2012 VOLKSWAGEN TOUAREG R-LINE WITH PHOTO

Volkswagen today unveiled the 2012 Volkswagen Touareg R-Line, which will be sold initially in the German market. The 2012 Volkswagen Touareg R-Line includes interior and exterior updates, however, no performance modifications have been announced. To the outside of the truck, the 2012 Volkswagen Touareg R-Line program offers new rear bumper with integrated diffuser and matte oval tailpipes of new side skirts and a front spoiler new R-Design.

The 2012 Volkswagen Touareg R-Line is the new alloy wheels 20 "VW said it gave a sport chassis.

For the interior, featuring the 2012 Volkswagen Touareg R-Line range of threshold stainless steel plates

and pedals, a leather multifunction steering wheel, shift knob and aluminum and leather. The program also provides new front sport seats with electric 12-position and the combination of two-tone leather.

2012 Volkswagen Touareg R-Line is on sale for all engine options except the V6 hybrid IST.

The VW Touareg 2012 price list R-Line: V8 TDI of 1,840, - € (V6 2,200, - €), the "R-Line in 2935 to eight cylinders, - € (V6 3670, - €) Line A "plus" in the V8 TDI 3540, - € (V6 8330, - €).

UNVEILED 2011 MERCEDES F1 PETRONAS

Unveiled 2011 Mercedes F1 Petronas

Unveiled 2011 Mercedes F1 Photo

It's great to see Lotus to live and live! They have a lot of impressive works spotscars, and not against one, but two teams in F1, and in some way. This is a major car company Lotus Norfolk called T128 and his rival for the 2011 Formula 1 season in a unique livery. Not many details are in hand, but only to be powered by a Renault engine and a rear part of Red Bull.

Although he did not win anything, we are still happy that they are on board. And their fabulous car!

CEC announces Lexus LFA customization program

Los Angeles-based tuner CEC has announced a new partnership with Lexus North America to create a tuning program for the Lexus LFA. Limited to just three vehicles, these unique supercars will feature a variety of enhancements created specifically for each customer. “We believe these three CEC Tuner Edition LFAs will be the most expensive and rarest of all the LFA supercars that Lexus will manufacturer and sell worldwide,” said Sherif Yassa, Vice President of CEC.

Thanks to the technical innovations that went into building the LFA, the CEC upgrades will mostly be limited to aesthetics. “We looked at the LFA and what Lexus engineers had done, and knew it would be crazy to try and improve it from a performance or engineering standpoint,” said Claus Ettensberger, founder of CEC. Even so, the tuner has managed to squeeze an extra 10 horsepower from the 4.8-liter V10 and trimmed shift times to .15 of a second.

While we don’t have any photos of the trio of custom LFA supercars quite yet, CEC did have an LFA on display featuring their lightweight forged wheels. You can see high-res photos of the car in the gallery below.

1956 Cadillac Eldorado Broughham Motorama show car cruises to RM Amelia Island

 

These days, automakers routinely unveil concept cars and new models at major auto shows. Back in its heyday, General Motors played by a different set of rules. It organized its own car shows under the Motorama banner. Running throughout the 1950s, Motoramas were GM’s opportunity to showcase its products to the public and whet consumers’ appetites. Few Motorama cars were as showy as the Cadillac Eldorado Brougham Town Car concept. 

Unveiled at the Waldorf-Astoria in Manhattan for the 1956 “Highway of Tomorrow” Motorama, the Brougham Town Car was a concept for a chauffeur-driven version of the production Cadillac Brougham that hit the market the following year. The Town Car featured a half roof that left the driver, in classical style, exposed to the elements, and created a split cabin. Up front, the chauffeur sat in the open air surrounded by black leather and chrome. In back, the pampered occupants were coddled in beige leather, deep-pile Wilton carpeting and gold trim covering everything from the tissue dispenser and decanter to the bulkhead-mounted phone used to speak to the driver. After the New York Motorama, the Eldorado Brougham Town Car went on the road to Miami, Los Angeles, San Francisco and Boston, but was then retired to GM’s Warhoops salvage yard. The staff there, according to the story, didn’t have the heart to rip the Brougham apart, so it stayed under a tarp for thirty years. 

It then passed through the hands of several prominent collectors before RM gave it a thorough restoration, including the installation of a detailed 365 cu. in. OHV V8 engine with four-speed Hydramatic transmission, suitable for driving the car off the trailer and over the concours judging stand. Consigned to RM Auctions, the car is set to cross the auction block on March 12 at Amelia Island, where it’s expected to fetch between $500,000 and $750,000. Follow the link to the auction site for full details of the lot and event, and check out the high-res images in the gallery below.

Source:Autoblog

Mazda to supply Nissan with its own version of Mazda5

Mazda has officially announced that it will supply the Mazda5 minivan to Nissan beginning in May of this year. But before you go dreaming of a Nissan micro-minivan here in the United States, know that this will be a Japan-only affair. As of this writing, mum’s the word on what the Nissan-badged Mazda will be called in the automaker’s home market. The Mazda5, or Premacy as it’s known in Japan, will “enrich [Nissan's] minivan lineup in the Japanese market” – a place where small MPVs are sold in great volume.

This is not the only collaboration between Mazda and Nissan in Japan. Currently, Mazda provides its Bongo Van/Truck to Nissan under the name Vanette. Likewise, Nissan supplies its AD/AD Expert to Mazda, sold under the name Familia Van. Follow the jump for the official press release.

 

Source:Autoblog

First Aston Martin One-77 New Picture

First Aston Martin One-77 New Picture

The official, ladies and gentlemen: Aston Martin has found a million dollars League ultra-hyper-super with the new One-77.

Now we know what you think of the One-77 has been released some time ago. But it is only now that the first example it left the factory, and gave his first lucky (and apparently very wealthy) customers. The delivery was less prominent place in Monaco, opposite the iconic Hotel de Paris in Monte Carlo.

The One-77 has a stratospheric € 1.34 million (~ $ 1.8 million) price, but only if coupled to the first - if you were one of seventeen to move to their final customers order, the price would rise to £ 150,000 (~ $ 240k) for a final sticker of $ 2.04 billion, the first of 77 examples already given, the production cycle is set to conclude at the end of the year.the aston

2012 Ford Focus First Riding

2012 Ford Focus First Riding

And should not be surprised by the notion of a compact car with Grand Touring features and amazing fuel economy. The new creations like the Hyundai Elantra and the Chevrolet Cruze made in the compact car segment of the most hotly contested in the market, putting pressure on the strings of combatants as long as the Honda Civic and Toyota Corolla in the process. But while the Cruze and Elantra proved that great content can come in small packages with lower price tags, there is a growing sense of fun to launch small car may be at risk for travelers who have inherited genes smooth-riding of his brothers.

In a sense it was almost inevitable evolution. Whereas the compact segment once served a cornucopia of attractions that were out of power, but much to market manipulation has shown that more than anything else, the buyers of this land want to be. In an attempt to draw any copper cent, Hyundai and Chevrolet shelved the independent rear suspension in their respective cases for the design much cheaper torsion beam.

Successful Test For Audi R18 at Sebring

Successful Test For Audi R18 at Sebring

Audi has officially put its new R18 Le Mans race and all nine of its pilot plant to test. The pair closed cockpit Bruisers Audi R15 and the latest generation of TDI spent some time lapping Sebring as part of preparations for the 24 Hours of Le Mans this year. Each frame of pilots managed to get some seat time in three vehicles. Oddly enough, Audi has made it clear that R15 "Plus Plus" campaign in 12 Hours of Sebring this year. Audi generally use the place as a trial run for new hardware, before coming to France.

At this stage it appears that R18 will enjoy his debut race at Le Mans in place. Audi Motorsport Dr Wolfgang Ullrich said the Sebring offers a unique test of any race car mechanics and the hot, dry weather in Florida are more conducive to experimentation than the European sites. Hit the jump for the full wind pressure.

Toyota taking “devil’s advocate” approach to product development

If you don’t get pinched by the wiper arm on the new Toyota Yaris, you have the company’s new “devil’s advocate” product development philosophy to thank. The approach entails a team of engineers doing things with the car that Toyota wouldn’t normally be able to fathom. The events of the past year have shown that people will do wacky things with their cars, like making floormat layer cakes, and this spurred management changes like more local authority for North American operations.

Toyota has installed more executives in its American plants and given the U.S. arm of the business its own decision-making power on recalls, rather than waiting for word from the home office. A single database of internal and external vehicle quality discussions is also being put together to make Toyota’s reaction more nimble.

There are critics of the efforts. Clarence Ditlow of the Center for Auto Safety doesn’t find a new attitude in Toyota’s response to quality complaints much of a departure from the past, calling it “pretty much the same-old, same-old.” Sean Kane of Safety Research & Strategies opines that Toyota is “biding their time” and still tends to blame the victims rather than solve issues like the ones recently plaguing the company.

Whether Toyota’s reactions are percieved critically or complimentary, there is at least the indication of a desire to rectify a damaging situation, and you can now be sure that many engineering mules are undergoing strange experiments deep in the bowels of some Toyota R&D bunker to quantify the effects of ECU pins shorted by a french fry.

Source:Autoblog

Nissan blows by Honda in global automotive sales

In the U.S., the pecking order among Japanese automakers looks like this: Way out in front is Toyota, followed by Honda and Nissan respectively. On a global scale, however, Nissan has finally leapfrogged Honda for second banana status. Torque News reports that Nissan’s global sales soared 21 percent in 2010 due in part to exploding business in China. All told, Nissan moved 4.08 million units during the calendar year.

Honda also saw increased sales, but it managed only a five percent gain. That’s 3.56 million vehicles sold, or about 500,000 fewer units than its rival. 2010 was a very solid year for Nissan, as well its alliance partner Renault, which also fared very well. Together the two automakers combined to sell 7.3 million cars and trucks. That’s more than Ford or Volkswagen, though Renault-Nissan sales aren’t officially counted together when the final rankings are tabulated at the end of the year. Toyota led all automaker sales for the year, followed by General Motors and VW.

Source:Autoblog

Fiat 500 to have no-haggle sticker pricing?

Haggling, ugh. Generally speaking (and with a few notable exceptions) it’s one of those unavoidable aspects of buying a new car from a dealership. If you’re good and you’re willing to shop around by pitting dealer against dealer, you may end up scoring something of a bargain. Thing is, if you’re not such a good haggler, you’re seemingly just as likely to pay more from a stealership than the next guy, which hardly seems fair.

According to Fiat’s brand spankin’ new United States arm, the younger car-buying generation isn’t particularly keen on the notion of haggling for a better price. As such, the company has directed its dealerships to adopt a no-haggle pricing policy, starting with the new-for-the-U.S. Fiat 500. “The pricing is the pricing,” said Laura Soave, head of the Fiat brand in North America to Bloomberg, much as it was with the now defunct Saturn brand. We think it’s a lovely idea and hope it sticks.

2011 Chrysler 300

“We basically blew the old car up. The number of parts we carried over from the last car you can just about hold in your hands,” said Mitch Clauw, Chief Engineer on the 2011 Chrysler 300.

He was responding to repeated questions about the new sedan. Was it all-new, or just a heavy refresh like the 200 Sedan? You can’t blame journalists for being confused. Chrysler’s product onslaught is putting 16 all-new and significantly improved models on the road this year. But all-new is a very different thing from significantly improved.

Clauw supported his answer, “Every exterior panel is new. Every piece in the interior is new. With the underbody, just a few pieces of the front floor pan are carry over. The front and rear aluminum suspension pieces and geometry are different. So is the steering. The V6 is all new. While the internals of the Hemi are carryover, the intake, exhaust and accessories are not.” Okay, we believe him now, but you’d need really big hands to hold the carried-over five-speed automatic transmission.

 

Official 2012 Fiat 500 fuel economy numbers fall short of 40 mpg

2011 marks the official return of Fiat here in the United States, with the adorable little 500 hitting dealerships in the coming weeks. With Fiat’s MultiAir 1.4-liter engine under the hood, you’d be right to expect top-notch fuel economy numbers. And while the 500′s EPA ratings of 30 miles per gallon in the city and 38 mpg on the highway aren’t bad, it’s not exactly what we were hoping for.

For comparison, consider the fact that much larger C-segment entries like the Hyundai Elantra, Ford Focusand Chevrolet Cruze are all capable of achieving 40 mpg or higher (granted, you have to spec certain transmissions and option packages on the latter two in order to achieve it). What’s more, the 30/38 mpg rating on the Fiat 500 is only with the five-speed manual transmission. Cars equipped with the six-speed self-shifter will only achieve 27/34 mpg. Ouch.

Still, with prices starting at $15,995 for the entry-level Pop model, we don’t think Fiat will have too much trouble moving 500s out of showrooms. Besides, the majority of people purchasing the Fiat 500 will be doing so because of its style rather than its frugality.