While a select group of the world’s rich and famous are looking forward to delivery of their custom Aston Martin One-77, race teams can now look forward to purchasing the new Aston Martin Vantage GT4 racecar, based on the new 4.7 liter V8 Vantage. This model succeeds the previous 4.3L Vantage N24 car.

The new Aston Martin Vantage GT4 is built to FIA GT4 specs and can compete in the following races: the FIA GT4 European Cup; British GT4 Championship; Britcar Endurance Series; German GT4 Championship; Dutch Supercar Challenge; Dutch GT4 Championship; VLN Endurance Championship at the Nurburgring; Australian Endurance Championship; the American SCCA Championship; and the Aston Martin Owners Club Race Series.

Other than the obviously larger engine, the car also gets larger front brake discs with revised cooling design and modified front uprights to give increased camber. The larger 4.7 liter V8 engine has had its ECU tuned for race use, and gets a free-flow exhaust system to let the V8 breathe and exhale without restriction. As the standard engine already has a dry-sump lubrication system to prevent oil surge during sideways motions, that is retained. Either a 6-speed manual or a Sportshift transmission can be specified.

At 1,330kg, the GT4 car is about 300 kilos lighter than the standard car, thanks to a range of weight reduction procedures which include stripping the interior bare of trim except for the fascia mounting which is rewrapped with Alcantara. The door and console casings have been replaced with new lightweight mouldings. Further race preparation include a high-strength steel rollcage, a Sabelt 6-point safety harness with a push-button release, a Lifeline Zero 360 gas fire extinguisher, and Recaro competition seats.

Also, all active safety systems are carried over from the road car - dynamic stability control, traction control, ABS and electronic brakeforce distribution, so that should help to keep the car out of trouble though like the road car, you can switch some of them off.

More images of the car available after the jump.

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This is a more powerful version of Bentley’s answer to the Rolls-Royce Phantom Drophead Coupe - the Bentley Azure T. The letter T in the name means power is up from the Azure’s 450 horses to a more potent 500 horsepower, and torque is also up from 875Nm to a wholesome tyre-shredding 1000Nm! Thanks to the more powerful engine (a 6.75 liter twin-turbo V8), this huge beast goes to 100km/h in 5.5 seconds.

To match up with the Azure T’s sportier intentions (compared to the Azure), the convertible gets large 20 inch 5-spoke alloy wheels wrapped with grippy Pirelli P-Zero tyres in 255/40ZR20 size. There is an optional more powerful brake system made with carbon/silicon carbide. The uprated cross-drilled ventilated discs measure 420×40mm at the front and 356×28mm at the rear, gripped by 8-pot calipers.

Of course, if you’re ever sick of the V8’s soundtrack or the wind rustling past you when the top is down, you can just switch on the ‘Naim for Bentley’ premium audio system featuring 10 speakers, a dual channel sub-woofer and an 1100 Watt amplifier that has ight individual Digital Signal Processor (DSP) modes.

The Azure T will make its debut at the LA Motor Show sometime later this month. Look for a full photo gallery after the jump.

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Volkswagen has added a front wheel drive option to the Trend & Fun variant of its Volkswagen Tiguan in Germany, probably to improve emissions ratings across its product range as well as offer a more fuel efficient vehicle for those who do not require the extra weight of all-wheel drive equipment.

Word is that even the upcoming BMW X1 will have a two wheel drive option, which means an alternative for front wheel drive must be found for BMW’s “xDrive30i” etc naming system for its SUVs.

The new front wheel drive Tiguan is available with either a 1.4 liter TSI or a 2.0 liter TDI engine. We Malaysians get the top of the line Track & Field version with all-wheel drive, a higher ride height, an increased approach angle and offroader looks.

While we wait patiently for the even faster GT-R V-Spec to roll out of Nissan’s garages, they’ve gone ahead and performed a few minor updates on the “baseline” GT-R. New for the 2009 model year is an extra 5 PS from the engine, bringing the peak power up to 485 PS. It is however more economical, rated at 8.5km/l instead of the previous 8.2km/l. You can also go further per tank of fuel as the fuel tank size has been increased from 71 liters to 73.8 liters. The white paint is now a new shade called Storm White. Other minor changes include the Brembo brake calipers in front losing their Brembo logo and replaced with Nissan wordings, and the removal of the front license plate holder base.

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A lot of BMW 3-Series owners are probably waiting for this - a new BMW Performance range from BMW which joins the current line-up consisting of the tii-morphing 1-Series BMW Performance kit and the M6’s kit. With the amount of 3-Series and 3-Series M Sport models on Malaysian roads, especially with the 320i also getting the M Sport kit now, you may start to feel a little jaded with the 3, but now we have BMW Performance parts to spice it up!

I’m not sure how the set up will be in Malaysia, but in Europe all BMW Performance products are covered by BMW’s full warranty and are sold by BMW dealers. BMW has released a teaser video of what the 3-Series will get, and you can watch it after the jump.

From what we can see - a new front bumper with a really wide central air intake, an M3-ish diffuser-design rear bumper (tailpipe only one on side though), carbon fiber wing mirrors, and you can probably expect a carbon fiber rear lip as well as air intake, exhaust, seats, brake, struts and suspension upgrades that take the car one level above the kit you get with the M Sport.

The BMW Performance colour is yellow - so the BMW Performance springs and the lovely 6-pot brake calipers will be painted in that colour. The range even has its own alloy wheels which comes in either 18 inch or 19 inch sizes.

Watch the teaser video after the jump

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A fuel cell concept version of the Kia Borrego SUV could be unveiled at the 2008 Los Angeles Auto Show at the end of this month. Called the Kia Borrego Fuel Cell Electric Vehicle (FCEV), it is powered by a 154 horsepower fuel cell system that is capable of a range of just over 500km.

A large SUV like the Borrego should offer plenty of space for it to hide the fuel cell stack and the lithium ion battery (said to be a new lithium ion polymer one) required for a fuel cell electric motor setup.

Sources also say that the fuel cell Borrego will be capable of -30 degrees Celcius starts, which would make it suitable for green-conscious Russians who need a big SUV to tackle their snowy terrain in the winter.

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Suzuki Great Britain is now offering a Clarion 2-DIN multimedia system priced at £1,499 including VAT, excluding installation, which can be specified for the Suzuki Grand Vitara, the Suzuki Swift, Suzuki Swift Sport and the Suzuki SX4. Suzuki claims the unit has been developed specifically for Suzuki, but the wordings on the top right indicate its the MAX973HD, a model that been out since last year!

Features of the new 2-DIN head unit include GPS navigation, CD, DVD and iPod connectivity, and a touch-screen 7 inch LCD interface to select songs, playlists and artists. There is also a CD-ripping function that can store MP3 recorded from CDs onto its on-board 40GB hard drive.

According to Deputy Finance Minister Datuk Ahmad Husni Hanadzlah, Proton is currently operating at a “break-even” level and needs to be manufacturing an additional 100,000 cars a year more than its current 150,000 cars output.

He also added that Proton is targeting at least a three-fold improvement in terms of economies of scale by the year 2015. By then if things go as planned, 60% of its revenue stream will come from export sales.

I’m not really sure how these figures are calculated… “break-even” could mean “surviving”, at least in terms of supporting all its intensive overseas marketing activities. We’ve so far seen launches in countries like South Africa, China, etc, and these marketing activities are vital to build brand awareness and see any significant increase in export sales in the future.

It’s no secret that Proton’s current volumes don’t justify self-developed models. A shorter-term target would be 40% of revenue to come from exports by 2010, let’s see if they manage to achieve that before thinking about 60%.

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The facelifted 2009 Lexus IS range have been unveiled in the UK this week (though at first sight I cannot tell what on earth has changed with the design), and it is now more accessible with the cheapest model (which is the IS 220d SE) costing £22,490. The entire range has also got price slashes, some by more than £1,000. This is probably an effort to keep up sales volumes in these tough times.

The IS 220d is now more environmentally friendly, with a small drop in CO2 emissions from 168g/km to 163g/km. In the UK, this means it moves down a band for vehicle excise duty from E to D. The owner of a facelifted IS 220d will save £25 a year on his road fund license and reduces the Benefit in Kind (BIK) rate for company car tax calculation to 23 per cent.

Other changes include VDIM as standard on all models, and folding rear headrests. A Satnav option is available for £1,825 on SE and SE-I models which include Europe GPS maps, a 7 inch 640×480 LCD display with touch screen operation, Bluetooth hands-free, a rear parking video feed monitor and a 13-speaker audio system with an in-dash 6-CD changer. This pack can be upgraded to a Multimedia Pack on the SE-L for £2,710 which includes the same stuff but adds a 14-speaker Mark Levinson system with a 6-DVD changer.

Look after the jump for more shots of the facelifted Lexus IS.

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UMW Toyota Motor Sdn Bhd will soon begin selling TRD accessories from the TRD Sportivo range, a special range that has been developed and tested for durability in South East Asian conditions. These accessories will be offered with a 3 year warranty for manufacturing defects.

We’ve already seen a TRD Sportivo kit offered on a car sold by UMW Toyota Motor, which is the Toyota Fortuner facelift with a TRD Sportivo kit, so you can expect other offerings to be in a similiar tune - mostly aesthetics.

But for the next car that’s getting the TRD touch which is the Toyota Vios, UMW Toyota Motor says it will also offer a sports suspension kit developed by TRD and manufactured by TEIN, which will offer better handling as well as an approximately 30mm lowered ride height. Other possibilities (though a very distant one, unfortunately) which were shown to the media today include full bucket FIA-approved Recaro TRD racing seats and a performance exhaust system which sounded pretty bassy and grunty, quite an unlikely sound to be coming from the tame 109 PS engine inside.

The accessories will first be offered as a TRD Sportivo package to be fitted on existing Vioses and there is also a Toyota Vios TRD that may come early next year, just in time to keep the Vios fresh in the face of the 2009 Honda City.