Author: yoann besnard

Spyshots: future Hyundai coupé

Here are some spyshots of the next Hyundai coupe out on public roads. Though its design is well known despite the body covers, the details remain secret and there are many rumours circulating about them.
According to some rumours, Hyundai may go upmarket with this new generation. The unveiling of the Genesis concept car at the New York auto show was a real surprise for observers. More than a concept car, the saloon is ready to be produced and Hyundai declared that it might extract a coupe from the saloon.
Since then, the coupe has been reported to be equipped with V6 and V8 engines. It may be powered by the V6 3.8 litre already available in the Grandeur executive saloon. With the coupe it is said that Hyundai will add a turbocharger. The top of the range will probably get a V8 engine still under development. The new V8, dubbed Lambda, produces over 300 bhp.
According to some insiders, the new Hyundai coupe will be revealed in March 2008 in South Korea.
Source: Autoblog
July 18, 2007
Record figures for Volkswagen group

The German group has announced records sales figures for the 2007 semester. It built 3.09 million cars, an increase of 7.8 percent over the same period last year.
1.62 million vehicles were sold in Western Europe while 238,000 cars found a buyer in Central and Eastern Europe. The figure for Central and Eastern Europe is 22.8 percent more than last year. Germany is still its biggest market with 515,000 delivered vehicles but its supremacy will soon be contested by China, since VW group sold 431,000 cars there in the first 6 months.
The American continent took delivery of 662,000 cars. South America rose by 27.7 percent to reach 339,000 cars. The deliveries in Brazil alone grew by 28.6 percent to 260,000 vehicles. This is considerably more than in the U.S. where low growth was registered with 163,000 delivered vehicles.
Concerning the brands of the group, Volkswagen is obviously the biggest, with 1.8 million delivered cars. This is an increase of 7.4% over the same period last year. The biggest growth has been made by Lamborghini, which delivered 1,200 cars, a 29.7 percent jump. Bentley ranks second with a strong 18.8 percent increase and 5,600 vehicles. Skoda has the most impressive growth with a gain of 13.2 percent and 311,000 delivered cars. Audi delivered 509,000 cars. Only Seat saw its sales decrease, by 1.8 percent to 222,000 vehicles.
July 18, 2007
Lancia Lybra to become Chinese?

An unknown and very small Chinese carmaker, Zhong Tai, surprised everybody last week by declaring that it will produce the Lancia Lybra. The company has acquired the manufacturing tools and the intellectual property rights for the Lancia from Fiat. The Chinese Lybra will enable Zhong Tai to produce 50,000 car this year compared to 11,000 last year. Up until now the Chinese carmaker has been producing a Daihatsu Terios clone.
The Lancia Lybra was a saloon sold by Lancia between 1999 and 2006. Despite some good qualities and a magical five-cylinder engine, the car never met sales expectations and in a sense symbolises the Lancia’s collapse.
What does this mean for Fiat? The Italian carmaker is struggling with its joint venture Nanjing Fiat. Despite the announcement of a £196 million/€290 million/$400 million investment in June, Fiat is also involved in negotiations with other Chinese carmakers. According to rumours, Fiat has signed a deal with Chery to produce engines. Although the latter already produces Alfa Romeo cars, it has no further capacity to take on further Fiat production. By selling the unsuccessful Lybra to Zhong Tai, Fiat can make some money from the car and potentially develop a partnership with a smaller partner, who will perhaps be easier to deal with than Nanjing.
July 18, 2007
Official picture of the Skoda Fabia Combi

This is the first official picture of the new Skoda Combi, due to be launched officially at the Frankfurt Motor Show in September. The former Skoda Combi, which could not really be described as sexy, was mainly appreciated for its huge boot capacity. Going by the picture, the design of the new model seems to be rather dull.
The Combi will probably offer the same range as the saloon. There will be a choice of a 60 bhp 1.2 litre, 70 bhp 1.2 litre, a 85 bhp 1.4 litre and a 105 bhp 1.6 litre for the gasoline engines. For the diesel, the car will offer the 80 bhp 1.4 litre TDI engine.
The car is set to compete with the new 207 SW estate but may also compete with the Skoda Roomster. Less expensive than the latter, it will offer a similar boot capacity. The Czech carmaker must think that the sex appeal of the Roomster will make the difference. We will just have to wait and see whether they are right or not.
July 18, 2007
E85 Viper breaks standing mile record

An E85 Viper has broken the standing mile record for street cars, achieving a speed of 220.07mph and beating the previous world record by 2.85mph.
To achieve such a record, the Viper inevitably had to undergo a certain degree of modification. The car was tuned by a company called SVS, a Chicago-based tuner which specialised in fitting Viper engines with turbochargers during the nineties.
The current generation has a V10 8.3 litre engine which produces 503 bhp/510 hp and 525 lb-ft/711 Nm of torque. In the record-breaking Viper, the turbocharged V10 produces 1085 bhp/1100 hp.
Although the record is likely to appear irrelevant to some observers, it may help to make E85 fuel to more appealing to the masses. Less polluting than the petrol fuels, it has nevertheless met with little success. This time, carmakers are not the guilty party as several of them already offer E85 powered cars. The problem stems from the reluctance of governments to promote E85 fuel. The E85 Viper’s record may help to change this, at least in the U.S.
Of course, it is better not to ask exactly how much E85 this Viper used to break the record.
July 18, 2007
Which sports car are you?

This is not serious at all. It is basically a variation of the many personality tests available on internet, but that doesn’t stop it being enjoyable.
Click here to complete the test and find out which sports car you are.
July 18, 2007
BMW expects to sell 100,000 M3s

In an interview with the weekly German car magazine Automobile Woche, Carsten Preis of the M division declared that BMW plans to deliver 100,000 M3s in the coming years. Though the figure looks impressive, it is actually only 10,000 more than the previous generation.
In order to achieve such a sales figure, BMW will release the M3 in both convertible and saloon variants in the near future. Also, despite a bigger engine and more power, BMW engineers have made the car softer to appeal to the masses. The question is whether these efforts are enough to compete successfully with fellow German carmakers Audi and Mercedes. Here nothing is certain.
When BMW released the former M3 it did not have serious competition but Audi and Mercedes seem to have taken a course in how to build sportier cars. The RS4 has been very well received by the journalists and the new C63 AMG looks extremely promising.
July 18, 2007
Spyshots: Kia Soul is on its way

The Scion Xb model’s success on the American market has aroused other carmakers’ ambitions. Kia will be the first to respond to Toyota’s brand. Here are some spyshots of the car due to be launched at the next Detroit motor show. The Soul will have enough room for five people(?) and will be powered by a 2.0 litre four cylinder engine coupled with a five speed automatic gearbox.
Compared to the eponym concept car from which it derives, the Soul production model will lose the suicide doors, the chopped roof and the big wheels. In order to cuts costs, Kia has also replaced the 4WD drivetrain by a simple FWD platform.
The car is also expected to be sold in Europe at some point, where Kia would equip it with a diesel engine.
July 17, 2007
Semi-official pictures of the Porsche 911 GT2

Recently we showed you some spyshots of the Porsche 911 GT2. Here are the first semi-official pictures of the most powerful production 911, taken from a leaked brochure.
After much speculation regarding its power, it has now been confirmed that the final output will be 523 bhp/530 hp at 6500 rpm. The torque will reach 511 lb-ft/693Nm between 2200 rpm and 4500 rpm. Compared to the normal Turbo version, the new version has been lightened and weighs 3,175 lbs/1,440 kg.
The GT2 can top 204 mph and run the 0-62mph in 3.7s and the 0-100mph in 7.4s.
Now that we have the official specifications for the 911 GT2, we are waiting for the official specifications of the next Skyline GT-R in its powerful version. Dubbed Evolution, it will produce 530 bhp according to insiders. Nissan promised the power of the 911 Turbo for half the price. Let’s wait and see whether they can deliver.
Click here to see the brochure
Source: Porscheguys
July 17, 2007
Alfa Romeo 8C Competizione enters the £100,000 club

The 8C Competizione is indubitably one of the nicest supercars in the world. Alfa Romeo succeeded in designing a supercar that does not look like a monster and pays tribute to the best of Italian design. But up until now have not known how much it costs. Now, thanks to Autoblog.com, I am sure that I cannot afford one: the 8C Competizione carries the impressive price tag of £108,000/€159,300/$220,000.
Alfa Romeo unveiled the 8C Competizione as a concept car at the 2003 Frankfurt Motor Show. The car was so acclaimed that the Italian carmaker decided to produce it at a limited volume of 500 units. The final car was launched at the latest Paris motor show. It inherits the Ferrari/Maserati-derived 4.7-litre V8, which has an output of 450 hp/443 bhp.
The last 50 models will be built exclusively for the American market in order to “celebrate” the Italian’s return.
After the 8C Competizione, expect to hear more in the future about its open-top derivative, the 8C Spider, which will cost around €180,000/$245,000/£120,000.
July 17, 2007