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Toronto 2010: Pfaff Tuning Shows Off Matte-Black R8 and Champion Motorsport Porsche Carrera
With what might be the largest Porsche dealer in Canada, Pfaff also has a tuning department, dedicated to giving more power and performance to customer’s who demand more from their car. And apparently, Pfaff also likes to deliver more style, showing off both a matte-black Audi R8, as well as a matte-black Carrera C4S. The…
Toronto 2010: A Closer Look at Volkswagen’s New Compact Coupe Hybrid Concept
Without the media-day crowds of bigger shows, the Canadian International Auto Show in Toronto allows for some pretty-incredible access to important new vehicles – like Volkswagen’s New Compact Coupe NCC) Concept. There’s no new news about the NCC hybrid, which debuted six weeks ago at the Detroit Auto Show, using a 1.4-liter turbocharged 4-cylinder making…
Toronto 2010: Up Close and Personal With the Abarth 500 at the Canadian International Auto Show
With the Chicago Auto Show just the day before, there’s not a lot of point in covering the Toronto Auto Show, except for the fact that it often allows a much closer look at new and upcoming models. Chicago is already low-key but the media day at the Canadian International Auto Show is sparsely attended…
Chicago 2010: Mercedes CLS Grand Edition Gets Matte-Platinum Paint
Mercedes didn’t hold a press conference at the Chicago Auto Show, so it obviously had nothing of interest, right? Wrong. Besides the fact that there’s a new SLS exotic to drool over, Mercedes was showing off a limited CLS Grand Edition model. Painted in matte-gray, or what Mercedes calls Desigo matte-platinum, this CLS550 is just…
Audi A1 Officially Unveiled as MINI Cooper Rival for Europe
Audi has just released info and photos on its new sub-compact premium model, the A1. Designed to rival the MINI Cooper, the A1 features Audi’s new trademark oversized grille, although from other angles it’s noticeably less cool. Size-wise it is quite small at just 155.5-inches in length (with a 97.2-inch wheelbase), 68.5-inches wider and 56-inches…
Geneva Preview: 2011 Volvo S60 Set to Debut With 300-hp T6 Engine
Volvo will debut its new 2011 S60 model at the Geneva Auto Show this March, just over a year since the S60 concept first appeared at the Detroit Auto Show back in 2009 and a decade after the original S60 was introduced. Like modern Volvo’s the car retains much of its swoopy style, with the…
2011 BMW X5 Gets All Turbo Engines, $46,675 Base Price
BMW has just released information and pricing on the refreshed 2011 X5 model, with an impressive new base engine and base price. For 2011 the old 3.0-liter straight six and xDrive30i model is replaced by BMW’s single-turbo six and xDrive35i model making 300-hp. This is enough to deliver a respectable 6.4 second to 60 mph…
Geneva Preview: 2011 Porsche 911 Turbo S Gets 530-hp
As expected, after delivering the 911 Turbo and then producing an updated model with 530-hp, the German sports car experts at Porsche have now revealed the 911 Turbo S with 530-hp – the very same amount produced by the GT2. Using the same twin-turbo flat six, torque has also been upped to 516 ft-lbs enabling…
Audi SuperBowl Ad Revealed With “Green Police” and the A3 TDI
Audi has just unveiled the complete version of its 2010 SuperBowl ad featuring the A3 TDI. The gist of the commercial is that the Green Police are out arresting regular folks doing regular things that are bad for the environment, like throwing out compost, using plastic bags for groceries or using incandescent light bulbs. At…
Kansas City Man Wins MINI Convertible Challenge for Most Hours Clocked Top-Down
Easily the biggest gimmick on the new MINI convertible models is the Openometer. The what? Well, the Openometer is a gauge just like all the other gauges you might find on a car’s dash, but on the MINI convertible models it measures how long the owner has driven with the top down. To help promote…
Ferrari 599XX Makes Track Debut in Valencia, With Felipe Massa Behind the Wheel
Ferrari’s latest track-only machine, the 599XX, has finally made its debut on the tarmac, at Valencia’s Ricardo Tormo circuit in Spain. Driving the car for the first time was F1 pilot Felipe Massa, who commented: “I really enjoyed testing this car, I think it’s extremely powerful and has an exceptional stability. Considering that it has…
BMW, Peugeot Citroen Extend Partnership to Build New 4-Cylinder Engines
BMW and French automaker Peugeot Citroen have signed a new agreement to work together to develop a new generation of improved 4-cylinder engines. The new powerplants will be used in BMW’s MINI lineup as well as in Peugeot’s 207 and Citroen’s C3 Picaso. BMW recently made several changes to the 2010 versions of the engines…
Geneva Preview: ABT Sportsline to Show Light-Weight Audi R8 GTR With 600-hp
Germany’s largest and best-known Audi/VW-tuner ABT Sportsline will display three finely-tuned new models, as well as an even more hard-core version of the V10-powered R8 5.2. Called the ABT R8 GTR, this German exotic is based off the modified R8 5.2 that ABT brought to Geneva last year, and boasts the same V10 under the…
Report: Feds Forced Out Russian Backer in Spyker’s Saab Bid Due to Mafia Ties
The sale of Saab to Spyker was delayed due to suspicions that one of the Dutch exotic car maker’s major shareholders had ties to the Russian mafia. According to a recent report by Swedish newspaper Dagens Industri, the Swedish security force Sapo investigated former Spyker shareholder Alexander Antonov and determined that there was “strong suspicion”…
Report: BMW Bringing Two New Small Cars to Market by 2014
BMW is planning to bring two new small cars to market that will slot in under the current 1 Series, by 2014. According to Auto Motor und Sport, the first model is an electric city car (that BMW has already said is coming), which will use the electric motor shown in the ActiveE Concept (shown…
Report: New Saab 9-3 Coming in 2012
With Saab having just been saved by Dutch automaker Spyker, the new Saab Spyker Automobiles company has confirmed that it will deliver a new 9-3 model to market in 2012. The current 9-3 has been in production since 2002, meaning that by the time the third-generation of Saab’s volume seller arrives, the current model will…
Report: BMW Vision EfficientDynamics Headed for Production in 2013
A senior BMW official has confirmed that the wild Vision EfficientDynamics turbo-diesel plug-in hybrid is headed for production. BMW showed the concept at the Frankfurt Auto Show last year where it received an overwhelmingly positive reaction. As reported by InsideLine, BMW has not confirmed if in fact the hybrid sports car will retain its 3-cylinder…
Report: Mercedes SLS AMG Marketing Campaign to Include Schumacher, iPhone App
It’s not likely to help sell a single car, but Mercedes-Benz has just kicked-off a marketing effort in Europe for the new SLS AMG exotic which will help draw attention to the brand as a whole. Included in the new campaign, Mercedes asks the question, that with an engine, a cockpit and two wings, “Is…
Geneva Preview: Ferrari Readying 599 Hybrid Concept
Ferrari will show a hybrid concept at the Geneva Auto Show, based on the Italian automaker’s 599 flagship. Ferrari CEO Luca di Montezemolo made the announcement while unveiling the company’s latest Formula One race car. Di Montezemolo also stated that this prototype is slated for production but did not give any timeline. Ferrari has been…
Report: Porsche Officially Confirms Baby Boxster Under Consideration
Porsche has officially confirmed that it is looking at bringing a baby Boxster model to market. Rumored to have been in the works for some time, VW Chairman Dr. Martin Winterkorn told the U.K.’s Autocar that such a sports car is under considreration. When pressed on the issue, Winterkorn responded; “Let’s just say we do…
Report: 2011 BMW X6 Gets New Single-Turbo Engine, 8-Speed Transmission
The latest BMW model to toss the old twin-turbo 3.0-liter inline-six in favor of the new N55 single turbo version is the X6. Starting in 2011, the X6 xDrive35i will get the new N55 engine, which BMW claims is lighter than the outgoing model, while delivering better acceleration and improved fuel economy. In the X6…
Report: MINI Countryman JCW “Definitely Under Consideration”
A high-performance version of the MINI Countryman crossover is “definitely under consideration” says MINI U.K.’s general manager Jochen Goller. Only recently did MINI officially confirm the Countryman model which is expected to make its word debut at the Geneva Auto Show in March. Currently the MINI Cooper S Countryman boasts the highest output with 184-hp….
Report: Volkswagen Jetta R Model Under Consideration
With the launch of the Golf R, Volkswagen is considering a Jetta R model that will help expand the brand’s soon-to-be-launched high-performance R division. This new Jetta R won’t be based on the current Jetta platform but on the all-new Jetta, which is known as the New Compact Sedan. The look of the car was…
MINI John Cooper Works Challenge Edition Launches in Australia
We can’t say we’re surprised to learn that MINI has decided to introduce a John Cooper Works Challenge Edition model, but we are a little shocked to learn that it’s exclusive to Australia. The Challenge Edition essentially takes all that’s good about the JCW model, including the stiffer suspension, bigger wheels and more powerful 208-hp…
