After more than 3 years of speculation, the English coach builder Aston Martin has finally unveiled the Rapide - their first four door sedan in the super car maker’s lineup. Watch out Porsche Panamera owners, because deliveries of the all new super sedan from Gaydon will begin in early 2010.
The Rapide’s engine is the venerable 6.0 Liter V12 lifted directly from the Aston Martin DB9, and will make the exact same 470 HP and 443 lb-ft of torque as the coupe. The fat four door will be able to go from 0 to 60 MPH in just 5.1 seconds and reach a top speed to be estimated at 188 MPH.
The Rapide’s power plant is mated to a six speed Touchtronic 2 automatic transmission, which offers the ease of a traditional automatic via the push buttons mounted on the dash or a much sportier manual transmission mode with the wheel mounted paddle shifters.
According to the automaker: "There is a real sense of proportion with this car, akin to a tailored suit; the new double grill gives more presence on the road while the iconic signature side strake has been lengthened through to the rear doors to enhance its lateral proportions in a subtle, yet elegant way. The car’s purity makes it look right from every angle."
After teasing their fans, the German Automaker Opel has just revealed official details about the new Astra, a vehicle that will make its world debut at the upcoming Frankfurt Motor Show. The car’s exterior is easily identifiable as an Opel, while the interior features the latest in technology.
The new Astra line-up will be full of options. There will be 8 different engine choices, all of which are shifted by six speed transmissions. The diesel options range from 1.3 to 2.0 Liters making anywhere from 95 HP up to 160 HP. While gas burners will displace from 1.4 to 1.6 Liters pumping out from 100 HP to 180 HP.
The new generation Astra is built on a whole new platform, featuring a longer wheelbase, wider track and a reengineered rear axle. Like the Insignia it comes with the fuel saving Opel FlexRide electronic aide that offers the driver the option to drive in Standard, Sport and Touring mode.
The most powerful Mercedes Benz station wagon of all times made its world debut today at the Frankfurt Motor Show. The new E63 AMG Estate will go on sale starting in February 2010, with prices to be announced at a later date.
The E63 AMG Estate is powered by a variant of the high performance hand built 6.2 Liter AMG V8 that delivers 525 HP, 11 HP more than the previous model, which is enough to send the estate from 0 to 60 MPH in 4.6 seconds, and reach an electronically limited top speed of 155 MPH, or 173 MPH with the optional AMG Driver’s Package, all while consuming 18.3 MPG. The engine is mated to the AMG SPEEDSHIFT MCT 7 speed sports transmission equipped with four drive modes that include: "C" (Controlled Efficiency), "S" (Sport), "S+" (Sport plus) and "M" (Manual).
In order to keep the powerful estate under perfect control, Mercedes is offering the E63 with an improved version of the AMG Ride Control as well as a sports tuned chassis, ceramic brake discs, individual 3-stage ESP system and a set of 18 inch titanium grey AMG five spoke light weight alloy wheels to finish off the package.
The luxury automaker Mercedes Benz has just revealed the official details about the 2010 E-Class Estate, a model that will go on sale in Europe starting November priced at €44,803 for the diesel powered E 220 CDI BlueEFFICIENCY version.
Based on the new theme of Mercedes styling that was introduced with the S-Class and then showed up again in the restyled C-Class, the new E-Class Estate brings the new flavor of German styling full circle. The estate model has a length of 4895, width of 1854 and a height of 1471 millimeters, offering a total cargo capacity of 1950 liters.
In November the new model will be offered with a choice of three diesel and two gas burning engines. The petrol lineup will include a 288 HP E 350 CGI BlueEFFICIENCY and the 382 HP E 500. The alternatively fueled lineup will include a 168 HP E 220 CDI BlueEFFICIENCY, the 201 HP E 250 CDI BlueEFFICIENCY and the 228 HP E 350 CDI Blue-EFFICIENCY. In 2010 Mercedes will add another two diesel engines to the mix.
With the new E-Class Estate Mercedes is offering the latest in safety technologies with systems like attention assist, Distronic Plus (cruise control on steroids), and Pre-Safe braking (automatic braking in emergencies), but also nine airbags fitted as standard, four belt tensioners and belt force limiters, and NECK-PRO crash-responsive head restraints for the driver and front passenger.
It’s no secret that out of all the winners at the recently-concluded Frankfurt Motor Show, the biggest one of them all might have been BMW.
From the track-inspired theme, to the slew of unveilings, BMW really did strike gold and the biggest nugget of gold was, without question, their latest concept car, the Vision EfficientDynamics concept.
And now, while the IAA has come and gone, whispers surrounding the revolutionary new BMW still persists seemingly everywhere we go, with some rumors even floating around that the car may become the standard for future BMW sports cars.
We’re pretty sure that a lot of you still have dreams about this car. Don’t be ashamed, we have them too. So to satiate your cravings, we’ve posted a couple of new videos during the car’s official unveiling at Frankfurt.
We’ve talked about the MINI Coupe Concept and the MINI Roadster so much over the past couple of weeks; it feels like we know the cars inside-and-out by now. But no matter how many times we’ve said it – or shown you videos, teasers, spy shots, and commercials – we just can’t get enough of MINI’s two latest offerings.
Their successful unveiling at the Frankfurt Motor Show has even fuelled more interest in these two cars and we feel that it’s our responsibility to quench their thirsts, so to speak.
Besides, these two cars aren’t expected to be out on the market for the next couple of years so in the meantime, newly-released videos of these two cars will have to do for now. We have two videos for you all ‘MINI-iacs’, one of which is the video of the Coupe Concept and Roadster Concept unveiling at Frankfurt and the other a detailed look at the Roadster Concept.
Click after the jump for video from the Frankfurt ’birthday’ launch of the two MINIs. Enjoy!
As it comes from the factory, the Infiniti FX50 is a sports car trapped in the body of a much larger sport utility vehicle, so when the tuning specialists from Car Research & Design decided to have a go at modifying the Japanese luxury SUV we were eager to see what they had come up with to dress up the FX at the Frankfurt Motor Show last week.
The Car Research & Design upgraded appearance package is available in either black or white and focuses around a set of special turbine inspired 21 inch light weight alloy wheels, a new front grill, fender vents and roof rail all painted in a more subtle matte gray color than the factory’s highly polished pieces to make the Infiniti FX stand out from the rest of the high performance luxury SUV crowd. On the inside, the Car Research & Design FX’s upholstered panels were all rewrapped with the finest leather available while the headliner was recovered in Alcantara and headliner. Another cue to the FX’s hidden agenda is that the team from Car Research & Design replaced every piece of wood trim with some very sporty carbon fiber pieces.
Car Research & Design is offering the concept FX in both FX37S and FX50S trim levels. The first is powered by a 3.7 Liter V6 that produces 320 HP and the larger moves like a sports car thanks to a 390 HP 5.0 Liter V8. This "Limited Edition" interpretation of the Infiniti FX is a pleasant surprise for those enthusiast drivers who want their high performance SUV to look as good as it goes.
The fuel efficient Japanese automaker Toyota has unveiled two customized iQ models: the iQ for Sports and the iQ Collection at the Frankfurt Motor Show. Both models come straight from the Tokyo based design studio with unique treatments to both the interior and exterior of the gas sipping compact city cars like custom paint, bespoke interior trim and rather unique sets of rims.
The first of the compact concepts is the iQ Collection with its oversized transparent acrylic roof. The iQ Collection is aimed at providing drivers with a more upscale driving experience and the larger than life sunroof provides the perfect window into which you can admire the vehicle’s upgraded interior appointments and fine touches like white pearl detailing on the center console, instrument binnacle and door panels while the seats are wrapped in supple leather finished with clean white piping.
On the other hand, the iQ for Sports focuses on beefing up the compacts car’s body in order to create one very wild winged hot hatch. Housed inside of the aggressively blistered fenders are a set of custom five spoke rims measuring 18 inches in diameter and hiding a set of massive brakes from the more youth oriented Scion brand of vehicles. The bold body kit is finished off with a set of LED driving lights integrated into the front bumper and a large trapezoid exhaust tip smack dab in the middle of the back bumper. These two unique iterations of the Toyota iQ are as different as any two concepts can be, but they both are excellent examples of the vehicle’s versatility and ability to take the shape of whatever their owner desires.
Despite all the reports about Audi not having anything electric to share with the world at their home show in Frankfurt was debunked when Audi chairman Rupert Stadler and Audi board member Michael Dick unveiled the 2010 Audi e-Tron concept last Tuesday.
The e-Tron concept takes the R8 super car to the next level, gone are the notions a gas burning TFSI V8 or even a high revving V10 because the e-Tron is powered by a purely electric drive system made up of four electric drive motors, two at the front and two more at the rear axle that uses lithium-ion that allow the e-Tron to travel nearly 150 miles on a single charge. The total output of this electric drive system is 313 HP and 3,319.03 lb-ft of torque, meaning that the car can sprint from 0 to 60 MPH in just 4.8 seconds and is expected to be in showrooms as early as 2012.
Just like the power train, the exterior design of the e-Tron differs from the standard R8, for example the signature side blades and huge air inlets will be reduced or completely eliminated as they are unnecessary for an electric vehicle, the front grille will disappear as well. However it’s the deep air intakes in the front bumper underneath the while LED headlamps that will set this particular R8 apart from the standard model. One of the best things about Audi is that almost every single on e of their concept cars goes into production, and the German automaker has said that they will build a small batch of these electrified R8s in 2012.
The german tuning firm Brabus unveiled the Ultimate R, a tuning package based on the Smart Fortwo at the Frankfurt Motor Show last week. With the help of a few Brabus modifications, the engine now delivers 112 HP and 111 lb-ft of torque and can go from 0 to 60 MPH in 9.5 seconds and reach a top speed of 106 MPH. The Ultimate R sets itself apart from lesser Smart cars with a set of bold fender flares, unique rims as well as some additional exterior accessories.
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