As you will recall the 2011 Le Mans 24 hour race was a genuine roller coaster for the Audi team. Two of its three cars crashed out in daunting and spectacular fashion, leaving just one R18 TDI to take up the fight against the Peugeot 908s.
We know the final result, of course, and Audi’s tenth win at La Sarthe will be remembered for a long time. You can relive the race through the eyes of Audi Motorsport thanks to a finely produced documentary clip after the break.
Motor Authority brings us some great pics of a MINI JCW Countryman doing its required Ring schooling before final graduation. We don’t think it’s the Countryman WRC we’re hoping for. However, the JCW version is likely to be fitted with plenty of juicy bits at the factory thanks to increased production capabilities at the Countryman’s Manga Steyr plant.
Those juicy bits include 19″ alloys, a JCW bodykit and a few more ponies from its 1.6 litre turbo four cylinder. In fact, rather than simply boosting the current 155kW JCW engine, there’s talk MINI may introduce a new donk altogether with peak power starting at around 160kW. If they do fit a new engine, let’s hope they can find their way past 170kw, at least.
There’s a remote chance official info will be confirmed by MINI later this year, but don’t get cross if you have to wait until 2012.
[Source: MotoringFile | Pics: Motor Authority]
Images of this car have been emerging on websites around the globe. The car, we are told, is the Mercedes-Benz C63 AMG Black and it magically appeared at a Mercedes event at the Le Castellet circuit in France. As if AMG wasn’t already enough, Benz goes back in black to turn the dial way past eleven.
The snorting bonnet and muscular wheel arches give the first clue that something special lies beneath. Confirmed details are scarce right now, but in the case of the C63 AMG Black, special is a 6.2 litre V8. It produces around 490hp or, if you got a bonus this month, you can have 520hp thanks to the even Blacker version, otherwise known as a Performance Pack.
Predictions say 100km/h will be knocked off in about 4 seconds, let’s be daring and say 3.9 might be achievable. After all there’s E-Class bits, including a slippery diff in the back and a fancy MCT gearbox at the front to help wage an ongoing war between rubber and asphalt.
Production of this model won’t be limited and when Mercedes-Benz releases final confirmed details we’ll bring you the word. Remember, once you go Black…
There’s some more pics after the break and a nice reminder from Jeremy Clarkson as to why the AMG Black series is worth the fuss.
[Source: SpeedFans via Motor Authority | Thanks to Shane for the tip]
In the above video Mark Webber talks about his return to Silverstone for this weekend’s British Grand Prix. All while he is taking passengers out for hot laps around the Rockingham circuit.
Last year Webber bagged the win at Silverstone in what is considered Red Bull Racing’s home GP. He’ll have his work cut out to beat Vettel on current form, but here’s hoping he can find something extra and claim his seventh F1 win.
A bit over a week ago we brought word that Audi has signed off on an ‘S’ version of its entry-level Q3 SUV. At the time it seemed odd they would use the 2.5 litre five cylinder engine from the RS3. So, perhaps they are considering a Q3 RS after all?
Reports suggest the power would be down from 340hp to 300hp. Such reports were given a huge nudge in credibility after Swedish site Sportbilen posted video of a test drive in the high-po Q3. Of course, the Q3 RS would feature a quattro all-wheel drive system, as well as a 7-speed S tronic transmission.
They were given an opportunity to drive the car at the presentation of the broader Q3 range. You’ll see and hear the five-pot growl after the break.
[Source: Carscoop]
The annual Goodwood Festival of Speed was held last weekend. Each year it seems to get bigger and bigger. McLaren Automotive took along their race-ready MP4-12C GT3 and made this video.
It’s a little disappointing that we don’t really see, or hear, the 12C GT3 at full noise. Great looking car, though.
Apologies for missing last month’s update and for those keeping score Holden actually pipped Toyota to the highest selling marque for May. A result largely due to supply issues in Japan following the tsunami earlier this year. Indeed the total sales for May were 77,406 a fall of 13.2% on 2010 figures.
And so it has remained in June. Holden still holds the title of highest selling brand (12,827) just ahead of Toyota (12,514). Ford has knocked Hyundai off the ever-revolving third place position on the sales charts (9,216).
In all 96,157 vew vehicles were delivered in June, a healthy increase on May’s figures, but still down 11.6% on 2010 numbers; which was a record for single month sales.
FCAI chief executive Andrew McKellar said, “Manufacturers and distributors affected by the Japanese natural disaster are reporting a reliable return of supply. We would expect the effect to dissipate over coming months.”
Here’s all the left over bits from the Australian International Motor Show. The cars that didn’t quite have enough material for their own sub-gallery or, in some case, cars that usually don’t fit the AUSmotive niche.
The Suzuki Swift S-Concept you see above caught our eye. It looks quite sharp, don’t you think. Speaking of which, the Joss prototype is worthy of a second look. Can Australia really produce a world-class supercar?
You’ll see new metal from Bentley and Maserati. As well as the ‘all-new’ Ford Focus and those teeny weeny Mad Max concepts. Pretty mad looking they are, too.
The best France could offer was Peugeot this year, no Renault to be seen. The new 508 sort of looks alright, but the person responsible for the rear light detail on the 207 SW needs to be guillotined!
Japan popped in with the still menacing Nissan GT-R and Toyota FT-86II Concept. Incidentally, that seemed to be the only car on the Toyota stand that wasn’t prefixed by the word Prius.
And, finally, the Mitsubishi Concept PX MiEV probably the only concept car ever to feature massive Brembo brakes hidden behind chunky alloy wheels. Oh yeah, remember the first time you made a model car and there were bits of glue all over the place? Yeah, check out the front grille on the PX thingy if you can. Bit of a rush job, do you think?
Not sure about anyone else, but this matt white diesel plug-in hybrid really floated our boat. Using the stylish V60 Estate lines as a base the paint and wheel combo really made the car stand out. Never mind its 1.9l/100km and 49g/km CO2 claims. Maybe it was brand ambassador Pia Miller telling us how wonderful the car is that brought us to attention. Either way, both models looked fantastic.
This made us think we need to take a closer look at the S60 R, which looks pretty neat in saloon form too. And when you see that smacked up C30 Electric you begin to appreciate that hitting solid objects at a modest 64km/h is not such a great idea.
Finally, the Scirroco is in Australia. The only model to be offered for sale locally will be the 188kW Scirocco R. Try as we might we couldn’t get a meaningful reply from VW staffers on pricing. We figure high 40s list pricing is where you should be thinking. We can’t wait to drive the new old Scirocco, but after seeing the car at AIMS we have to ask: why Viper Green? It’s a horrible colour.
Also new to the Volkswagen stand were the Touareg, Jetta, Multivan Edition 25 and Caddy 4motion. The new Jetta (due later this year) looks quite a bit nicer than we first thought. It’s never going to set the world alight with its styling, but that’s not its brief anyway. The new Touareg, too, is a pleasing evolution over its predecessor.
We like the look of the Mafiavan Edition 25. The Caddy 4motion is an interesting bit of kit, although it needs some seeing to for its ride height.
The Polo GTI is still a well sorted looking car, if only supply issues weren’t such a drag. The Golf R still looks the business as well. Shame we had to lose the 3dr in order to get the Scirocco R, but sometimes you have to give a little to get a little.
Subaru revealed the fourth-generation Impreza for the first time in Australia. Indeed, it was a world premiere for the right-hand drive model. From the outside we think it’s a solid improvement over the current model for sale. Although we acknowledge the bar’s not particularly high there.
While the outside of the new Impreza looks good, especially in wagon/hatch form, the interior is still lagging behind in terms of ergonomics and materials. Other Japanese manufacturers, and even the Koreans, are making progress on this front, so hopefully Subaru gets it right soon.
Mind, the current model Liberty, which has to be the worst looking iteration yet, is selling like hot cakes; so what do we know. Actually, we do know that despite going to the trouble of showing us the new Impreza, Subaru Australia couldn’t muster up a launch date. So, it will be here… soon, we guess.
My mum always said if you can’t say anything nice, don’t say anything at all. There’s some pictures of the XV Concept.
The race-spec Liberty B4 GT300 looks nice and aggressive, even though it appears to be a replica.
The Skoda Fabia is coming. Entry level models are on sale now and the hot 132kW RS version will be in Australia early next year. You’ll probably be able to get your hands on a Fabia RS more easily than the Volkswagen Polo GTI on which it is based. We’re a bit lukewarm on the styling of the Fabia, so we’re not sure you’d want to. Tell us what you think.
Always great to see the Octavia vRS Estate in Targa Tasmania trim and the Superb continues to be an underrated option, particularly in Estate form. Value for money!