Author: Liam

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Peugeot

Peugeot 208 GTi – Australian pricing & specs

Peugeot 208 GTi

Peugeot Australia seems very pleased with itself now that the 208 GTi is on our shores. And with a starting price of $29,990 for this pugnacious hot hatch it’s easy to see why.

The 1.6 litre turbo offers 147kW/275Nm and with only 1160kg to move around it can reach 100km/h in very respectable 6.8 seconds. It has a proper manual gearbox along with stacks of standard kit, including sat nav with a 7″ touch screen, Blutetooth, dual zone climate control, cruise control and more.

There’s lots of GTi-specific trim and badging as well, to remind you that you’re in the halo model.

We think this car offers a lot of potential and like the Golf GTI has often spent its life living in the shadow of the original, the 205 GTi in this case. We hope that the 208 GTi can live up to its reputation.

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Volkswagen WRC

Sebastien Ogier wins 2013 Rally Finland

Volkswagen Polo R WRC, 2013 Rally Finland

Sebastien Ogier won the 2013 Rally Finland last weekend and is now starting to talk about the world championship. And why wouldn’t he, it was his fifth win for the year and he enjoys a 90 point lead over his nearest rivals and seems unstoppable.

“It is impossible to describe how I feel! This win here in Finland is a dream come true for me,” said Ogier. “And to win in Sweden as well this year—it is a great feeling to win these two rallies this year ahead of the Nordic guys like Mads Østberg, Mikko Hirvonen and Jari-Matti Latvala.”

In second place, over 36 seconds behind Ogier was promising Ford driver Thierry Neuville, who also claimed maximum points in the power stage; the first non-Volkswagen driver to do so this year. Claiming the final podium step was Neuville’s Ford teammate, Mads Østberg.

Jari-Matti Latvala had high hopes coming into his home rally, but made a mistake on the opening day resulting in damaged suspension and the end of his hopes for victory.

Rally Finland means one thing: lots of jumps! There’s video and more photos for you after the break, which capture the air time very well. These are complemented by Volkswagen’s official word from the event.

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Porsche Red Bull Racing WEC

Red Bull is nothing, Porsche is everything

Porsche 956 at 2013 Goodwood Festival of Speed

Porsche has released a highlights video from the 2013 Goodwood Festival of Speed showcasing its Le Mans heritage. It got us thinking, in Australia, the mainstream media just doesn’t seem to understand what a big deal it is that Mark Webber will be part of the iconic company’s return to LMP1 racing at Le Mans next year.

Of course, Formula 1 is the pinnacle of motorsport, we understand that. But Webber’s current employer Red Bull Racing, for all of the amazing thing it has achieved, is a minnow on the motorsport landscape when compared with Porsche.

Porsche is racing.

As the legendary Jacky Ickx, a six-time Le Mans winner himself (four with Porsche), says at the end of the video, “They make the soul of motor racing.”

Mark Webber will never be an F1 world champion, and that’s a shame for all Australian motorsport fans. And yet, by moving to Porsche, he has the chance to join the likes of genuine motor racing legends such as Derek Bell, Jacky Ickx, Hans Stuck and many more. All achieved so much with Porsche.

The best years of Webber’s career could still be ahead of him.

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Hyundai WRC

Hyundai i20 WRC starts to hit its straps

Hyundai i20 WRC

It’s only a week since Chris Atkinson was officially announced as a test driver for the Hyundai WRC team and already he has plenty of development miles behind him. Atkinson and fellow development drivers, Juho Hänninen and Bryan Bouffier, have been gathering dust in the i20 WRC in preparation for Hyundai’s WRC assault in 2014.

Team boss, Michel Nandan, says he is happy with the team’s progress. “We have had a very solid month of testing and learned a lot about the performance potential of the new Hyundai i20 WRC in a range of conditions,” he explained.

“We have signed three very competent development drivers in Juho, Bryan and Chris, and the balance of the last month of testing has, for me, been positive.

“We have had a lot of work to do in a short space of time, but I can sense we are working well as a unified team. We have hit every target so far and I am proud of the entire team effort. We look forward to our next phase of development with optimism.”

Oh, as a sidenote, we haven’t forgotten that Sebastien Ogier won Rally Finland on the weekend, either, an update including several photos of the spectacular air time enjoyed by the drivers should be up soon.

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Categories
BMW Green Machines

BMW officially previews i8 hybrid sportscar

BMW i8 prototype

Hot on the heels of its i3 city car, BMW has given an official preview of its i8 plug-in hybrid sportscar ahead of its debut at next month’s Frankfurt Motor Show. The rear wheels are powered by a 170kW/320Nm 1.5 litre three cylinder turbo and the front axle is powered by a 96kW/250Nm electric motor. The total combined output of the i8 is 266kW/570Nm.

Weighing in at around 1490kg, BMW says the i8 can accelerate to 100km/h in around 4.5 seconds and has a top speed limited to 250km/h. In full electric mode the i8 is limited to 120km/h and has a predicted range range of around 35km. Its overall range will be closer to 500km, thanks largely to the three cylinder petrol engine sipping fuel at the rate of just 2.5l/100km on the combined cycle.

A reliance on carbon-fibre reinforced plastic and aluminium has helped keep weight down, which has been distributed at close to 50:50 over each axle. Slick aerodynamics result in a drag coefficient value of 0.26, which is pretty good.

The i8 can trace its roots back to the spectacular Vision EfficientDynamics, first shown in 2009. Now, almost ready for production, BMW describes the i8 driving experience by saying:

Variable front-rear power splitting in line with changing driving conditions makes for excitingly dynamic cornering. On entering the corner, the power split is biased towards the rear wheels to improve turning precision. For more vigorous acceleration out of the corner, the powertrain controller returns to the default split as soon as the steering angle becomes smaller again.

You can read more about the BMW i8 by downloading the abridged press release (295kb PDF) and we’ll bring you full details at Frankfurt Motor Show time.

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Categories
MINI

All-new MINI to be launched on 18 November

MINI F56 under wraps

MINI has announced its all-new F56 model will be revealed on 18 November, the 107th birthday of the original Mini creator Sir Alec Issigonis. The initial unveiling will take place at Plant Oxford, with a launch party in London to follow that evening.

Subsequent launch events in Los Angeles and Tokyo will usher in MINI’s new era prior to the F56 taking pride of place on MINI’s stands at the LA Auto Show and Tokyo Motor Show from 20 November.

MINI says the F56, built on BMW’s UKL1 platform, will bring “a new era of driving excitement, in-car-infotainment and premium quality in the small car segment.”

We’ve already been given a sneak preview of the F56 through some spy shots and com-gen renderings. So far the jury is out on the looks of this new MINI, we’ll have to wait and see how much of the recently released Vision concept makes it into the production model.

Despite this announcement we’d not be surprised if MINI pulled the trigger on pics for the R56 a day or two before 18 November.

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Categories
Aston Martin

VIDEO: Aston Martin Rally to London

Aston Martin Rally to London

Last month Aston Martin held its Rally to London drive across Europe as part of its centenary celebrations. They’ve published a short clip to YouTube to show us what we’ve missed out on. And while it looks like it was more a social event than a pure driving event we’d very much like to have joined the ride:

Beginning on the shores of Lake Como the rally took in St Moritz, the Black Forest, Aston Martin’s Nurburgring test centre and Château de Cocove before crossing the Channel to join a celebration of Power, Beauty, Soul.

One of the participants has documented the experience via his personal blog. All those Astons, all those classic European sights and roads. It would have been fun!

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Categories
BMW

This is one facelift that can’t come soon enough

BMW 1 Series facelift spied

This spy shot is one we welcome very much, it shows the F20 BMW 1 Series LCI (life cycle impulse) model is drawing closer to release. To you and I that means the facelifted 1 Series should look a lot better than it does now.

Based on this photo we’re not sure it will look quite as smart as the M235i we saw a few months back, but anything will be better than what is currently offered up on the F20 hatch.

Our tip hope is the headlights and grille will be connected, as seen on that M235i and first seen on the F30 3 Series.

[Source: Autoblog | Pic: CarPix]

Categories
Porsche

Porsche 911 Carrera 4S built by Facebook fans

Porsche 911 Carrera 4S 5 million fans

If you’re one of the 5 million plus fans of Porsche on Facebook you’ll know all about this car. That’s because it’s been made by you, according to the special badging inside the car that is.

When Porsche reached 5 million likes on Facebook they began a process to build a one-off car to celebrate the milestone and to do so they consulted their fans to decide on the car’s specification.

The end result is a 991 911 Carrera 4S fitted with a Powerkit to take peak power to 316kW, up from 294kW found in the standard C4S. Cosmetic enhancements include the Aquablaumetallic paint, Aerokit, 20″ alloys in white and 5M Porsche Fans decals.

And the best part? You and a friend could win a chance to drive the car at Silverstone later this month. To win all you have to do is have the most Facebook friends who also “like” Porsche. Simple, huh!

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Categories
Formula 1 Mercedes-Benz

What Formula 1 will sound like in 2014

Mercedes V6 F1 engine

Mercedes-Benz has released a computer-generated sound clip of what its 1.6 litre turbocharged V6 Formula 1 engines power units will sound like under the new regulations to be introduced next year. Their YouTube clip includes this introduction:

Best enjoyed with the sound turned up LOUD and on headphones or speakers for the full effect! Laptop speakers may lead to pale imitations of a Formula One Power Unit…

Exclusive to the MERCEDES AMG PETRONAS YouTube channel, here’s the sound of the future!

This is a lap of the mythical Monza circuit with the new-for-2014 1.6 litre turbocharged V6 Formula One Power Unit. It’s a new music – but a beautiful one, too. Enjoy 🙂

Hopefully, in reality, the new engines won’t sound this artificial.

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Categories
Formula 1 Red Bull Racing Top Gear

Mark Webber appears on Top Gear 20×06

Mark Webber on Top Gear

Mark Webber appeared on the latest episode of Top Gear (Series 20, Episode 6) on the weekend. He discussed the merits driving upside down, how much he will miss Sebastian Vettel and went second fastest on the Top Gear F1 lap charts, despite making a hash of the hammerhead.

Check out the video after the break, while you can.

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Categories
BMW

OFFICIAL: BMW 4 Series Coupe – Australian pricing

F32 BMW 4 Series Coupe

Last month we gave you the inside word on Australian pricing for the new F32 BMW 4 Series Coupe. Today the official confirmation of those figures has come through from BMW. Here is the list pricing for the models BMW has announced:

  • 420d Coupe (135kW/380Nm): $73,200
  • 428i Coupe (180kW/350Nm): $86,500
  • 435i M Sport Coupe (225kW/400Nm): $108,500

You can read BMW’s full press release after the break, which also details the reasonably high levels of specification the range will come with.

However, what it won’t tell you is there will be a 135kW/270Nm 420i Coupe added to the range early next year (from November 2013 production onwards). It will be priced from $70,900.

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