Archive for July, 2010

Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG E-Cell

Mercedes-Benz, or more specifically, AMG is the latest manufacturer to throw its hat into the mean green hypercar segment. The SLS AMG E-Cell is powered by four electric motors offering a total power output of 392kW, with maximum torque of 880Nm. It can accelerate to 100km/h in four seconds flat; just 0.2 seconds slower than [...]

McLaren MP4-12C at the 2010 Goodwood FoS

The official public reveal of the new McLaren MP4-12C supercar took place at the Goodwood Festival of Speed last weekend. In fact, it was the first car to make the run up the hill this year, informally opening the show, as it were. McLaren have released a short video of the weekend’s activities and the [...]

Mark Webber drives virtual lap of Silverstone

It’s Mark Webber’s turn to tell us all about the new Silverstone layout today. He’s a bit excited about racing in England, too. It’s the home race for Red Bull Racing, there’s very passionate fans and, best of all, Mark gets to snuggle under his own doona at night. Actually, on that point, I think [...]

Aston Martin V8 Vantage N420

Aston Martin have just taken the wraps of their latest special edition V8 Vantage. It’s called the N420; that’s N for Nürburgring and 420 for the number of horses under the bonnet. The Vantage has a proud record of racing at the Nürburgring 24 hour race. An Aston Martin Vantage has raced at the Ring [...]

2010 Aston Martin DB9

The Aston Martin DB9 is one of the world’s best looking sports tourers. That’s probably why Aston’s engineer’s left well enough alone when designing this 2010 model update; “the most significant programme of upgrades since its world debut in 2003″, says the press guff . Yeah, I know, it looks just like the old one. [...]

Citroën DS3 R3 – customer rally car

This spunky looking machine is Citroën’s latest rally car. The DS3 R3 has been developed for the FIA’s R3T category and  features a 1.6 litre turbocharged engine pumping out 210 horsepower. There’s also a pretty healthy 350Nm on offer. Drawing on the technical knowledge of the immensely successful C4 WRC program the DS3 R3 is [...]

Bugatti Veyron Super Sport sets new landspeed record

// Posted in Bugatti

On 26 June 2010 this lairy orange and black Bugatti Veyron Super Sport, with 1200hp (882kW) if you don’t mind, set a new landspeed record for production vehicles. The bar has now been set at 431km/h. Astonishing! Following normal protocols for such records the top speed is calculated as an average of two runs in [...]

New TV deal for MINI Challenge

There’s good news for MINI Challenge fans following the announcement of new television deals with Fox Sports and New Zealand’s TV3. Free to air viewers have not been forgotten, either, and the Channel 7 broadcast schedule has been confirmed for the rest of the year. Full details after the break.

A look at the new Silverstone GP circuit

With the British Grand Prix now just a few days away, it’s a good time to take a look at the revised Silverstone layout. Those familiar with the old layout will immediately notice the infield section from Abbey through to Brooklands is new. Other than that the bulk of the course is unchanged, save for [...]

Bruno Senna’s home movie

The video below features some in-car footage of Bruno Senna driving a McLaren MP4/8 at the Goodwood Festival of Speed over the weekend. Truth be told it’s a pretty crappy clip, filmed on a mobile phone. But, when you stop to think about it, how many times do you see amateur in-car footage filmed from [...]

Marulan Driver Training Centre needs your help

AUSmotive recently discovered that the Marulan Driver Training Centre provides a first class facility for road users of various needs and experience. Unfortunately, MDTC is under threat of forced closure due to noise complaints. On the day I attended MDTC all participants were asked to be mindful of surrounding properties and, anecdotally at least, I [...]

Megafactories mega week

Australian Foxtel subscribers are in for a treat this week with five Megafactories episodes airing on the National Geographic Channel. Some of the car world’s most desirable brands are showcased. On Monday you can learn all about the Lamborghini Murcielago SV; Tuesday is Rolls Royce Phantom day; Wednesday is all about the Audi R8; Thursday [...]

Truth in powersliding

Back in May we learned an Audi R8 V10 and an empty El Toro Marine Base were a match made in heaven. Now, we get an encore performance. Bravo, I hear you say. WebRidesTV have published this behind the scenes footage to YouTube and rather than reading more padding here, just take the jump and [...]

Hay stack

The Goodwood Festival of Speed usually brings out some classic old racecars out for a run up the hill. Sometimes those classic machines don’t always return home in the pristine condition they arrived in. Here you can see Peter Champion, driving his former Brock/Perkins HDT Commodore, got things a little bit wrong during Friday’s action. [...]

London calling

Red Bull Racing and Mark Webber stunned London commuters early yesterday morning when they took to the streets in a Formula One car. The 6am stunt was part of promotions building up to the British Grand Prix at Silverstone on 11 July. Speaking after his morning commute in the 2009 RB5 racecar Webber said, “Obviously, [...]