Month: March 2009

Categories
Nissan

Nissan GT-R – The budget supercar, or is it?

Nissan GT-R

The widely acclaimed Nissan GT-R is acknowledged as a genuine supercar. For a fraction of the cost, it has humbled the best Porsche can offer. However, a US website has revealed the GT-R may not actually be as cheap as first thought.

Edmunds Inside Line took their long-term loan GT-R in for a routine service the other day. Okay, it was a major service according to the factory schedule, but the final bill came in at over US$2000 (approx AU$2900). Looks like it’s hard work keeping up with the Porsches. Especially hard on the differential and transaxle, which needed new fluids. Made from liquid gold it seems! Check the link below for the full itemised account.

I guess the Australian customers about to take delivery will not mind spending such amounts after forking out AU$150,000 for the car in the first place. All the same, such high service bills will make for a varied experience at your local Nissan dealer, alongside true budget motoring, such as the Micra et al.

[Source: Edmunds Inside Line]

Categories
Skoda Volkswagen

Å koda Auto and VW open new production facility in India

Skoda Fabia

Skoda Auto today opened a new production facility in Pune, India. The factory opened a year ahead of schedule and extends Skoda’s existing production capacity in the far east, where they have had a manufacturing presence since 2001. Skoda has a 60-strong dealer network across India.

Starting in May, the new plant in Pune will start making the Fabia, pictured above, which is based on the Volkswagen Polo platform. The facility cost EUR25 million and takes Skoda’s Indian investment to EUR90 million.

The site is one of the most modern manufacturing plants in the Volkswagen Group. It is the company’s only Indian plant in India covering the entire production process, from panel pressing, welding and painting operations, and, of course, final assembly. In 2010 when the plant is at total capacity it will offer around 2500 jobs to Pune locals.

Press releases from Skoda and Volkswagen after the jump.

Continue reading “Å koda Auto and VW open new production facility in India”
Categories
Ford Formula 1 News

You can take the boy out of Queanbeyan…

Webber drives Aussie muscle car

…but you can’t take the Queanbeyan out of the boy. No doubt, recent access to a high powered Aussie muscle car brought back plenty of Monaro Street memories from Mark Webber’s youth. Imagine if he had the keys to FPV F6 back in the day, he would have been the biggest show in town. Yes, even bigger than Barnsey performing at the Raiders Leagues Club.

Webber handed back the F6 to Ford Australia this morning, and says there are some things from home he always misses, “What a great car … this is what I miss in Europe … awesome Aussie muscle cars.”

Categories
Volkswagen

TimesOnline drives the new Golf GTI

2009 Volkswagen Golf GTI

Gavin Conway from TimesOnline got an early gig in Volkswagen’s new Scirocco last year, and now, rubbing further salt into our collective wounds, he has been given the keys to the new Golf GTI.

The car was launched last week and after his first drive he rated Volkswagen’s hot-hatch with five stars and had the following to say:

“…one of the most noticeable changes is in the torque response, with the maximum 206 lb ft available over a wider rev range. So from anywhere above 1700rpm your right foot can order up a meaningful wedge of performance. VW claims the GTI will hit 62mph in 6.9sec, but frankly it feels even quicker.

“In sport mode, the suspension firms up noticeably, and the steering becomes heavier too, but in a way that doesn’t feel unnatural as some systems do. Add the paddleshift gearbox, which swaps cogs with blinding speed, and you really do have the makings of a proper successor to the previous GTI. This car is genuinely fun to drive.”

You can be assured that AUSmotive will have a review of the new GTI online as soon as possible. Let’s hope this happens before the year is out. Until then, Australian readers will just have to make do with pretty pictures.

[Source: TimesOnline]

Categories
Volkswagen

All-wheel drive über GTI gets sign off

Uber Golf GTI believed to source engine from Audi TS

News reports today suggest a TTS powered über Golf GTI, with all-wheel drive, has been signed off by Volkswagen HQ. In further confirmation of progress on this highly anticipated model it has been revealed that the new range topping GTI will not sport R20 badging, as previously suggested.

Speaking to carsales.com.au, Dirk Hussman, Golf line marketing executive, said “We have debated R20 (badging). But we are agreed it doesn’t shape up against the R32 badge it will replace.”

I guess that means we have to run with GTI-R label once again, as believed to be the case when news of the über GTI first surfaced last August.

Audi’s TTS has a 200kW turbocharged 2-litre TFSI engine and while one may expect that Volkswagen would tune down the engine in deference to Audi’s position higher up the food chain, hope has been given to Volkswagen loyalists with Hussman suggesting the car may have “between 260–280hp” (195–210kW).

In further news, Dirk Hussman said an uprated Edition 35 front-wheel drive GTI would be released in 2011 to mark the 35th anniversary of the Golf performance icon. However, seeing as Australia didn’t see either the 25th Anniversary GTI, or the Edition 30, we can probably shelve any thoughts of that model coming down under.

[Source: carsales.com.au | Thanks to Wayne for the tip.]

Categories
BMW Formula 1 Motorsports

Stoner wins 135i BMW Sauber F1 Edition

Casey Stoner and his new BMW 135i Coupe

Casey Stoner had a very productive weekend winning himself a very tasty bit of BMW kit in the form of a limited release 135i Coupé known as the BMW Sauber F1 Edition. He won the car by virtue of topping the time sheets in the MotoGP ‘BMW M Award’ qualifying shootout at the Jerez circuit in Spain.

Stoner’s time of 1:38.646s was 0.719 seconds faster than the next best time, which was set by Valentino Rossi. Both men are enjoying a productive preseason and are looking forward to the first race of the MotoGP season which will take place in Qatar (10-12 April).

At the end of the year the ‘BMW M Award’ will see a BMW M3 go to the rider with the best qualifying times throughout the 2009 season.

Details of the 135i BMW Sauber F1 Edition are scarce—is it just a few stickers, of have the Sauber lads had a decent old tinker under the skin? I can tell you that only 135 of the cars have been made, which, coincidentally matches the number of points the BMW Sauber team scored during the 2008 F1 season. I’m, on the lookout for information, but if you hear of anything please post it in the comments section below.

[Source: MotoGP.com | Thanks to Sean for the tip.]

Categories
BMW Formula 1 Motorsports News

Ultimate Speed Comparison: 135i v V8 Supercar v BMW Sauber F1

BMW 135i at the 2009 Australian Grand Prix

The Australian Grand Prix has been run and won. This means the Ultimate Speed Comparison exhibition races between a BMW135i, V8 Supercar and BMW Sauber F1 car have been held.

The cars took to the track on five occasions, the first was a practice session, with four handicap races following. Unfortunately no footage from any of the races made it on to Australian television screens over the weekend. With any luck something will turn up in the coming weeks.

We can, however, report on the results of the four races, courtesy of NatSoft. In the practice session Paul Gover driving the BMW 135i Coupé posted a lap of 2:37.39, the Sprint Gas V8 of Greg Murphy lapped the circuit in 2:06.51, while Christian Klien in the BMW Sauber F1 completed the distance in 1:46.37.

Based on the results of the practice lap the 135i Coupé was given a 75 second headstart, with the V8 Supercar given 42 seconds grace. Results of the four races can be accessed by following the links below.

Race 1: 1st – Sprint Gas V8, 2nd – 135i Coupé, 3rd – BMW Sauber F1
Race 2: 1st – 135i Coupé, 2nd – BMW Sauber F1, 3rd – Sprint Gas V8
Race 3: 1st – BMW Sauber F1, 2nd – 135i Coupé, 3rd – Sprint Gas V8
Race 4: 1st – Sprint Gas V8, 2nd – 135i Coupé, 3rd – BMW Sauber F1

If you hear of any footage of this going to air, please drop a line in the comments section below.

[Thanks to MickyD for the image.]

UPDATE 2 April: For more pics check this 1addicts post.

Categories
Audi

Fourtitude: Audi S5 v Ur-Quattro

Fourtitude Audi S5 v Ur-Quattro

If you enjoyed AUSmotive’s Past Master piece on Audi’s seminal Ur-Quattro, then you will most likely get a kick out of this seemingly odd comparison by US Audi specialist website Fourtitude.com.

I say odd because the automotive industry has moved leaps and bounds in the 27 years that separate the release dates of the two cars. Not to mention that US-spec UR-Quattro’s were dumbed down by the tune of 40bhp in order to meet emissions targets. Forget those finer details, however, and enjoy the article for what it is, an appreciation of two fine cars from Ingolstadt. There’s an extensive photo gallery too.

[Source: Fourtitude]

Categories
BMW

More BMW Z2 Roadster rumours

Possible BMW Z2 Roadster

There’s more BMW Z2 Roadster rumours coming out of Germany, with Auto Bild claiming BMW has signed off on the project.

The Z2 would be built on the next generation 1 Series and an official concept could be revealed as early as September at this year’s Frankfurt Motor Show.

Expect a raft of hybrid or even electric motorised power plants. These would be offered in conjunction with regular petrol engines, likely to be turbocharged four cylinders.

[Source: Auto Bild via BimmerFile]

Categories
Formula 1

Button wins Australian Grand Prix for BrawnGP

Jenson Button wins 2009 Australian Grand Prix
Jenson Button wins 2009 Australian Grand Prix

Jenson Button has claimed a fairy tale victory for BrawnGP in their debut race at the 2009 Australian Grand Prix. Completing the dream start for F1’s newest team was a late race crash between Red Bull Racing’s Sebastien Vettel and BMW Sauber’s Robert Kubica, gifting second place to Rubens Barichello. The one-two podium finish for the BrawnGP cars follows their front row qualifying positions and is an astonishing result for a team that is barely three weeks old.

Toyota’s Jarno Trulli claimed third place, another remarkable result after starting the race from pit lane. (See below!)

Barichello, though, could consider himself the luckiest driver on the podium after a poor start shortly before crashing into Australia’s Mark Webber. The local hero was able to continue, but his chances were dashed after suffering damage to his car’s body work courtesy of Barichello’s contact. Rubens wasn’t done yet, as he also made unncessary contact with Ferrari’s Kimi Raikonnen. Lady luck, then, was clearly shining on the BrawnGP team in Melbourne.

However, Button’s second Formula One race win remains under a cloud of controversy due to “diffuser-gate“. The race results will not be ratified until the outcome of an FIA hearing to be held on 14 April is announced. Read more on this story at the BBC website.

UPDATE: Jarno Trulli has been given a 25 second penalty for overtaking under Safety Car conditions. This puts Trulli back to 12th place and moves Lewis Hamilton up to third.
[Source: Formula1.com]

Categories
MINI Challenge

2009 MINI CHALLENGE – Round 1, Race 3

Paul Stokell has topped off a near perfect weekend by winning Race 3 in the MINI CHALLENGE earlier today. Gary Young also completed a solid race weekend by finishing second, with Chris Alajajian crossing the line in third.

Stokell now leads the series with 144 points, ahead of Gary Young (129pts) and Andrew Mill (98pts). A full points table can be viewed on the Natsoft website.

Stay tuned for a full round wrap up in the next day or so. In the meantime you can watch these two clips featuring all of today’s Race 3 action.

Continue reading “2009 MINI CHALLENGE – Round 1, Race 3”
Categories
BMW Formula 1

BMW Sauber F1 Australian Grand Prix preview

A brief clip from BMW-web.tv featuring Robert Kubica and Nick Heidfeld chatting about today’s Australian Grand Prix in Melbourne.

Kubica showed good pace in qualifying and will start on the second row from fourth position. While Heidfeld has been bumped up to ninth place, courtesy of Toyota’s cars being sent to the back of the grid due to technical breaches.