Archive for Cars

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Mercedes-Benz is having a last kopek with its SLR before its partnership with McLaren ends. A limited edition 150 unit run of the SLR McLaren Roadster called the Mercedes-Benz SLR McLaren Roadster 722 S, essentially a 722 edition of the Roadster body, as the Coupe had previously been released.

This allows you to enjoy the 722’s 650hp supercharged 5.5 liter V8 with the top down. 0 to 100km/h takes only 3.7 seconds and the engine has a peak twisting power of 820Nm. This is up from the non-722 SLR’s 626hp and 780Nm power figures.

Other changes with the 722 Edition include a lowered ride height by 10mm, stiffer springs and shocks, and 19 inch forged aluminium wheels which allow full view of the red calipers, high-resistance carbon fiber ceramic brake discs.

All 150 units are hand-built at McLaren’s Formula 1 workshops in England. Look after the jump for hi-res photos.

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Lamborghini has released a fourth teaser image of the upcoming Lamborghini Estoque front-engined four-door coupe. They show front projector headlamps that share the sharp angular design language that the rest of the car has shown. Together with the sketches, I bet most people can already imagine how it will end up looking like in their heads. It will be revealed in the metal at the 2008 Paris Motor Show this week.

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Suzuki has unveiled a facelifted version of the Suzuki Grand Vitara flagship, now available with a new larger 2.4 liter engine.

The new 2.4 liter engine produces 166 PS in the three door body and 169 PS in the five door body. The engine features a balance shaft, a three-stage variable air intake and a tumble control valve for the intake to for the best possible fuel-air mixture.

Other changes include new ventilated discs for the rear brakes, extra shock-absorbing elements at the front to reduce pedestrian injury risk, and ESP is now fitted as standard. Apparently the interior and exterior styling has received minor updates as well but they are probably so minor that other than the new wheels, I can’t seem to detect any.

Look after the jump for a photo of the 3-door body and the new interior.

Click here to read the rest of Facelifted Suzuki Grand Vitara now with 2.4L engine

Two more photos of the upcoming ultra expensive Aston Martin One-77 have been released, depicting the car in a front 3/4 and rear 3/4 view.

It looks like an Aston Martin alright, but alot more aggressive thanks to the nice bodywork they’ve done on the side of the car. Like its namesake, if you manage to be one of the lucky buyers, you will own one of 77 units of the limited edition Aston Martin One-77.

Word is that the car’s V12 engine will be front mid-mounted and will have 7.3 liters of displacement, putting out a targeted 700 horsepower. This will be mated to a twin clutch transmission mounted at the rear for optimum weight distribution.

Look after the jump for the rear 3/4 view and a previously released side view.

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Click here to read the rest of New images of Aston Martin One-77 released!

The Japanese domestic market rebadging game continues as manufacturers try their best to cut development costs and maximize profit in these tough time. Nissan announced today in Japan the new Nissan KIX, a badge engineered Mitsubishi Pajero Mini. The name KIX is derived from the “kicks”, as in the term “just for kicks”.

You will probably find pretty much the same stuff under the Nissan KIX’s hood as the Pajero Mini such as the small turbocharged 660cc engine producing 64 PS at 6,000rpm and 88Nm of torque at 4,000rpm or the normally aspirated version putting out 52 PS and 62Nm, but full details will only be revealed sometime in October.

Look after the jump for a few more shots of the KIX.

Click here to read the rest of Nissan KIX announced for Japanese market

Autocar UK reports that performance versions of the Mk6 Volkswagen Golf will go beyond the GT, GTi and the R32-replacing higher-powered version of the Golf GTi.

According to the report, the Mk6 range will also gain a turbodiesel-powered GTD as well as possibly a top of the line high performance Golf that in conventional R nomenclature would be called the “R40″. This would be powered by a turbocharged inline-5 engine that will also be slotted into cars like the Audi TT-RS, producing 350 horsepower with decent fuel economy and emissions to boot. This seems a little hard to swallow at the moment, does Volkswagen want to take the Golf that far?

The much more realistic Golf GTD will be powered by a new twin-turbo version of the company’s 2.0 liter inline-4 TDI turbodiesel, a concept that BMW (204hp 2.0L twin turbodiesel) and Mercedes-Benz (204hp 2.2L twin turbodiesel) have also done.

The GTi will produce about 210 horsepower while the R32-replacing GTi “plus” will have a Haldex all-wheel drive and produce nearly 270 horsepower, equalling the new Audi S3 in performance and even the number of cogs, as the 7-speed S-Tronic DSG is expected to roll out in this range of Volkswagens.

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Volkswagen Golf GTi Mk6 - Initial Photos

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BMW has released another teaser image of the BMW Concept X1 in some pretty bad light but with the help of some brightness and contrast adjustments we are able to see a little more detail of the upcoming small SUV.

The result is something that looks like a downsized BMW X5, but are we really surprised when an increasing amount of car manufacturers just seem to create one design and resize it for different models?

A BMW X1 xDrive23d powered by the 2.0 liter inline-4 twin turbodiesel would be a nice lifestyle vehicle with both fuel economy (relative) and power packed into one vehicle.

Click to enlarge

Those who have been eyeing the Aston Martin DBS but didn’t really want to bother with the fuss of the sole 6-speed manual transmission option it has can now rejoice as Aston Martin has just added a ZF 6-speed automatic transmission to the DBS, mating it to the hand-built 517 PS 6.0 liter V12 engine.

Aston Martin calls its slushbox the “Touchtronic 2″, and the version in the DBS is based on the transaxle unit in the DB9 but re-engineered to accommodate the power and other characteristics of the DBS. You can either leave it in auto mode or shift via the leather-trimmed magnesium alloy paddles mounted on the steering column.

The Touchtronic 2 is a £3,000 option over the 6-speed manual.

Sheilas’ Wheels Car Insurance, a car insurance targeted at women, has released this collection of tips as well as a bizarre viral video aimed at “educating” ladies in dresses on how to exit a car gracefully without accidentally “flashing” your privates like Lindsay Lohan, Paris Hilton and Britney Spears.

Please share these tips with your female friends! Here are the tips:

• Ensure knees are together at all times.
• Avoid traveling in low sportscars when wearing a skirt that ends above the knee.
• If you have chosen to wear a short skirt, have a pashmina, wrap or scarf with you at all times and drape it over your legs as you exit the car.
• Try to twist your body as you leave the car – this will help ensure that your legs remain together.
• Ask a fellow passenger to give you a helping hand when getting out of the car, allowing you to glide out with ease.
• If travelling in a 4×4, beware of higher seats catching the back of your skirt as you slide out.
• Try to avoid drinking excess amounts of alcohol when being driven by car, you are likely to lose your inhibitions a little too much. Be warned!

They’ve also developed something called the “Exi-quette Car Curtain”, though I think that looks abit too over the top to set up every time you want to get out of a car. You don’t have to buy one, just make one yourself according to instructions.

Watch the video after the jump.

Click here to read the rest of For the ladies: tips on how to exit a car without accidentally “flashing”

Prices of crude oil dropped about 10% yesterday on the NYMEX after the US House of Representatives rejected the Bush administration’s bid for a US$700 billion bailout of the American financial sector called the Emergency Economic Stabilization Act of 2008.

November delivery light sweet crude dropped as much as US$11.85 at one point, finally settling down at US$96.37 a barrel, down US$10.52. In London, Brent North Sea crude for November dropped US$9.56 to settle at US$93.98 per barrel.

It previously spiked 16% (up to US$120.92) partly in anticipation of a positive outcome to the very same bailout bid, and a few other reasons such as the expiry of front-month futures contracts and weakening of the US dollar. At the time of that spike November contract delivery prices were US$109.37. December and January contract prices are now roughly the same as November’s price at US$96.09 and US$96.37 respectively.

“Oil prices should remain under downward pressure. Oil traded for the last five years on fear of supply interruptions. It is now trading on fear of economic collapse,” said WTRG Economics analyst James Williams.

With this new news, are the government going to reduce petrol and diesel prices again? Or will they say it not make a difference to their coffers because of other reasons such as the ringgit weakening against the US dollar?

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