A few days ago, we showed you the first of two commercials created by MINI for the upcoming Frankfurt reveal of their two new pet vehicles: the MINI Coupe Concept and the MINI Roadster.
While a lot can be said about the oddity of the commercial - a woman admiring herself a little too much in the mirror before the reflection inexplicably comes to life and jumps out of the mirror – we do, in a seemingly twisted way, get what MINI is trying to get across.
Then the second commercial was released and similar to the first, it kind of goes beyond the realms of traditional car promotion. It’s the same two women, speaking simultaneously, after which, one of them startles us with a blood-curling scream while wearing a helmet.
It’s a little too loony to describe so we’re just going to let you watch it for yourselves. But we must warn you, take a few deep breaths before watching it, just to be on the safe side.
We have quite a few questions about the upcoming Ferrari 458 Italia, well the Maranello based sports car based builder is opening up its doors to answer a few questions from the 458 Italia forum. Although the Ferrari designers aren’t spilling all the beans, they do offer up a few interesting tidbits; like why it is sometimes referred to as the F142, just how much the go juice the 570 HP 4.5 Liter V8 engine will consume and how the entire vehicle has been refined in order to create the most efficient package possible. Most importantly we finally find out what that third tail pipe is all about.
Overall we learn that the Ferrari 458 is an all new vehicle as opposed to an evolution of the 360 Modena and F-430 mid engine sports cars. The 21st century super car will get about 18 MPG, there will be no Formula One inspired KERS system, nor a clutch pedal and if the regulations permitted; the 458 Italia would have been a much lighter vehicle and that apart from the standard offering, the 458 will be available in any color that you can bring to the Ferrari factory.
The German automaker Mercedes Benz was gracious enough to grant us with a Palladium Silver 2010 Mercedes Benz E 350 so that we could have a go at it as part of our Top Speed test fleet. Not only has the E-Class been completely redesigned for 2010, but in another step that we like very much, Mercedes has lowered the price for the full size sedan by almost $5,000 compared to the previous generation E. The 2010 E-Class features a restyled front end complete with a squared off split headlamp design as well as a pair of the oh so trendy LED driving lights in the bumper openings on either side of the front end, while out back the new E features a set of stretched taillights.
The 3.5 Liter V6 under the hood is good for 268 HP and 258 lb-ft of torque while consuming just 18 MPG in the city and 26 MPG at highway speeds. The interior is finished with fine leather wrapped seats and door cars, while the darker colored dash is offset by a strip of wood grain that encircles the entire cabin. The wood theme continues into the center console that leads up to the center stack that contains the climate controls, radio and navigation system which is finished off with a rather large LCD display. One of the more interesting features that the German design team incorporated is a pair of storage compartments integrated into the front seats.
Like almost all Lotus built vehicles, the new Evora is going racing. From their initial design stages, the lightweight English automaker intended for the Evora to be competitive on the track as well as a road going super car, so when Lotus released the Evora 124 endurance race car it was only the next logical step for Colin Chapman’s car company. The Endurance racing Evora maintains the same lines and body panels as the road car with the addition of a ground effects kit that gets the Evora to stick to the racing surface.
In order to make the Evora even more competitive, the mid mounted Toyota V6 has been upgraded from the standard 280 HP to a tire shredding 400 HP in unrestricted trim, while the meticulous design team has managed to shed another 400 pounds from the already lightweight sports car. Lotus has also found room for a six speed sequential gearbox for lightning fast shifts, a full roll cage for safety as well as the obligatory fuel cell and fire extinguisher system. Of course what race car would be complete with a GT spec rear wing made from carbon fiber to compliment the ground effects kit made up of the rear diffuser and front splitter.
Keeping the car on track is a set of 18 inch rims wrapped in Pirelli racing slicks and a set of AP Racing 6 piston calipers underneath, while the suspension has been redesigned for increased adjustability. According to Luke Bennett, Director of Lotus Cars Limited, “Motorsport has been in our blood ever since our founder, Colin Chapman, built the first Lotus back in 1948. We are proud of our motorsport history, which includes victories in Formula One, Le Mans, saloon car, rally car and sportscar racing around the world; more recently, we won the British GT3 Championship in 2006 with the Lotus Exige. The Lotus Evora Type 124 Endurance Racecar is from the same unique stable and we expect it to be a competitive racecar when we enter various endurance races next year.” You can expect to see the new Lotus Evora 124 competing at 24 hour endurance races at the Nürburgring Nordschleife, Silverstone and even in Dubai.
Even though the Ferrari 458 is scheduled to make its official debut simultaneously in both the Frankfurt Motor Show and the Galeria Ferrari in Maranello on September 15, the exotic Italian automaker has already shown off the F-430 replacement to a select crowd of very fortunate individuals. From the looks of things, everyone from current F1 driver Kimi Raikkonen to the legendary Michael Schumacher were on stage to introduce the new mid engine berlinetta as well as other Ferrari bigwigs like Luca de Montezemolo and Enzo’s successor, his son Piero.
Under the hood Ferrari has placed a 4.5 Liter V8 engine equipped with the traditional Ferrari flat crankshaft that gives the mid-engine sports cars their signature top end bark. The unit produces 570 HP at a rather high 9000 RPM which gives the future super car a power output of 127 HP/Liter. Weighing in at only 3042 pounds, the new Ferrari will rocket from 0 to 60 MPH in just 3.4 seconds and won’t stop until it hits a top speed of 202 MPH.
If you can remember the new 2010 Subaru Legacy and Outback that we showed you a couple of weeks ago then Top Speed’s latest press car should be quite familiar to you, that is because the good folks over at the automotive arm of Fuji Heavy Industries saw fit to let us try out their most luxurious model to date, this 2010 Legacy 3.6 R Limited. Aside our Ruby Red Pearl Legacy’s rather large horizontally opposed six cylinder engine and stylish 17 inch wheels, the new Legacy is filled with all sorts of creature comforts like a one touch window for the driver, leather wrapped steering wheel, power adjustable driver’s seat and a pair of chrome exhaust tips; the Limited model adds some very supple leather, dual zone climate control and a Harman-Kardon sound system complete with a large navigation screen that will play DVDs when you are in park.
The 3.6 R is the top of the line Legacy, however in this case the “R” stands for relaxed and not for racing and after having a look around the new Legacy we can see why. The fifth generation of the Legacy received a restyling and features a bold new design that features a larger one bar grill and a set of Subaru’s new hawk eye style headlamps and a set of bold fenders. It is also supposed to be the roomiest Legacy ever thanks to a longer wheelbase and the new double wishbone suspension in the back makes for a back seat that you can finally have fun in. Speaking of seats, our Limited model’s came wrapped in some very attractive leather and the wood trim on the dash and doors sets off the darker parts of the interior beautifully.
You can’t say that MINI is sitting on its laurels, can you?
While other car manufacturers may have reason to take it slow and steady after celebrating its golden anniversary, the folks of MINI have been doing quite the contrary. The company is taking preparations for the Frankfurt Motor Show to a new level with their latest video – it seems that the company has been coming out with a ton of videos these days – to drum up even more publicity than it has already gotten leading up to the Frankfurt Motor Show.
The video, which is being billeted as part one of a series of videos called the Two Untamed series, is MINI’s latest marketing ploy to promote the two vehicles that the company is set to unveil at Frankfurt: the MINI Roadster and the Coupe Concept.
According to a spokesperson from MINI, we should all expect two more of these teaser videos before the ‘premiere video’ makes it world-wide debut on the first press day at Frankfurt on September 15. In the meantime, you can expect a couple more videos of MINI’s Two Untamed series to hit the web in the coming days. If that doesn’t get you more geeked up for the Frankfurt Motor Show, we don’t know what will.
We recently received a 2009 Hyundai Elantra Touring into the Top Speed test fleet. Starting at only $17,800 this Vivid Blue beauty is easily one of the most stylish Korean cars we have seen in a while. The Korean design team has hit a home run with the new car’s flowing curves and strong character lines that highlight the Elantra Touring’s broad stance and stretched wheelbase. We love the dual finish 17 inch rims and appreciate that Hyundai equipped our car with a B&M sport shifter to send the 138 HP and 136 lb-ft of torque from the 2.0 Liter DOHC CVVT ultra low emissions four cylinder engine to the front wheels. The Elantra Touring gets as much as 23 MPG in the city and 31 MPG on the highway.
Our car came equipped with the $1,500 Premium Sports Package that not only included those rims we liked so much, but also a large power sunroof and heated seats. The audio system consisted of an AM/FM/XM radio complete with in dash CD player and auxiliary input for MP3 connectivity. Despite the car’s compact footprint, there is tons of storage space inside of the roomy interior; in fact it has the most interior volume of any five door model in its class, 125.5 cubic feet to be exact. The Elantra Touring represents a return to the compact five door segment for Hyundai and offers class leading standard safety technologies like Electronic Stability Control with Traction Control, ABS with Electronic Brake-force Distribution and Brake Assist as well as the peace of mind that comes from having six standard airbags.
We thoroughly enjoyed our time with the Elantra Touring, not only was it attractive but it was fun to drive as well. If the automaker from the free half of Korea can continue to build cars of this caliber and offer them at the same competitive price points, the rest of the manufacturers around the world will have to take an even closer look at Hyundai as their newest competitors.
The third installment of the new Ferrari 458 Italia prerelease extravaganza entitled Performance is an up close look at what will make the future Ferrari excel as a driver’s car. Considering that the last installment, Design, was narrated by Paolo Pininfarina, the heir to the historic Italian design studio it is only fitting that the latest member of the Formula One elite and the man who brought the Italian racing team back to greatness in the sport throughout the 1990s and into the new millennium.
Wearing a very casual outfit, Michael Schumacher candidly talks about the new sports car’s suspension that is comfortable to drive and sporty when it needs to be, the car’s previously unseen braking performance and the 458’s tremendous acceleration is due to the refined gearbox. The Ferrari design team has also incorporated more of the car’s controls onto the steering wheel, a move learned from F1 increasing both the Italia’s precision and accuracy.
Ever since Michael Schumacher retired from the activity that awarded him seven world championships, five of which came behind the wheel of a Ferrari, he has been hanging around Maranello conducting new product testing and participating in their high performance sports cars development at the Fiorano circuit; Schumi has even been spotted from time to time hanging around the Scuderia’s paddock on grand prix weekends so he would be the man to talk to about what the new Ferrari 458 Italia is like from the driver’s seat.
The first of Lotus’ latest creation, the 2010 Evora, has been delivered to one Matthew Melling of Twickenham in the U.K. and it is a Storm Titanium beauty. Along with the honor of picking the car up at the factory in Norfolk, where the Lotus team has already constructed a five month’s supply of the new hand built mid engine 2+2, Mr. Melling was presented the keys to his new car by the Director of Lotus Cars Limited, Luke Bennett, who had this to say, “It is quite an emotional time to deliver the first Lotus Evora to Mr. Melling. The whole team has worked incredibly hard to design, engineer and produce such a stunning and high performing sports car and [this] is a great feeling… I am sure that each customer who receives their car will be delighted with their purchase.”
The man who gets the title of first garage to house a Lotus Evora, Matthew Melling, said that he “was determined to be the first in the world to get my hands on an Evora so with Stratton Motor Company’s help, I laid down my deposit within seconds of the order books being opened last year. I have read all the press reviews of the Evora and am so excited about getting behind the wheel – what a great start to September!” A happy September indeed considering that he can now enjoy his 2600 pound 280 HP 3.5 Liter V6 powered plaything that can sprint from 0 to 60 MPH in just 5 seconds and reach a top speed of 161 MPH, while bringing three friends along for the ride.
That is a very bold move, going down to a dealership and forking over a hefty chunk of change for something that doesn’t even exist and that you won’t see for quite some time, however there are such objects that make men do crazy things. That’s why they call them dream cars, and the lightweight Lotus Evora super car definitely qualifies in that category.
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