A sedan car is a four-door vehicle, with a separate hood covering the engine in the front, and a separate trunk for luggage at the rear — the achetypical 3-box car. However, other variations of the body style exist as well, including two-door and hatchback/fastback models.
Inspired most likely by the huge success the Opel Insignia sedan is enjoying on the market, Opel is preparing a sedan version for the most successful model in their line-up: Astra. An official debut will be made later this year at the Paris Auto Show, but until then we have a series of new spy shots for you.
As usual the car comes only with the rear camouflaged, because this will be the only difference between the hatchback and the sedan. But even if Opel is trying to keep it a secret anyone knows that the new Astra sedan rear will be similar to the one found in the Insignia.
The engine line-up for the Astra sedan will be carried over from the hatchback, meaning a choice of eight different engines mated to a six speed transmission and with power ranging from a standard 95 Hp to 180 HP for the top versions.
Many years ago, you may recall hopping in grandpap’s Eldorado, Fleetwood, or Deville and taking a nice cushiony ride on the highway. When the Northstar engine came about in the mid-1990s we all started to see Cadillacs actually putting out some respectable performance numbers to go along with their couch-like ride. The lid started coming off of the Cadillac performance sedans in 2003, when the automaker released the CTS. In 2004, when the 400-horsepower CTS-V came out, all hell broke loose.
By the 2012 model year, the CTS-V had morphed into a 556-horsepower, supercharged sub-supercar. For some people, however, 556 horsepower just isn’t quite enough. This is where the Cadillac tuners at D3 come into play, literally. They took two CTS-Vs and converted them into 1,500-horsepower supercars that are primed to bring havoc upon any road they are on.
So what does D3 do? They hand the keys to INDY Car driver J.R. Hildebrand and Formula D driver Tyler McQuarrie, of course! These two racers took these 1,500 horsepower luxury cars down to the Long Beach street circuit and stretched out these Caddy’s legs a little.
By stretching their legs we mean smoldering the tires to oblivion and getting it on video (above). The tire smoldering and supercharger whining is aplenty in these videos, but there is one thing that is slightly more impressive. An amateur video was also released that showed the cameramen filming these two Caddys and watching these dudes put their bodies at risk just to get a good shot. That takes a rather big brass set, if you ask us; an even bigger set than playing with a few CTS-Vs on ‘roids.
Click past the jump to see the amateur video of the cameramen.
About the future Subaru WRX we have heard all kinds of rumors, including the fact that it will drop the "Impreza" from its name and it will be simply called WRX. After that we heard that Subaru will place under the hood of the new car the same turbocharged 2.0-liter boxer engine found in the BRZ. And now the speculation continues: new rumors suggest that the car will in fact feature an electrically-operated turbo engine.
According to Drive.com.au, Subaru is working to trap heat energy from exhaust gases, generating electricity to power the turbo. This new system will create power more efficiently with less turbo lag. But no matter what engine we will see under the hood, the next WRX will keep the same continuously variable transmission used in the standard Impreza.
The same source is also reporting that the next WRX "will be completely distinctive from the current Impreza, it will look considerably different." The model will also be featuring very significant technical changes and innovations.
Expect to see the new Subaru WRX launched sometime next year. A STI version will also follow.
Volkswagen Europe is offering a R-Line treatment to the new Passat facelift. The package will be offered for both sedan and station wagon versions and prices will start from 30,225 euro ($39,600 at the current exchange rates) while the optional R-Line Design Package adds an extra 990 euro (about $1,300).
The new R-Line package will be distinguished by a new front bumper with larger cooling air vents, a R-Line logo in the grille and integrated fog lamps. The rear will get a diffuser be painted in "Gloss Black" and an elegant roof spoiler in body color. The car will sit on a new set of 17" "Mallory" alloy wheels (optional 18-inch) combined with a dynamically tuned sports suspension that can lower the car’s ride by 15 mm.
The interior adds sports seats in "Kyalami" design, decorative inserts in "titanium silver" on the dashboard, door panels and center console for extra sportiness. There is also a leather-trimmed multifunction steering wheel and stainless steel pedals.
The extra R-Line Design Package will include: rear and roof spoiler in body color, newly designed side sills and R-Line logo on the radiator grille.
With the 2012 DTM season ripping its inaugural race, the time was ripe for the series to introduce the vehicle that would serve as its official safety car. This year, the German Touring Car Masters Championship has tapped the 2013 Mercedes C63 AMG Black Series to serve that role.
Following in the reins of the the C63 AMG, the BMW M3, and a host of several Audis, the C63 AMG Black Series has been fitted with a number of modifications in order to serve its role as the DTM’s official safety car.
Among them include an aerodynamically optimized light bar on the roof and energy-efficient, fast-response LEDs in green and orange. The car also has a modified AMG sports exhaust system and a special rear silencer that allows the car’s 6.3-liter naturally-aspirated V8 engine to produce 517 horsepower and 457 lb/ft of torque. This makes it capable of hitting 0-62mph in 4.2 seconds with an electronically-limited top speed of 186mph.
For the exterior, the car carries a slew of packages, including an AMG Aerodynamics Package that carries a genuine carbon fiber front splitter on the front apron and a fixed carbon-fiber rear aerofoil with an adjustable blade. It also has the AMG Track package that includes rear axle gear cooling and a set of 19" forged AMG wheels wrapped in Dunlop Sport Maxx Race tires. Lastly, there’s the AMG Exterior Carbon Fiber package that includes exterior mirror housings, inserts in the side sill panels, and a diffuser insert, all made from carbon fiber.
For the interior, the C63 AMG Black Series Safety Car was given a pair of AMG Sport bucket seats, each coming with four-point seat belts, and an AMG Performance steering wheel wrapped in Nappa leather and Dinamica.
Over the course of a few days at last week’s Frankfurt Motor Show, Audi managed to release its entire S line-up, breaking cover on the new S6, S7 Sportback, and top-of-the-line S8.
The middle of that pack is the S7 Sportback, which is the sports version of the A7 Sportback released only a year ago. With the onus on improved performance compared to its A7 counterpart, the S7 Sportback offers an entirely new engine that can also be found on the new Bentley Continental.
Aesthetic changes made on the S7 Sportback compared to the A7 are minimal, but with a new 4.0-liter TFSI engine that produces 420 horsepower - a noticeable increase from the 296-horsepower output of the top-end A7 Sportback - that hardly seems to matter. There are enough added horses on the S7 Sportback to take the A7’s performance capabilities to a whole new level. After all, that’s what Audi’s ’S-program’ is all about: take the whole line-up and ratchet up the power to havoc-wreaking circumstances.
Updated 05/02/2012: Audi has unveiled a new promo video for the S7 Sportback presenting the car in action on the streets of Munich for the first time.
Find out more about the Audi S7 Sportback after the jump.
Porsche has been dominating the sports car market for such a long time that Maserati is finally ready to take the outright crown from them with rumors emerging that Maserati is developing a brand new mid-engined sports car to compete with the 911 likely to share various performance aspects with the Ferrari 458 Italia.
Maserati is clearly on the rise and even though the Italian economy may be struggling, the brand hopes to bring a new SUV into the market in the next few years, while a facelifted version of the Quattroporte is also in the works. Additionally, Maserati may offer its own version of the Alfa Romeo 4C sports car which it’s helping to produce, so things are definitely looking positive at Maserati.
Many companies have tried and failed to compete with the Porsche 911 in terms of driver involvement, and with the next Porsche 911 GT3 said to retain a six-speed manual transmission, Maserati certainly has its work cut out for it. Rumors were initially fueled by comments made by Maserati’s CEO Harald J. Wester about the possibility of reviving the GranSport name.
As we’re sure you know, the GranSport was the predecessor to the GranTurismo but if the car were to use the GranSport name, it’d differ in almost every other aspect. First and foremost, it’s likely to feature a mid-engined V-8 powerplant like those found in the Audi R8 and Ferrari 458 Italia, but so as to not enrage Ferrari, it’s said to be priced below the 458 Italia hinting that it won’t be a true competitor to it.
If this car does come to fruition, it could share components with the 458 Italia but is unlikely to debut anytime before 2014.
We all know about Google’s fleet of self-driving Prius’s, but there are few automakers actually close to creating a self-driving car. Well, that was until now. Cadillac has been steadily testing its self-driving car system and has remained somewhat tight lipped about it all. Just recently, Cadillac finally released some information, along with several videos.
According to Cadillac, this system, dubbed “Super Cruise,” is not complete self-driving, but more of a situational self-driving car. It uses features that are already included in the existing XTS and ATS vehicles and tweaks them to allow Super Cruise to drive the vehicle without any driver intervention on the interstate.
It uses features like rear automated braking, adaptive cruise control, forward collision alert, lane departure warning, blind spot alert, and automatic collision preparation in combination with the vehicle’s GPS system and electric power steering to actually keep the car driving at safe speeds and in its lane. It is set by simply picking the lane and speed you want to drive in, then clicking the “Cruise” button.
Once activated, this system senses other traffic all around it, as well as the lane the vehicle is traveling in, and makes mild adjustments as needed. It even will take the vehicle through turns on the highway without the driver touching the steering wheel.
A sweet feature on Cadillac’s Super Cruise is that it uses the front collision detection system to measure the speed of the car in front of you. It then adjusts its speed to remain the prescribed two seconds behind that car. It will even bring the car to a complete stop and re-accelerate to the set speed, or the speed of traffic, all by itself, which makes it awesome for traffic jams.
There’s only one issue, it is not fully autonomous, but some drivers may treat it like such. You cannot just kick back and read the paper, as your Caddy drives you to work. It’s still a good start anyways.
GM expects to start rolling out versions of Super Cruise “In the coming years.”
People have been talking about a possible BMW M7 for quite some time, and now in an interview with Car And Driver, Friedrich Nitschke, President of BMW’s M division has confirmed that the company is indeed considering a competitor for models like the Audi S8 and the Mercedes S63 AMG. However, he did not refer to it as the M7; instead he used the name "M Performance 7-Series."
This means the M7 hasn’t been confirmed just yet, but the M Performance model will be close enough to the real thing to gauge reaction. The future model will surely receive the same treatment as all the models unveiled in the past few months by BMW M Performance. These changes will include new front and rear aprons with large air intakes, a bespoke rear apron, a new exhaust system with a trapezoidal shape, and a new set of 20" M light-alloy wheels.
If built, the new 7-series M Performance will be unveiled sometime in 2013.
We all watched as Mazda rolled out the sexy Mazda Takeri concept car in New York. At that same time we learned that the 2014 Mazda6, which we will see at the 2012 Paris Auto Show, will be “strongly influenced” by the Takeri concept and we became rather excited by its potential. With those “look at me” body lines we assumed that there would be some hot V-6 option for this new stylish body. Unfortunately, Mazda went in a completely different direction, according to Mazda spokesperson Jeremy Barnes, via Automotive News.
Barnes made it quite clear that there are no plans to place a V-6 option or any other performance engine option under the 2014 Mazda6’s new hood. Actually, Mazda is even axing the somewhat impressive 170-horsepower, 2.5-liter four-cylinder engine. The likely replacement for both engines is the Skyactiv 2.0-liter four-banger that cranks out a respectable-for-its-size 155 horsepower and 150 pound-feet of torque. However, if you have to add “for its size” in front of something, that’s typically not a good thing.
The goal of this freshly revised Mazda6 is obviously fuel economy, which we can respect Mazda for doing. In all honesty though, they could produce a turbo-charged four-cylinder or even borrow an EcoBoost engine from Ford, who still owns a small share of Mazda. A possible performance engine would be the 250-horsepower, 2.0-liter EcoBoost engine slated for the upcoming Focus ST.
Having said all of that, Mazda did not completely rule out a future optional Skyactiv V-6 option for the Mazda6, but for now we will only see a four-cylinder engine.
We just hope that Mazda isn’t cutting its own throat by offering an under-powered four-cylinder for this hot-looking model. Then again, the automotive world tends to change with the wind, so you never know what may actually happen between now and the 2014 Mazda6’s release in the first quarter of 2013.
