Future cars in the making. Should they be an innocent drawing, a fine computer rendering or real driving concept, they always preview the cars of the future in some aspects.
This isn’t the first time we’ve heard about a replacement for the Ferrari 599 Fiorano, but this is the first time we can offer more details about the new sports car. For starters, expect it to make its official at the 2012 Geneva Motor Show in March with sales beginning later in the year.
The 599 replacement will be built on an all-new chassis and will borrow design elements from both the 2012 Ferrari FF and the Ferrari California. The model will get modified bumpers and new headlamps, a modified bonnet, and a new exhaust system with tips that sit higher than on the current 599.
Fans of true sportscars can also breathe easier knowing that the replacement 599 will not be a hybrid model. The new GT will be powered by a 6.3 liter V12 engine that will deliver more than 700 HP. With this output, the GT will be more powerful than both the 599 (620 HP) and the current FF (660 HP), but more importantly, it will beat out the Lamborghini Aventador (700 HP 6.5 liter V12 engine). The engine will send its power to the rear wheels via a seven-speed dual-clutch transmission with an F1 style electronic differential.
UPDATE 12/14/2011: TeamSpeed is offering new details on the next Ferrari 599 set to be released next year in Geneva. According to them, it seems that Ferrari has decided that carbon fiber won’t lower the car’s weight as much as needed and instead the F152 will extensively use aluminum. The next 599 will share most of its technical parts with the FF, including an updated version of the V12 engine. The sad news is that the new 599 will drop the manual gearbox and will only be offered with a seven-speed dual-clutch gearbox to handle the 725 HP.
UPDATE 02/06/2012: According to German magazine, Autobild, Ferrari’s successor for the 599 GTB will be unveiled in March at the Geneva Motor Show and it will be called the F620 GT.
The Rolls Royce Phantom Coupe went on sale back in 2008 and, after four years on the market, the company is now preparing its first facelift version for it. In fact, it seems the company is starting to work their way through the lineup, with news of a facelift version for the Phantom limousine released just a few days ago.
Just as with the Phantom sedan, don’t expect to see any major changes to the Coupe model because Rolls Royce is keeping them at a minimum to maintain the essence of the Phantom. The "major" changes will include new headlights, as well as the same minor changes to the interior and infotainment system as in the sedan version.
Minor changes will also be made under the hood, but only to the tune of a few more horsepower and a little less CO2. The power source will still be the usual 6.75 liter V12 engine, but with some 10-20 extra HP.
The new Rolls Royce Phantom Coupe should be ready for the 2013 model year.
Now that McLaren has successfully bought back the remaining shares held by Daimler, the company is on a mission to excel in their future endeavors. This video was created to show the direction the company is taking to ensure that success.
It touches on the success the company has had in Formula One racing, but the company’s most recent achievement has to be the MP4-12C supercar. So, what will the future bring for McLaren? As far as we know, there will be a Spyder version of the MP4-12C, a new successor for the legendary F1 supercar - rumored to be called MP4-27 - and a 2+2 version for the MP4-12C. All of these new models are set to arrive in the next 2-3 years!
At a meeting at the McLaren headquarters in Woking, Surrey, McLaren chairman Ron Dennis stated: “We’re a relentlessly competitive entity, bred on high-performance and determined to bring to market ground-breaking products and solutions that are set apart by their top quality and dependence on totally unique and highly innovative steps in performance. To take just one example, we’re poised on the verge of a hugely exciting automotive programme with our high-performance sports car, the MP4-12C.”
He continued “Through everything we do, we’re absolutely dedicated to fostering the rebirth of one of Great Britain’s industrial cornerstones: beautiful and meticulously crafted high-tech industrial design and manufacture... everything that McLaren is has been built on the founding principles of good design and solid, seamlessly efficient engineering and manufacturing.”
This isn’t the first time we hear about a possible Infiniti GT-R model. In fact, this rumor took root as soon as the Nissan GT-R was launched back in 2008, and has resurfaced numerous times since then. Now, it’s making another appearance. According to British magazine CAR, Infiniti may offer a GT-R version after all, hinted by Francois Bancon, Head of Advanced Planning for Infiniti in Tokyo. He stated that the GT-R platform is too good to use for only one model. In fact, he said that the company is taking under consideration ’three or four’ proposals and that an Infiniti GT-R is one of them.
If the decision does lie with the Infiniti GT-R, it would need to counteract the Nissan GT-R’s power with sophistication: "It would have to be softer than the GT-R. And that’s extremely difficult to do. You can’t easily tweak the GT-R to deliver the sophisticated, more refined performance we would need on an Infiniti."
A final decision on the Infiniti GT-R will be made in the next two or three years and, if chosen, a production version should arrive in the next five years.
After Mercedes unveiled the new generation CLS, rumors started to circulate about a Shooting Brake version. And while this isn’t the first time the vehicle has been caught testing, it is yet another confirmation that the Shooting Brake is happening, however strange it may seem.
The up and coming CLS Shooting Brake was in Northern Sweden doing some winter testing when our spy photographers caught up with it. If anyone expects to see great things from this new model, we recommend they stop dreaming. The Shooting Brake model will only be a station wagon version of the CLS and will feature the same design language as its sedan brother. The technology and engine lineup will also be shared.
This means that when the CLS Shooting Brake finally makes its appearance, it will be powered by a direct-injected 3.5-liter V6 capable of producing 306 horsepower and 273 pound-feet of torque. An AMG version is also a strong possibility.
The Mercedes CLS Shooting Brake is expected to be unveiled sometime in 2012.
