Mark Brown and Marc Cameron of Se7en Magazine have a unique talent for light graffiti, and much to our delight, they used their skills to create some of the most drool-worthy cars using this particular art form of combining long-exposure photos with high-intensity light sources, which, if done properly by waving them around in air, can produce some really creative photographs.
We’ve tried this trick ourselves but our skill level is nowhere near to what Brown and Cameron possess. While we’re highly-capable of spelling our names and drawing goofy-looking flowerpots, these guys can create images of cars. So, given the obvious talent disparity, we’re just going to show you what these guys have done just to save us the embarrassment of showing our creations.
The German automaker Mercedes Benz has announced that the new SLS AMG super car will be taking domestic orders for the new Gullwing starting next Monday, on the 16th of November starting at 149,000 Euros, or 177,310 Euros including the continent’s Value Added Tax.
The SLS AMG is made up of an aluminum space frame body complete with gullwing doors, an AMG 6.2 Liter V8 mounted in the front midship position developing a maximum output of 571 HP and 480 lb-ft of torque in part thanks to the power plants dry sump lubrication system that sucks the pistons back down to Bottom Dead Center and can accelerate the SLS from 0 to 60 MPH in just 3.8 seconds. The super car is shifted via one of Mercedes Benz’s seven speed double clutch transmissions mounted at the rear of the vehicle in a transaxle configuration for ideal weight distribution of 47/53, front/rear. The SLS sits on an AMG tuned lightweight aluminum double wishbone sport suspension to reduce the unsprung mass and keeps the car’s center of gravity as low to the road surface as possible. The car’s curb weight has been kept to 1620 kilograms based on the Deutsches Institut für Normung, or German Institute of Standards. This combination of carefully chosen parts and fine tuning results in a superlative driving experience that can be enjoyed by everyone from a performance driving novice to a track day super star, thanks to this uncompromising sports car concept.
Full list of specifications and prices after the jump.
Vermot AG has announced that production of the Veritas RS III Roadster has commenced and that the first deliveries of the radical looking German super car will begin in January of 2010, but even more importantly, only a select few will be able to enjoy the 21st century retro race car. Priced $514,706 only 30 examples of the open air limited edition Veritas RSIII sports car will be constructed and eight of them have already been spoken for. That leaves just 22 more RS III’s left to be tucked away inside a few privileged customers collections.
Offering up a very unique 1+1 layout, the Veritas RS III is powered by a naturally aspirated 5.0 Liter V10 power plant that makes a maximum output of 507 HP sourced from a BMW M5. Just like the production car, the exotic high revving ten cylinder engine can be mated to either a 7 speed SMG transmission or an optional 6 speed manual gearbox for those owners who are looking for a more visceral driving experience. Either way with a 0 to 60 MPH time of 3.2 seconds and a top speed of 216 MPH, it is unlikely that drivers will give a damn when pushing their modern day 1950’s BMW inspired sports car to the limit.
After perusing through countless spy shots and a brief conversation with a representative from Audi of America we speculated that the four ringed German automaker was hard at work on their next over the top street legal RennSport racecar, and that it was going to be an Audi RS5. The most powerful A5 ever will make its world debut next month at the Essen Motor Show that runs from November 28 thru December 6 in the West German city. Compared to the current top of the line S5, the new RS5 will feature a more aggressive front end complete with larger air intakes an a deeper lip spoiler, wider wheel arches to house the additional rubber and R8 super car style aluminum fuel filler cap. Aside from the standard RS upgrades, the upcoming RS5 will also wear a pair of the brushed metal mirror covers and should be filled with plenty of carbon fiber on the inside.
Under the hood, the Audi RS5 will be powered by a 4.2 Liter FSI V8 engine and will be coupled with a 7 speed S-tronic gearbox. The power plant will be upgraded from previous versions in order to produce a maximum output of 450 HP and will be more than enough to send the RS5 sprinting from 0 to 60 MPH in around 4.5 seconds. By combining the upgraded FSI engine with Audi’s patented Quattro all wheel drive technology the German automaker is about to release a very stylish high performance vehicle into the market that will easily compete with the likes of BMW’s boy racer M3 and even an AMG powered C63 from Mercedes Benz. So now that we know the RS5 is official, we can’t wait until Essen to see the finished product.
In a bit of cross promotions for both their Formula One team and road car program, Ferrari has just released this viral video letting all of the F1 fans around the world that Felipe Massa is doing all right by documenting his recent visit to the factory in Maranello where he met with the team and management, before getting to know the new 570 HP 458 Italia first hand. If you aren’t familiar with the recent news surrounding the Brazilian driver’s recent drama; back on July 25, 2009 a spring came off of the car in front of Massa’s Ferrari F60 and struck him in the head at around 150 MPH during the second round of qualifying for the Hungarian Grand Prix.
Felipe was immediately air lifted to a nearby hospital and placed into an induced coma to allow the healing to begin. More recently Massa underwent successful reconstructive surgery in Miami on September 1st with the hopes of competing in the Italian Grand Prix a few weeks later. Unfortunately he was unable to make an appearance at the automaker’s home race, but from the looks of thing he is doing quite well considering the circumstances. After all, he’s sitting pretty inside of a 458 Italia.
Ferrari has just already come up with a pricing plan for the all new mid engine 458 Italia sports car, and from the looks of the list of options it appears that the exotic Italian automaker is keeping things rather simple. Back when Ferrari opened up the car’s online configurator we learned of two tone interiors and color matched brake calipers; however this pricing chart shows that a well equipped version of the 162,000 Euro super car shouldn’t cost much more than the MSRP, that is excluding the dealer’s inevitable markup. So at nearly a quarter of a million dollars, the 458 is looking more an more like a super car with its 4.5 Liter V8 that makes 570 HP at a screaing 9,000 RPM and 202 MPH top speed.
The priciest option of them all is Ferrari’s vintage paintwork where the automaker will cover your new car in one of their shades from the 1950s and 60s. Coming in a close second is the 5,610 Euro Racing Livery package that is part of Ferrari’s Racing & Track list of options, and coming from a race car builder like the Maranello based automaker, the upgrade should be well worth the money. Coming in third as the new 458 Italia’s most expensive option is the $3,900 custom fit luggage for the sports car’s front compartment, and just like the livery, considering Ferrari’s attention to detail and craftsmanship the Italian leather wrapped suitcases should be quite a treat. That latest luxury is followed closely by the 3,500 Euro 20 inch forged sport wheels, and any decent set of aftermarket rims for a Ferrari will run you a lot more than that.
The folks over at Inside Line have done the legwork and confirmed that the future BMW M5 will indeed be powered by a smaller turbocharged V8 as opposed to the super sedan’s current high revving V10 in an attempt to bring the luxury automaker’s fuel economy figures more in line with the new industry standard. Although the thought of a Formula One inspired 9,000 RPM ten cylinder engine screaming in a mid size sports sedan is too much to tempting to pass up, a smaller engine makes more sense for the future. In fact, BMW already offers quite a few cars with turbocharged V8 engines, this way the technology can trickle down more easily into the rest of the German automaker’s lineup.
The X5M and X6M are already powered by a 4.4 Liter twin turbo eight cylinder engine that already makes a maximum output of 555 HP and 5000 lb-ft of torque. Perhaps an M badged model would receive a bit of an increase in bore and a stroke to see the engine displacing closer to 5.0 Liters thanks to a set of lightweight forged pistons. It would have to be built to handle the additional pressure from an upgraded set of turbochargers to make somewhere in the neighborhood of 600 HP. With a highly versatile modern day direct gasoline injection system, the high performance power plant can be tuned to run efficiently when not creating as much power as possible.
The other benefit of a super tuned future M5 is that every other owner of a turbocharged V8 Bimmer stands to profit from a host of possible second hand performance parts range from turbochargers and intercoolers to waste gates and engine programs that will make hot rodding a BMW with factory parts fashionable once again. Unfortunately for fans of smaller high performance German automobiles, the sleuths at Inside Line also uncovered that just like Audi, BMW isn’t planning on pushing a motor sport inspired1 Series compact in the U.S. anytime soon.
There’s always a thin line between being caught in the cross-fires and plunging head-on to it. That was the situation two men from Ottawa found themselves in and they chose the latter.
Riding in a 2008 Porsche 997, Ryan O’Connor and Matt Speza – the brother of the Ottawa Senators’ Jason Speza – chased down a man who had just sexually assaulted a distraught woman.
The two men were driving around the streets of Ottawa when a woman jumped in front of them and asked for help after being sexually assaulted. O’Connor and Speza then told the woman to get in the car after which they chased down the suspect along a number of residential areas in the city, even going at speeds in excess of 170 kmh.
The chase finally ended when the assailant ran into a police barricade along Highway 416.
Wouldn’t it be great if Audi came out with an RS2 inspired avant for 2012. It would not only make for a great concept but it would be an even better road car; and if there is any automaker that can pull off a factory tuned 400+ HP wagon, it’s the four ringed German automaker. After a recent chat with a few Audi of America representatives it looks like a mid sized RS sports car is definitely in the works. As far as the extra spacious interior is concerned, Audi could go the way of their Bavarian brethren at BMW with a few GT inspired fastbacks. However we hope that 100 year old German automaker continues doing what they do best, insanely powerful five door wagons that wear RennSport badges. This is a trend that was started in 1994 with the Passat sized turbocharged five cylinder estate and continued with the original Euro only RS4 that was only available with soccer mom styling.
In no attempt to toot my own horn, the first time I found myself behind the wheel of a press car I was going to my at the time girlfriend’s house in an Imola Yellow Audi RS4 cabriolet and encountered an equally brilliant Lamborghini Gallardo along the way. So excuse the following if it sounds a little biased, but I can attest to the magic that Audi’s RS engineers can do; but if you have ever driven an RS model then you know about that special button that tightens the steering, increases the horse power and sharpens the RS4’s handling; turning and extraordinary carbon fiber clad touring car into a racecar detuned to be street legal, the RS models are so good that they can make a 350 HP A4 seem a bit tame.
It’s not that often when a sleepy town gets the wake-up call of a lifetime.
And by wake-up call, we’re not talking about alarm clocks or roosters. We’re talking about Prancing Horses.
That’s what the folks of Sundern, Germany found out when they woke up and saw about 80 Ferraris roaring in and out of their otherwise small town. But the Ferraris – not to mention a few Lamborghinis and Maseratis – did have a reason for visiting Sundern, and it was through an invitation extended by Antonio Capristo, owner of the locally-based Capristo Exhaut Systems.
It turns out, Capristo invited all of these cars to his town to celebrate, well, Capristo Day 2009. What that means, we don’t know.
But what we do know is that Capristo had a hand in outfitting these Ferraris with his custom-made exhaust systems, which according to the man himself, has the capacity to change the sound of the exhaust while the car is throttling it up the autobahn.
As far as the townfolk of Sundern are concerned, never in their wildest dreams would they have anticipated seeing a stable of Prancing Horses in their small town.
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