder anymore because the Camaro ZL1 is precisely the subject of Ultimate Auto’s latest program. Aesthetically, the upgrades were mostly contained on the interior. The metallic black exterior is complemented by touches of grey and candy red with the latter being used as housing inserts for the custom JL Audio HD amplifiers and the 2 W7’s inside the cabin.
But that’s not all of it; Ultimate Auto also added a Borla cat-back exhaust system and headers to enhance its exhaust note and relieve any back pressure. From there, a K&N carbon-fiber intake system was also installed to go with that absolutely scintillating NOS system.
Just imagine the kind of damage this Camaro ZL1 can do when it’s taken to the drag strip. We can already see it leaving some poor car in a cloud of tire smoke and shame.
Click past the jump to read more about the Chevrolet Camaro ZL1
Mercedes scored its first victory ever at the famous Nürburgring 24 Hours. The No. 9 SLS AMG GT3 entered by Team Black Falcon obtained an overall win at the race. Behind the wheel were drivers Bernd Schneider, Jerome Bleekemolen, Sean Edwards and Nicki Thiim.
This marked the second 24-hour enduro win this year, after occupying the top step of the podium at the Dubai 24 Hours race. The SLS AMG GT3 managed to pass other favorite cars from Aston Martin and BMW. Along with being a very difficult race, this year’s Nürburgring 24 Hours required teams to face extreme weather, thanks to rain storms and fog that shut the race down for 9 hours.
Along with being Mercedes’ first overall Nürburgring 24 Hours victory, it was also Schneider’s first win and the first-ever victory for a British driver.
Click past the jump for a video from the race and more details on the SLS AMG GT3.
