Future cars: 2012

Saturday, February 25, 2012

Spy Shots: BMW's Answer to the Audi A5 Sportback is the 3-Series Gran Turismo

You just got to hand it to die Deutschen for their imagination and über clever marketing tactics.

What Japanese carmakers simply called liftbacks and the French didn't even bother naming differently as most of their family cars featured a sloping tailgate anyway (Citroen BX, Renault 25 etc.), the Germans came up with all sorts of fancy names.

For example, Audi calls its five-door vehicles with a top-hinged liftgate "Sportback" while BMW went one-step further baptizing its own lineup with the sporty sounding "Gran Turismo" moniker, which is a smart move if you think about it. I mean, would you be interested in a car called the 3-Series Liftback GLi?

We're not saying it doesn't happen, but it's not that often you see a door coming off a car during a race without the vehicle coming in contact with another racer.

One such incident took place at last weekend's Losail International Race Days in Doha, which is Qatar's largest city, when race driver Rob Frijns bid farewell to the door of his Porsche 911 GT3 RS.

It looks amusing until the video switches to the dash-cam view of the driver following behind. As you can see, this could have easily turned very ugly…

If you weren't content with the patent images of Infiniti's new supercar concept that we showed you earlier this month, you'll be happy to know that the first official pictures of the study…emerged on the internet today, less than two weeks before its public debut at the 82nd Geneva International Auto Salon.

We will admit that we weren't exactly wowed by the patent renderings, but our opinion change after we laid eyes on the real photos of Infiniti Emerg-E concept.

The Japanese premium brand's study is an impressive looking supercar with what we could even dare to describe as an Italian finesse in its styling. Of course, you'll find Infiniti's latest styling cues such as the pinched rear quarter window and the bulbous front grille, but it all works out nicely.

Infiniti has said that the Emerg-E will be propelled by a mid-mounted range-extender drivetrain comprising an electric motor and an internal combustion engine.

18-wheeler Flips Over and Squashes Chevy Cruze, Driver Makes it Out Injured but Alive

A male driver of a rental Chevrolet Cruze was involved in what can only be described as a nightmare scenario for any road user when an 18-wheeler truck loaded with cardboard boxes flipped on its side and landed on top of the compact sedan.

The accident took place in the northbound lanes of the Dallas North Tollway in Texas in the late morning hours of Thursday.

The large rig also knocked over the concrete center barrier and hit another vehicle, a black Volkswagen Touareg, hurling it over the median and onto the other side of the road.

Famed aftermarket and motorsport specialist HKS has released a new video of the Toyota 86 race car it is working on to participate in the 2012 season of Japan's D1 Grand Prix production car drifting competition. The new clip shows the 86 being tested on the dyno.

As well as the motorsports version of the 86, which you should know by now is a sister model to the Scion FR-S and Subaru BRZ rear-wheel drive coupes, the Japanese company is also preparing a raft of tuning parts for the production model.

If you've never heard the name Melkus before, we won't blame you. The German company founded by race driver Heinz Melkus started building racing and sports cars in the mid-1950s before closing shop in 1986 only to reopen again in the 1990s by Heinz's son Peter.

Currently, the company's sole model is the RS2000, the range of which is being expanded with the addition of the new Black Edition variant.

There's no prize for guessing where it's name comes from. We'll just note that according to Melkus, this is no ordinary black paint job but a special black lacquer finish that requires six layers with each layer being sanded separately. The exterior upgrades also include a carbon-fiber bodykit.

Fiat CEO Sergio Marchionne may have succeeded in signing a deal with the Italian worker unions, yet decreasing demand in the struggling European market may still force him to take extreme measures.

And while Marchionne does not expect the situation in Europe to improve “at least until 2014", on the other side of the pond, he said that Chrysler's plants are already at full capacity, necessitating imports from the group’s factories in Canada, Mexico or Europe to satisfy a third of U.S. demand.

Therefore, as he told Italian newspaper Corriere della Sera, it’s a perfect opportunity for Fiat’s Italian plants to increase their production and make up for the drop in local demand by exporting models to the States.

Granted, no one is expecting miracles in less than six hours when you're working on a beater 1972 Chevrolet Chevelle you just picked up from Craigslist, but Doug Glad and the Car Craft crew proved that that it is possible to turn it into what they describe as a "respectable street machine" in this new episode of Hot Road Unlimited.

You can watch the video for yourself right after the break.

Mazda has released UK pricing for its updated compact hatchback that's available for orders now. The 2012 Mazda3 starts from £13,495 for the 1.6 TS model, however, the price includes a special £2,300 saving that ends on March 31. The regular OTR price will then be £14,795.

The revised five-door Mazda3 has improved aerodynamics (Cd 0.29) and is distinguished on the outside by the tweaked front fascia, new rear bumper and twist-spoke alloy wheels.

This past Wednesday, Lotus sent us an invitation to take part in the world premiere of a "special edition of a special edition" Evora at the 2012 Geneva Motor Show.

The company's invitation noted that the car would be an F1-inspired version of the limited-edition Lotus Evora GTE first shown at the Frankfurt auto show last year. This

"We're launching a special edition of a special edition, and to make things extra special our Lotus F1 Team driver Kimi Raikkonen will be there to field questions. Now, it doesn’t get more special than that…," read the British automaker's invitation.

Lotus did not release any photos of the car leaving us more or less in the dark, but today, Patrick Garcia from French auto site Caradisiac, sent us these photos of an F1-themed Evora that he discovered at a parking lot during a trip to Jerez to cover the F1 pre-season testing earlier this month.

Classy but at the same time dramatic and seductive, the tango is an impressive dance that was born in the 19th century along the shores of the Rio de la Plata in Buenos Aires, Argentina and Montevideo, Uruguay, but has since spread throughout the world.

Nice, but what has the tango got to do with the automotive world, we hear you ask?

Well, not much, unless you have an extremely talented pair of drivers that can successfully recreate the dance steps using an older generation Subaru Impreza hatchback and a UAZ Patriot SUV as their partners. See how it turned in the video that follows.

A couple of weeks ago, famed Italian coachbuilder and design house Bertone published two vague sketches of a new concept named after the son of the founder of the company, Giuseppe "Nuccio" Bertone, that will be officially revealed at the Geneva motor show next month.

Now, Bertone has issued three new renderings that clearly depict the shape and styling of the Nuccio Concept while also providing some initial facts on the car.

The car Henry Ford II described as the most beautiful Italian vehicle he had ever seen, has inspired the creation of a new concept model called the Cisitalia 202 E, which will be unveiled in the flesh at the 82nd Geneva International Auto Salon this March.

Following the release of the first renderings, IED has published more details on the modern day Cisitalia 202, which is the work of eleven students of the Master course coordinated by Pininfarina Lead Designer Luca Borgogno and Maserati designer Luigi Giampaolo.

After watching this video of a man in a Renault Clio driving for miles on end on the wrong way of a highway in Scotland, we can say that without any doubt, the person behind the steering wheel of the French supermini has some loose nuts in his head.

Given the speed he is traveling at, it's actually a miracle that he wasn't involved in a very serious accident. The video footage adorned with some NSFW commentary from the blokes filming the Renault driver follows after the break.

The two-seater replacement for Ferrari's 599 GTB Fiorano, which will likely be called christened the F620 GT, wasn't supposed to come out in the open before February 29, as stated in the company's teaser videos.

However, we don't have to wait that long for our first look at Ferrari's new supercar model as a reader of GTSpirit was able to take a quick shot of the car during what appears to be some sort of a presentation.

The new model adopts a similar design language to the Ferrari FF with curved fenders and a large grille up front, behind which you'll find what the Italian automaker describes as the most powerful engine ever to be used in a regular production Ferrari.

It was rumored for a long time that Land Rover was mulling the development of an open-top version of its Range Rover Evoque crossover and now, the British automaker has lifted the wraps off a concept version ahead of its public debut at the Geneva Motor Show in March.

As it seems, Land Rover wants to measure reactions at a couple of international events that will very likely include the New York Auto Show in April before it gives the green light for the production model, which could follow as early as next year.

In order to encourage carpooling and decrease traffic congestion, the State of California came up with the idea of creating the so-called High Occupancy Vehicle lanes or HOV for short, which could only be used by cars with two or more occupants.

Last July, however, the Golden State altered the regulations allowing single-passenger vehicles to use them as well, provided they were all-electric or powered by hydrogen fuel cells or natural gas.

Despite being a hybrid, the Volt was excluded from the list specifying the vehicles allowed to use the HOV lanes, which span more than 1,400 miles and reduce driving time by an average of 36 minutes each day, because of its emissions.

We will get our first opportunity to see the production version of the Yaris Hybrid at the 82nd Geneva Auto Salon in March, but prior to that, Toyota today announced pricing for the UK market and also gave out details on its fuel economy and emissions levels.

The new Yaris Hybrid is available for pre-order from Toyota showrooms in Britain now with an on-the-road price of "less than £15,000" with customer deliveries to commence from July 1.

In comparison, pricing for the regular, 99hp 1.33-liter gasoline powered Yaris ranges from £13,260 to £15,385, while the 90hp 1.4-liter diesel from £14,260 to £14,760.

The revised RS5 Coupe is the subject of Audi of America's newest promotional video that depicts the crown jewel of the firm's extended A5 lineup deep in the desert.

The RS5 is motivated by a 4.2-liter V8 that delivers 450 horsepower and is matched to seven-speed S tronic transmission with launch control program that transmits power to all four wheels through Audi's quattro system.

Ingolstadt's answer to the BMW M3 Coupe will launch in the U.S. this year.

Less than 24 hours after bringing you the first pictures of the DS4R that were leaked onto the web on Thursday, Citroën released official images of the concept model that will be make its world premiere at the 82nd Geneva Motor Show in early March.

As reported, the DS4 Racing Concept is powered by a tuned version of the 1.6-liter turbocharged engine found in many of the PSA Peugeot-Citreon group models and which was developed in conjunction with the BMW Group.

In the DS4 R concept, it puts out a whopping 256 HP – that's 160 HP per liter, which Citroen says is a record for a mass-production car. At the same time, despite its high output, CO2 emissions are just 155 g/km.

Like the DS3 R that kicked off the French firm's “Racing” performance line, the DS4R study makes its presence felt with a ground effects kit that includes tweaked bumpers with large air intakes on the front, carbon fiber trim on the grille, a diffuser at the rear, wheel-arch extensions and side sills.

According to most purists, a BMW sports coupe or convertible are supposed to have a smooth gasoline engine –preferably an inline-six- mounted up front and sending power to the wheels at the back.

The new 640d xDrive Coupe and Convertible that will debut at the Geneva Motor Show next month ticks only one of those boxes: the straight-six found under the hood. However, it's not fed by gasoline but by diesel fuel and it channels power to all four wheels.

It's not the first diesel-powered 6-Series as that taboo was broken by the previous generation model, but it's the first to combine an oil-burner with BMW's electronically controlled all-wheel drive system.

We told you the story and showed you the spy pictures, but today, BMW officially revealed the new M135i sports hatch, ahead of its world premiere at the Geneva Motor Show.

Despite the fact that the Bavarian company is calling it a concept, it's not hard to see that the M135i is essentially ready to enter production, which it will within the next year.

Aside from previewing the next member of BMW's new M Performance range, the M135i also gives us our first look at the three-door version of the latest 1-Series range, which is currently available only in five-door form.

BMW's answer to the Audi RS3 is the first M Performance car with a gasoline and not a diesel engine. Under the hood lies a 3.0-liter Twin Power Turbo straight-six that BMW says delivers "more than 300 HP". Our sources state that it will produce 320-horsepower in production trim.

Honda has releases the first photos of the CR-V Prototype (nee production-ready), which previews the European version of the crossover model and which will be displayed at the company's Geneva Motor Show stand.

The fourth generation of the Japanese manufacturer's compact SUV, which has already gone on sale in North America, Japan and other parts of the world, won't be available in Europe until the coming autumn.

GM Tells Carscoop No LED Tail Lamps for North American Camaro

After we posted the poll on whether you prefer the updated European market 2012 Chevrolet Camaro with its LED taillights to the original model, we sent an email over to General Motors asking if the company had any plans to apply some or all of the upgrades to the North American version.

A Chevrolet spokesperson replied in an email that the automaker has no such plans and that a number of these changes were made to the European Camaro in order to meet local regulations.

"There are some minor changes between North American Camaro and cars for export markets," a Chevrolet spokesman told Carscoop. "Often, there are even variations between markets, to meet regional requirements. And, no, these changes will not be integrated into the U.S. Camaro."

The teenage boy that wrecked his father's brand-new $60,000 Ford Mustang GT (equipped with an Eleanor Package) in 2006 by driving it through a garage only minutes after a salesperson brought the car to his house, has received his so-called "Web Redemption" on Daniel Tosh's show on Comedy Central.

If for whatever reason you missed the said episode but want to know the backstory of Joey's highly publicized crash some six years after it happened, all you need to do is follow the break and watch the extended version in the video.

Lamborghini has reaffirmed its plans to unveil an SUV concept at the upcoming Beijing Auto Show in April. The Italian company said that the reason why it opted for an SUV model is the car buyers’ preferences in China.

“Chinese customers love their big cars”, Christian Mastro, Lamborghini’s general manager for the Asia-Pacific region, told Bloomberg News. “All the brands are making cars more specific for the Chinese market.”

It’s a fact that has been noticed by other luxury carmakers, such as Bentley. VW Group’s other exclusive brand, will also unveil its first-ever SUV concept next month at the Geneva Motor Show. It plans to roll out the production version in 2015, one year ahead of Lamborghini’s successor to the 1980s LM 002.

A driver of a tourist bus wanted to play hardball with a rider of a small scooter during a road-rage incident, which presumably took place somewhere in Asia, but in the end, he only managed to make a fool of himself as he forgot to pull the handbrake on his vehicle!

Watch the incident from a dashboard camera of a nearby passenger car in the video that follows after the jump.

As with many other upcoming models that were scheduled for a debut at the 82nd Geneva International Auto Salon but fell victims to numerous leaks, the Citroën DS4 R was unceremoniously unveiled today after the first official pictures fell into the hands of an Eastern European website.

We don't know much officially about the Citroën DS4 R, whereas "R" stands for Racing, so we're not entirely sure if it's a showcar or the final production model, though the carbon fiber decoration on the front grille suggests it's the former.

With the market launch of the new F30 3-Series sedan well underway, there's no point of BMW overdoing it with the camouflage on the soon to be revealed Touring variant, a prototype of which was caught by our scoopers while testing in Europe.

These photos afford us our best view yet of the new 3-Series Touring that follows the practice of its predecessors choosing style over substance.

That doesn't mean you won't find a little more cargo room at the back which can be accessed easier thanks to the tailgate, but don't expect it to be a load-lugger in the traditional sense.

If you have been following the news in the U.S. these past few weeks, you will have no doubt noticed that all Republican presidential candidates have attacked the Obama administration for the way it handled the auto industry bailout.

Now it's time for President Obama's campaign to fight back through a new ad that will air on television this Friday but only in Michigan, ahead of the State's Republican presidential primary next week.

The ad is named "Made in America" and touts Obama's stance on the auto bailout bill while at the same time taking a jab at the GOP and especially Mitt Romney, showing the title of his November 2008 New York Times op-ed piece, "Let Detroit Go Bankrupt".

The new Italian supercar that will replace the 599 GTB Fiorano in Ferrari's lineup and which may or may not be named the F620 GT has been video teased for the second time this week.

Sadly, Ferrari's video teasers are of little worth, as we don’t get to see anything substantial about its new supercar model.

What Ferrari has told us is that the 599 GTB's replacement is that it will be the most powerful production model in its history and that it will be fully revealed on February 29, about a week ahead of its first public appearance at the 2012 Geneva Auto Salon.

If you still want to watch the video, you'll find it below the break.

You'll most likely remember Chevrolet's recent Super Bowl XLVI ad on the Silverado where it made fun of "Dave" who didn't make it to the rendezvous point with his friends after a post-apocalyptic catastrophe because he was driving a Ford F-150.

General Motors' move to take a swipe at the F-150 has found a follower as the Chrysler Group's Ram Trucks division has launched its own commercial poking some fun at the Ford pickup truck.

The ad starts by showing the Ram truck with a deep voice (doesn't it remind you of the garbled voices shouting "they took our jobs" in South Park?) in the background asking this question:

"What would happen if you were to take away 30-horsepower from a Ram 1500, remove 27 foot pounds of torque and subtract 40,000 miles from its powertrain limited warranty?" The same voice answers: "Well, you'd end up with a Ford F-150."

The seventh generation of the Volkswagen Golf is on its way with the world premiere planned for the Paris Auto Show in the fall of this year. But you already know about that.

Chances are you are also aware about the fact that it will be the second VW Group model after the upcoming Audi A3 to make use of the company's highly flexible and more lightweight or MQB platform, as well as a new version of the 1.4-liter TSI petrol engine with a cylinder deactivation system to further improve fuel economy and CO2 emissions.

If the motorcycle rider seen in this video had hit the women that just passed by or if he had been seriously hurt, it wouldn't have been a matter to laugh at, but given that he seems to okay having suffered only some minor injuries, we can't help but think of the famous British comedian Benny Hill and his hilarious sketches upon watching him hit the gate.

You'll find the video right past the break.

Joining ABT Sportsline at next month's Geneva Motor Show is another well-known tuning company from Germany, BMW-specialist AC Schnitzer.

The German tuner will use the Swiss auto show to present a variety of styling and performance parts for the new 2012 BMW 3-Series sedan, which is also known by its internal codename F30.

Reports of the death of the internal combustion engine have been greatly exaggerated. In 2011, hybrids and EVs like the Nissan Leaf and Chevy’s Volt made many headlines, though not always for the reasons the automakers would prefer.

The truth is that, despite all the publicity and the tax incentives, sales so far have been abysmal with Edmunds reporting that hybrids account for just 2.46 of the market and electric cars not even reaching one percent.

There are many reasons why new car buyers are not willing to shell out a lot of cash for zero-emissions vehicles. First of all, they are expensive and the gains from fuel costs come in the long-term, while the sticker price is immediately visible and clearly understood by everyone.

If there was ever an automotive equivalent to the admittedly annoying song "99 Bottles of Beer", this is it. Well, it may not be 99 cars, but 53 exotic models (or so that's the number quoted by the person who filmed the clip, but who is counting?) passing full throttle under a pair of bridges is something you don't get to see or hear very often.

Make the leap over the break to check out the video, which includes a great exotic supercar selection ranging from various Porsches, to Aston Martins and Ferraris.

We have a long way to go before the world adopts electric vehicles as the primary mode of transportation - if it does, that is, as we may see different technologies taking over down the road, but for now, both the industry and governments around the globe are making moves to promote their use with the masses.

And while mainstream consumers remain hesitant to accept electric vehicles, many people believe that they could at least provide a viable solution in certain segments.

A team from Romania consisting of automotive journalist Dan Scarlat, designer Marian Cilibeanu and engineer Cristian Ionescu, came up with an idea to create a modular hybrid concept vehicle called the SCI hyMod.

In theory, the vehicle would allow the driver to choose between two different propulsion systems, depending on his or her needs.

Wouldn't it be great if your regular Honda Civic hatch would look, sound and go like the new Civic Next Generation Touring Car (NGTC)? We mean, sure it would pose some problems in everyday use, but something tells us that those pesky morning rides to work would become far more entertaining...

However, back to reality, we found the first video footage of Honda UK's new BTCC racing model filmed during its shakedown at the Brands Hatch racing circuit in England, which you can watch right after the break.

Just be warned to turn down a notch the volume on your speakers cause thing is loud, really loud…

The Geneva Salon may not be the prime place for tuners, but it is one of the two most important motor shows in Europe together with the Frankfurt and Paris events that alternate each year, and as such, big players in the industry like ABT Sportsline always have something new to show.

At this year's event, ABT will debut several new tuned models including the Volkswagen Up! and Beetle, and the Audi AS6 Avant and QS3 crossover.

With only two weeks left for the grand opening of the 2012 edition of the Geneva Motor Show, Mercedes-Benz is commencing the official teasing phase of its next generation A-Class compact hatchback by dropping the first undisguised images of its Audi A3 and BMW 1-Series competitor.

The German automaker published two pictures of the new A-Class' interior, the center console and part of the dashboard of which look conspicuously similar to that of the latest B-Class small minivan that's already on sale in Europe.

Last night, the web went abuzz with a pint size photo of a new Hot Wheels model allegedly depicting the upcoming 2013 SRT Viper sports coupe.

The picture was posted on Brazilian Hot Wheels enthusiast website T-Hunted alongside several other car models from the toy maker's 2012 lineup, but the news quickly spread around like wildfire to websites all over the world including Jalopnik and Autoblog.

Now, you might be wondering why we didn't post the story last night. Well, to be frank, we were not yet convinced about its authenticity so we set out to do our own research before telling you about it.

Set to make its first public outing at next month's 2012 Geneva Auto Salon is the new Hyundai i30 Wagon, which is the second addition to the Korean automaker's C-segment model after the new generation five-door hatchback that was presented at last year's Frankfurt Motor Show.

Before we get into more details, allow us to remind you that in North America, the i30 hatchback will be sold as the Elantra GT, while the previous generation i30 Wagon is marketed under the Elantra Touring nameplate.

As we're nearing closer to the BRZ's market launch, Subaru decided it was time to announce preliminary information on the UK-specification model. The Japanese company confirmed that the 200HP 2+2 seater coupe would be offered in Britain in three trim levels.

The as-of-yet unnamed top specification model will come with 17-inch alloy wheels, a torque-sensing LSD, front, side, curtain and knee airbags, MP3 connectivity, dual-zone climate control and LED daytime running lights, all fitted as standard.

Saturday, February 25, 2012

Friday, February 24, 2012

Thursday, February 23, 2012