Author: yoann besnard

Lexus LS600h starts at £81,000

The prices for the Lexus flagship have been announced. It will cost £81,400 for the entry model, the LS 600h. For this price, the buyer has the privilege of driving what is probably the most advanced luxury saloon in the world. If you are looking for more legroom for the rear seats you will have to pay £83,645 to access the longwheel base version dubbed LS 600h L. If you have a chauffeur, do not hesitate spending the few thousands pounds more, £88,000, to treat yourself to the Rear Seat Relaxation Package.
With the relaxation package, the left hand rear seat gains an extending ottoman leg and thigh rest, seat cushion airbag and variable massage function. An independent DVD system, centre console with extending wood-inlaid tray are also part of the package, together with a more advanced climate control system that uses body temperature sensors to determine optimum performance.
The LS 600h is powered by a hybrid V8 engine. It combines the 5 litre V8 with one electric motor to produce 430 bhp. If it can match 12-cylinder units and runs from 0-60 mph in 6.3sec, it offers the same consumption as a big diesel engine, promising an average 30.4 mpg.
July 11, 2007
Will 2007 be the best year ever for Audi?

Audi has announced that it produced 509,000 cars for the first 2007 semester. It is the best figure for a semester in the company’s history. However, the carmaker appears cautious in its forecasts despite a new A4 due to be launched at the end of the year and the fact that the million mark will be passed in 2008.
In comparison, BMW sold 730,285 cars during the same period. Audi’s sales increased on almost every market, even on the highly competitive European market.
Audi recently launched the Audi A5 and the Audi R8. The carmaker is not able to build enough R8 to satisfy demand because of the car’s fibre panels, which are difficult to make. A total of only twenty R8 are built in a day.
The German brand will display its new baby SUV known as Q5 at the next Frankfurt motor show. After the new A4 due to be released at the end of the year, it will launch the long-awaited A3 convertible in summer 2008.
July 11, 2007
Spyshots: redesigned X-Type

The X-Type is not dead and this redesign could prove it. In a difficult environment, Jaguar is struggling to revamp its models, a situation similar to that which MG-Rover found itself in a few years ago.
The changes will be subtle. On the outside, the revamped baby Jaguar will have new front and rear bumpers, a new grille, new side mouldings, fresh paint colours and new wheels. On the inside, expect an effort to modernise the anachronistic interior and some accessory updates.
Under the hood, the X-Type will get a new diesel: a 2.2 litre engine that will at long last be compatible with an automatic gearbox.
This minor change to the design is not, however, garanteed to save the X-Type’s unsuccessful career. Despite good qualities, the small Jaguar did not break the generation gap between the carmaker and young British people.
When the British youth dream of binge drinking and performance, the traditional values of the British empire sold by Jaguar are not welcome. Its interior, a mix of with leather and wood, can’t compete with the sporty engines and aluminium trims of German cars. Jaguar expected to double sales with the X-Type but sold just 32,500 worldwide last year, three times less than the original target.
July 11, 2007
Gordon Murray and his latest project

Having just set up his own company, Gordon Murray Design, the eponomous designer has already given some information regarding his latest project. It is well known that the engineer has been working on a new city car for the past decade. During the launch party for his new design company, the British magazine Car was able to gather more information about the long-awaited car.
Dubbed T25, the car will be a “a new class of vehicle“ according to Murray. Instead of using the engine and the platform as the starting point for the car’s design, the engineer started with an obsessive and constraining goal: the smallest carbon footprint possible.
The car will use less resources at every stage from its production to its scrapping. Thanks to lightweight materials, the car will be economical to run and to buy. Expect a price tag of about £5,000/€7,400/$10,000.
The car will not be sold under the Gordon Murray badge. The engineer will license the concept to any carmaker that wants to build the car. The latter will have the freedom to rebrand it and to install any engine under the bonnet. At a time where developing engines requires a large amount of money due to stronger regulations, Gordon Murray made the right choice. He and his team will be able to focus on what the South African engineer does best: light and efficient cars.
Source: Car
July 9, 2007
Erst XC 90

A tuner specialised in German cars is rather common but a tuner specialised in Volvo cars is a bit surprising. If the tuner is also Japanese, the surprise is complete. However, the Japanese tuner Erst has recently revealed its discrete body kit for the XC90.

It includes under-panel attachments on both bumpers, front fog light fins and chromed exhaust pipes. The car is also lower and has been given chromed alloy wheels. In a country where speed is very often limited at 30 mph on the road, do not expect any engine optimisations. The Erst XC90 has been designed to please our aesthetic tastes and it does the job very well.
July 9, 2007
Is El Camino back?

According to the website pickuptruck.com, GM will revive the El Camino model in a few years. Last year, in an interview with Autoweek, the GM product guru Bob Lutz said he would “love to do another El Camino but the grownups amongst us don’t share that way of thinking”.
One year later, it has been reported that GM is considering to import the Australian Holden Ute onto the American market. The Ute is more famous for its performance than its capacity towing. In the last generation, it had the cheek to offer a 6.0 litre V8 engine that produces 349 bhp/354 hp at 5600 rpm and a torque of 376 lb-ft/510 Nm at 4400 rpm. Surely, the future El Camino would inherit the V8 engine to appeal to customers.
Based on the Zeta platform like the future Camaro, GM could build it in the same factory. Compared to the Camaro, the Chevrolet Ute would be very similar to its Australian cousin. The front and rear faces will be different in order to be recognized as a Chevrolet but from the B-pillar, the rest of the car’s panels will be identical. The underpinnings will also be similar, meaning a 2915mm wheelbase, strut front suspension, and multi-link rear suspension.
July 9, 2007
Bristol presses stolen

The legendary British carmaker Bristol had the unpleasant surprise last Monday when it discovered that thieves had broken into its factory and, rather than stealing the cars, had stolen the company’s presses. The presses were used to build body panels for the Blenheim coupes.
Thanks to its low volume production of about 150 cars per year, Bristol has enough body panels for the coming months. Executives are nonetheless expecting a slowdown in the future.
Bristol is a new victim in the metal madness where scrap prices are motivating thieves. Since 2005, metal prices have risen by 95% according to Barclay’s base metals index. AT&T has lost £1.5 Million in copper wiring to thieves since January. In 2006 more than 24,000 manhole covers were stolen from the streets of Shanghai.
July 9, 2007
Rolls-Royce bought at auction for £800,000

Like Ford that auctioned a Ford GT for a charity one year ago, Rolls Royce auctioned the Phantom Drophead Coupé at the 9th Annual White Tie and Tiara Ball held to raise money for the Elton John AIDS Foundation. A private buyer bought the spectacular coupé for £800,000.
The British carmaker released the Phantom Drophead Coupé at the last Detroit motor show. It is the production interpretation of the 100EX concept car revealed at the Geneva motor show in 2004. It is powered by the 6.75 litre V12 engine that produces 447 bhp/453 hp and a torque of 513 lb-ft/696 Nm at 3500 rpm.
July 9, 2007
Next Mercedes A-Class based on the new Mini?

According to the German car magazine Autobild, Mercedes could use the new Mini platform for their next A-Class.
It is very likely that the next A-Class will lose its innovative platform. Dubbed “Sandwich“, the platform enables the engine and the transmission to slide underneath the floor below the pedals rather than entering the passenger compartment in the event of a violent frontal impact. Unfortunately, this platform is very expensive to make and is not as flexible as other platforms. Even though Mercedes succeeded in extracting the B-Class from it, deriving a roadster variant would be close to impossible.
In order to reduce cost and to compete equally with the Audi A3 and BMW 1-Series, Mercedes decided to reuse the C-Class platform for the future B Class and the hypothetical baby roadster. This will enable the compact MPV model to be fitted with a bigger engine and adopt the RWD scheme, as well as comply more closely with the Mercedes brand image. However, using the C-Class platform for the A-Class would increase the size of the baby Benz and Mercedes would lose current customers to the competition.
Basing the future A-Class on the Mini platform would make sense for Mercedes as it would share costs with BMW. The latter would be able to use its assembly lines in the Oxford plant and would increase the profit margin made on the Mini.
July 9, 2007
No Cadillac Sixteen

Bob Lutz announced recently that plans to produce the Cadillac Sixteen have been shelved. Lutz cites GM’s will to meet the corporate average fuel economy (CAFE) standards.
The Cadillac Sixteen was a concept car displayed at the 2003 Detroit motor show. With this car, Cadillac wanted to mix its current edgy design theme with cues from iconic past models such as the 1967 Eldorado and the Cadillac V16. It took inspiration from the latter for the engine. The Sixteen was equipped with a giant V16 displacing 13.6 litres. No official power figures were given but it was said to produce over 1000 bhp and have a torque of 1000 ft·lb/1350 Nm.
Although the Sixteen will not reach the production stage, Cadillac is still looking for a super-saloon.
July 9, 2007