The latest sortie in the Battle of Nürburgring between Porsche and Nissan has dealt another killer blow in favour of the Japanese. Reports have surfaced today that legendary test driver Walter Rohrl recently lapped the Green Hell in a 2010 Porsche 911 GT3 in an “unofficial” time of 7 minutes and 40 seconds. Or, sadly [...]

The Porsche-Volkswagen tale appears to have a few twists in the offing. In January, Porsche became the majority shareholder of Volkswagen. Although, there is still the Lower-Saxony ruling, preventing outright control of Volkswagen by another party, to be overcome. And now, well, things are seeming to spice up somewhat. How much of the latest developments [...]

AUSmotive will be making the trek to Tasmania this weekend as preparations for Targa Tasmania get into full swing. I will be returning to work as part of the service crew for two privateer entrants, Andrew Robinson (#923) and Stu Jones (#916). Here’s to a great rally for the guys, especially after Robbo’s disappointment last [...]

Aston Martin’s newest concept, the One-77, is set to make its public debut today at the Concorso d’Eleganza. The famous and exclusive event is held in the grounds of the Grand Hotel Villa d’Este, on the shores of Lake Como in Italy, and runs from 24-26 April 2009. While the car on show is considered [...]

Could it be? Internet scuttlebutt has surfaced recently suggesting the gorgeous Volkswagen Scirocco could be closer to Australian reality than first thought. To date we’ve been lead to believe it’s too hard, the price isn’t right, Volkswagen Germany doesn’t want to play ball. Or that maybe the only way to get the Scirocco down under [...]

The MINI Speedster theory appears to be gathering momentum. First, MotoringFile ran a piece saying the car had been given an internal sign off. They think. Now, AutoExpress has published a couple of renderings of how the car might look. The raked, almost Porsche-like, headlights set the scene for the Speedster, while the rear cowling [...]

Fresh images of the updated Octavia vRS have been released by Skoda. The facelifted Octavia range pushes the exterior design away from the more squared off look of its predecessor. It’s probably a 50/50 result, some will prefer the previous look, others will prefer the update. AUSmotive HQ falls into the latter category and are [...]

Following images of the new vRS the Octavia Scout has been given the once over by the Skoda facelift team. The look is almost more Subaru Outback than the Outback itself. Subtle additions to the bodywork give the Scout the car a purposeful and rugged appaearance. Despite the looks the car has just 179mm ground [...]

A pair of prototype Lexus LF-A racers will be entered into this year’s Nürburgring 24 hour race. Lexus will treat the race as a development experience. You can be assured that 24 hours around the Nordschleife will be a stern test of the car’s 5.0 litre V10. The full list of drivers and plenty more [...]

Mal Rose is a name that many Australian motorsport devotees will remember. He hasn’t been competing much on the local scene of late. Internationally, though, he’s never been busier. Preparations are in full swing for yet another assault on the Nürburgring 24 hour race (21-24 May). This follows his team’s efforts earlier in the year [...]

The highly anticipated Porsche Panamera super saloon had its worldwide public debut at Auto Shanghai overnight. The four-door Porker will go on sale in Germany on 12 September this year. UK buyers should be able to get their hands on the car soon after. Speaking in Shanghai, Wolfgang Dürheimer, Porsche’s Executive Vice-President Research and Development [...]

UK pricing for the hot diesel-powered Golf GTD will start at £21,850, for a manual equipped 3 door, and £22,345 for the 5 door model. Those with a preference for the 6-speed DSG will need to dip into their piggy bank for a further £1305. The car is due for delivery on 22 June and [...]

Swedish all-wheel drive manufacturer Haldex has secured an AU$740M contract to supply AWD components for Volkswagen’s new modular platform concept due in 2012. Essentially this will mark the production of the fifth-generation of the Haldex system. This extension of the partnership with the Volkswagen Group marks the largest agreement for Haldex and as you can [...]

Australia’s Mark Webber has finished second at the Chinese Formula One Grand Prix in Shanghai today. In a big day for Webber’s Red Bull Racing team, he finished behind teammate, and pole sitter, 22-year-old Sebastien Vettel. The second place marks a great comeback to fitness for Webber who badly broke his leg last November. It [...]

Through a few cobbled together pieces of information our friends at finalgear.com reckon the lighter and brighter season of Top Gear (Series 13) will return to UK screens on 21 June. It looks like Clarkson, Hammond and May are locked in for a 7 episode run, with a further 7 episodes for Series 14 to [...]