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.
Earlier this year, at the 2012 Geneva Motor Show, BMW unveiled a very cool M135i Concept and, of course, shortly thereafter rumors began about a production version. A few weeks ago, we brought the first spy shots of the M135i testing around Nurburgring and now we’re hearing that the U.S. may be getting their own version of the M135i, but in Coupe form.
We expect the future M135i Coupe to feature the same setup as that of the Wagon, so we should see a sport-tuned suspension with M sport brakes, a new set of 18-inch M light alloys with a double spoke design, and an aerodynamic body kit. Under the hood, BMW may place the straight six-cylinder petrol engine that features M Performance Twin Power Turbo technology possibly with a few tweaks here and there. Output should come in at about 300 HP as in the Wagon version. The engine will be combined with a rear-wheel drive system.
An official debut for the BMW M135i Coupe should be made sometime in late 2013 or early 2014.
The Lamborghini Aventador’s newest rival will hail from...
We’ll give you a few seconds to mull this one over. Could it be Italy? Maybe Japan? China, India, Germany? Heck, maybe even Korea? Nope, this new beast will hail from all 7,827 square miles of the Republika Slovenjia, Slovenia to us English speakers.
Little known and fairly new supercar manufacturer, Tushek Supercars, recently revealed its all new 444-horsepower, Audi-powered Renovatio T500 at the Top Marques in Monaco, but that’s not the big news. The big news is this developing supercar manufacturer’s future plans of annihilating the all-mighty Aventador.
After Tushek completes its estimated 30 Renovatio T500 production models, it will turn its focus to the Forego T700 – yeah, weird name, huh. Tushek has some fairly lofty goals for this machine, including a sub-1,000 KG (2,204 pounds) curb weight, more than 700 bhp, and a gut-checking 3.3 lateral Gs (the average human can handle just 5 Gs).
This would place this new supercar squarely in the lead, when compared to the Aventador, in the all-important pounds-per-horsepower rating, as the T700’s rating would be about 3.14 pounds per horsepower and the Lambo’s rating is 4.96 pounds per horsepower. On a small scale that looks like a tiny difference, but in the grand scheme of things, that difference is humongous.
By our rough guess-timation, the Renovatio T700 would range in the 2-second area from 0 to 60 mph, about 0.8 seconds faster than the Aventador. The most impressive stat is the 3.3 lateral Gs that this car is expected to handle, as the Aventador can only handle 1.05 Gs on the skid pad.
We tend to take this all with a big grain of salt, as this is purely speculation by a company spokesperson at Tushek. Chances are that this car, if it makes it to production, will be about on the same level as the Aventador and it will not hold 3.3 Gs. There is no way that any production car can handle that amount of force.
It is still unknown if Tushek plans to sell this model in the U.S., but we are certain that some savvy buyers can get it here somehow when it arrives in 2013.
A few weeks ago, we reported that the next Ferrari Enzowill be powered by the same V12 engine as the recently announced F12 Berlinetta. This engine will be combined with a 120 HP electric motor for a total output of 920 HP. Now for the better part of that announcement. When equipped with the new "HY-KERS" hybrid system, the future Enzo will shave three seconds off of the standard Enzo’s 0 to 200 km/h (124 mph) sprint time of 9.5 seconds!
This blistering 0-124mph sprint time of 6.5 seconds will be obtained even though the new HY-KERS system adds 264 lbs to the car’s total weight. To compensate with the extra power, Ferrari will cut weight from the car’s chassis and powertrain by using the same grade of carbon fiber found in Ferrari’s F1 cars. Compared to a standard Ferrari model not equipped with this system, the future Enzo Hy-Kers will also decrease fuel consumption by about 40%.
"We are entering the market with our Formula One-derived hybrid system, which will slash fuel consumption and increase performance," Ferrari CEO Amedeo Felisa said in an interview with Automotive News.
All we’ve heard about the Bugatti Galibier so far has been concept details and speculation, but things are about to turn around for all the fans wishing the company would take the next big step. Volkswagen has offered Bugatti the backing they need for a 16C Galibier sedan.
Apparently, Wolfgang Duerheimer, the man who recently took over as head of Bugatti and Bentley, was the main proponent behind pushing Volkswagen to give them a break. The Galibier, a 1000 HP sedan, was first shown as a concept in 2010 and when put into production, will cost about $1.4 million. It will use a 16-cylinder engine that can run on both biofuel and gasoline, and will bring back the dual-clutch gearbox. Production will require facilities in Molsheim, France, to be refitted, which may push back deliveries until 2013 or 2014.
The official name for the production model hasn’t been provided yet, but Bugatti’s decision to offer a production version sedan should come as no surprise considering Lamborghini has already confirmed the production version of the Estoque and Ferrari has brought out the FF. These competitors by no means come close to the power behind the Bugatti, but they do illustrate the luxury automakers that are taking advantage of the upswing the economy is making by expanding their lineups.
UPDATE 04/26/2012: Bugatti has unveiled a new video for their 16C Galibier - the world’s most exclusive, elegant and powerful four door car. A wonderful combination of art, form, and technique.
Hit the jump for a full list of rumors regarding the Bugatti 16C Galibier.
Opel has been testing their new "Junior" model for quite some time and now the company has set out to the Nurburgring to put in a little extra track time before its debut. Next to the series of spy shots, we can also bring in another noteworthy detail: rumors state that the future "Junior" will actually be called the "Adam" and will be officially announced on May 8th, 2012.
The future Adam will be based on a shortened version of the new platform that will also underpin the next generation Corsa. The compact car will measure about 3.70 meters long - about 15 centimeters longer than the Volkswagen Up - one of its biggest competitors next to the Fiat 500. Opel is developing a new family of engines for the Adam, engines that we will probably also see in the next generation Opel Corsa.
The new Opel Adam will go on sale in the spring of 2013, with prices on the European market starting from about 10,000 euro, or about $13,000 at the current exchange rates.
Rumors about a possible baby Mercedes SLS have been swirling around for awhile, but now Head of Design, Gorden Wagener, has confirmed in an interview with AutoExpress that the company is indeed working on a new sports car. In the same interview, he also confirmed that the production version of the Concept Style Coupe will be called the CLA and that a coupe version of the ML 4x4 is also in the pipeline.
The future SLC will drop the gullwing doors of the current SLS sports car and will be offered with an all-new 4.0-liter V8 engine. The SLC will arrive sometime in 2014, but until then, the company will be debuting two more versions of the SLS, the first of which will be the Black Series in July.
The new model will take on models like the Porsche 911 and the Aston Martin V8 Vantage, and will be priced from £80,000, or about $130,000 at the current exchange rates.
Not all of us are quite privileged enough to be able to lump down enough money to import a 2012 BMW M5 into the U.S., nor are we all patient enough to await the 2013 release of the new M5. This means we are stuck with videos from people like the fine folks over at Bimmerpost.
One of the new features on the 2012 M5, which will likely be a part of the M5 when it hits U.S. showrooms for the 2013 model year, is the Active Sound system. This is a system that is integrated with the stereo system and pipes engine notes through the stereo’s speakers.
So, here is our dilemma… Is this new feature a cool trick or simply a useless gimmick that BMW is slapping on this ride to make it seem cooler? The folks at Bimmerpost saved the day again by providing us automotive nerds with audio of the 2012 M5 with the AS system active, then with it deactivated, which involves yanking a fuse that also disables the entire stereo system and the rear parking assistant.
After listening to the two audio clips, which you can do in the above video, we can certainly tell the difference between the actual engine sound and the digitized engine sound. While BMW did go to great lengths to help match the digi-engine with the real engine, it is really a disappointment. To some people it might be a cool feature, but real auto buffs want to hear the engine itself.
BMW could help us all out by putting an “On/Off” switch on this feature, without having to disable the entire audio system by pulling the fuse. This rings even more true with folks that add in aftermarket components to this already high-performance sedan. They want to hear the modified turbo whistle, blow-off valve, and exhaust note, not some synthesized version of the stock engine.
We call this a useless gimmick for now. Let us know how you feel in the comments section below!
So it is official, Ford has gone absolutely crazy with the EcoBoost trend, but it’s a good crazy, as the EcoBoost both lowers emissions and sharply increases fuel economy. The latest engine to spool its way into the EcoBoost lineup is the all-new 1.0-liter inline three-cylinder version. When most people think of a 1.0-liter three-banger, they tend to picture the early-1990s Metro with its concrete massaging 49 horsepower zipping it to 60 mph sometime in the next century, while driving downhill.
Fortunately, this isn’t your Metro’s three-cylinder engine. This boosted three-banger will pump out a respectable 98 horsepower on the base level and an even more impressive 125 horsepower on the top-level engine, the latter exceeding the current 1.6-liter’s output by 5 horsepower.
FEV, the leading developer for this engine, also claims that both versions of the engine will twist out 125 pound-feet of torque, which is 13 more pound-feet than the 1.6-liter engine and it saves 20 pounds worth of weight compared to the 1.6-liter.
The press release makes it a little unclear as to whether or not this new EcoBoost will be offered in the U.S., but given the fact that it mentions the 1.6-liter in a Focus, and it being offered in the C-Max and B-Max, we can assume that it will start off in the U.K., as the B-Max and C-Max are U.K. models, and the Focus only comes with the 1.6-liter in the U.K. . Granted, the C-Max is coming to the U.S., but as a hybrid model only.
With the power output of this engine, you can expect to see it making its way over here soon. The likely host for it would be the Ford Fiesta, as it is more accepted with a smaller engine. Focus buyers would generally not accept a 1.0-liter-powered model.
We will continue to keep an eye on this and let you know if Ford makes mention of it coming to the U.S. or not.
Click past the jump to read FEV’s full press release
Usually, when an auto maker wants to rev their car’s engine as loud as possible when pushing it to its limit, they take it to the Nurburgring race track. This time, however, our spy photographers had a few problems hearing the prototype testing at the famous race track and almost skipped it entirely. That’s because the prototype is the Audi R8 e-tron test mule.
The R8 e-tron is not a secret anymore and every car addict knows that a production version will arrive sometime next year, but this prototype still shows that Audi is meaning business with their e-tron projects.
As you can see from the spy shots and may already know, the future R8 e-tron will look almost the same as the standard R8 sports car, except for the lack of exhaust pipes due to the fact that this a zero-emissions model. Then there’s the change in the rear window where fans can typically check out the V8 or V10 engines. That’s been covered up now that the engines are non-existent and there is also a big hole for the cooling of the batteries.
A production version of the Audi R8 e-tron will arrive in 2013, built in limited numbers.
It has been rumored for quite some time now that the future generation Ford Mustang will drop its usual retro look and will adopt an exterior design that is "more technical, more modern" and inspired by the Ford Evos concept unveiled last fall at the 2011 Frankfurt Auto Show. This decision was made in order to transform the muscle car into a model fit to go global.
The future model will still look like a Mustang and will keep its familiar shark-nosed grille and round headlights, but it will be the "most European-friendly version of the coupe ever."
A few changes will also be made under the hood. While the 2015 Mustang will keep its usual rear-wheel-drive configuration, it is expected to also get an independent rear suspension. The top version will keep the usual V8 engines, but the base models will get a twin-turbocharged EcoBoost four-cylinder engine that will deliver about 300 HP.
The sixth generation Ford Mustang will be unveiled in 2014 in order to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the Mustang line.
