There has been a lot of hype and speculation surrounding the upcoming Ferrari 458 Italia well at least the dream makers from Maranello have put one of those rest by confirming that the F-430’s replacement will make its international auto show debut this September at the Frankfurt Motor Show. However the Italia’s official unveiling won’t be limited to the German auto show because on September 15th, the first press day of the festivities in Frankfurt, the 458 Italia will also be on display at the Galleria Ferrari.
The Galleria Ferrari is a museum dedicated to the Italian sports car builder and is located only about 1000 feet from the factory floor in Maranello. We are pretty sure that if good old Enzo were still around, the 15th would be declared a national holiday so that the craftsmen and women who are responsible for the new 458 can enjoy a little automotive art as well.
After yesterday’s Ferrari 458 feature entitled Stile with Paolo Pininfarina, the automaker has announced that the next video installment will be released on September 2nd and it titled Performance with Formula One World Champion Michael Schumacher, perhaps this video will answer a few more of our questions about what will make the Italia so great.
We don’t have any new updates regarding the sale of Saab to Koenigsegg but we do know that it hasn’t stopped the former from working tirelessly in developing their latest flagship sedan, the 2010 Saab 9-5.
Now we have news that the 9-5 - turbocharged powertrain and all – has finally been released.
It doesn’t come as any surprise to us that the new 9-5 has somewhat veered away from all other previous 9-5 incarnations and while GM may have still had a hand in the car’s development, the striking changes attributed to the car can be traced back to its new – or incoming – owners.
It didn’t take as long as anticipated and you can’t question the fact that the Cash for Clunkers program got the results it wanted. The program that was supposed to last until November on a $1 billion budget has finally come to an end – and not without the government having to shell out another $2 billion for the program.
All in all, the program generated a little over 700,000 car sales with a total estimate of a staggering $2.877 billion. Percentages of car sales saw that the most popular purchase were pick-up trucks, with 84% of all participating customers buying one of their own. Additionally, 59% purchased passenger cars while the remaining 41% fell on the other vehicle lines.
Curiously, the three most purchased cars under the program – although it is still being questioned by a number of sources – all belong to Japanese manufacturers. Sitting on top was the Toyota Corolla followed closely by its chief rival, the Honda Civic. Rounding out the top 3 is the Toyota Camry. As far as local brands are concerned, the Ford Focus – which for a time, was in the top spot - and the Ford Escape were the top sellers.
The CFC program also showed that most Americans actually prefer foreign brands more than their local counterparts – 61.8% of all cars sold were from foreign automakers while the 38.6% belonged to the three Detroit brands.
Ferrari has just released a new video along with some photos of the real life 458 Italia tearing up a racetrack in the nude and some more reveling images of the interior. The topic of Maranello’s latest feature is style, and who better to tell us about it than Paolo Pininfarina, the Chaiman of Pininfarina S.p.A. So when he tells you that there were a lot of historical elements that went into the 458’s design, you can take his word for it.
However the Italia’s styling is not all about looking good, in fact it is quite the opposite. Paolo explains that the design was driven by aerodynamic efficiency
“Every part of the car, from the mouth to the side fins to the rear air outlets are built to improve the car’s aerodynamics, he says."All the design choices are driven by aerodynamics, but the final result is very light and essential." This resulted in a very light sports car that is capable of outperforming the outgoing F-430. The 458 Italia maintains the classic side profile of the modern day Ferrari but has a bit more focus on airflow. The side skirts were designed to act like rudders pushing air away from the turbulent rear wheels just like the front bumper on our Prius.
Looking at the 458 from behind you would think that the majority of the hot air in the engine compartment would be escaping through those two large mesh grills, but in fact almost all of it rises out from either side of the back glass. Those grills were as meticulously designed as the scoops that feed them in order to get as much air the mid engine sports car’s radiators without affecting how the car cuts through the air. However in true Ferrari fashion they manage to keep us on the edge of our seats, Paolo’s last word into the camera is that the center element hanging from the chassis of the car will have “two exhaust pipes, and one center pipe.” We are hoping for an F-40inspired unit. If our guesses are correct from yesterday’s interior reveal, a turbo all wheel drive Ferrari sure would be sweet.
Despite it’s a rather odd name, the Spyker D8 Peking-to-Paris SUV has long been one of the most eagerly-anticipated cars in recent time, and after what seemed like ages of countless teasing, the car is finally set to be unveiled at the Frankfurt Motor Show. The car, which is similar in design with Spyker’s concept vehicle, the D12 Peking-to-Paris, is rumoured to come with a 556 hp supercharged 6.2-liter V8 engine – hence the tag ‘D8’ – making it one of the fiercest and most powerful SUVs to hit the market.
Although photos have been scarce, recent spy shots have determined that the D8 has taken a few elements from the D12 concept, not the least of which includes a glass roof, the unique door configurations, and an overall aggressive and bulky styling similar to the D12.
Speaking of which, we touched on the rather odd Peking-to-Paris ‘tag’ given to the car. For a brief refresher course, the name was taken from the 1907 Peking (now Beijing) to Paris endurance rally where a Spyker car driven by Ch. Goddard finished second overall after driving for a ridiculous three months. So for those of you who were thinking that this car was able to travel from China to France, guess again. The SUV is expected to be unveiled at the Frankfurt Motor Show, giving all of us pistonheads even more reason to look forward to the biggest car event of the year.
When Audi introduced the A3 TDI Clubsport Quattro the automaker from Ingolstadt wasn’t just showing the world how desirable a TDI powered three door hatchback could be, but they were also testing the waters with the radical deign of the upcoming Audi RS3, a car that we could be seeing as soon as September with a possible debut at the Frankfurt Motor Show after being delayed for over a year.
The RS3 is a factory tuned hot hatch based on the Audi A3 premium compact. The highly anticipated RS version of Audi’s popular hatchback takes performance and styling to the next level by fitting the limited edition model with distinct bodywork as well as an upgraded power plant. In true hot rod fashion, the RS3 will be powered by the engine from a real sports car, the Audi TT-RS, combining Audi’s proven Quattro all wheel drive system with a turbocharged five cylinder engine to produce a factory backed 340 HP. However from what we have seen from spy shots and renderings, it looks like Audi is leaving the bold fender flares at home.
The Chevrolet Equinox is the car that ushered in the era of the utilitarian Crossover at General Motors, so it is only appropriate that the new model come equipped with certain features that make for a very functional automobile with standard features like a 6 speed automatic transmission, direct injected gasoline engines, XM satellite radio, an iPod input jack, power everything and OnStar roadside assistance. However there is more to the crossover segment than reliability, these are the cars that will take families down the street to soccer practice and across the country to Disney World, so they need to be comfortable, attractive and engaging; especially for the back seat passengers.
Our well equipped 2010 Chevrolet Equinox AWD 2LT also came with some of the more desirable features being offered by GM, like the back up camera with park assist, power tailgate, Vehicle Interface Package that includes Bluetooth, the Chrome Exterior Appearance Package to dress up the outside, the Cargo Management Package that makes storage a snap in the back of the truck and the Rear Seat Entertainment System that includes some of the best designed backrest monitors on any new car today. However our personal favorite was the 18 inch machined aluminum wheels, Chevrolet offers rims as big as 19 inches in diameter, but we didn’t want to be too flashy. Of course, because we are Top Speed, Chevy made sure we tested the 3.0 Liter direct injected V6 that makes 264 HP and 222 lb-ft of torque version that is still able to get 17 MPG in the city and 24 MPG on the highway.
Just when the list of vehicles set to make their debuts at the Frankfurt Motor Show isn’t mouth-watering enough, Maserati is joining the party with the introduction of the GranCabrio.
It took a while for Maserati to finish tweaking the car – a couple of years, in fact – but the wait should be worth it. The car is expected to roll out of the production and into dealerships sometime in March of 2010. In the meantime, fans of the Italian marquee should all look forward to Frankfurt to catch the first glimpse of the GranCabrio in person.
The GranCabrio is expected to come with a more powerful engine than its predecessor, the GranTurismo S, thanks in large part to the 4.7-liter V8 engine housed under its hood, capable of producing speeds of as much as 433bhp at 7000rpm and 362lb ft at 4750rpm.
There are a few internet speculators that are anticipating the exotic Italian super car builder Lamborghini will unveil their topless version of the jet fighter inspired Reventon at the upcoming auto show this September. It would make sense for the Reventon Roadster to say hello to the entire world from Frankfurt, after all it was at the same show two years ago that the very stealth like Reventon made its official debut.
Details about the upcoming open air Lamborghini are not very clear, especially when it comes to the engine that will power the new Reventon. Initial rumors said that vehicle will use the same engine as the Lamborghini LP670-4SV, but the automaker might have problems putting all that power to the ground safely in a Roadster body. So the only thing that is left is the engine from the Lamborghini LP650-4 Roadster.
Either way it won’t matter which engine they choose, because the most attractive feature of the Reventon is its exterior, and because the it will be built as an extremely limited edition model, demand for the open air Reventon will always be in the stratosphere no matter how much power it makes, but will it be ready in time for Frankfurt?
Apparently, Honda isn’t the only one with a countdown these days.
Saab, which has made the headlines over the past few months because of its impending sale to Koenigsegg, is taking a step back from the business side of the industry to release a countdown towards the unveiling of its new flagship car, the 9-5.
Unlike Honda, which has their own countdown in anticipation of the sneak preview of the still mysterious Accord Crosstour, a lot of us already have a good idea of what the new Saab 9-5 looks like.
As you may recall, a number of photos of the 9-5 sedan have already made its way to the Internet and whether it was an intentional marketing ploy by Saab or a case of pre-emptive photo-leaking, the Swedish-based company is nevertheless pushing through with the car’s official unveiling on – judging by how many days the countdown has left - August 27.
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