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28 Mar, 2007

Hyundai Genesis attacks Lexus / Infiniti !

Shock ! Hyundai is introducing a rear-drive, V8-powered sedan in New York motor show. Calling Genesis, this car will bring Hyundai to the same territory as BMW, Mercedes, Audi and Lexus for the first time. It shows the company's ambition to migrate to higher price segments as a result of the raising production costs in Korea, something like Japanese car makers did in the late 1980s.

Measuring 5004mm long, 1862mm wide, 1490mm tall and running a 2936mm wheelbase, the Genesis is actually larger than a BMW 5-Series, but it will be priced to compete with BMW 3-Series. Entry level model is equipped with Azera's 3.8-liter DOHC VVT V6 (no power rating available now, but expect to be around 265hp) and Aisin 6-speed automatic transmission. It will start at US$30,000 in the USA market. However, the headline model is powered by Hyundai's first V8 engine, displaces 4.6 liters, with DOHC VVT to produce "over 300 horsepower and 300 pound-feet of torque". It mates with the superb ZF 6-speed automatic gearbox like BMW and Jaguar.

The rear-wheel-drive machine has a weight distribution of 53:47. Its chassis is said to be 12-14 percent stiffer in torsion than BMW 5-series, which was the benchmark during its development, yet weighs less. If this is true, then it will be very surprising because the BMW has a front structure made of aluminum while the Genesis is all-steel. Suspensions are 5-link front and rear.

Undoubtedly, the Hyundai offers up-to-date mechanicals, but there are hardly any innovations or special features to make it stand out from competitors. Obviously, Hyundai continues its usual strategy - follows the footprints of competitors and provides the same things at lower price. On the downside, the Genesis lacks its own character. This is particular true to its exterior design which was penned in Korea. From the photos, you can see a copycat to BMW 5-series, especially around the C-pillars and boot lid. The taillights copies that of the 3-Series coupe while the headlights and fascia are amazingly similar to Toyota Camry.

While the rising Hyundai is still unlike to threaten the established German premium brands, it could put pressure on Lexus and Infiniti. Now buyers wanting premium quality at reasonable price could shift their focus from Lexus GS350/430 and Infiniti G35 and M35/35 to Hyundai Genesis V6 / V8. Like Sony facing stiff competition from Samsung, the Japanese car makers will also face direct challenge from Korean.

28 Mar, 2007

Buick LaCrosse and Lucerne get V8

Left: LaCrosse Super; Right: Lucerne Super

Buick has introduced V8 version of its LaCrosse and Lucerne. They will be called LaCrosse Super and Lucerne Super respectively. The smaller and cheaper LaCrosse Super is powered by GM's small-block 5.3-liter ohv V8 like platform sister Pontiac Grand Prix GXP and Chevrolet Impala SS. The cheap V8 produces 300hp and 323 lbft of torque while its availability of cylinder deactivation means fuel consumption won't be too bad. Stiffer suspensions with Bilstein dampers, retuned steering and bigger brakes should lift handling, but whether its front-drive chassis can tame torque steer is another matter.

The more upmarket Lucerne Super is powered by the more sophisticated Northstar 4.6-liter DOHC V8, but its max output of 290hp and 288 lbft is actually smaller than the push-rod V8 employed by LaCrosse Super, but it is a slight improvement from the existing Lucerne CXS which uses a 275hp version of the same Northstar V8. The car has magnetic ride control as standard.

Outside, both Super models have a larger waterfall grille as their signature.

28 Mar, 2007

Industry News

Porsche's share in VW increased to 31%

Porsche has increased its share in Volkswagen AG from 27 percent to 30.94 percent, effectively taking control of the company.

Nanjing's MG brand reborn

Nanjing Motors has officially unveiled the first MG cars built in China. They consist of the MG TF roadster and a pair of "MG7 series" sedans (= MG ZT or Rover 75), one short wheelbase and one long wheelbase. Nanjing bought the production toolings and MG brand for 53 million pounds in 2005.

VW Golf production passed 25 million units

Production of Volkswagen Golf has passed the milestone of 25 million units on 23 March. The first generation of Golf was born in 1974 and today it is in the 5th generation.

23 Mar, 2007

M3 engine spec unveiled !

Toying with us for a couple of weeks, BMW has finally revealed the specifications of the M3 motor. As reported by AutoZine, the 90-degree V8 motor produces 420 horsepower and 295 lbft of torque (Bingo !). The displacement is 3999cc, thanks to a 92mm bore and 75.2mm stroke – the same as the V10 engine of M5 from which it is derived.

The V8 produces its max power at a sky-high 8300 rpm and has the cut-out set at 8400 rpm. It is the highest revving production V8 in the world – provided you do not count Ferrari F430's 8500rpm V8 as a production engine. Its max rev is 150 rpm higher than Audi RS4 and 400 rpm higher than the last generation M3. This high revving character is made possible by the short stroke, Nikasil cylinder coating and lightweight connecting rods made of steel / magnesium alloy (titanium is too expensive to BMW).

Less impressive is the torque figures, although BMW said its peak torque arrives at only 3900 rpm, at least 90% of which (or 265 lbft) available between 2500 and 8000 rpm and 85% of which (or 251 lbft) available from 2000-8400 rpm, it is still eclipsed by Audi RS4, which produces 317 lbft at 5500 rpm and at least 90% of the peak torque (or 285 lbft) from 2250-7600 rpm. Admittedly, the RS4 has an advantage of 200 extra c.c. and direct injection.

The V8 is very compact. With a cylinder spacing of 98mm, only 6mm is left between adjacent cylinders. This shortness allows the forged crankshaft to be made lighter and stronger. The fully dressed engine weighs 202 kilograms, some 38kg lighter than the V10. It is also 15 kg lighter than the last generation's 3.2-liter inline-6, mostly thanks to the switch to aluminum alloy cylinder block instead of cast iron block.

Like the V10, the M3's V8 runs a very high, 12.0:1 compression which is made possible by the use of advanced ion-current knock control system and a powerful 32-bit engine management system (this version calls MSS60). Individual throttle butterfly for each cylinder are also shared with the V10. The Double Vanos variable valve timing mechanism here has been modified to run at the regular oil pressure of the engine rather than requiring a high-pressure oil system. This saves weight as well as quickens its response.

The M3's new engine follows the 1-Series to introduce Brake Energy Regeneration. It disconnect the alternator normally and engage it to the engine only on demand. This lighten the load on the engine a little thus saves engine power. During braking, the alternator engages and charge up the battery for used by the electrical systems of the car.

Now we know the V8 is considerably more powerful (if not considerably more torquey) than the old straight-6 while it is also lighter. How much extra performance can these advantages translate into ? we are waiting for the full specifications of the M3 to know, especially its kerb weight.

Model	M3 E90	Audi RS4	M3 E46
Engine type	V8, 90-degree	V8, 90-degree	Inline-6
Material	All-alloy	All-alloy	Al head, iron block
Valvetrain	Dohc 32V, dual VVT	Dohc 32V, dual VVT	Dohc 24V, dual VVT
Fuel system	Indirect injection	FSI direct injection	Indirect injection
Capacity	3999 cc	4163 cc	3245 cc
Bore x stroke	92 x 75.2 mm	84.5 x 92.8 mm	87 x 91 mm
Compression	12.0:1	12.5:1	11.5:1
Power	420hp / 8300rpm	420hp / 7800rpm	343hp / 7900rpm
Torque	295lbft / 3900rpm	317lbft / 5500rpm	269lbft / 4900rpm
90% torque	265lbft / 2500-8000rpm	285lbft / 2250-7600rpm	?
Max rev	8400 rpm	8250 rpm	8000 rpm

22 Mar, 2007

Fiat 500

Fiat has released the first details for the new 500. Thankfully, the production 500 remains loyal to the 2004 show car Trepiuno – the winner of AutoZine's concept car of the year award – in terms of exterior design, that also gives it a visual link with the original Fiat 500 of 1957, especially the front end. It is derived from the platform of Panda, but is slightly larger (length: 3550mm vs 3538mm; width: 1650mm vs 1578mm; height: 1490mm vs 1540mm; wheelbase: both are 2300mm). However, as the new 500 is designed to be a funky iconic car like Mini, it is positioned between the Panda and Grande Punto in the price chart.

The new 500 shares the Panda's suspensions, steering and brakes, but its chassis is strengthened by 10 percent and its front crash structure has been redesigned due to the shorter front overhang. Engines include a 69hp 1.2-liter 8V, a 100hp 1.4-liter 16V (as in Panda 100HP) and a 75hp 1.3 16V Multijet turbo diesel. The 5-speed and 6-speed manual gearboxes are shared with Panda. Later on, we expect to see a 1.4T-JET turbo petrol with around 150hp for the Abarth version. At the lower end of the spectrum, an ultra-fuel-efficient 900cc twin-cylinder engine will be added in 2010.

The new 500 will go on sale this July. Production is taken place at Fiat's plant in Poland together with Panda. Fiat plans to sell 120,000 units in 2008 but if reaction is good, it could be stretched to 180,000 units annually easily. Fiat will also build a sister car for Ford at the same plant. It will be the next generation Ka.

22 Mar, 2007

Infiniti G37 Coupe

Prior to its official debut in New York motor show, details of the new Infiniti G37 Coupe has leaked to the internet. The new car has been reshaped to be more muscular and powered by a 3.7-liter V6 instead of the G35 sedan's 3.5-liter unit. The increased displacement is contributed by longer stroke. Moreover, this larger V6, codenamed VQ37VHR, features a continuously variable valve timing and lift system at the intake side, like BMW's (dying) Valvetronic but is said to be smaller, lighter and uses less parts. Besides, compression ratio has been raised to 11.0:1. This allows the new engine to pump out 330 hp and 270 lbft of torque (note: pre-SAE-certified), and it is capable to rev to 7500 rpm.

The car is equipped with 6-speed manual or 5-speed automatic transmission (with paddle shift). The chassis gains 36% in torsional rigidity compare with the old coupe. Suspension setting has been retuned. Like the sedan, 4-wheel-steering is optional.

22 Mar, 2007

Industry News

Cadillac V12 luxury car coming

GM product chief Bob Lutz recently revealed a top-of-the-range Cadillac is under development. The car will rival Mercedes S-class thus will sit higher than today's STS. Most significantly, it will use a V12 engine currently under development in Australia by Holden. Why Holden ? because to save cost, the engine is built by mating two Holden 3.6-liter Alloytech 60-degree V6 together. It will feature direct injection as in the new CTS. As the CTS will produce 300hp and 270 lbft of torque, some people estimate the 7.2-litre V12 will produce 600hp and 540 lbft – if calculation is really that simple. The car is built on a development from the Commodore's Zeta platform. Styling is likely to be inspired by the widely acclaimed Cadillac Sixteen concept car in 2003.

Bugatti boss left

Bugatti boss Thomas Bscher has left the company. It is believed that the resignation is due to his disagreement with VW group's new CEO Martin Winterkorn. Rumors said Bscher wanted to develop a second, cheaper model for Bugatti but Winterkorn did not agree. This mean Winterkorn may not want to keep the Bugatti division alive once the Veyron super run out of its time.

Following the leave of Bscher, Bugatti will be overseen by Bentley boss Franz-Josef Paefgen. Ridiculously, Paefgen was the head of Bugatti from 2003-2005. During that period he failed to sort out the problems of Veyron and put it into production thus he was replaced by Bscher. The latter finally did the job and brought us the world's fastest supercar.

Bscher is latest victim of Martin Winterkorn's iron management style. Since he replaced Bernd Pischetsreider as the group CEO, he got rid of Wolfgang Bernhard (VW brand group chairman and product chief) and Murat Gunak (Volkswagen design chief) and replaced most top posts with his Audi men.

12 Mar, 2007

Aston Martin sold, finally

After rounds of bidding and bargaining, Ford has finally announced the sale of Aston Martin to a consortium led by David Richards (the boss of Prodrive) and includes John Sinders (a banker and Aston Martin collector) and two Kuwaiti investment banks called "Investment Dar" and "Adeem Investment Co.". David Richards will be the chairman of Aston Martin, while Ulrich Bez will receive a contract for another 5 years as CEO of the company. The latter should be the best news because in the past 6 years Bez has been the key reason of the revival of Aston.

Ford will retain a minority share of around 10 percent and continue to supply V8 and V12 engines from its engine plant in Cologne, Germany. Aston Martin's Gaydon headquarters and factory and its 1800 employees will go to the new owners, of course. The sale is valued at £479 million or US$925 million, but US$77 million of which is the share retained by Ford, so the sale will return a net income of US$848 million for Ford to rescue its own business.

When announced the sale in Geneva motor show, Bez confirmed the company will add a new flagship model DBS next year (and it won't be the same as shown in the recent James Bond movie, which was no more than a restyled DB9) and put the Rapide concept car (the 4-door DB9) into production in 2009. The latter will be produced at a rate of 1000-2000 units per year. Bez also declared he aims to turn Aston into "the No. 1 prestige car company in the world". Since his joined the company, production had been raised from 800 units a year to 7010 units last year while the company finally made a profit. This is also why Ford can sell it for a price so high.

7 Mar, 2007

BMW M3 Concept

The wait is over. BMW finally unveils the new generation E90 M3 in Geneva motor show, albeit in concept form. However, the old M3 and M5 were also debuted in concept forms first and then went into production without much alteration, so expect the new production M3 will be nearly identical to this one.

At the moment, BMW declines to release full technical details, but according to well-informed German press, its high-revving V8 engine displaces between 4.0 and 4.2 liters and is likely to output 420 horsepower at around 8200 rpm, accompany with 295 lbft of torque. The V8 is derived from the V10 in M5, sharing the same bore center spacing and overall architecture is unchanged except with 2 fewer cylinders. The high efficiency is achieved by using Bi-Vanos, low friction and lightweight components. That said, all these technologies are familiar. BMW has yet to introduce direct injection to the M-power unit, unlike what Audi did to its RS4.

Channeling the power to the rear wheels is a standard 6-speed manual gearbox. Byebye SMG gearbox, as BMW will introduce double-clutch transmission soon. The rear axle will continue to rely on Variable M-differential to distribute the power between the rear wheels.

To house the bigger engine while comply with EU pedestrian protection regulations, the bonnet has added a powerdome. This will be an unmistakable feature of the new M3. Other highlights in the exterior include the side air vents (like the last generation), flared fenders, tiny boot spoiler, side skirts, rear diffusers and quad-exhaust pipes. The composite fenders add 20mm width to each side to house the 235/35ZR19 and 265/30ZR19 tires and provide wider tracks. The bonnet is made of aluminum, as before. Like the last generation M3 CSL as well as the current M6, the roof of the concept car is made of carbon-fiber reinforced plastic to reduce weight and lower center of gravity. Whether this expensive feature will be carried over to the production car is unknown, but I guess BMW won't raise your expectation unnecessarily and then scale back in the production car to disappoint you.

Overall, the new M3 looks cool and should deliver strong performance. 4.9 seconds will be the official claim for 0-62 mph. We expect the real car could take only 4.5 seconds or less to do 0-60 mph. Top speed is, of course, limited to 155 mph. There is plenty of rumour saying its real potential lies between 171 and 174 mph, but talking about top speed seems increasingly meaningless in the congested Autobahn.

Although the new M3 is way more powerful than the last 6-cylinder M3 (343hp), it can't beat the 420hp Audi RS4 and the forthcoming Mercedes C63 AMG, believed to produce 450-480hp. Suddenly you will find the M3 has lost its leading position in the premium sports sedan market.

7 Mar, 2007

Spyker C12 Zagato

Yesterday I came across the web site of Spyker and incidentally discovered their new car: C12 Zagato. This is a limited edition designed by Zagato, of course. It is based on the chassis of C12, that Audi W12-powered mid-engined supercar, and enclosed with Zagato's aluminum bodywork. The whole car weighs 1480 kg. As in C12, the 6.0-liter W12 engine produces 500 horsepower and 450 lbft of torque, enabling 0-62 mph in 3.8 seconds and a top speed of, depending on where you read, 193 mph (in the press release) or 199 mph (in the specification table). Seems that not only AutoZine needs proof reading. Only 24 cars will be built. First delivery is expected in March 2008. Spyker is now taking orders, each worth Euro 495,000. It's double the price of a Lamborghini LP640, but the exclusivity and unique Zagato design might just worth that.

7 Mar, 2007

Mazda 2

This is the new generation Mazda 2. It is a surprise to see it gave up the previous boxy look in pursue of a sporty appearance. Measuring 3885mm long, 1695mm wide, 1475mm tall, it is 40mm shorter, 15mm wider and 55mm lower than the outgoing generation. This should helps handling a lot. Although the wheelbase remains unchanged at 2490mm, we expect the cabin will be less roomy than the current car. Nevertheless, drivers must be delighted that the downsize and other weight saving measures cut 100 kg from its kerb weight, on the contrary to the industrial trend. This should bring quicker acceleration, especially when the new engines offer more power.

The base 1.3-liter 16V all-alloy engine gets variable valve timing as well as variable intake manifolds. It produces 75hp or 84hp depending on tune. Above that is a 1.5-liter version of the engine producing 104 horsepower.

The platform underpinning the car is developed by Mazda and will be shared with other models of the Ford empire, such as the next generation Ford Fiesta and Fusion. However, there is nothing surprising for its conventional design, such as front-wheel-drive, 5-speed gearbox, electrical power steering, strut and torsion-beam suspensions.

7 Mar, 2007

Renault Twingo

Following the concept car in last October's Paris motor show, the production Renault Twingo is making debut in Geneva show now. Style-wise, the new car is conservative compare with its monospace predecessor. Renault wants to play safe this time to make sure it makes profit under the stiff competition from Toyota Aygo, Fiat new 500 and Panda, Ford new Ka and Korean competitors. The car will be produced in its new factory in Slovenia to take advantage of lower labor costs. Besides, it will share some components and 80% of the production operations with the old Clio II produced in the same factory.

The new Twingo measures 3600mm long, 1654mm wide, 1470mm tall and runs a 2367mm wheelbase. It is significantly longer than the old car as a result of tougher crash regulations. Still, the cabin provides 26mm more headroom and 30mm more rear leg room to the passengers. The car has 2 individual rear seats which can slide fore and aft for a range of 220mm. In this way, the luggage volume varies from 165 liters to 285 liters. When both rear seats are folded, it can swallow some 959 liters, a remarkable figure. Long items can also be accommodated once the front passenger seat is folded. Apart from space, the new cabin offers plenty of features to appeal to young customers, such as i-Pod and Bluetooth connectivity.

The monocoque chassis rides on conventional MacPherson struts and torsion beam rear axle suspensions to save space and money. Most engines are cheap and well proven, such as the 60hp 1.2-liter 16V, 75hp 1.2-liter 16V and 65hp 1.5dCi turbo diesel. The only new engine, also the most interesting, is the 1.2 TCE (Turbo Control Efficiency) engine. It is based on the 1.2-litre 16V 75hp but added with a small turbocharger to produce 100 horsepower and 107 lbft of torque. A small overboost can take the output to 105hp and 111 lbft in case of need. Renault stressed that all versions emit carbon dioxide below the European 2008 target of 140g/km, while the diesel engine even emits less than 120g/km.

The old Twingo was born in 1993 and some 2.4 million units were sold. Despite of its success, Renault found it very difficult to develop the second generation as the call for increased crash protection and clean emission eat heavily into the profit. The new Twingo could have come earlier, but a couple of years ago group CEO Carlos Ghosn turned down the proposal because of costs reasons and ordered the engineers to develop a cheaper one, which is this one.

6 Mar, 2007

Opel GTC concept previews Vectra

Don't confuse this GTC with Astra GTC. It stands for Grand Turismo Concept instead of Grand Turismo Compact. The Vectra-size 4-seater coupe could be a successor to the late Opel Calibra, but the company claimed no intention to put it into production. Instead, GTC is a concept car previewing the styling direction of future models, especially the next generation Vectra to be debuted middle next year.

Styled under the direction of GME's new design chief, Bryan Nesbitt, the softer / fatter shape of GTC breaks away from the design theme of former design chief Martin Smith (who is revolutionizing Ford Europe now). I would say it is not striking enough.

The coupe is a running prototype. This mean its underpinning is probably taken directly from the next generation Vectra, whose specifications should be finalized already. If so, then its 2737mm wheelbase could also be shared with Vectra (the current Vectra measures 2700mm). The coupe's electronic-controlled 4WD system could also be applied to the future Vectra OPC. It has an electronically regulated multi-plate clutch to transfer the necessary torque to the rear wheels to optimize traction. The rear axle also gets an electronic controlled limited slip differential.

With enhanced traction, the GTC can be powered by a more powerful version of the current 2.8-litre turbocharged V6. It produces a full 300 horsepower instead of the current 255 hp. Maximum torque is 295 lbft arriving from only 1850 rpm to 4500 rpm. With 6-speed manual box, the GTC is claimed to do 0-60 mph in 5.8 seconds, which is a little conservative.

6 Mar, 2007

Bentley Brooklands

Bentley is going to produce just 550 units of this Brooklands coupe. It is derived from the Azure convertible thus the hardtop is free of B-pillars. The lack of soft roof storage also means the rear seats are more spacious than Azure. The car is very large, measuring 5.4 meters in length and you can safely assume it weighs between 2.5 and 3 tons. Nevermind, its 6.75-liter turbo V8 produces 530 horsepower and 774 lbft, exceeding the level of Arnage T (500hp / 738 lbft), so expect 0-60 mph can be done in 5 seconds or so.

6 Mar, 2007

Koenigsegg CCXR

Everybody is talking about eco-friendly power these days, even Swedish supercar specialist Koenigsegg is not in exception. In Geneva motor show, Koenigsegg announced a biofuel version of its CCX supercar, called CCXR. Its 4.7-litre supercharged V8 has been converted to drink E85 fuel (85% ethanol and 15% gasoline). However, it seems that Koengisegg's intention is to provide even more power and performance, as E85 helps cooling combustion chambers better than gasoline and its octane rating is well over 100 RON. As a result, the engine output increases dramatically from 806 horsepower to 1018 horsepower ! yes, it finally surpasses Bugatti Veyron ! although the 782 lbft of maximum torque is still 140 lbft less than the Bugatti. Strangely, no words have been said for its performance.

6 Mar, 2007

Volvo XC70

Following the debut of new generation V70, Volvo has renewed its offroader version XC70. As before, the XC70 is a V70 with increased ride height and tougher body clad to allow some offroad ability. Now its ride height is increased by 74mm to 210mm. The approach, breakover and departure angles have also been increased. Of course, the AWD system with electronic multi-plate clutch as torque split is compulsory in XC70. At launch there are only 2 engines available for choose: 238hp 3.2-litre straight six petrol and 185hp 2.4-litre D5 turbo diesel. However, considering the extra weight of the car, I think Volvo will introduce the turbocharged version of the straight-six soon.

6 Mar, 2007

Industry News

Noble M12 / M400 will be built in the US

UK sports car specialist Noble has stopped building its M12 / M400 sports car as it is preparing for the next generation model M15. However, it has sold the production rights of the cars to an American company, 1g Racing, based in Ohio. The latter can make modifications to the cars and sell them in its own names.

3 Mar, 2007

Audi A5 and S5 arrives

“The Audi A5 is the most beautiful car I have ever designed”, says Walter de’Silva.

The above statement is hardly convincing, at least from my eyes. From the photos, Audi's new 4-seater coupe is all about elegant detailing but lacks a beautiful shape to rival Mercedes CLS. It is claimed to be inspired by the highly acclaimed Nuvolari concept car, but at least from photos the visual link is as thin as waffle.

Measuring 4635mm long, 1854mm wide, 1369mm tall and 2751mm in wheelbase, the A5 rests between A4 and A6. That also explain why it is named A5. Unsurprisingly, the car is derived from the same platform as A4 and A6, sharing similar multi-link suspensions all round and a steel monocoque body (aluminum is used only for the front fenders). Smaller engine versions are FWD while others employ Quattro 4WD with 40/60 torque split front/rear.

However, unlike its cousins, to prevent from nose-heaviness it moved the front differential / axle forward. In A4 and A6, the front differential / axle is located between the clutch and gearbox. In A5, it is located between the engine and clutch. This mean the engine could be shifted rearward for a few inches in relation to the front axle, improving weight distribution and polar moment of inertia. Hopefully this will make the handling of A5 more competitive against BMW.

5 engines are available:

1.8 FSI turbo four-cylinder with 170hp
3.2 FSI V6 Valvelift with 265hp / 243 lbft
2.7 TDI V6 turbo diesel with 190hp
3.0 TDI V6 turbo diesel with 240hp / 369 lbft
4.2 FSI V8 with 354hp / 324 lbft.

The V8 is reserved for top model S5 and is only available with 6-speed manual gearbox at the moment. The petrol V6 and 2.7TDI can be mated with Multitronic CVT or 6-speed manual. No automatic gearbox is available now, implying Audi will introduce dual-clutch automated manual gearbox to longitudinal engines for the first time.

With manual gearbox, the A5 3.2 and S5 can accelerate from 0-60 mph in 5.9 seconds and 4.9 seconds respectively. However, the most impressive is the 3.0 diesel V6, which does that in 5.7 seconds.

3 Mar, 2007

Lamborghini Gallardo Superleggera

Ferrari has been highly successful in making the lightweight "Challenge Stradale" version of 360. F430 is also going to receive Challenge Stradale conversion next year. However, this time it won't have an easy life, because Lamborghini has introduced a similar lightweight version of Gallardo. It is called Gallardo Superleggera, or Superlight in English. Externally, the car can be distinguished from the regular Gallardo by the unique rear spoiler (the original Gallardo does not have any rear spoilers), which is made of carbon fiber. The car has undergone a diet to eliminate 100 kilograms of fat from the standard car's 1430 kg dry weight. That means a dry weight of 1330 kg or a kerb weight of around 1420 kg.

The reduction is implemented by converting many parts to carbon fiber, such as engine lid, diffusers, underbody panels, door inner panels, rear-view mirrors and central transmission tunnel. The glass screen on the engine lid has been converted to transparent polycarbonate, as are the windows. Moreover, the cabin is striped out, losing electric seats (replaced by carbon fiber sports buckets), sound insulation, carpets, stereo and satellite navigation. Lamborghini could have eliminated another 100kg easily by ditching the viscous-coupling 4WD system (as rumors said), but eventually it kept the system in order to deliver an easier handling than its Ferrari counterpart. Since it was taken over by Audi, Lamborghini sees 4WD traction as an inseparable part of its character.

The engine also received improved intake and exhaust breathing and revised ECU to enable a boost of 10 horsepower, now 530 hp at 8000 rpm (standard car: 520 hp at 7800 rpm). Surprisingly, the unchanged max torque arrives at 4250 rpm instead of 4500 rpm, so the Superleggera should be faster yet more tractable. According to Lamborghini, the car takes only 3.7 seconds to go from 0-60 mph, a couple of tenths faster than before. Top speed, however, remains unchanged at 196 mph.

The Superleggera has the E-gear semi-automatic gearbox as standard and 6-speed manual as option. It transfer power to the new DTM 19-inch wheels and Pirelli P-Zero Corsa rubber. Carbon ceramic brakes are standard. Undoubtedly, the lightweight supercar will outperform the standard Gallardo in every aspect, no matter acceleration, stopping and handling.

Around 350 units of Superleggera will be produced over the next two years. Prices is expected to be 20 percent higher than the regular version. We can't wait to see it meet F430 Challenge Stradale face to face.

3 Mar, 2007 (updated 7 Mar, 2007)

Maserati GranTurismo

Maserati has shown the first pictures of the successor to the GT / Spyder / Gran Sport line. Called GranTurismo (or simply GT), the car does not disappoint us by its beautiful exterior and interior shape designed by Pininfarina (and probably fine-tuned by Frank Stephenson). The new coupe looks even more attractive than its Giugiaro-designed predecessor or the Okuyama / Pininfarina-designed Quattroporte.

Details are scarce before its official debut in Geneva motor show, but Maserati said it is powered by a 405hp version of its 4.2-liter V8. Weight distribution is 49% front and 51% rear, very good. The car employs paddle-shift automatic transmission only at this stage, but we don't know if it is a transaxle (like Aston Martin DB9) or a front-mounted one (like Quattroporte Automatica).

Updated on Mar 7: the V8 produces 405hp at 7100 rpm and 339 lbft at 4750 rpm, almost the same as the current engine. 75% of the max torque is available from 2500 rpm. The GranTurismo tops 177 mph and acccelerates from 0-62 mph in 5.2 seconds.

Based on a shortened version of Quattroporte platform, the GranTurismo still measures 2942mm between its two axles. That's a massive 280mm up from the outgoing car. The extra space should provide generous room for rear passengers while keeping the engine behind the front axle.

Larger photos in Maserati GranTurismo Gallery

3 Mar, 2007

Ford Mondeo official launch