After the unveiling of the Corvette ZR1 earlier this year, Chevrolet launched the rest of the 2009 Corvette line. The biggest news from Chevy is a new custom, leather-wrapped interior and more upgrades.
The ’09 Corvette lineup includes the Corvette coupe and convertible, each powered by the 430-horsepower (321 kW) LS3 V-8. The Z06 performance model also returns with the 505-horsepower (377 kW) LS7 engine and built on a lightweight chassis.
New for 2009 is the Corvette 1LT convertible – Customers can slip into a Corvette convertible for a lower MSRP with this 1LT equipment package. Additionally, a power top is now standard on 2LT convertible models.
Two new exterior colors – Cyber Gray Metallic and Blade Silver Metallic are added, while Machine Silver Metallic is discontinued. This brings the Corvette’s exterior palette to nine colors.
After ABT unveiled its customized Audi RS6 Avant with 700 hp and 590 ft lbs of torque, its main rival, B&B unveiled its new tuning kit for the German car. The new program from B&B has 4 versions of boost for the V10 TFSI engine, developing 650, 670, 700 and 715 hp. With the 4th level installed, the car can hit 60 mph in just 3.6 seconds, with 0.3 seconds faster than the ABT RS6 Avant, and has a top speed of 200 mph.
Also, a new a new suspension kit was added in order to obtain a better stability. No words about the price yet. Also check Audi RS6 Avant by ABT.
After the seeing only a dark, single-sided image of Aston Martin’s ultra exclusive One-77 we’ve decided to shed some more light on the future supercar. Here is an exclusive TopSpeed rendering of the car that will cost £1 million (the current exchange rate puts the car at about $1.9 million.)
The new Aston should appear next year with a carbon fiber chassis and a handcrafted aluminum body. Powering the supercar should be a 7.0-liter V-12 engine that may share bloodlines with Mercedes. What especially makes this new car one for the elite is the planned production run limited to 77 cars.
It didn’t take too long and ABT, the great tuning specialist in German cars unveiled its version of the Audi RS6 Avant. The new vehicle includes the same V10 TFSI engine, but improved from 580 hp and 480 ft lbs of torque to 700 hp and 590 ft lbs of torque. ABT didn’t remove the body kit, but new 20” as wheels were added as well as a new suspension kit which lowers in order to make it more stable.
With the new improvements the vehicle can hit 60 mph in just 3.9 seconds and has a top speed of 200 mph. More information and availability when the official details are released.
Our friend DerTuner just caught this facelifted BMW 3 Series wagon in Germany. If you look closer to the front you will see a night vision system integrated in an M3 front bumper. Strangely this doesn’t seem to be an M3 model considering the hood and side fender are standard. To add to the confusion, the back bumper is also M3 styled but the right side exhaust are not there. Would any non M3 version be fitted with the M bumpers.. the future will say.
BMW testing new night vision system? Picture Gallery
I’m helping a friend of mine’s father restore a 1940 Ford truck. He’s just begun a hobby of collecting cars and the Ford is a nice compliment to his 1964 Corvette Convertible. As I’m sanding down the bodywork on this old truck, it’s evident that the body lines are amazingly simple, but the overall effect is an elegant little hauler. It’s a true original, which makes me begin to wonder what’s going to be in my own collection. I now realize that I will have to wait another twenty years (or the lottery) for me to truly afford this hobby, and by then, I wonder what will be the new classics.
Immediately I have to narrow my criteria for selection. First to qualify, it needs to be affordable. I’m classifying the Ferraris, Lamborghinis, Paganis, etc., as exotics. They are instant classics that never have working examples in an affordable price range (i.e. Countaches never go for Camry prices.)
Second, no retro cars. Ford Mustang, Dodge Challenger, Chevrolet Camaro and the rest of them are actually very good cars for what they are: fun and affordable pieces of nostalgia. There will always be a large group of people who will cherish these cars as instant classics. But what they are not is fully original, so I am leaving them off this list.
So with the field narrowed, I present three cars for induction into the hall of future classics.
Carlsson, the well known tuner specialized in Mercedes-Benz cars, unveiled today its new set of -spoke monobloc wheel 1/11 Ultra Light, available exclusively in 21 inch. The new wheels not only look good but also improve the road-handling properties of your vehicle, due to the fact that there are one of the world’s lightest wheels available on the Mercedes tuning sector. >> read
Audi has lifted the veil on the 2009 A4. The new vehicle features a very big list with innovative technologies, an improved suspension, a new-generation MMI control system as well as cutting fuel consumption with over 15%.
The new design of the car consists in a new single-frame grill, bumpers, air vents and fog lights, new LED daytime running lights, a new gentle lip on the trunk, integrated chrome strip on the bumper, broad diffuser and straight exhaust pipes are part and partial of the revamped rear end”. Also, the car comes with 13 exterior colors to choose from, including five new ones.
Like most Audis, the interior of the car its clean and elegant, with new higher-resolution graphics for the instrument panels, with new materials like the Valcona leather available for the sport seats and integrated headrest system reduces the danger of whiplash.
Under the hood, the new Audi received engines like the 2.0 TFSI, a 125 kW (170 hp), two new 2.8-liter FSI engines: the 140 kW (190 hp) or the 162 kW (220 hp), 3.0 TFSI with 213 kW (290 hp) and the astonishing 4.2 FSI, a 257 kW (350 hp) V8 engine. Pricing starts at 34,200 Euros or $50,985 for the A6 2.0 TFSI sedan.
The line between video games and reality is becoming more and more blurred. Earlier this month Polyphony Digital, the team that puts together the Gran Turismo series of games, offered a test drive of the Lotus Evora in Gran Turismo 5. Now the team has gone a step further and has put together a commercial of sorts featuring the Ferrari California going for a drive in landmark areas. Watch, enjoy, and question reality.
Hyundai has been trying to shake the image of providing a low quality product since the first round of cars was introduced to the U.S. in 1985 (the first generation Excel looked, felt and drove like it was assembled by preschoolers.) Since then it has taken great steps to improve all quality on its cars, and now it seems the big boys might be taking notice. Hyundai can confirm that General Motors and Toyota were some of the first to line up to buy one of the 800 Genesis sedans in its first month of sales.
This is nothing new. All car companies keep a fleet of the competition to compare and dissect, but what makes this news is how quickly the two auto giants snatched up the new car. The Genesis is Hyundai’s first attempt at large luxury car for a low price, and Hyundai hopes this is the final shift into full legitimacy with all of the American public.
TopSpeed currently has the 2008 Hyundai Santa Fe in our fleet, and we will be bringing you a full report on how Hyundai is doing in there quest for quality in the upcoming weeks.
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