While the wait for the Mercedes SLS AMG roadster version continues on, Mercedes is making the wait a little more bearable by surprising us with another SLS AMG: the GT3 version. The sports car will compete in the 2011 racing season.
The SLS AMG GT3 features a new new front apron with a splitter, the bonnet with central cooling air vent, wider front and rear wings, sideskirts with cooling ducts for the rear brakes, a rear diffuser and the adjustable rear aerofoil.
The race car will be powered by the same 6.3-liter V8 engine, but has been tuned to deliver an impressive +600 hp, a pretty significant spike from the road-going version of the SLS AMG which comes with a "standard" 571 hp.
Also on the interior, the SLS AMG GT3 version will drop all of its luxury amenities, including the air conditioning, navigation and upholstery. Instead, the car’s interior will be stripped down to only include a steel rollover cage, a racing bucket seat with a six-point seat belt and HANS system.
UPDATE 09/22/2011: Tobias Moers, Member of the Board of Directors and Head of Vehicle Development for AMG has confirmed that the SLS GT3 would not be racing in the US market because the company did not want to go through the added expense of re-certifying it for use on US soil.
UPDATE 02/03/12: Mercedes is continuing its series on the SLS AMG GT3’s production with a new video on assembling the body of the car. Enjoy!
Full story and press release after the jump.
Full story
A few days ago, Chrysler created an official Facebook page for their upcoming SRT Viper and promised that if the page received 10,000 likes by February 1st, they would reveal a teaser image of the next Viper. As expected, the page had received 10,000 likes in just a few hours and now Chrysler has kept their promise. This first teaser image isn’t much, but at least it allows us an idea of how cool the new Viper will be.
As many already know, the future supercar will drop the "Dodge" name and will instead be simply called the SRT Viper. It has been rumored that the next generation Viper will keep its V10 engine, but unlike the previous generation, will use an 8.7 liter displacement instead. Output is believed to be in the 700 HP area.
The new SRT Viper will be making its world debut at the 2012 New York Auto Show in April. Stay tuned for more details!
All you anxious and restless fans of the Dodge Viper can now rest easy. After a one-year "sabbatical," the 2013 Viper is coiled up and ready to strike at the 2012 New York Auto Show on April 6, 2012.
According to Viper Club of America, no less than SRT President and CEO Ralph Giles confirmed the date for the Viper’s return, complete with a new halo look that is bound to make fans welcome the sports car back with open arms.
Patience has truly been a virtue for Vipermaniacs who have waited long and hard for the Viper to come back from the ashes. Understandably, Dodge execs have been very tight-lipped about the car, opting to keep us sweating at what lies in store for us when the 2013 Viper returns.
There have been many rumors surrounding the new Viper, most of which surround the type of engine that will be found under the hood. The first rumors suggested it would get a new direct-injection 8.4-liter V10 engine that would deliver around 700HP. However, European magazines are talking about a V8 engine with an output of 500 HP for an entry level version. A Viper mule was recently caught testing with the new Viper front end attached to the old body style. Something was cooking under that hood and whatever engine that may be, it will need plenty of fresh air to keep it cool. There was a big air intake in the front bumper and what looked to be three air intakes in the hood. This engine will be a beast and Dodge is doing whatever it can to keep it at bay. Rumors suggest this new engine will not come from Ferrari, but could be a variation of Chrysler’s new 6.4-liter Hemi V-8 with some form of forced induction.
Whatever engine is finally chosen, at the very least, we now have an official date to circle on our calendars. With all the secrecy surrounding this car, that alone is already a battle won.
Jaguar came at this year’s New York Auto Show with the facelift version of their XF luxury sedan. But the most impressive thing for the 2012 model year is the addition of a new 2.2 Diesel version, which will even be available on the US market.
The new 2.2-liter diesel unit will deliver a total of 190 HP and 332 lbs ft of torque, while returning 52.3 mpg on the combined cycle and only 149 g/km of CO2. It will feature a water-cooled turbocharger with low-friction pistons, new injectors, and a new crankshaft. The new configuration allowed Jaguar engineers to add a new oil pan and new electronic systems which affect the crankshaft to allow the new intelligent Stop-Start system to operate more efficiently. The new engine will be mated to an advanced eight-speed ZF automatic gearbox, with the seventh and eight ratios effectively acting as overdrive gears.
With this type of setup, the diesel XF will sprint from 0 to 60 mph in just 8.5 seconds and will hit a maximum speed of 140 mph.
UPDATE 11/22/2011: Jaguar has released a short film that shows the progress of the XF 2.2 as it crossed 11 states, 2,884-miles, and three time zones, achieving an average economy figure of 62.9 mpg! We have also added a new set of images for the XF 2.2 Diesel. Enjoy!
