Month: April 2010

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Alfa Romeo Ferrari Fiat Lamborghini Lancia

Auto Italia 2010

Auto Italia, Canberra, April 2010

It was a perfect autumn day in Canberra today. Ideal weather for the annual Auto Italia car show, then. Every year Italian car owners and enthusiasts gather in the nation’s capital to show off their shining metal and this year the lawns adjacent to the National Library of Australia provided the ideal setting.

Of course, cars are much more than shiny metal, and the perfect example of this are marques like Alfa Romeo, de Tomaso, Fiat, Ferrari, Lancia, Lamborghini and Maserati. All were represented at Auto Italia 2010 today. Indeed, this year the featured marque for the Italian show was Alfa Romeo in honour of Alfa’s 100th anniversary. Alfa owners obliged by showcasing some truly beautiful cars, some incredibly rare, all incredibly cherished.

You can catch a glimpse of today’s show by checking out the photos after the jump. More info on Auto Italia in Canberra can be found at their official website.

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Formula 1

The wheels have fallen off

Sebastien Buemi, Chinese GP practice 2010

Toro Rosso driver Sebastien Buemi got the shock of his life during Free Practice 1 at the Chinese Grand Prix on Friday. As you can see from the image above the wheels literally fell off his Formula One car in a spectacular incident. Luckily the only damage was to the car and Buemi did not suffer any injuries.

Speaking after the crash he said, “There’s not much to say about what happened in FP1. I braked, the wheels came off and that was it. Physically, I was fine though.”

Fine, yes, but not happy, “But I have to say, I am extremely disappointed that, once again, through no fault of my own, I have been unable to run for almost all of the three hours available. I will have to try and catch up on Saturday morning and we will be relying on Jaime’s data from today to see which way to go.”

A bit surly perhaps? The team’s Technical Director, Giorgio Ascanelli, explained fixing the cause of Buemi’s accident was straightforward, “Sebastien’s accident this morning was down to a technical problem on the right hand upright, which proved simple to identify once we got the car back. We have resolved the problem, which the many laps completed by Jaime this afternoon confirms.”

If you have not seen any vision of the incident, you can see a video clip below. Like the cat, I expect you will be amazed, too.

Meanwhile, Red Bull Racing duo have once again hogged the front row all to themselves with Sebastien Vettel snatching a last gasp pole position from Australia’s Mark Webber in yesterday’s final qualifying session. Best of luck to both for this afternoon’s race.

[Thanks to Chris for the tip]

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News

Another look at Robbie Maddison’s Corinth Canal jump

Robbie Maddison

Last week Robbie Maddison jumped “the most dangerous” stunt of his career when he jumped across the Corinth Canal in Greece. You can relive the stunt in a new video below, which includes some behind the scenes footage with Maddison.

For the statisticians Robbie’s jump was 85m (278ft) across and at his highest point Maddison was almost 100m above the water below. And he made it look so easy!

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Ferrari

Ferrari 599 GTO world premiere

Ferrari 599 GTO

Ferrari’s newest hypercar, the 599 GTO, was given its maiden showing in Modena recently. The event was held at the Military Academy’s Ducal Palace and Ferrari’s top brass were in attendance—including Chairman Luca di Montezemolo, Vice Chairman Piero Ferrari and CEO Amedeo Felisa.

After the formalities and speeches three 599 GTOs were driven inside the Academy. At the wheel were ex-F1 drivers Luca Badoer and Giancarlo Fisichella, as well as long time Ferrari test driver Dario Benuzzi.

You can see some video highlights of the event after the jump. You can also play around at configure your own 599 GTO on the Ferrari website. But don’t get too attached to your creation, the entire production run of 599 vehicles has already sold out. Damn, missed by that much!

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Mercedes-Benz

Mercedes-Benz E 63 AMG hits the skids

Mercedes-Benz E 63 AMG

There’s nothing too sophisticated about this clip. Okay, it is very well produced and the influence of Top Gear is evident, but essentially it is a big German saloon with way too much power sliding around on a wet track. Sounds like fun, don’t you think. Especially when that big saloon is the Benz E 63 AMG.

Sure, 386kW might be overdoing things a little, especially in this context. But, as the saying goes, I never met a horsepower I didn’t like. Take the jump, enjoy the clip and don’t do any skids on the way home.

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Bugatti

Bugatti Veyron documentary – part 2

Bugatti Veyron documentary

This is the second and final part of the Bugatti Veyron doco. As noted in part 1, the Veyron provides some epic numbers, but it also brings with it some horrific over expenses, too. How does $17,000 for a set of replacement tyres grab you? It’s okay, though, because your tyres should be good for around 10,000 kilometres. Maybe.

Another interesting tidbit is the fact that every Veyron is driven for 500km prior to delivery. That would be sure to raise the ire of those new car buyers who throw tantrums if their car has more than 20km when they drive it off the showroom floor!

The final two clips can be seen after the jump. Enjoy.

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Bugatti

Bugatti Veyron documentary – part 1

Bugatti Veyron documentary

The Bugatti Veyron is an engineering masterstroke made simply because it could be. Or perhaps it is a vulgar exercise in excess at the expense of financial discretion. The only certainty is that the Veyron polarises opinions.

Indeed, McLaren Automotive boss Ron Dennis reckons the big Bugatti is “pig ugly”. Dennis didn’t stop there, either, calling the Veyron a “piece of junk”.

Whichever side of the fence you sit it is hard to be anything other than staggered by the car’s numbers. In less than five seconds the 16.4 litre W16 powered Veyron can accelerate from rest to 100km/h and come to a complete stop again. That is astonishing, no other way to describe it, really.

After the break is the first of a two part piece on the Veyron as shown on National Geographic Channel’s Man Made program.

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Audi

2010 Audi RS5

Audi RS5

The international media launch of the Audi RS5 took place in Spain today and while AUSmotive wasn’t in attendance we can bring you the latest images from Audi’s press archives. There’s 75 of the blighters for you after the break, all accessible as 2000px super size images. An extensive press release from Audi should keep you busy, as well.

In case you needed reminding the RS5 is powered by a naturally aspirated high rev 4.2-litre V8 FSI. The RS5 produces peak power of 331kW (450PS) at 8250rpm, with maximum torque of 430Nm available from 4000-6000rpm. Coupled with a specially reinforced 7-speed S tronic transmission the RS5 is able to accelerate to 100km/h in 4.6 seconds. This is the first of Audi’s RS models to be fitted with a double clutch transmission. At this stage, there is still no word on a manual gearbox option.

The RS5 will be available in a total of eight colors: Ibis White, Suzuka Gray, Monza Silver, Misano Red, Sepang Blue, Daytona Gray, Phantom Black and custom blended Panther Black reserved for Audi’s high-performance machines.

Naturally the RS5 features a quattro all-wheel drive system. There’s some new trickery hidden inside the RS5 quattro, too. Including a crown-gear centre differential with torque vectoring and an optional sport differential. You can get more of an insight into those systems through a couple of YouTube clips—available here.

For now, though, feast your eyes on some very tasty images thanks to Audi. When you’re done here check out Top Gear’s coverage of today’s launch.

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BMW

New BMW 5 Series – Australian pricing

BMW 5 Series

The new F10 BMW 5 Series will go on sale in Australia this June. At initial launch there will be a four-pronged model line up, consisting of six cylinder 528i and 535i models, as well as a V8 powered 550i. A four cylinder turbo diesel 520d will join the range in September. Those wanting more space from their 5 Series will have to hold on a bit longer for the October release of the Touring version.

Manufacturer’s list pricing starts at $83,300 for the 520d; $99,900 for the 528i; $128,900 for the 535i and tops out at $178,900 for the 550i. More detail is available below in BMW Australia’s press release, and they have also included this handy spec comparison PDF (60kb) which highlights the increase in spec of the new 5er over the outgoing E60 version.

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Subaru

Impreza STI sedan sighted at Nurburgring

Subaru Impreza STi sedan

One of the great things about living and working in Nürburg is getting to see what the manufacturers are up to during their test sessions at the famous Nordschleife. Dale from Bridge to Gantry, and also RSR Nürburg, doesn’t like to waste such opportunities. As well as his BMW ‘M1’ sighting, he also saw this Subaru Impreza STI sedan throwing its hat into the Ring, so to speak.

Apparently the driver was lapping with plenty of aggression, and interestingly, in the video clip below was also tailing an Audi TT RS. A coincidence, or something more?

[Source: Bridge to Gantry]

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BMW

BMW ‘M1’ spotted during Nürburgring testing

BMW 'M1' spy shot

Another possible ‘M1’ prototype has been spotted in testing, this time at the Nürburgring. Devlopment of the widebody 1 Series seems well underway and this sighting follows last week’s ‘M1’ appearance.

The prototype captured in the images here were taken during an industry testing session at the Ring, so we can be fairly certain this is a BMW test mule, and not some crazy guy who has stuck a few bits of plastic on his car to be cool.

The fact the widebody kit only appears on the rear of the car tends to indicate BMW’s M engineers are developing the rear axle components, which are expected to be sourced from the current M3.

Apparently the test driver was pushing pretty hard and with thanks to Bridge to Gantry you can see another pic and brief video after the break.

[Source: Bridge to Gantry]

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Green Machines MINI

MINI E goes green around Green Hell

MINI E Race

A specially prepared 150kW electric powered MINI has just lapped the Nürburgring Nordschleife in under 10 minutes. The MINI E Race is based on the MINI E road car which was first announced in October 2008.

Modifications to the standard MINI E include the addition of a roll cage, KW Variant 3 suspension, MINI Challenge inspired front spoiler and rear valance, along with an optimised ECU program and race tuned ABS. As well as the add-on bits MINI was able to reduce the overall weight of the car by more than 200kg.

At the hands of racing driver Thomas Jäger the MINI E Race lapped the Ring in 9:51.45 achieving a top speed of 187km/h.

Jäger, the 2006 MINI Challenge champion said, “The power of the electric motor has an incredible effect, as you can access its full reserves of torque at all times. Another element of this fascinating experience is the lack of noise from the drivetrain. All in all, that was certainly the cleanest and quietest race lap I’ve ever driven.”

With the MINI E Race being a full electric vehicle this is the first car to complete a lap of the 20.8km Nordschleife circuit in race-like conditions with zero emissions. This is a great first from BMW, although there are currently no plans to enter the electric MINI in any competitive races just yet.

More pics and further detail after the break, including a brief promo video.

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