broken hearted girl: 2011

Saturday, September 24, 2011

Broken Hearted Girl

Video: New BMW M5 Hits 300 km/h on the Autobahn

Hans, a German native who happens to be the president of the M Flight Club, had the chance to drive the brand-new, BMW M5 F10 powered by a 560HP twin-turbocharged V8. And like any car-nut living in Germany, he took the sports saloon to the Autobahn. Read more »

Formula 1: Singapore Grand Prix Qualifying Round-Up

What a surprise…another Saturday, another Red Bull at the first spot of the starting grid, with a second Red Bull racer at its side: a site everyone has gotten used to this year.

What must have frightened poleman Sebastian Vettel rivals for tomorrow's race is his admission that he held back and did not perform at 100%: “On the last run, I tried a bit too much going into the really tricky chicane around Turn 10," said Vettel, adding that, "I decided to abort the lap, as it can be so easy to damage the car.”

The European Union has already agreed with cell phone manufacturers to adopt a common charger format for their new phones. Therefore, consumers we will be able to buy a new phone without a charger, which up until now, was different to the one used by their old cellphone.

Now ACEA, the European car manufacturers association, is following the example and wants carmakers to adopt a common standard concerning chargers for their plug-in electric vehicles. To that end, it has already compiled a set of recommendations that stipulates the use of a uniform type of plug regardless of the country or power provider.

First Drive: New Peugeot 508 GT 2.2-liter HDi Sedan

It’s been a long time since Peugeot had a serious contender in the hotly contested sub-premium segment. The 407 was unloved and lacking in style; a “307 with a boot” purchased exclusively by the brand faithful. It was a bit bland and outdated compared to its major European competitor: the Mk 4 Ford Mondeo.

With the 508, Peugeot hopes to change all that. A carbon copy of the Peugeot 5 Concept that premiered at the 2010 Geneva Motor Show, the 2011 Peugeot 508 puts the verve – that oh-so-important French flair – back into Peugeot’s line-up.

We take the wheel of Peugeot’s flagship, AU$52,990 508 GT with a 2.2-liter turbocharged diesel and a 6-speed automatic for a week-long road test and review.

So how do you promote a Formula One race in the United States? Well, depends on whom you ask. For Red Bull Racing, the answer to that question is a bizarre mixture of lasso-wielding cowboys, helicopters, former F1 driver David Coulthard and an F1 racecar doing donuts on a rural dirt road in Texas. Read more »

Land Rover Scores 54% of the Vote in MSN Cars’ Poll of Best 4x4 Brands

In a recent online poll, MSN Cars asked its readers a simple question: “Which firm makes the best '4x4' type cars?” The winner, with an astonishing 54% of the 39,663 votes is ~~Indian~~ British automaker Land Rover.

The brand’s winning combination of aggressive yet attractive styling, “go anywhere” off-road ability, ruggedness and comfort have made Land Rover the powerhouse brand it is today – and a deserved winner. Land Rover UK managing director Colin Green is understandably over the moon:

As in almost every Formula 1 event this year, Sebastian Vettel and Red Bull Racing set the pace again, this time in the second practice session of the Singapore Grand Prix.

What was surprising is that the German pilot's time was barely better than that of Ferrari’s Fernando Alonso - a mere 0.021 seconds. The only one capable of challenging the pair was Lewis Hamilton, but in the end he and his McLaren F1 racer were more than half a second slower.

As with any new BMW, the latest V8-powered M5 F10 comes packed with an array of gadgets and gimmicky features, some of which you may like, some of which you may not.

One of the sports saloon's new features that may dismay purists is the Active Sound Design. To explain, this system is designed to –according to BMW- "accurately replicate" the sounds of the bi-turbocharged V8 engines inside the cabin through the vehicle's audio system.

To keep up with rising demand for Kia models in Europe, the South Korean has decided to introduce a third shift at its Zilina plant in Slovakia and hire another 1,000 new employees. The company expects the recruitment process to be completed by December and have the three-shifts operational in the first quarter of 2012. Read more »

SCOOP: Opel's New Junior Mini Spotted Out in the Wild a Year Before Launch

It has been known for a while now that General Motor's European subsidiary Opel, is preparing to enter the increasingly popular mini car category with a new model currently codenamed Junior.

Taken during testing on public roads in Germany, these are some of the best spy shots we have of the upcoming Opel / Vauxhall Junior that will launch as a three-door hatchback.

The baby Opel model will slot beneath the Corsa supermini and is expected to measure around 3,700mm, meaning that it will be slightly longer than the Fiat 500 (3,546mm) which is believed to be one of its closest rivals.

Unlike the crane operator we showed you on Thursday, the man (or woman, there's no way of telling from the clip) controlling the excavator in this video sure knows a thing or two about the machine he or she is operating.

Follow the break to watch the short clip and you'll see what we mean.

The top-of-the-line Mondeo editions Titanium and Titanium S, which are powered by Ford's 2.0-liter turbocharged EcoBoost engine, will soon be available with a six-speed manual gearbox in addition to the dual-clutch PowerShift transmission. Read more »

Meet the Journalist who Crashed the €387,000 Lamborghini Aventador

Unless you are from Austria or Germany, there's a good chance you may not have heard of Thomas Glavinic before; he is a writer that also happens to collaborate with Autorevue, an Austrian car magazine.

But that's about the change because Mr. Glavinic had the unfortunate fate of being the first person to go on record for crashing Lamborghini's astonishing Aventador LP 700-4.

Carscoop regulars will undoubtedly remember our report on the incident a few weeks ago, though at the time we didn’t have many details on the crash other than it occurred in Italy on August 30.

Today, however, the crew over at Autoreview decided it was time to confess their doings and reveal that the man behind the steering wheel was one of their own, Thomas Glavinic.

The ongoing bragging war among Detroit's big three and their newly launched police vehicles continues without an end in sight.

Today, the Chrysler Group announced that the 2012 Dodge Charger Pursuit V8 with 370HP set the fastest lap time ever reordered at Michigan State Police’s (MSP) annual Police Vehicle Evaluation tests earlier this week at the Grattan Raceway in Belding, at 1:33.70.

Hell hath no fury like ~~a woman~~ Suzuki scorned. On Thursday, the Japanese carmaker's CEO, Osamu Suzuki, sent a letter to his counterpart at VW demanding that the German group retracts its statement about Suzuki breaching their 2009 contract.

The spark that ignited this heated war of words between the two partners was Suzuki’s decision to choose Fiat as a supplier of diesel engines instead of VW. The German group said on September 11 that Suzuki had breached their contract with this decision, while Suzuki vehemently denies it violated the terms of their agreement.

An online aftermarket shop in Britain named Driftworks released a humorous video to inform consumers on why they should avoid buying cheap knockoffs from the internet.

After buying a fake Nardi-style steering wheel for about £70 (US$108 / €80) on eBay, compared to around £220 (US$338 / €252) for a genuine, made in Italy Nardi wheel, they put it to the test fitting it on a Nissan 200SX laying around in their garage.

As for the results, well, let's just say the faux Nardi wouldn't make the cut for a replacement on your Logitech G25 wheel, let alone your car… Video follows after the break.

We've already brought pictures of prototypes, the concept version and more importantly, the official design patents of the upcoming 2012 Honda CR-V, but our persistent spy photographers just caught up with another test model of the compact SUV in Europe.

While it's only a matter of weeks before we see the final production model in North America as it is due to be revealed at the Los Angeles Auto Show before hitting showroom floors by the end of the year, European consumers will have to wait another year for the new CR-V to arrive in dealerships.

The owner of a relatively new Lamborghini Gallardo in Malaysia wanted to "warm up" his topless supercar but got much more than what he bargain for when the Italian vehicle burst into flames along Jalan Beringin in Bukit Damansara on Friday.

"I was driving up a slope when I noticed smoke coming out of the engine," told the local media the owner of the car, who preferred to stay anonymous. "I had the car for three years and it was heartbreaking to see it go up in flames," he added.

The sporty-looking Opel Astra GTC was only just introduced in Frankfurt last week, but there are already reports suggesting that it could be one of the compact cars General Motors said it would build at an unspecified plant in the U.S. under the details released Tuesday of its tentative pact with the United Auto Workers (UAW).

According to Auto Observer, in a meeting with journalists and analysts at Opel’s Rüsselsheim headquarters in Germany, the firm's CEO, Karl-Friedrich Stracke, said "I could easily see it as a Buick" referring to the Astra GTC.

It would make sense from a marketing standpoint since Buick would automatically gain a new contender in the small sports car segment against the likes of the Hyundai Veloster, while also widening the reach of the brand to a younger audience.

After a drop in sales in May and June, US vehicle sales picked up an as a result, July and August sales were better than originally expected -though still lagging behind the January to April numbers.

Today, J.D. Power and Associates reported that this trend is continuing in the first half of September, mainly due to the increasing inventory of many carmakers.

Malaysia's second largest automobile manufacturer after Proton, the PERusahaan Otomobil KeDUA Sendirian Berhad company, which is more widely know by its abbreviation Perodua, has joinced forces with UK tuning house Wolfrace for the development of the Myvi Wolfrace Design Concept that will soon enter a limited production run. Read more »

Techart Porsche 911 Turbo goes from 0 to 100km/h in 2.8 Seconds

There's fast and then there's Techart fast. The German aftermarket company that has made a name for itself in the crowded world of Porsche tuners has presented a new and more potent performance package for the current 911 Turbo [997 series].

The TA 097/T3 conversion kit for the 997 Turbo involves the installation of a sport air filter, new manifolds, the TECHART Turbo chargers VTG, high performance intercoolers as well as the an ECU upgrade and engine styling package in carbon-fibre.

Ron Dennis is a man with a plan. When possible, McLaren’s mastermind has arranged the grand openings of new dealerships to coincide with the local Formula 1 Grand Prix events.

He did it in Germany, then in Italy, and now it’s Singapore’s turn – both for McLaren Automotive and the F1 race. The new showroom belongs to McLaren Automotive Asia Pte Ltd, which is based in Singapore and will manage the Asia Pacific dealer network.

New BMW M5 F10 in an Individual Frozen Black Hue: What do You Think?

Ever since BMW first showed the new M5 sports saloon earlier in the summer, and sans a white example that appeared at the firm's Frankfurt Motors show stand, the Bavarians have been constantly tossing around press pictures of the car in the Monte Carlo racing blue hue.

Cool as it may be at first, over time and after a gazillion or so images of the M5 F10 in the same Monte Carlo color, we think we've just about had enough.

But fear not, the Bavarian-loving guys from 5Post have obtained new photos of the V8-powered sports sedan finished in an Individual Frozen Black hue.

Picture this: you’re chasing down an escaped con in a stolen police van when one of his buddies rams your police cruiser off the road. No matter, as you can jump out of your body and into that of suburban soccer mom, using her minivan to disable the escapee and complete the mission.

This is the main gimmick of Driver: San Francisco, the latest in a long-line of cops ‘n’ robbers driving games from developer Ubisoft. And it works, thanks to intuitive game play mechanics and missions that encourage thinking outside the box.

Just the other day, it was revealed that Mercedes-Benz is planning the introduction of a wilder version of its SLS AMG Gullwing sports car under the "Black Series" moniker, which builds upon the standard AMG models to further improve performance while also offering a more hardcore look.

Now, Dan Buzdugan of PS-Garage dropped this rendering of what the SLS AMG Black Series edition may look like into our mailbox.

Some things just don't make sense, no matter how vivid your imagination is. Envision Land Rover racing at Le Mans, or Maserati manufacturing an SUV. Doesn’t it sound absurd? Actually, scratch the last example about Maserati: it will actually happen.

Well, up until recently, you wouldn’t imagine a four-wheel drive Ferrari either. Thankfully, despite sporting the 4RM AWD system, the FF remains a pure sports car. Now, Ferrari wants to show its versatility to its American customers, so it’s adapting its “Pilota on Ice” driving program for the US.

Mitsubishi may have a wide range of vehicles, but it lacks a flagship model since it stopped production of the Diamante back in 2005. However, that will change soon.

Today, the troubled automaker announced that, as a part of cooperation agreement signed with the Nissan Group in December 2010, it begin selling a rebadged Fuga, which in the rest of the world is known as the Infiniti M, from next summer.

One of our wily spies has caught another snap of the next member to join Porsche's new 991 family of sports cars after the 911 Carrera and Carrera S, the 911 Convertible.

These are probably the best spy shots we've seen of the cloth top 911 as the only bits hidden from the eye are the front and rear lights that are covered with faux decals, an increasingly common practice when it comes to Porsche prototypes.

With big machines, come big risks. Yeah right, try telling that to your boss if you're a crane operator that accidentally dropped another huge crane down into what looks like a ditch (or a cliff, we're not sure). Watch the video after the break.

More than 9,000 km in 14 days in extremely demanding conditions: this is the world-renowned Dakar Rally in which every year hundreds of competitors strive not just for the win, but for a chance to cross the finish line having lived an outstanding experience in the most prestigious off-road race on earth.

The British Excite Rally Raid Team will race three cars commissioned by RaBe Race Cars and driven by an all-British line-up consisting of Martin Rowe, Andrew Coley and John Hardy. And if the photo reminds you of something, you are right: the T3 race car’s body shell is that of the brand-new Range Rover Evoque.

Having already received a mid-life facelift in 2009, four years after its introduction at the 2005 Frankfurt Motor Show, the third generation of the Renault Clio is paving the way for the presentation of an all-new model that is expected to break cover at the next Paris Motor Show in September of 2012.

Our spies caught a test mule of the fourth-generation Clio combining the front end and chassis bits of the new model with the rest of the body panels sources from the current version.

The time is up for Honda to toss the wraps off the new 2012 CR-V Concept, which made its public debut today at the Orange County International Auto Show in Anaheim, California.

The close-to-production concept previews the new looks of the 2012 CR-V that will receive its world premiere in final form at the Los Angeles Auto Show in November and go on sale in the United States before the end of the year.

The JDM model will follow in December at the Tokyo Motor Show, while European buyers will have to wait until fall of 2012.

China has been on a roll lately breaking one record after the other but, this time, it's not for a good reason.

You see, local police in China's Hebei Province stumbled upon a small passenger van that was legally designed to transfer up to eight people. The problem is this one was carrying –wait for it- 66 people, yes you read correctly, sixty-six passengers including 64 youngsters aged four to five years old and two adults!

[BMW X6 M pictured above]

For over a year now, we suspected that BMW was contemplating a smaller version of the X6, or if you prefer, a sportier, fastback variant of the X3.

Considering that the X5’s sportier but less practical and for some, more awkward looking, sister has proved to be a huge sales success, it would be a logical move to expand the lineup to include a similar model.

As it turns out, BMW officials have the same mindset. The Munich-based company's CEO, Norbert Reithofer, has confirmed in an interview with Auto Motor und Sport that the X4 will indeed be built.

Unless you are a supercar lover or a Mercedes-Benz aficionado, we will understand if you are tired of reading about the SLS AMG. After all, most carmakers produce one or two versions of their supercars - usually a coupe and an open top model, plus a couple (or more in the case of Lamborghini), limited editions. Read more »

Lexus LS TMG Edition 650HP Spied on Video: Are Those the Sounds of a V8 or a V10?

Our trusty spies have scored another touchdown with the high-performance, wide-body Lexus LS saloon that has piqued our interest over the past few days.

We already know it is called the Lexus LS TMG Edition and that it is being developed by the Japanese group's Toyota Motorsports GmbH division, formerly known as Toyota Team Europe, based in Cologne, Germany.

Toyota's subsidiary was responsible for firm's World Rally Championship cars starting from the 1970s right up to the 1990s, but now works on various special projects.

In cooperation with Mcchip-dkr, German tuning firm Kubatech has presented a soft performance upgrade for the new Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG Gullwing.

The kit is limited to a software optimization for the ECU. The Gullwing model's 6.3-liter naturally aspirated V8 engine normally lays out 571-horsepower and 650Nm (479 lb-ft) of peak torque at 4,750 rpm, and this package will bump those figures to 625-horses and 680Nm (501.5 lb-ft).

The horsepower monster that is the 2012 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 has been filmed lapping the infamous Nordschleife circuit in Germany.

Apparently, General Motors continues to fine-tune the flagship version of its new Camaro series that was first revealed to the public at this year's Chicago Auto Show in February, but won't arrive in dealerships before early next year.

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