As you know Formula One will be making a return to the United States in 2012 at a new purpose-built racetrack in Austin, Texas. To help promote the event and build the profile of F1 down south David Coulthard took the Red Bull Racing promo car to the city to see what’s cooking.
The crowd were happy to hoot and holler when DC lit up his rear tyres, but will they really embrace a motorsport category that turns right, as well as left?
[Source: Circuit of Americas]
Word has come through that Top Gear Australia, Series 4, is due to air on Channel 9 from Tuesday next week.
It’s been almost 12 months since we saw the TGA lads in action. Perhaps it has taken that long for Ewen and Shane to patch up their differences, as one reader suggested last November?
We’ll have to wait until 8:30pm on 30 August to find out. Andy Lee will be the Star in a Reasonably Priced Car.
[Source: TV Tonight | Pic: shanejacobson.com.au | Thanks to Stu for the tip]
A couple of weeks after the garden variety 2012 Audi A3 was spied, a cooking S3 prototype has been seen sunning itself in California. Reports suggest the car will still be powered by a 2.0 turbo four. Power is expected to increase from 265hp to 280hp, while torque may remain at 350Nm; a bit too modest perhaps?
The third-gen S3 will be one of the first cars on Volkswagen’s new MQB platform to feature quattro all-wheel drive as well. S tronic and manual transmissions should be available from launch, and possibly in the 3 door S3 for the first time.
From the spy shots it appears as though the S3, and presumably the full A3 range, will have the option of radar controlled cruise control (note the small dome beneath the number plate mount). Other technology to be found will be stop/start and brake energy recuperation.
If the S3 finds its way into European showrooms in 2012 you’d think it would be late in the year. Based on that, our guess is the S3 would be on sale in Australia in the second half of 2013.
[Source: Car]
The usual leak info on the weekend, followed by official confirmation on Monday, reveal cycle has followed the script for the Mercedes-Benz SLK 55 AMG.
It’s the third-generation SLK that’s been fiddled with by AMG and this time it still has a normally aspirated 5.5 litre V8 under its bonnet. Although, it’s now pumping out an impressive 310kW (422hp) of fury; a tasty 45kW increase from the previous model. It will get you to 100km/h in 4.6 seconds thanks to 540Nm of torque and its enthusiastically titled AMG Speedshift Plus 7G-Tronic transmission.
However, outright power and speed is not this V8’s party trick. No, according to Mercedes, this is the world’s most fuel efficient V8. With a rated consumption of 8.4l/100km it’s probably hard to argue with that. The M152 engine is closely related to the M157 bi-turbo found in larger AMG models, but uses a host of fuel-saving methods, such as AMG Cylinder Management, start/stop and, of course, no turbocharging to keep its drinking levels down.
The SLK 55 AMG has nice and aggressive styling as well. It’s easily the best looking warmed-over SLK we’ve seen to date.
There’s more detail from Mercedes-Benz after the break.
UPDATE: Mercedes-Benz Australia has confirmed the SLK 55 AMG will be on local sale early next year.
UPDATE #2: 17 new pics have been added, click to load 2000px super sizing.
Sebastien Ogier won Rally Germany on the weekend. It was a sweet victory for the young Frenchman, too, who was not pleased when ordered by team bosses on Saturday morning to stay behind Loeb and not challenge for the race win.
Later in the day Loeb suffered a puncture and Ogier inherited the lead, prompting the younger Sebastien to say, “At least there is some justice in the sport.”
Loeb responded in kind by saying, “Maybe he talks too much sometimes. It’s not his fault I got the puncture. He can say what he wants.”
It is the first time Loeb has been beaten in Germany, ending a run of seven wins since the event entered the WRC in 2002. The win is Citroën’s 78th victory in the WRC and now takes them one ahead of Ford on the all-time list of wins in the sport.
Ogier now has four wins this year, the same number as Loeb, and sits 25pts behind the seven-time world champ. Only disaster will stop Citroën from winning the manufacturers’ championship. Although, showing increased competition is not too far away, Dani Sordo in his MINI WRC finished the rally in third place in just the third start for the new team.
The WRC comes to Australia next month. So if you’re near the NSW north coast, why don’t you check it out.
Volkswagen has released info and images of its new city car, called the up!, ahead of its European sales debut in December. We first got an inkling of Volkswagen’s thinking with the E-Up! at Frankfurt in 2009.
At just 3.54m long and 1.64m wide the up! is quite small and comes in three different model designations: the entry-level take up!, the “comfort oriented” move up! and top-of-the-range high up!
Powering up! at launch will be a pair of 1.0 litre three-cylinder diesel petrol engines. Power is either 44kW or 55kW and fuel consumption on a combined cycle will be 4.2l/100km or 4.3l/100km respectively. A 50kW natural gas powered unit will also be available. The range will be complemented by an electric powered model in 2013.
Safety hasn’t been left out and the up! will feature Emergency Braking, which uses a laser sensor to try and avoid, or minimise, low-speed shunts at speeds below 30km/h.
You’ll find more on the up! from Volkswagen below, including a gallery of 24 images, all accessible at 2000px super sizing.
To help kill time during the mid-season break Mercedes GP has released this brief video showing the importance they place on pit stops.
There’s nothing earth shattering in here, but it’s still quite a good insight.
It’s also good to know Michael Schumacher can trust his boys. If only they could reciprocate the feeling.
The second Aussie Racing Cars race at Queensland Raceway quickly developed into total farce amid concerns over track safety yesterday afternoon. The aftermath of the incident has cost the category organiser his job.
Phil Ward, category founder, organiser and competitor, qualified eighteenth for the race. However, as the cars formed up on the grid Ward sped to the head of the pack, stopped his car and got out to demand the race be cancelled.
On Turn 2 of the racetrack oil had been spilled in an earlier event and Ward felt it was too dangerous to race. What followed was unimaginable chaos for a professional category with almost a decade of competition under its belt.
Unfortunately for Ward and the Aussie Racing Cars series this shambles was being broadcast live around Australia by Channel 7. Watch the video below and, regardless of Ward’s good intentions, you’ll soon see why this melodrama has captured attention for all the wrong reasons.
Ferrari will be officially unveiling the 458 Italia Spider at the Frankfurt Motor Show in a few weeks. As is the norm these days the interwebz has rather spoiled the surprise following the appearance of three images of the 570hp roadster.
Mostly this will simply be a regular 458 Italia with its roof cut out; engine and spec is expected to be the same. Of course, there will be extra strenghtening for the chassis which will add some extra weight.
[Source: Cheers & Gears]
Just days after an undisguised F30 saloon was spotted the next-gen BMW 3 Series Touring (F31) has been spied in familiar swirly camouflage. Due to go on sale in Europe a bit over 12 months from now the new 3 Series wagon promises to be the largest and most spacious iteration yet.
Styling will obviously follow on from the sedan and these spy shots, showing a longer roofline and larger rear doors, indicate BMW has placed a higher priority on cargo space. Ensuring access to the rear storage area is nice and convenient the split rear tailgate will carry over from the E90 Touring.
[Source: Car]
Sebastien Loeb has agreed terms with Citroën to drive for them in the World Rally Championship until the end of the 2013 season. He is currently celebrating that news by holding a comfortable lead in Rally Deutschland.
Talking about his contract extension Loeb says he’s looking forward to a new era in the WRC, “With the arrival of other manufacturers in the championship, the competition is going to get tougher in the years to come.
“All the more so with the rule changes concerning the starting order coming in 2012 as all the drivers will be fighting on a level playing field,” he said.
“To take the fight to them I’m putting my trust in Citroën, a team I know inside out and the DS3 WRC, the car that I helped set up with Citroën Racing.”
If Loeb completes the win in Germany he will make Citroën the most successful manufacturer of all time. Currently Citroën and Ford are tied on 77 wins; incredibly, 66 of Citroën’s wins have been thanks to the seven-time champion from France. It’s no wonder the relationship will continue.
In our second video of the week to feature Chris Harris we take you the Eifel mountains in Germany. There, Harris was driving a Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG ‘Gullwing’ around the Nürburgring Nordschleife. It was all part of the fun and games you can have at a dedicated Destination Nürburgring track day.
UPDATE: Harris has blogged about the SLS over at the evo website.