The car tunings for Porsche never seems to end. This time, it’s the Porsche 997 GT3, courtesy of Sharkwerks and Evolution Motorsports.
In addition to the apple green exterior, the US-based car tuners upgraded the 997 GT3’s engine by adding 0.3 liters, from a 3.6-liter engine in the traditional 997 GT3 to 3.9-liter to their own version. As a result, the tuners were able to spike the 997 GT3’s horsepower from 415 hp to 502 hp.
Likewise, the two tuners developed their own parts for the car, with Sharkwerks working on the piston upgrades and Evolution Motorsports banging up an upgraded cylinder kit for the 997 GT3.
A video of the work done by the Sharkwerks and Evolution Motorsports is available so you can see first-hand how the whole process of tuning the 997 GT3 came about.
A few weeks after it was unveiled at the Frankfurt Motor Show, the Audi e-Tron Concept has finally received the ‘go’ signal for production.
The announcement was made by Johan de Nysschen in an interview done with Autonews. Among other things, the Audi of America president said that the overwhelmingly positive response to the concept car at the IAA has resulted in the brand to release an electric version of the car, which is expected to make roll out in the US sometime in 2011 or 2012.
Powered by four electric motors on each axle, the e-Tron Concept can travel a distance of 154 miles by only using the packed lithium-ion battery inside the car. As far as performance goes, the car is capable of producing 313 horsepower and around 4,500 Nm of torque.
This one caught us by surprise, not because the car was given the green light, but because it happened sooner than we expected. Nevertheless, you can’t keep a good idea down, and judging from the response the e-Tron Concept received in Frankfurt a few weeks ago, we can safely say that Audi may have hit a goldmine with this one.
After rampant speculation that the Pontiac G8 would rise from the dead to become a police patrol vehicle, General Motors has decided to keep the dead brand, well, dead.
In turn - and after a 13-year absence - the newest North American police cruiser turned out to be the Chevrolet Caprice, which, if you’re from the Land Down Under, you might recognize as a Zeta-platform Holden Caprice, except for the fact that the wheel is on the other side of the car.
To keep up with the unlawful hoodlums prowling the streets, the Caprice Cop Special was given a 6.0-liter V8 engine, capable of churning out 355 horsepower and 385 lb/ft of torque. In addition to that, the car comes with all the unique trinkets police officers need to keep our streets safe. The car’s interior has been given the complete cop treatment, including a front-seat computer, an assortment of gun holsters, and all the electronic radar you can get your hands on.
The new face of law enforcement has arrived. And for all of us, it’s a face that we don’t to see on our rear view mirrors.
When you’re delivering something that probably costs more than your house, it’s always best to treat the item with supreme caution.
Unfortunately, this driver forgot to remember that.
While delivering a brand-new Ferrari F430 Spider to an exotic car reseller, the poor chap had quite a few problems on how to put the F430 safely into the trailer of his truck. We don’t know exactly what he did – or didn’t do – but the beautiful and expensive F430 ended up falling rear first into the very unforgiving cemented ground.
As you can imagine, the car was severely damaged and the driver, well, he
probably had a lot of explaining to do when he got to where he was supposed to go.
The creative team at Maverick Business Adventures organizes creative high octane ways for up and coming entrepreneurs and Million dollar a year Fortune 500 CEOs to get together for very unique networking opportunities and in some instances a chance to give back to charitable organizations while doing it. Back on the first of the month MBA organized a group of twenty different corporate big wigs to participate in the "Totally Rad 80’s Maverick Road Rally." They started off by having their hair dyed pink in recognition of cancer awareness month by students from hair care expert John Paul Mitchell’s school of all things styling related at the Marina Del Rey in sunny Southern California. Shortly after the group jumped in their high prices Italian exotics and continued up the Pacific coast highway, ending up in Napa Valley for a few sundowners.
Along the way the group stopped to pose for pictures with members of the Variety Boys & Girls Club of East L.A. From the looks of things, everyone who participated in the road rally had an absolute blast. After all who wouldn’t feel great after a day of driving along one of America’s most memorably thoroughfares while donating to charity and making important business decisions all at the same time. Maverick Business Adventures founder Yanik Silver’s “Mavericks” gave a total of $7,000 to Fran Drescher’s Cancer Shmancer foundation and another $8,000 to the Boys & Girls Club of America. The "Totally Rad 80’s Maverick Road Rally" was an absolute success and we are pretty sure that Yanik is already working on another high octane event for up and coming “Mavericks.”
Together with the 2010 Golf, Volkswagen USA also revealed details on the hotter version GTI. Sales will begin at a price of $23,290.
For 2010 the GTI comes with a more aggressive front end featuring the hallmark black honeycomb grille with the GTI badge on the passenger side, and the distinct red stripe outline, which flows into the new angled teardrop headlight housings. Two halogen fog lamps, a more subtle pair of black side skirts, newly-shaped taillights and 17 x 7-inch alloy wheels accentuate the car’s sporty character.
The 2010 GTI US versions is powered by 2.0-liter 16-valve DOHC turbocharged and intercooled four-cylinder gasoline engine that delivers 200 hp at 5,100 rpm, and 207 lbs.-ft. of torque from 1,800 all the way up to 5,000 rpm (the European version delivers 207 hp). With the standard six-speed manual transmission, the GTI can go from a zero to 60 mph in 6.8 seconds, and on to an electronically limited 130 mph top speed (140 mph on the European one).
Volkswagen USA revealed today details on the 2010 Golf, a model that besides the fact it lost the Rabbit name, comes with design, both in and out, but also a new TDI engine. Prices start at $17,490 for the two-door model, and $19,190 for the four-door version.
Up front the 2010 Golf features a wider, double-bar grille that blends into angled halogen headlamps for a sportier visage (High Intensity Gas-discharged Xenon headlamps are available as an option on the TDI model). The body-colored bumper sits above a revised lower front fascia featuring a wide-mouthed cooling duct. Crystalline oval fog lamps complete the front fascia on TDI models. These elements, combined with the Golf’s wider appearance give the hatchback a more commanding road presence.
Under the hood there is a choice of two engines: a 2.5-liter inline five-cylinder gasoline engine that delivers a total of 170 hp at 5,700 rpm and 177 lbs.-ft. of torque at 4,250 rpm. or a 2.0-liter four-cylinder clean diesel TDI engine that delivers 140 hp at 4,000 rpm, and an impressive 236 lbs.-ft. of torque between 1,750 and 2,500 rpm. The engines are mated to a five-speed manual transmission as standard or a six-speed automatic gearbox with Tiptronic control.
Back in 2008 the lightweight English sports car manufacturers from Lotus released a very fast version of their fixed roof Elise roadster, the Exige Sport 240. The special edition Exige offered owners a very street able sports car while on track the 240 was capable of some incredible things. For 2010, the Exige S240 has received a slightly restyled front end, a new rear wing and the same combination of exceptional performance and usability, all starting at $65,690.
The S240’s front bumper gets a larger set of air intakes in the front bumper as well as larger vents in the hood in order to flow more air across the sports car’s cooling elements like the twin oil coolers ahead of the front wheels. This reduces the operating temperature of the high revving Toyota sourced four cylinder engine and further enhances the engine’s efficiency. This aerodynamically improved small super car is exactly what you will need to be able to run lap after lap at your local racetrack whenever you decide to take your new toy out to stretch its legs.
Under the rear decklid of the mid engine Lotus Exige S240 is an intercooled and supercharged 1.8 Liter Toyota 2ZZ-GE with the automaker’s Variable Valve Timing with Inteligence and tuned by Lotus to produce a maximum output of 240 HP at a screaming 8,000 RPM and 170 lb-ft of torque from 5,500 RPM. Tipping the scales at just over 2,000 pounds, the Exige Sport 240 is able to sprint from 0 to 60 mph in a blistering 4.1 seconds and reach the 100 MPH mark just 10 seconds after takeoff. The S240 can reach a top speed of 150 MPH and thanks to the drag reducing front end is able to get an EPA estimated 20 MPG around town and as much as 26 MPG on the highway.
Driving on sub-standard weather conditions is always a recipe for disaster, and while most of us with as much as a grain of common sense would slow down and put safety and security first, others are still bent on throwing all caution out the window.
Unfortunately, the prevailing result of this almost always ends up being a car crash, and if you’re behind the wheel of what is probably one of the rarest production cars in the world, then it makes it doubly hard to digest.
The owner of this ultra-rare 2001 QVale Mangusta had one thing to do: park his car under a shelter. While most of the surrounding cars were doing the same after a torrential downpour fell on New Orleans, the owner of the Mangusta decided he could outrun the storm but ended up spinning his car out of control, narrowly missing an unsuspecting Honda before crashing into a metal guardrail.
If you don’t know what a QVale Mangusta is, only 300 of these cars were produced back in the turn of the millennium with only 200 making it to US soil. The car, which was designed by no less than the architect behind the Lamborghini Countach and Diablo, Marcello Gandhini, came with a 5.3-liter V8 engine with a supercharged with well over 600 horsepower. Fortunately, the driver of the car escaped the crash unscathed although the same can’t be said for the Mangusta, which had its front hood and bumper completely mangled. We don’t know if he can even have that fixed considering the rarity of his ride, but it should give him a valuable lesson next time: you can’t outrun Mother Nature.
The soon-to-be-released Hyundai Equus Stretch Edition is on its way to a number of countries in the world, although it looks like the US will not be one of them, at least that’s what Hyundai USA said. In a statement they released, Hyundai USA said that “we have no comment on plans for such an edition in the U.S.”
While the future of the Equus limousine in the US remains a point of debate, Hyundai has long confirmed that the standard Equus edition would make its way to the US where it is being positioned as a contender to the country’s luxury car market that has long been dominated by Lexus and BMW.
In the event that the Equus limousine does make it to America, it’s
interesting to note that the car will be priced significantly higher than that of the Lexus LS 460 and the BMW 750i. As it stands right now, the price for the Equus limo goes at around $110,000 as opposed to $75,000 for the LS 460 and $85,000 for the 750i.
Picture Gallery
1 comment
RSS -
Webmaster free news |