| Convertibles open for summer business | | Posted Friday, November 03, 2006 2:47:28 AM by Blog57 Team | | The clocks may not yet have gone back an hour, but the Sydney motor show proved that summer's just around the corner with a strong line-up of brand new convertibles. Eight new sun-worshipping vehicles debuted at this year's show - the Alfa Romeo Spider, Audi RS4 Cabriolet, Bentley Continental GTC, BMW M6 Convertible, Ford Focus CC, Holden Astra TwinTop, Volkswagen Eos, and Volvo C70. Bentley's drop-top version of its Continental range will be the most expensive of the new arrivals, priced around $400,000 when it goes on sale locally in early 2007. Audi and BMW both turn up the heat in the performance-cabriolet market with their respective RS4 Cabriolet and M6 Convertible models. The Audi's 4.2-litre V8 delivers 309kW of power and propels the $187,500 RS4 open-seater, which goes on sale in January, guaranteed to be a rare car on Australian roads with only 25 models being made available.... | |
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| | | Porsche to add 10 new models by 2010 | | Posted Tuesday, October 10, 2006 10:46:09 PM by Blog57 Team | | If you were thinking that Porsche is nothing more than the 911 company, well then you have to know that sources inside Porsche have confirmed that Porsche is set to launch 10 new models by the end of 2010. Some of them are varianrs of the existing 997-series 911, but the others "will take the company into new and possibly controversial market niches." Porsche's new models: 911 Turbo Cabriolet: the coupe 911 Turbo is powered by a 3.6 liter flat-six engine with an output of 473 hp and 457 lbs-ft of torque. The convertible version will probably take a few tenths longer to get to 60, but should exceed the 996 Turbo Cabrio's 191-mph top speed, so it can compete with models like Bentley Continental GTC. 911 Targa: the 997 Targa will have a large glass panel that retains the car's roof rails between the pillars for better structural rigidity .... | |
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| | | Why the Big 3 German Companies if looked at together, are a major force | | Posted Sunday, September 17, 2006 6:45:50 PM by Blog57 Team | | The Big German 3 are Audi, BMW and Mercedes.Audi is known for their hallmark interiors. Audi interiors in every class ranging from the A3, A4, A6, A8, TT and Q7 set the standard. Aud's expertise in this specific category is so great that even Lamborghini (owned by Audi) has been praised with wonderful interiors for the Gallardo and Murcielago. Lamborghini features identical Audi HVAC controls and switchgear.The Audi A8 is truly blessed with a simpy amazing interior. The A8 interior is ergonomically best in class and the MMI is the most intuitive out of Mercedes' COMAND and BMW's iDrive. Not to mention the quality of the interior and variety of textures creates a harmonious interior which can't be found in any other car this side of a Bentley.Audi is the leader when it comes to interiors. In fact this statement is so true that I had asked for members of this forum to provide an article, review or test regarding a Model Year 2000 or later Audi which had an ergonomically poor, cheap feeling and un-intuitive interior.... | |
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| | | Driver's News: Aston, Nissan and Bentley | | Posted Tuesday, September 12, 2006 8:45:58 AM by Blog57 Team | | In a briefly worded release on Thursday, Ford put into motion a next, deeper phase of its Way Forward plan by announcing its interest in selling Aston Martin. The ultra-luxury brand could be sold in part or in whole, according to the release. No interested parties have announced themselves but recent reports in theDetroit newspapers suggest that former Ford CEO Jac Nasser could be among those seeking, with capital backing, to acquire the brand. RELEASE: Ford Mulling Aston Sale (8/31/2006) Arnage Bumps Up Horsepower for '07 Even the richest motorists need reason to get excited about a new model year, and Bentley is hoping to hook potential buyers with some significant updates to its top-line sedan. With prices ranging from $220,000 to $250,000, the Arnage is definitely not a car for everyone.... | |
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| | | Men need a little va-va-voom in life | | Posted Friday, August 18, 2006 8:45:49 AM by Blog57 Team | | WHAT is it about men and motors? Ever since Henry Ford rolled out his first Model T almost a century ago, the automobile has been a particularly male obsession and I should know. In the dim and distant past STV asked me to present a motoring series. To this day it remains one of the happiest episodes of my life. After completing an advanced driving course at Knockhill, a producer handed me the keys to a Porsche and told me to a spend the weekend getting used to driving performance motor cars. I slept with the keys under my pillow every night and dreamed of understeer, power slides and torque. .... | |
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| | | Mercedes-Benz SLR McLaren captures London Land Speed Record | | Posted Wednesday, August 16, 2006 10:45:45 PM by Blog57 Team | | Weekly British automotive mag Autocar recently shut down the London City Airport because they wanted to find out what car was the fastest in London. Amidst a field that included hometown hero Bentley's Continental Flying Spur, as well as a Ford GT (it lost to the British-built SLR by nary 1.4 mph, fix!), Corvette Z06, Shelby Daytona Cobra, Porsche 911 Turbo, BMW M6, Alpina B5, and Vauxhall Maloo, the SLR McLaren was able to post the fastest time of 175.7 mph on the one-mile long airport runway. No word on how fast the bike in picture went, though. Read Article .... | |
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| | | Blue heaven - we drive Bentley's R3m Azure | | Posted Wednesday, July 26, 2006 12:53:11 PM by Blog57 Team | | Bentley has a neat way of summing up its position in the luxury-car market. If a Rolls-Royce is something you're driven in, it says, Bentleys are cars that you actually drive. Both brands demonstrate your considerable wealth; only one will also command "respect" from the grubby proletariat. This thinking underpins the latest addition to its gas-guzzling range. The Azure is classically swanky. It will cost 222 500 - about R3-million - including taxes in the UK and a mind-boggling R5.5-million in South Africa. It oozes burnished wood, chrome, and baby-soft leather, but for all the expensive trimmings, one thing sets it apart from your ordinary plutocrat's saloon: it doesn't have a roof .... | |
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| | | Audi to Put Diesel in TT, Scirocco? | | Posted Monday, July 24, 2006 10:45:57 PM by Blog57 Team | | One of the first beneficiaries of Audi's new, diesels-are-cool brand message -- led by its R10 LeMans racer -- will be the TT, says AutoWeek. The powerplant in question won't be one of the company's larger furnaces, like its 2.7- or 3.0-liter, which can't be shoehorned into the TT's engine bay. Instead, it'll be a 2.0-liter, common-rail four from Volkswagen. That motor will have to get a serious turbocharging, considering it currently tops out at 140 hp, and will likely be shared with the Scirocco, which, word is, will get a tuned diesel as well, when it debuts for the 2008 model year. Audi hopes to cash in on success of R10 by offering diesel engine in TT [AutoWeek] Related: More on the Audi TT, new Scirocco .... | |
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| | | Apathy is diesel's biggest challenge | | Posted Monday, July 03, 2006 8:46:12 AM by Blog57 Team | | Those Hurricanes and Oilers sure put on a show, didn't they? Fast-paced, hard-hitting and each game more nail-bitingly close than the last. Just one year after the lockout had us all worrying that the days of captivating hockey were long gone, our national game has come roaring back stronger than ever. Canada was once again captivated by a bunch of straggly-bearded, toothless goons on ice. Even Don Cherry seemed to love his fellow man, including Ron MacLean. The U.S. wasn't captivated, however. Except for Raleigh, N.C., the exciting final was completely ignored south of the 49th, Jay Leno barely squeezing in one joke on how pathetic hockey's infiltration into the U.S. psyche is. The Outdoor Life Network's hockey coverage was barely a blip in Neilsen's rating, outshone by ET's explosive coverage of Paris Hilton reversing her Range Rover into a Civic in an underground parking lot and Anderson Cooper's riveting revelations that Angelina Jolie is going to adopt yet another child, though from which war-torn and strife-stricken nation she has yet to determine.... | |
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| | | In the digital age, 'car-parazzi' kids chase down exotic autos | | Posted Sunday, July 02, 2006 6:56:30 AM by Blog57 Team | | BEVERLY HILLS, Calif. -- Spyder Dobrofsky, his younger brother, and four friends tumbled out of his mother's Ford Explorer on a recent Sunday in Beverly Hills, sprinting down Rodeo Drive, video cameras in hand. It didn't take them long to find what they were looking for: ``Oh, Turbo! Porsche 911 Turbo!" said Spyder, 14, lifting his camera. Another boy shouted from behind, ``Bentley! Bentley! Flying Spur!" Before they could capture the four-door luxury sedan, another member of the team spotted a dark gray Aston Martin Vanquish. The gangly boys in baggy T-shirts ran after the $240,000 car and found it parked at an eyeglass store. They surrounded the vehicle, each boy holding a camera. In silence, they paced around the auto, bending down to catch the grill, rims, lights, and even the winged emblem on the hood.... | |
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