Back in May Fornasari announced their plans to build the Racing Buggy concept. Even if everyone expected never to hear another word about the outlandish concept, the Italian automaker has announced that the 610 HP version will go into limited production for a price of around 80,000 euro, but they did not revealed the exact date of the launch.
Fornasari’s most powerful version will be motivated by a Chevrolet sourced 7.0 Liter V8 that makes 610 HP and can make the Buggy sprint from 0 to 60 MPH in under 3.8 seconds.
The German tuning firm Hamann has just revealed a new tuning kit for the all-terrain Mercedes Benz G55 AMG. Thanks to a few aftermarket performance products, the Hamann Typhoon is now able to sprint from 0 to 60 MPH in just 5.1 seconds, unbelievable performance for an off-roader. But after all, the G is the Austrian Military’s favorite Fast Attack Vehicle.
Fire and Ice, honestly speaking, those are the last two words that we would ever associate with a vehicle. However, the people over at Land Rover believe that they will be selling like hotcakes. They must know something from over 60 years of building off road vehicles, so we’ll leave it at that for now.
In the now Indian automaker’s defense, Fire and Ice are actually two editions of Land Rover’s stripped down off road machine, the Defender. A stark contrast in a sea of pimped Luxury SUV’s with excessive amounts of unnecessary accessories. Let’s face it; we see vehicles like the Hummer H3, the Cadillac Escalade and Mercedes G-Wagen rolling along our highways sporting shiny grills and ridiculously large wheels and ultra low profile tires, with their owners not even considering stepping off the beaten path. Despite the current trend, the Defender chooses to remain as simple and as basic as possible.
If you look at it from the outside, you might mistake the modern day Defender for a car that has been since before you were born. That’s partly true, considering that the Defenders frame design goes all the way back to 1948, and unlike almost every other car on the face of the planet, the Defender is still built by hand.
Ford’s future SVT Raptor is one of the few trucks that gives us that warm and tingly feeling inside. Built with a slew of high performance aftermarket parts straight off the showroom, Ford claims that it will be the “first truck you could buy right off the lot and drive in Baja.” That is exactly what filmmaker Bud Brutsman was out to show.
The documentary "Raptor-Born in Baja" will debut at the Egyptian Theater in Hollywood, California on June 23rd. The film follows Ford’s design team, race engineers and team directors as they put the Raptor together and then put the off-road F-150 through its paces by entering the grueling Baja 1000, one of the toughest all terrain races in the world. A test that the Raptor passed with flying colors, coming in third in class in what was supposed to be a development run.
Following the film’s premiere, a one-hour television version of the feature will air on the SPEED Channel on Sunday, July 12. Check you local listings for time and channel.
When I first saw the Mercedes Benz GLK premier in the Sex and the City movie all I could think was, this is a vehicle strictly intended for females. Although the squared off two box exterior looks like this mini G Wagon should be off-roading, the compact crossover is too small to be anything but cute, and the clean white exterior doesn’t help its cause either. However the 20’s our GLK is riding on are another story.
The interior is nicely finished, everything you would expect from Mercedes, there is the familiar large three spoke steering wheel and beautiful brushed metal trim. The audio system is easy to use audio, that is once you figure out how to control the imitation i drive wheel, I just wish the same could be said for the climate controls, there are simply too many buttons.
It took parking next to a Focus hatchback for me to realize that this would be perfect luxury vehicle for Europeans; the GLK was just slightly bigger than the Ford in every dimension. It’s attractive, easy to drive and especially with BlueTEC power, would make a great car overseas.
Keep following Top Speed for more on our GLK and to see if I change my mind about feeling like I should be wearing stilettos.
Mercedes Benz has just revealed two very different special editions of the same military inspired classic, the G-Wagen. The EDITION.PUR model is based on the G 280 CDI, and this throwback to the classic off road machine has been equipped to handle anything that could possibly stand in its way. Packaged with a set of all terrain tires, flexible wheel arches, protective guards for the headlamps and grill and a reinforced hood make the PUR a force to be reckoned with.
Whereas the G-Class LIMITED.30 is an expression of elegance, taking the shape of the Mercedes Benz G500 luxury machine. Highlighted by platinum black bodywork, a unique set of alloys and LIMITED lettering on the outside. The inside is classed up with the ultimate in plush high-end trim, like "chablis" colored leather and designo wood trim in finished in anthracite.
Land Rover has overhauled almost its entire line with the 2010 updates to the Range Rover, Range Rover Sport and LR4 (Discovery), but the one vehicle that hardly gets touched is the one that started it all. The car now know as the Defender may be set to get its largest makeover in its over sixty-year history.
Land Rover is set to reveal a new Defender for 2013. This can be extremely tricky because the reason Britain’s Jeep remained largely untouched since its birth is because of its loyal following. Customers like its basic utilitarian structure, which has made it a European workhorse. What will not help the new Defender’s acceptance with the loyalists is that it will likely be based on the Discovery in order to reduce costs. This will include trading in the coil spring suspension for an independent setup that may include air bags for adjusting ride height.
Land Rover currently sells about 25,000 Defenders per year. It’s now hoping that the updated and modernized vehicle will push sales to 40,000. No word yet on if this means a return of the Defender to the U.S. Land Rover had to stop selling the Discovery here in 1997 because of safety regulations, but a modern car may finally account for current rules.
Small SUVs play an interesting role. They must be able to hold at least five people, fit in tight parking spaces, carry a Home Depot haul, and sometimes even go off-road. Yes, most people usually forget about that last one when buying an urban SUV.
So we decided that we would reintroduce the idea of an SUV made for the off-road with our 2009 Mitsubishi Outlander SE AWD tester. We made sure it was a 4x4 so we could follow the road less traveled… at least that’s what we planned. While the Outlander was in our fleet, we went looking for the hills and the mud, but that just usually made us late for soccer practice. So we were a little disappointed that our SUV fell into the usual suburban trap, but we still made it out alive…
Ford Motor Company has just released a micro site dedicated to their wild F-150. The SVT Raptor that was unveiled at SEMA is a wide bodied concept based on the F-150. Normally trucks aren’t our thing on TopSpeed, but this one did take on the Baja 1000, so it’s cool with us.
Plenty more pics, info and the site link after the jump
The diesel engine’s frugal nature and the fuel’s lower price (in some markets) make it popular choice in Europe. With the rest of the world pinching our pennies, we’re going to start seeing a lot more diesel engines in the U.S.
Unfortunately for the companies bringing these new diesel cars, it may take a little education to get the U.S. to understand the new definition of a diesel engine. Gone are the days of black smoke and high-polluting; in its place is the best fuel economy going. Also gone is the loud rumbling engine; leaving almost no noise in its place. What remains from the old diesel image is the toughness. Diesel engines have fewer moving parts, operate at lower RPMs, and are historically the most reliable kind of engine out there.
One of the great places to have these torque-happy engines are trucks and SUVs. That’s why we’re taking a look at a Jeep Grand Cherokee Limited 4x4 with a 3.0-liter diesel engine.
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