Barely a month after it was first introduced at the Frankfurt Motor Show, the all-new Audi R8 Spider has found its way into Audi’s new flagship dealership in London.
The convertible version of Audi’s supercar, the R8, the R8 Spider is still not for sale until the spring of 2010. Nevertheless, the car brand has decided to display the car as a way of enticing prospective buyers of what they’re in store for as soon as the R8 Spider goes on sale.
As far as performance is considered, the R8 Spider retains much of the same specifications of the hard-top version, especially the 5.2-liter V10 engine and all-wheel drive system found in the 5.2 FSI R8 coupe. If there was any difference between the two – apart from the obvious roof-of-choice – the R8 Spider weighs in at about 100 kg more than the coupe version, thanks in large part to balancing the car’s weight with the weight of the retractable roof. As a result of the ‘bulkier’ Spider version, the car’s top speed falls just a tad under the 194 mph coupe version, although, as we’ve said, the difference isn’t all that striking.
In any case, the new R8 Spider is set to go on sale at the spring of 2010 where it will be sold from £109,580. If prospective buyers are interested in equipping the R8 Spider with an R-tronic transmission, they’ll have to shell out a few more euros - £114,670, to be exact – before they can get their hands on one.
In honor of Breast Cancer Awareness Month, Topspeed is running down a list of the most attention-grabbing pink cars spotted anywhere in the world. We’ve already given you the pink Audi R8 and the Donut King Nissan GT-R, so the next one on our list is a limousine in the UK that we believe every young girl going to their prom should go in.
The novelty of vehicles being stretched into limousines is a concept that isn’t exactly ground-breaking. We’ve all seen them in the past and while most have captured our attention, the shock and awe nevertheless wanes as time goes by.
Every so often, a stretched out limo is so flamboyant that no amount of time can make us forget about it. Take this stretched-out Hummer for example. It looks like a doozy in its own right, but what takes it over the top is the fact that it’s colored – you guessed it – baby pink.
Tutti-fruttiness aside, the pink Hummer is as loaded as any limo you can ever find, and it’s all designed to fit all the needs and wants of a girl looking for a great night on the town. The pink Hummer limo has three TV’s, laser lights, strobe lights, 1800-watt sound system, star lights, optic lights, and a pink leather interior that makes you feel like you’re in your own private club. Speaking of private clubs, the pink Hummer limo also comes with its own mini bar to satisfy all your alcoholic cravings.
Not too shabby for a limousine that is considered as one of the most sought-after limos for hire in the UK.
Two decades after the first Legacy rolled off the assembly line; the Japanese automaker Subaru is introducing the next generation of their flagship wagon, the Legacy Tourer for the U.K. The touring model is based on the stylish fifth generation Legacy with its winged front grill, hawk eye headlights and sculpted arches. Now while this practical Legacy looks a lot like the Outback here in the U.S. you should take note that where the rugged SUV alternative wears a two tone paint scheme and a set of bulky looking bumpers. Whereas the Legacy Tourer is wrapped with only one coat of color and has the same aggressively shaped bumpers as the regular Legacy hanging off of either end. The Legacy Tourer is already on sale, with prices starting at £23,295 for the diesel burning 2.0D S and climb all the way up to £27,295 for the CVT equipped 2.5i SE NavPlus Lineartronic model.
Being a Subaru, every Legacy Tourer is powered by a horizontally opposed boxer engine connected to a symmetrical all wheel drive system that makes for a surprisingly sporty driving experience. Subaru U.K. believes that the most popular Legacy Tourer will be the diesel powered 2.0 D that accelerates from 0 to 60 MPH in a very efficient 9.6 seconds and can hit a top speed of 120 MPH. While the performance figures don’t seem too impressive, it is astounding that the full size luxury wagon is able to get and average of 46.3 MPG.
The more traditional 2.5 Liter flat four gas burning power plant makes a total of 165 HP and 169 lb-ft of torque by taking advantage of Subaru’s new i-AVLS, active valve lift system to help the internal combustion engine breathe a bit easier. The petrol model also benefits from Suabru’s recently developed chain driven Lineartronic continuously variable transmission that propels it from 0 to 60 MPH in a lofty 10.3 seconds and reach a top speed of 120 MPH. So no matter which kind of Legacy Tourer you choose, you will be getting a solid and practical ride.
Like a set of dental records are used to identify a badly charred body, the only thing that is left from this Italian super car that is now a pile of molten metal is a lone five spoke alloy wheel with a little yellow prancing horse emblem in the center to let onlookers know that it was one a Ferrari 360 Modena. Apparently the 32 year old driver was enjoying a spirited country drive with an older female riding shotgun when he unexpectedly lost control in a swooping bend and then flipped over multiple times before landing in a crop field and then bursting into flames, however unlike the other Ferrari 360 incident that we reported on earlier, this time all that the driver walked away with was a broken ankle.
Thanks to the quick actions of a benevolent motorist who happened to be passing by just after the accident occurred and then courageously pulled both the driver and 37 year old passenger from the wreckage before they were harmed by the fire. The passengers were then treated by firefighters on the scene of the accident as they waited for paramedics. The driver only suffered a broken right ankle while the female was air lifted to the hospital with pelvic wounds however her condition was not life threatening. Had it not been for the quick acting passerby, the Ferraristas would have certainly suffered a more tragic fate. The 360 Modena involved in the incident was a 1999-2000 model that originally sold for around $150,000 and was the first production Ferrari to make use of extremely light weight aluminum and carbon fiber construction that made it an extremely agile sports car, but also a highly flammable automobile.
Over on the other side of the pond, the UK is getting set to unveil their all-new bad guy-chasing police cruiser, but unlike the new 2011 Chevrolet Caprice, which will be used in the US, the chaps from the UK have decided to crack down on their own criminals with the new Mitsubishi all-electric i-MiEV.
It seems odd to us that the UK police’s vehicle-of-choice in apprehending the baddies is an electric car is neither fast nor intimidating. But as it turns out, the compact electric car was displayed in full police regalia at the National Police Show last month. Since then, the i-MiEV, which runs on an electric motor and has a top speed of 130 km/h, has become somewhat of a hot item among police units in the country, a lot of them even resorting to asking Mitsubishi for some trial cars.
From our end, we have no idea how the i-MiEV can hold its own in against, say, a runaway Aston Martin, but then again, the UK Police Force must have something up their sleeves as far as tinkering with the i-MiEV is concerned.
We just can’t picture the electric car to exude the kind of menacing badass-ness police cruisers are known to have.
In a world that’s long had its fair share of supercars prowling around our roads and highways, there aren’t a lot that have been shrouded in mystery quite like the Aspira F620.
Of course, given the rather infinitesimal size of the company relative to its super car brethren, the UK-based niche supercar brand doesn’t have the clout that the more established brands have. So when word spreads that the company is on the cusp of releasing a new car, not a lot of people find out about it.
But fortunately, our friends over at Pistonheads know one when they see one, and they did see one - an in-the-flesh F620 taking in a couple of test runs at the Leighton Buzzard IVA centre. Rumors surrounding the F620 have long been floating around but not a lot of people have been fortunate enough to lay their eyes on one.
We did know that the F620 carried with an LS376 GM V8 engine, which, if you’re curious to know, is a ramped-up version of a 6.2-litre LS3 V8. With that much power sitting under the hood, the F620 is rumoured to have over 500 horsepower, ready to churn out a top speed of over 200 mph.
In the event that the Bugatti 16C Galibier concept goes into production – which a lot of people seem to believe – don’t expect it to come cheap.
And by cheap, we mean less than a million dollars.
As the successor to the omniscient Veyron, the 16C Galibier is shaping up to become a worthy ‘replacement’ to Bugatti’s record-breaking super car. Though not as powerful as its 1001 horsepowered predecessor, the 16C Galibier does adopt a few things from the Veyron, particularly it’s ginormous 8.0-liter quad-turbo W16 engine.
Despite the same engine powering the two supercars, the Galibier is expected to come short of the Veyron’s record-setting speed, mainly because the former is a little bit bulkier than the latter and, at the same time, will only carry with it a relatively pedestrian ‘800 horsepower engine.
As a result, the Galibier is expected to reach speeds of ‘only’ 220 mph, compared to the 250+ the Veyron has been known to achieve.
Nevertheless, the Galibier is still expected to fetch quite a hefty price. According to Autocar, in the likelihood that Bugatti’s newest toy reaches production in 2013, expect it to be sold for around £900,000 – that’s a mind-numbing $1.3 million in the US.
No it’s not a horse-drawn carriage like the ones we’ve come to know in fairy tales, but we’re hedging our bets that these gorgeous debutantes had no problem being chauffer driven in a Maserati Quattroporte.
The young debutantes had the time of their lives, not just by getting a chance to ride a Quattroportes, but they were also decked from head to toe with some of the world’s most expensive jewelries. On top of that, the ladies were also greeted at the ball by no less than a few women who know a thing or two about royalty: HRH Princess Katarina of Yugoslavia, HH Princess Olga Romanov and Their Graces The Duke and Duchess of Somerset. As far as the Maserattis were concerned, the luxury car brand was the official entourage vehicle of the Queen Charlotte’s Ball. Apart from its duties as entourage vehicle, Maseratti also took advantage of the occasion by auctioning off an all-new 2010 Maserati GranCabrio.
The event, which was founded over 250 years ago to raise fund for mothers and babies, was supported by Maserati GB together with its London distributor, HR Owen Sports Cars, in an attempt to raise donations to the Wolfston and Weston Research Centre for Family Health at the Hammersmith and Queen Charlotte’s Hospital site of Imperial College London. The event was able to raise £60,000 for the hospital where the money would be put to use to help further develop research of premature birth, miscarriage, and infertility among mothers and all women alike. Here at TopSpeed, we appreciate a noble deed when we see one and Maserati’s involved at such a worthy cause will not go unnoticed. Good work, gentlemen.
If you were at Silverstone over the weekend for the launch of the new Dirt 2 rally game, you probably would have been content sampling the game for free and hopefully pick yourself a copy before it runs out.
Never in your wildest dreams would you have bet that Ken Block would take you for a ride on a real rally car. But that’s exactly what happened to these lucky fellows who got a chance to sit shotgun while Block runs through a course on his WRX STI rally car?
We can’t tell you how jealous beyond measure we are, but from the look – and sound – of the video, we figured that those who got a chance to ride with Block never expected to scream as much as they did. One guy even asked Jesus for some divine intervention.
That should tell you never to mess with Ken Block on a rally car.
The many perks of being Jay Leno makes for a very long list, and for us pistonheads of lesser stature, we probably would kill just to spend one day in that man’s shoes. The connections and access that Jay Leno has in the auto industry is something a lot of us can only dream about.
Recently, America’s number one car freak was given a walking tour of McLaren’s factory in Woking, England where he was shown a number of things we only see in our imaginations. For starters, McLaren Managing Director Anthony Sheriff takes Leno inside the company’s inner grounds to show him the carbon fiber central tub that is being used in the company’s new supercar, the MP4-12C. After that, Leno was taken inside a small room where he was shown a three-dimensional CAD rendering of the supercar and then was given a first-hand look at the McLaren P11. Leno even was given a chance to get behind the wheel of the car to examine its interior.
Sigh, indeed.
While the company didn’t show the MP4-12C in all its glory, the mere fact that he was given a private tour of the facility – including a number of restricted areas that only McLaren employees are allowed to go to – makes us all want to cry in envy.
Post a comment
Picture Gallery
RSS -
Webmaster free news |