Archive for Automotive Videos

This hardcore offroading buggy was built from a 1990 Range Rover frame with stock rear a arm and joint, designed by Rock Ware Motorsports.

It’s powered by a 4.6 liter Range Rover engine tuned up by McCabe MotorSports, hooked up to a stock Rover transmission and LT230 transfer case. Both front and rear shocks are Fox shocks, with 12″ 2.5 shocks at the front and 14″ at the rear. Wheels are 17 inch wrapped with 40 inch Goodyear MTR tyres.

Enjoy the two videos after the jump.

Click here to read the rest of Pikes Peak Rovers Range Rover Rock Buggy

Here’s something for those who don’t have any plans tonight and are spending time surfing the internet. Fifth Gear recently held a pretty pointless shootout between a MINI GP and a remote controlled car. That’s 218 horsepower versus 1.5 horsepower, but of course you have to consider the remote controlled car is practically weightless and it’s motor performs at peak torque all the time without being hampered by gearing.

Enjoy the video after the jump.

Click here to read the rest of MINI GP versus remote controlled car

Enjoy this funny recorded footage of accidents that happen with this weird pole thing that comes out from the ground and closes lanes. Anyone know the usage of these poles though? Video after the jump.

Click here to read the rest of Funny Car Accidents

Car manufacturers these days have the most amazing way to enhance their product range. Volkswagen has been slapping on slightly offroad-ish styling to their products and tagging the word Cross in front of their names, so often and with success that they’re saying Cross is now a brand, like the iconic GTI or R badge. I introduce you to the Volkswagen CrossTouran, an offroader-looking van?

To be launched in spring 2007, the 2007 Volkswagen CrossTouran will be available with three gasoline-powered engines and three turbodiesels with output ranging from 102 hp to 170 hp, With the 170hp option of course being the 1.4 liter TSI Twincharger with a DSG gearbox as standard.

On the exterior a few modifications distinguish the CrossTouran from the more road-going-ish Touran design - a silver anodized roof railing with a 100kg maximum load rating with black mount as well as a matte chrome front spoiler integrated into the front bumper. The central air inlet in the front spoiler was also given a border in matte chrome look. You also get offroad-like protection elements in the bumper lower sections, side running boards, wheel arches, which are made from black-grained carbon fiber. Wheels are a mixed arrangement with 6.5-inch wide and 17-inch diameter alloy wheels on 215/50/R17 tires in front and 8-inch wide alloy wheels wrapped with 235/45/R18 tires at the back. Suspension is a little higher, giving the Volkswagen CrossTouran an extra 12 millimeter of ground clearance over the normal Touran.

More photos after the jump.

Click here to read the rest of 2007 Volkswagen CrossTouran

The new 2007 Honda CR-V received a 5-star crash test rating from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration across the board - which means frontal crash passenger, frontal crash driver, side crash passenger and side crash driver test results were excellent. Similar good results were obtained from the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS).

Two videos of the frontal and side crash tests as well as links to the results pages for the two institutes’ findings after the jump. The new 2007 Honda CR-V is expected to reach our local shores soon next year, so if safety for your family is your top priority and you’re looking for an SUV in that range, you might want to hold out for the new CR-V. While the CR-V tested by the two American institutes are the 2.4 liter version that will likely not make it to our market, crash test performance of the R20A engined model that we will probably get should be similar.

Click here to read the rest of 2007 Honda CR-V Crash Test

The guys at All Japanese Performance in the US have pimped out this Honda Civic Si Coupe where it matters - the engine bay! The K20 engine in this Civic has been bolted on with a turbokit, and has been running without problems since March 2006.

In March, AJP was able to reach 306 horsepower at the wheels at 0.3 bar and as time progressed with the help of Hondata (ECU tuning), it was able to achieve 376 horsepower and 315Nm of torque at the wheels at 0.6 bars of boost - very impressive! Basically, this car was an R&D car for AJP to develop it’s production turbokit which currently goes for $4,299.99.

More specs, photos and videos after the jump.

Click here to read the rest of AJ Performance Honda Civic Si Coupe

Another car manufacturer has developed a model specially for the Chinese market. Introducing the Volkswagen Magotan. Despite sounding like a strange hybrid fusion between a Mango and a Rambutan, Volkswagen’s joint venture in China - FAW-Volkswagen - this is actually a Passat specially developed for the Chinese market.

Static torsional stiffness is up 57% over the standard Chinese Passat sold by Shanghai-Volkswagen (not FAW-Volkswagen), which is actually a long wheel base VW/Audi B5 platform car, as opposed to the this Magotan Passat’s PQ46 platform. The trunk is gigantic - 565 liters! The suspension consists of a MacPherson strut front as well as a four-link trapezoidal system for the rear. The Volkswagen Magotan is also the first sedan of it’s class in China to have an electronic parking brake, simply press a button to activate the brake, saving space in the car that would have otherwised been used for the mechanical connections.

There is also a Keyless entry start and exit system, which lets you enter the car as long as the transmitter is in your pocket - turning on the engine also works the same way with a push start button.

The press kit for the Magotan made me realise something about the mentality of FAW-Volkswagen though, but I am not sure if it’s the Germans or the Chinese who were responsible for this. The photos in the press kit show a normal Volkswagen Passat, but the Passat logos and German numberplate were erased, and new Magotan logo and Chinese numberplates pasted on. Don’t tell me you have to cut costs to the extent that you can’t re-do a photoshoot of the proper car?!

This is the exact reason why I will not try Chinese-made cars for the time being… who knows where else they have slashed on costs? But anyway, more photos after the jump, though if you’ve seen press photos of the Volkswagen Passat you really don’t have to bother. Same thing.

[UPDATE: Added video.]

Click here to read the rest of Volkswagen Magotan for China

Volkwagen’s Tiguan Concept showcases a preview of it’s upcoming mini Touareg - a small SUV pitched against the likes of the new 3rd generation Toyota RAV4. The concept car being presented at the LA Auto Show is powered by a new “Clean TDI” engine which includes a NOx storage catalytic converter and as a whole reduces nitrogen oxides by up to 90% compared to engines known today. Improving turbodiesel technology is very important for car manufacturers who want to increase market share in the lucrative European market, like what Honda has been doing with their new second generation i-CTDi engine. This new Clean TDI engine is part of the BLUETEC offensive initiated jointly by Audi, Mercedes-Benz and Volkswagen. The three German marques intend to establish the term BLUETEC as a universal label to denote clean and low consumption diesel vehicles.

The Volkswagen Tiguan Concept is 1.85 meters wide, 1.69 meters high and 4.40 meters long. The front is typical of modern Volkswagen cues, and the grille is flanked by xenon headlamps. Volkswagen wanted to make sure the new Tiguan is immediately recognizable as a part of the Volkswagen SUV family.

Viewed from the side, except for the small VW symbols in the 19 inch wheel rims (wrapped with Continental tyres btw!), there is no logo that “tips off” the viewer that the Tiguan is a Volkswagen, yet you can see the sense of familiarity there - exactly like what people have been calling this car, a mini Touareg.

Production is estimated to begin in twelves months time, making this a 2008 model most probably. More photos after the jump.

[UPDATE: Added two more videos!]

Click here to read the rest of Volkswagen Tiguan Concept

The BMW X5 has enjoyed phenomenal success since its introduction in 1999, with exactly 616,867 units to be produced by the 22nd of December 2006, with 41% of orders bound for the truck-mad USA. Thats almost 100,000 units a year in a single model alone. BMW claims to have created the Sports Activity Vehicle segment with the X5, basically a SUV which doesn’t handle horribly! Sales every year have not dropped at all over the past 6 years, so in reality BMW doesn’t exactly need to replace the X5 so soon, but them Bavarian folks have done it anyway, with the new Bangle-fied E70 BMW X5. My report on the new 2007 BMW X5 after the jump. Click images for larger sizes.

Click here to read the rest of 2007 BMW X5 4.8i and 3.0d Test Drive in Athens

Another witty Volkswagen advertisement video, this one advertises the small yet potent Volkswagen Golf GT equipped with the 1.4 liter TFSI twincharged engine.

Video after the jump.

Click here to read the rest of Golf GT Frog Commercial