Archive for International News

Hamann has released tuning and bodykits for the MINI Cooper S and the MINI Cooper D, which both have turbocharged motors, making it easier to tweak as compared to normally aspirated cars. There are 2 options for the Cooper S. One is a boost up to 204hp at 5,500rpm and 300Nm of torque between 1,600 to 5,000rpm.

The other is the SPORTKIT CS 230 which gives the Cooper S a massive power boost to 230 PS at 6,050rpm and 330Nm of torque at 3,860rpm, making it more powerful than the recently unveiled MINI John Cooper Works however it loses the amazingly flat torque curve. The Cooper D gets its power upped from 110hp to 136hp at 4,000rpm and a peak torque of 300Nm between 1,750 to 2,000rpm.

The Hamann bodykit is said to provide aerodynamic benefits and includes a front skirt, side sills and a rear diffuser which integrates the two tailpipes of the Hamann sports exhaust system. The Hamann suspension lowers the MINI’s center of gravity by 30mm. There is also a height-adjustable coilover kit which can be lowered up to 500mm.

To complete the kit, Hamann rims available and the highlight is the one piece 18 inch HM EVO wheel finished in lacquered black. These wheels are wrapped with Hankook Ventus S1 EVO 225/35ZR18 tyres.

Look after the jump for hi-res photos.

Click here to read the rest of Hamann Tuning Kit for MINI Cooper S

Honda has given the American market Honda Ridgeline pick-up truck a facelift and according to them the updates Ridgeline has 50 changes. The most obvious are the exterior looks thanks to revisions to the headlamps, taillamps, grille, and bumpers. Thanks to the revised bumpers the Ridgeline is now longer by 5mm, but all other dimensions including its 3099mm wheelbase remain the same.

Its 3.5 liter V6 is now up to 250 horsepower at 5,700rpm, up from 247 horses in the original Ridgeline. Torque is also up from 332Nm to 335Nm of torque at 4,300rpm. The torque band is also flatter now and starts off at a higher point before reaching its peak. The engines dual-stage intake manifold is now made of magnesium instead of aluminium. The intake valves are larger and there is now an airflow meter inside the air intake tract.

Power goes to all four wheels via a 5-speed automatic (now with revised ratios - gear 3 and 4 are approximately 5% lower) and a Variable Torque Management 4-wheel drive system, or VTM-4. The VSA stability control system works together with the VTM-4 system to ensure grip in all road conditions, and there is a VTM-4 Lock button on the dash to lock the rear differential in gears 1 and 2 at speeds of up to 30km/h.

The chassis is what Honda calls a “closed-box unit-body frame” which combines features from a ladder frame and a monocoque design. This reminds me of what Suzuki claims their Grand Vitara chassis is built on. Suspension design is fully independent with MacPherson struts at the front and a multilink suspension at the rear.

On the interior you get a new instrument panel and a new steering wheel design. New features include a 115V power outlet for the RTL model, MP3/aux input on the RTS and RTL, MP3 and WMA compatibility for the audio systems, and more ergonomics air conditioning, sunroof, cruise control and headlamp controls. The starter motor has also been improved and engine cranking is now quicker.

Look after the jump for plenty of hi-res images of the facelifted Ridgeline.

Click here to read the rest of 2009 Honda Ridgeline Facelift Details and Photos

The mid-sized Acura TL sedan receives a full model change for the 2009 model year. As you can see from the photos, the approach that Acura has taken with the fourth generation TL is far from conservative. It looks very decidedly Japanese and I’d expect such a production design to come out of Mazda’s design studios.

The 2009 Acura TL will come in either front wheel drive or all-wheel drive configurations. The AWD system is Acura’s Super Handling All-Wheel Drive (SH-AWD) system which can split torque in an optimum ratio between the front and rear axles and also the rear left and rear right wheels.

The suspension rides on double wishbones at the front and multilink at the rear. Engine options will consist of the J-Series 3.5 liter SOHC V6 producing 280hp and 345Nm of torque, and a more powerful 3.7 liter V6 producing 305hp and 373Nm of torque.

Look after the jump for a low-res photo gallery. Hi-res photos and full details to come later.

Click here to read the rest of 2009 Acura TL initial details and photos revealed

Imagine, you’re just moseying along driving your trailer carrying 9 imported BMWs trying to earn a living, when suddenly a rain of rocks fall from the sky and 4 of the BMWs you’re carrying get damaged, causing massive damage including broken windscreens and damaged body panels.

This is exactly what happened in China, where a group of kids decided to throw rocks at a passing trailer because, according to them, “it was fun.” When confronted, the parents of the kids were only wiling to fork out a maximum of 5000 yuan or US$729 for the damage.

Interestingly the news article seemed to indicate that the driver is in extreme distress trying to figure out how to cover the damage. No insurance policy?

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More details have been unveiled of the upcoming Aston Martin One-77, though there are no new photos of the car. Aston Martin says the One-77 project started 15 months ago and is just a codename and is not the final name of the car. Each of the One-77 will be completely tailored to the individual who bought it.

Once you’ve booked one, you will have access to the company’s top engineers and designers in Aston Martin’s Gaydon plant, who will work with you to develop the car to your exact specifications. No further details have been unveiled as to how far your specifications can go. You’ll likely not be able to touch things like the shape of the car as well as the engine, but likely you will be able to customise things like the interior trim, exterior colour, seats, and wheel design.

Imagine, if Aston Martin decides to take the individuality (and 1.2 million pound price) even further you could be able to pick your own exhaust note and design cues, since the car’s aluminium body panels will be hand-knocked!

The 354km/h top speed and 3.5 second 0 to 100km/h acceleration time is thanks to a 7.0 liter V12 producing 650 horsepower and a lightweight carbon fiber chassis covered in aluminium panels.

Aston Martin has identified over 500 potential customers and will bring a demo car personally to their homes to gauge interest and pitch the sale.

Money can’t buy you happiness, or at least not for British businessman Gerald Mellin, who killed himself with the help of his Aston Martin DB7 roadster.

Mellin, who had been talking about suicide for sometime now, tied one end of a long rope to a tree in a parking lot and the other end of the rope around his neck. He then got into his open top DB7 and drove away. You can probably guess what happened next.

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Aston Martin has jumped onto the ultra exclusive supercar bandwagon, and this Aston Martin One-77 you see above like its namesake is one of 77 that will be built. I trust that Aston Martin will have no problems making it look extremely sexy as with all of their existing products, so let’s have a look at its other features.

The One-77 will have a body hand-made with aluminium, and a carbon fiber chassis underneath it. This means it will likely be very light and nimble, and propelling it to 100km/h in roughly 3.5 seconds will be a monstrous 7.0 liter V12 engine.

Now if any premium car manufacturer wants to create a supercar I highly recommend they take this path instead of the overweight giant that is the Bugatti Veyron, no matter how many turbochargers that thing has. Something like the One-77 feels so much more special. Aston Martin’s press release did not state a price but with only 77 units available, some are quoting prices of about 1 million pounds.

Suzuki has unveiled a preview of the next generation Suzuki Alto, which will make its debut at the 2008 Paris Motor Show. The new Alto was shown to us in concept form as the Suzuki A-Star Concept. The new Alto will replace the best-selling Maruti Alto currently sold in Japan, but the Maruti 800 based on an even older Alto will still soldier on, repositioned with less specs and a lower price to compete with the Tata Nano.

As India is the Alto’s biggest market, the world production center for the new Suzuki Alto will be situated in Maruti Suzuki’s Manesar plant. If Suzuki Malaysia deems the Alto suitable for Malaysian consumption (Hyundai seems to think so with the recently introduced Indian-sourced i10), the Alto we get will most likely come from India.

The recent news of a free trade agreement being discussed between ASEAN and India will be good news for the i10 and the Alto if it is introduced here as it would mean less taxes for Indian imports.

One more photo of the new Suzuki Alto available after the jump, with more details to be revealed as we approach the 2008 Paris show.

Click here to read the rest of New Suzuki Alto images released, details to come

51 year old Pininfarina CEO (and grandson of Pininfarina founder Battista Pininfarina) Andrea Pininfarina died this morning in a road accident near Turin while he was riding to Pininfarina’s R&D center on his Vespa motorcycle. He is survived by his wife and 3 kids.

This is bad news indeed for Pininfarina the company as it is currently in the midst of restructuring. The Pininfarina family currently controls 55% of the company’s voting shares but stands to lose its majority with a reduction to 30% shares thanks to a new 100 million Euro capital increase request from its shareholders to cover its losses.

There are a number of key people with stake in Pininfarina including Piero Ferrari, Ratan Tata and Vincent Bollore.

Infiniti has announced a convertible version of the Infiniti G range, which will join its sedan and coupe siblings at the 2008 Los Angeles Motor Show in November.

The Infiniti G range currently consists of the G37 Sedan and G37 Coupe. All-wheel drive versions are also available in the form of the G37x, but don’t expect it to exhibit the same performance as the high-tech version in the Nissan GT-R.