Author: Liam

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Volkswagen

Volkswagen Australia caps service costs

Volkswagen Australia capped price servicing

Volkswagen Australia has announced a capped price servicing scheme for all of its passenger vehicles. The scheme applies to all new vehicles sold since the start of this year.

A capped scheme was first introduced to the local market by Volkswagen when it launched the up! late last year. Australian pricing for the Beetle also listed a capped price servicing schedule.

The program covers the first six years or 90,000km of vehicle ownership (whichever comes first) and you can check on the costs of your car by using the Volkswagen Australia website.

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Volkswagen

Volkswagen Golf – 2013 World Car of the Year

Volkswagen Golf VII

Volkswagen went into the Easter break with the happy news its Golf VII had just been awarded the 2013 World Car of the Year award.

Volkswagen’s head honcho, Prof Dr Martin Winterkorn, express his joy by sating: “We at Volkswagen are all delighted that the Golf has been named ‘World Car of the Year’. To win this award again shows that the Golf is and remains in a class of its own all around the world. This car sets new benchmarks again and again, not least in terms of efficiency and environmental credentials. Soon, for instance, the Golf will also be launched as a plug-in hybrid and as a 100% electric car.”

The Golf VII’s success adds to recent World COTY awards collected by Volkswagen for the Golf VI (2009), Polo (2010) and up! (2012). And you’ll be seeing the new Golf on Australian roads very soon. Click HERE to see what Europe’s press have been saying about the Golf VII.

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Mercedes-Benz

Mercedes A45 AMG Australian price confirmed

Mercedes-Benz A45 AMG

Thanks to AUSmotive’s exclusive tip-off it’s old news for our readers, of course, but Mercedes-Benz Australia/Pacific has today confirmed local pricing of the highly anticipated A45 AMG.

As expected $74,900 is the magic number (plus on-road costs).

For now Mercedes has confirmed the following specifications with more detail to follow ahead of the car’s local launch in September:

  • 19” wheels
  • AMG Performance Exhaust
  • COMAND Online
  • Intelligent Light System
  • Panoramic Roof
  • AMG Performance Seats with Electric Memory Function
  • DISTRONIC PLUS
  • Blind Spot & Lane Keep Assist driver assistance systems

Our previous article suggests you can expect to add night pack/privacy glass, metallic paint, satellite navigation with Bluetooth connectivity, digital radio and
Harmon Kardon Hi Fi to the above list of standard features.

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Motorsports Peugeot

Sebastien Loeb set for Pikes Peak assault

Peugeot Sport 208 T16

Jean Louis Mourey’s Climb Dance is one of motorsport’s most enduring short films. It features rally legend Ari Vatanen at the wheel of a Peugeot 405 T16 and was shot during the 1988 Pikes Peak International Hill Climb.

Peugeot is heading back to Pikes Peak in June this year with a factory-backed team to be led by none other than the 21st century rally legend Sebastien Loeb. The car he will use is a specially created 208 T16, expected to have around 600hp ready to tackle the (now) all-tarmac course.

Declaring their intent Peugeot says: “The Peugeot 208 T16 Pikes Peak has been entered in the premier ‘Unlimited’ class and has been given the start number ‘208’. Its sole objective is victory!”

Maxime Picat, Director General Automobiles Peugeot explains the rationale behind securing Loeb: “Our objective is to win, so we needed to stack up as many cards as possible in our favour by joining forces with the very best partners for this unique project, namely Total, Red Bull, Michelin and Sébastien Loeb.

“Indeed, I would like to take this opportunity to thank Citroën for this one-off ‘loan’ of its exceptional champion. Citroën’s support is emblematic of the cohesion that reigns within the PSA Peugeot Citroën Group.”

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McLaren Motorsports

Craig Baird sets Highlands NZ lap record

Craig Baird sets Highlands Motorsport Park lap record

New Zealand has a brand new motorsport facility, it’s called the Highlands Motorsport Park. Self-described as “an exclusive members-only facility”, it’s ideally placed around 50km away from Queenstown on the South Island.

Highlands will be used for its first major event when it hosts Round 6 of the 2013 Australian GT championship in November.

The grand opening of the track was held over Easter and Craig Baird was on hand in a McLaren MP4-12C GT3 to set the first official lap record. You can watch video of that, and more, after the break.

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Motorsports Porsche

Porsche reminds us of past Le Mans triumphs

Porsche Le Mans web special

Ahead of its 2014 assault on outright victory at Le Mans Porsche has started to remind us of the 16 titles they’ve already notched up. They’re doing this through a dedicated microsite which you can visit by clicking on the image above.

Categories
Motorsports Porsche

2013 Porsche 911 RSR revealed

2013 Porsche 911 RSR

The 2013 World Endurance Championship kicks off in two weeks time with the 6 Hours of Silverstone. It’s timely then that Porsche has revealed its brand new 911 RSR which will compete in the series.

Based on the 991 911, the extra 100mm in its wheelbase has given the new RSR has a lower centre of gravity and better weight distribution than its predecessor. Although, this new model re-uses the 460hp 4.0 litre flat six from the 2012 car, with Porsche saying its performance has since been “optimised in detail”.

To aid quick repairs many of the body panels feature a quick release system which, in theory, allows for shorter pit stop times if repairs are needed.

Porsche, through its association with Manthey Racing, will be racing a pair of 911 RSRs throughout the WEC season, including Le Mans. In the 24 hour classic the #91 car will be driven by Marc Lieb (Germany), Richard Lietz (Austria) and Romain Dumas (France). Its sister #92 car will be crewed by Joerg Bergmeister (Germany), Patrick Pilet (France) and Timo Bernhard (Germany).

Next year, of course, Porsche will be hoping to end Audi’s recent dominance of endurance racing by chasing outright victory at Le Mans. We’ll have a little more on that later.

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Mercedes-Benz Motor Shows

New York 2013: Mercedes-Benz CLA 45 AMG

Mercedes-Benz CLA 45 AMG

It’s only a few months since the covers came off the stylish Mercedes-Benz CLA sedan at the Detroit Auto Show in January and already we have the cooking AMG version. Of course, we knew the CLA 45 AMG was coming thanks to last week’s leaked pics.

Most of the fruit is already known as it’s based on the A45 AMG hatch. Which means we can fire up the orchestra, sound the trumpets and declare: this car features the most powerful four cylinder production engine IN THE WORLD!

To remind you, then, the 2.0 litre turbocharged engine boasts an incredibly impressive 265kW/450Nm. Coupled to a 7-speed DCT and 4matic all-wheel drive system the CLA 45 AMG sees off 100km/h in 4.6 seconds. Equally impressive, perhaps, the CLA 45 AMG has a rated fuel consumption as low as 6.9l/100km.

How much would you expect to pay for all this? Well, we’re g;ad you asked, we have no official word from Mercedes but we reckon you should budget some 5–10 grand more than the price of the A45 AMG hatchback.

So, with the CLA 45 AMG and Audi S3 sedan, New York’s Auto Show has ushered in a couple of desirable German sedans that have been warmed over by their respective performance divisions.

Hmm, one can’t help but think back over a quarter of a century to the BMW E30 M3 and think, haven’t we seen this before? We cant deny these new hot sedans owe their existence to the hot hatchbacks that have preceded them, but it’s still nice to see we’re coming full circle, to a degree.

UPDATE 2 April: Mercedes-Benz Australia/Pacific has confirmed the CLA 45 AMG will go on sale locally before the end of this year, full details to be announced closer to launch.

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Audi Motor Shows

New York 2013: Audi A3/S3 sedan

2013 Audi S3 sedan

Audi has released details of the production-ready A3 sedan. You may recall the new-generations A3 was first previewed in sedan, sorry, notchback form at the 2011 Geneva Motor Show. Basically the Yanks like boots, sorry, trunks, and that’s why we’re seeing the A3 in this format.

However, as the lead pic shows, the A3 sedan need not be the domain of cardigan wearers, because there’ll be an S3 version as well. It’s no surprise that this pair of sedans are pretty much the same as their A3 and S3 hatchback siblings. And that means the S3 sedan gets the full 221kW/380Nm punch we’re already anticipating in the hatch versions.

Australian buyers will also be given the opportunity to get their hands on the A3 sedan, but not until early next year. We’ll have to touch base with Audi Australia to see if that means we can expect to see the S3 sedan as well.

In the meantime there’s the usual gallery of images after the break and they’re accompanied by a host of videos from Audi USA which tell you all you need to know about the A3 and S3 sedans.

Oh, one more thing, an RS3 sedan perhaps?

UPDATE 3 April: Audi Australia has confirmed the S3 sedan will go on sale locally in the first quarter of 2014.

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Motor Shows Subaru

New York 2013: Subaru WRX Concept

2013 Subaru WRX Concept

So the leaked images were bang on the money; this is the new Subaru WRX Concept, we shall call it the Sexy Rexy—there’s never really been one of those before. It was revealed a few days ago at the New York International Auto Show.

We’re grateful to Subaru for providing some nice hi res pics, but in true concept form there’s next to no detail on what lies beneath the skin of the Sexy Rexy. Certainly, we know nothing of the engine or its specs.

We can tell you that the colour is called ‘WR Blue Pearl III’ and that the 20″ one-piece forged duralmin wheels are made by BBS. The model name of the wheels is RI-D if you’re really keen and they’re wrapped in specially produced 245/40R20 Dunlop rubber.

But that’s it. No more firm details, aside from a few basic dimensions (length 4520mm x width 1890mm x height 1390mm; wheelbase 2760mm). In fact, Subaru, at this point in time, hasn’t even committed to a production schedule for its newest WRX.

Let’s hope they don’t take too long and, more importantly, that the Sexy Rexy loses little in translation to production model.

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Motor Shows Range Rover

New York 2013: Range Rover Sport revealed

Range Rover Sport

Officially, this time, here is the all-new Range Rover Sport, fresh from its debut at the New York Auto Show.

While the Sport was developed in conjunction with the Range Rover the Sport model shares only 25% of parts with its established sibling. The all-new Range Rover Sport is lighter than its predecessor, up to 420kg in the case of the 258PS (190kW) 3.0 litre TDV6, which will be available from 2014.

When the Sport goes on sale in the fourth quarter of this year two engines will be offered: the 510PS (375kW) 5.0 litre supercharged V8 and the 292PS (215kW) 3.0 litre SDV6. The supercharged V8 can see off 100km/h in just 5.0 seconds.

Early next year the engine range will be complemented by the TDV6 already mentioned as well as a 339PS (250kW) 4.4-litre SDV8 and a “high-efficiency diesel hybrid”, which we’re sure we’ll hear a lot more about when Range Rover is ready to tell us.

All models are fitted with a variant of the seemingly ubiquitous ZF 8-speed automatic transmission. As you would expect the Sport is only available with all-wheel drive, but there are two systems to choose from. The first is a fair dinkum 4WD set-up which includes a two-speed transfer case with low-range option and full locking capability. The other relies on a Torsen differential to distribute torque where necessary and features a default 42:58 split biased towards the rear wheels.

In general terms the Range Rover Sport looks pretty good to us. It’s the Evoque you have when you want some genuine credibility. You can feast your eyes on more pics after the break and then settle in for some heavy reading thanks to the full press kit made available for you in PDF form.

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BMW

M3 watch: Six-pot turbo sounding much better

BMW F80 M3 prototype

A new round of industry testing is currently underway at the Nürburgring. Bridge to Gantry was on hand to film some of the action and of most note are a couple of clips if BMW’s new F80 M3 prototype. Previously we’d had some concerns over the sound from the inline six cylinder engine, but it seems BMW has been doing some exhaust tuning and we like what we hear.

[Source: Bridge to Gantry]

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