Month: February 2009

Categories
Aston Martin Motorsports

Aston Martin Racing chase history at Le Mans

Aston Martin LMP1

This year marks the 50th anniversary of Aston Martin’s sole Le Mans 24 hour race victory. To honour the feats of Carroll Shelby and Roy Salvadori the British company are chasing outright success with this stunning LMP1 racer. Racing cars with iconic Gulf livery always look great, but this creation from Aston Martin takes the look to a whole new level. It’s just brilliant!

Trouble is, there’s a lot more to racing than simply looking the part. Aston is the current Le Mans holder of the GT1 class, but to show how serious they are with their outright assault they will not be running any GT1 cars in 2009. It’s all or nothing in the outright category.

The LMP1 will use the proven V12 engine from the class winning DBR9 GT1 cars. The chassis is based on the 2008 Charouz Racing System Lola.

The 2009 Le Mans 24 hour race will take place over the weekend of 13–14 June.

Full press statement after the jump.

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Categories
Audi Motor Shows

Audi Australia sets Q5 pricing

Audi Q5

The Audi Q5 will make its first Australian appearance at the Melbourne International Motor Show at the end of this month. The car will be available for sale in the second quarter of this year and to help whet people’s appetites Audi Australia has just announced pricing.

The cost of admission into a Q5 is $59,900 for both 2.0 TDI and 2.0 TFSI engines. If you would like to raise the game a little, then you’ll need $69,900 for the 3.2 V6 FSI or $71,900 for the 3.0 TDI.

The Q5’s exterior is perhaps one of the best resolved Euro SUVs available and Audi’s managing director, Joerg Hofmann, is expecting big things, “The Q5 is priced very competitively, and it is an extremely attractive package. The Q5 will undoubtedly give the Audi range a strong boost in 2009 – in image and also in sales. Our network is extremely positive about this addition to our range.”

All models are equipped standard with quattro and a newly developed 7 speed S-tronic transmission (aka DSG).

The S line body kit for the Q5 looks great and expect to pay around $3500 for the kit by itself. The full S line package, including body kit and a few goodies from the options list, will start somewhere around the $5000 range, depending on engine choice.

More pics and words below.

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Categories
Top Gear

On that bombshell

Top Gear LIVE in Sydney 5-8 February

A quick reminder that Top Gear LIVE makes it Australian premiere this Thursday. Jeremy Clarkson and Richard Hammond will be headlining the show. Its a bit of a shame that James May can’t make it, though.

The Australian season runs from 5-8 February, with all shows taking place at Sydney’s Acer Arena. Also, another reminder that the news conference with Jeremy and Richard discussing their world tour, posted back in November is still online, click here if you’d like to watch it.

There’s a bit of banter about the show on TopGear.com as well.

I’ll be there (thanks Mum), maybe I’ll see you there too.

Continue reading “On that bombshell”
Categories
MINI

More convertible tom-foolery

Following the earlier story about the European launch of the MINI Convertible comes this viral video of the roofless MINI being taken through a car wash. I’ve often wondered what it would be like to do this. I need wonder no more.

More on this can be seen at the MINI United website.

Source: MotoringFile

Categories
News Porsche

Porsche opens new museum in Stuttgart

Porsche Museum, Stuttgart

Yesterday the new Porsche Museum opened its doors to the public for the first time. As you can see it is an architecturally stunning building, but just wait until you see what is on the inside!

Construction began in 2005 and the official opening took place last Wednesday with Chairman of the Board of Porsche AG, Dr Wendelin Wiedeking, declaring “This is our new business card on the Porscheplatz. At this meeting point, we welcome our international customers as well as numerous people from all over the world who themselves may not drive a Porsche but are nonetheless fascinated by our sportscars. We will not only use the museum as an exhibition, but also as a communication platform – as a permanent, integral part of the ongoing dialogue which Porsche conducts with the public.”

It costs around AU$16 to get in and is sure to entertain tourists and owners alike. During the construction phase Porsche was getting 80,000 customers per year to their temporary exhibition space which could only display 20 exhibits. Now, with space for 280 cars, one might suggest that their expectations for 200,000 visitors per year will be easily surpassed.

For more information about the museum check out the official website. Or you can just take a squiz at the location on Google Maps.

An extensive image gallery, starting with construction pics, and Porsche’s official press release after the jump.

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Categories
MINI

MINI keeps motoring journalists in the cold

MINI r57 Convertible launched in snowy conditions

In true MINI fashion, the European media launch of their new convertible recently took place in the Austrian alps. Of course! After all, it is a perfect location for a roof down soirée! I admit -6°C temperatures would present a challenge to MINI’s “Always open” idiom, but I’d like to think I’d give it a go.

Newly launched website theSwitchback.com did just that, and was there to file a report. Of particular interest is how the new generation compared to the previous MINI convertible…

“Having previously driven, reviewed, and even lived with both the second generation MINI Cooper S and the previous generation of MINI Convertible, the questions we really wanted answered were how well had MINI spliced these two cars together to produce a better, more complete MINI Convertible. How was the handling? How much did the new pop-up rear roll-over bar improve visibility? How much improved was the new hood? And for how long could we keep the roof down in the challenging, chilly environment.

On just about every account, the MINI acquitted itself admirably. The only yardstick of any true value had to be the first generation MINI Convertible, which although a real pleasure to drive, did have several shortcomings that were all too obvious for owners, as well as casual observers and reviewers, if entirely forgivable for any fan.”

Follow the link below for the full story.

Source: theSwitchback

Categories
Honda Motorsports

I got children at home waiting for their mummy

You might remember the clip of Ricardo Patrese driving his wife around the Jerez racetrack from last September. Well, I might be a bit slow on the uptake, but here is a subtitled version for your viewing pleasure.

Note: Language warning applies, haha.

Categories
Reviews Tried & Tested Volkswagen

Tried & Tested: Volkswagen Golf VI 1.4 TSI

Golf VI 1.4 TSI with DSG

Welcome to AUSmotive’s second Tried & Tested review. This time, with a bit of a difference. As you can see we’re discussing the new Mk6 Golf, and with the new Golf not making its Australian debut until later this month I have had to follow a few leads via the VWvortex forums to file this report. This has led me right to the heart of Volkswagen, with the owner of this Mk6 Golf, Jimmy, an ex-pat US citizen now residing in Wolfsburg. Jimmy has been kind enough answer a few questions about his new wheels…

Q. Can you please list the full spec of your car, how long you have owned it and kilometres travelled.

A. I have the 1.4 litre TSI 160PS (approx 117kw) engine and the 7-speed DSG transmission, with flappy paddles on the steering wheel. It is only a few months old and I have completed just 1500 kilometyres so far.

It also has heated leather seats with power lumbar, the new generation RNS-510 sat nav system (with the hard disk drive). There is also Park Assist, although no reverse camera, just sensors in the bumpers, and it can also parallel park automagically.

Obviously by the pictures you can see it is a three door version. As of right now new Mk6 Golf is still quite rare, even here in Wolfsburg. I’ve only seen one or two others like it, quite unique for a town that renamed itself “Golfsburg” a few years ago.

My car was made in Mosel (Zwickau) and not in Wolfsburg.

[Ed: This is interesting, as I had previously heard that all Mk6 Golf production was to take place in Wolfsburg, perhaps all Golf production will now be in Germany, rather than Wolfsburg itself.]

Continue reading “Tried & Tested: Volkswagen Golf VI 1.4 TSI”
Categories
Volkswagen

Spotted: Volkswagen Mk6 Golf GTI 5 door

Volkswagen Golf VI GTI at the Autostadt

WorldCarFans has images of what they claim to be a production ready 5-door Mk6 Golf GTI. The images of this GTI were captured in the exit room of the Volkswagen pavilion at the Autostadt in Wolfsburg. Previously, the new GTI has only been seen in “concept” form when it was revealed at the 2008 Paris Motor Show.

It looks like Volkswagen has taken a similar path with the Mk6 GTI as they did with the Mk5 with the concept model and production model virtually identical. Assuming, of course, this is a production model that has been captured. As noted in the WorldCarFans article, the only immediate difference noticeable are slightly less dramatic lower door panels. Although, depending on the angle and lighting, it could be argued that this detail hasn’t changed at all.

All will be revealed in time, of course, and perhaps that time might be just around the corner with the Geneva Motor Show starting in just over one month.

There’s a few more images on WCF, so don’t forget to follow the link below to check them out.

Source: WorldCarFans via VWvortex