31 May 2007
22 May 2007
The NSX to live again exclusive pictures of the new NSX
The NSX to live again
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It's been awhile since we heard anything about the 2009 Acura NSX. It was over a year ago when Honda officials confirmed a V10 engine for the next-generation NSX, but since then all we've heard or seen out of Japan was the Sports Car Concept shown in Detroit. These latest spy photos taken just outside the Nurburgring suggest work is still very much in progress. This chopped up S2000 features four tailpipes in back and a heavy-duty double wishbone suspension. There's also a makeshift hardtop and some big time wheels and tires. Stay tuned for more shots when this prototype hits the 'Ring.
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The return of the NSX to Acura's lineup has been an off-and-on again affair, but the latest intel has a new NSX with a 500-horsepower V10 on schedule for an arrival sometime in late 2008 or 2009. While our only indication of what the new NSX may look like up to this point has been the Acura Advanced Sports Car Concept, we do know work is well under way on the car's mechanicals. Thus, we submit these spy photos as Exhibit A, evidence that Acura is currently testing its new NSX. They were taken at the Nurburgring in Germany and show a heavily modified Honda S2000 with quad tailpipes located in the middle of the rear bumper and what appears to be a heavy-duty double wishbone suspension below. The test car also features big wheels and a hardtop of sorts. The S2000 body on this NSX mule suggests that Acura is still far from finalizing a design for the car, but that doesn't appear to have stopped engineers from working on the brand's follow up to the world renowned "everyday supercar" that was the original NSX.
17 May 2007
2007 VW shows off monster Golf GTI W12 650 concept
2007 VW shows off monster Golf GTI W12 650 concept
t would appear that the Audi TT clubsport was just an appetizer for the fans at the Wörthersee 2007 meet in Austria. Volkswagen has upped the ante by throwing down a stunner: the Golf GTI W12 650 concept. The ultimate GTI in every way, this car has a claimed top speed of 325 km/h -- 201 mph! -- and a 0-100 km/h (62 mph) of 3.7 seconds.
This is a pure show car, so don't go running to your VW dealer waving around a fistful of cash. He won't be able to help you. Too bad, though, as this super Golf dishes out a mammoth 650 horsepower and over 530 ft lbs of torque from the 6.0L biturbo W12 it's got mounted behind the front seats. All that juice flows through a 6-speed automatic to the rear wheels, which are shod in some seriously meaty rubber.
Lower and wider than a stock GTI, the body retains the production car's doors, hood and lights, but otherwise it's all new. A number of intakes and a redesigned C-pillar help feed air to the 12-cylinder behemoth supplying the go-power. To keep the car planted to the tarmac, VW didn't want to use a massive spoiler to generate downforce. As such, the car's carbon-fiber roof acts as a giant diffuser that funnels air under the small spoiler at its trailing edge. In summary, the whole thing is a big exercise in the awesome.
Translated press release after the jump.
10 May 2007
The Ford Fairlane/LTD has finally had its day
One of Australia's longest-running nameplates is dead.
Ford today bowed to the inevitable by withdrawing its luxury twins, the Fairlane and LTD sedans, from production in response to falling sales.
Ford Australia president Tom Gorman made the announcement this morning in a statement issued ahead of a monthly media briefing
"A significant decline in sales of vehicles in the upper large segment over the past few years has meant that local production of long wheelbase variants, primarily for domestic sale only, is currently no longer sustainable," Gorman said.
"The emotion of this decision has been very difficult. Sometimes the hard decision and the right decision are the same one."
The last Fairlane/LTD will be built either late in 2007 or early 2008, ahead of the arrival of the heavily-revised Falon - codenamed Orion - around March 2008.
The move comes as no surprise to drive.com.au, which revealed that Ford was weighing up the future of the Fairlane and LTD as far back as April 2006
Gorman told drive.com.au at the time: "We have to seriously consider whether replacing the Fairlane and LTD is an appropriate place to invest funds going forward".
Now, it's a done deal - the Fairlane and LTD are dead.
The role of flagship in the Ford line-up falls to the $51,490 Fairmont Ghia V8, effectively a tarted-up Falcon.
The decision to axe the Fairlane comes exactly 40 years after the first model emerged from Ford's Broadmeadows factory on the northern outskirts of Melbourne.
However, the Fairlane nameplate first appeared in Australia on imported Fords in 1959.
"The Fairlane nameplate has been a key part of the Ford line-up since 1967," said Gorman, "when the ZA Fairlane ... created a whole new market segment in the process. "
Since then the Fairlane and LTD (added in 1973) have been influential as the flagships of Ford's Australian-made Falcon range, alongside which it has evolved.
These long-wheelbase prestige sedans have occupied a special place among affluent Australians and Ford enthusiasts, and the Fairlane has even been a regular vehicle of choice for Australian Prime Ministers.
Now, it seems Prime Minister John Howard's decision over his next long wheelbase limousine just got a whole lot easier. Only Holden offers locally produced models in this market segment; the Holden Statesman and Caprice.