Archive for Automotive Videos

Ever wondered what a lucky (and rich) dude on a weekend spirited drive in his Ferrari Scuderia Spider 16M experiences? Well, can’t give you that experience but through this video you can get a virtual passenger view of sorts.

The V8-powered Scuderia Spider 16M completed a 1.16 mile hillclimb at the Sunday Times Supercar Runs at the Goodwood Festival of Speed in just 59 seconds. Also available are similiar videos of the 599 GTB Fiorano HGTE and two videos of the new Ferrari California. What makes these videos quite interesting other than the lovely sounds are the fact that you can compare the different kind of sounds that Ferrari V8 and Ferrari V12 engines make, they’re quite different!

Check the vids out after the jump!

Click here to read the rest of Ferrari Scuderia Spider 16M tackles Goodwood hillclimb together with the 599 GTB Fionaro GHTE and the California

Malaysian cars have only appeared on Top Gear a few times in the past, and they haven’t exactly been portrayed in a very good light most of the time.

We all know what happened to the Kelisa, and the Waja was used as an example of a car with not very good crash safety in comparison to cars like the Avensis. The Proton Savvy did appear on rival show Fifth Gear and did well on the hill climb test they had. The Satria Neo is a regular feature on Top Gear Australia.

If you’ve been following the latest Season 13 of Top Gear, you would have already watched Episode 3 which has two of our cars in it – one from each manufacturer.

The Perodua Myvi (it’s rather odd how British people pronounced Myvi) and the Proton Satria Neo are featured in a segment where the team have to go find the best small “cheap and cheerful” car in the UK. Being priced at the lower end of the various car segments, the Neo and Myvi are natural candidates among other cars like the Chevy Aveo.

Skip to about minute 6:55 of the first video to go straight to the segment, then continue with the second video. The segment is broken over 2 videos. It isn’t pretty, just look at the face Jeremy is making while he is driving the Myvi.

Click here to read the rest of Perodua Myvi and Proton Satria Neo featured in Top Gear Season 13 Episode 3!

The E-Guard is not your regular W212 E-Class – it’s been beefed up substantially to give extra protection to the occupant inside, but the extra protection are all hidden and cannot be seen by the naked eye. It starts off as a regular E-Class chassis, made to regular series production standards.

Next, protective elements are installed. These are precisely formed to exactly fit the contours of the bodyshell without encroaching on the interior space. The fit must be perfect to provide proper protection. The slightest misfit might cause a bullet to be able to pierce through. There is also optional underbody armour, which will allow the entire underfloor of the passenger area to withstand the explosion of a DM51 hand grenade.

All the extra protection helps the E-Guard conform to VR4 protection class. BMW’s “Security” series of armored cars also conform to this same specification. This means it can withstand handgun bullets of up to .44 Magnum in calibre at random angles of fire and not just via certain angles, to provide the most realistic protection possible. Runflat tyres in 17 inch size are used for additional protection (all BMWs except some M cars have this as standard), ensuring the car can still go at up to 50km and 80km/h speed in case attackers damage the tyres.

Of course all the extra parts makes the E-Guard so much more heavier than a regular E. Brakes, suspension and stability control systems must be adjusted and recalibrated to suit the new weight. The E-Guard uses a special Level II version of the AIRMATIC air suspension system as standard.

Look after the jump for some pretty interesting videos talking about the E-Guard and its assembly process. It also demonstrates with a loaded gun the difference between a normal W212 and the E-Guard in terms of bulletproofness. Enjoy the videos!

Click here to read the rest of Mercedes-Benz E-Guard VR4 Armored Vehicle

The new BMW X1 must be a very important car for BMW as for the first time ever with BMW press packs, I was having trouble handling the amount of photos they released! They released over 150 photos of a brown and a white X1 and the total file size for the hi-res pix was over 1,5GB, which I had to download then resize down to about 150MB before uploading.

The X1 measures 4454mm in length, 1798mm wide (2006mm with mirrors included), and 1545mm tall with a 2760mm wheelbase. In comparison, the X3 measures 4570mm long, with a 2795mm wheelbase. So it’s definitely a smaller vehicle, but the wheelbase is quite similiar to the current E90 sedan.

It’s also the first BMW SUV to come with a rear wheel drive version as well as xDrive. The most economical version is the X1 sDrive18d with rear wheel drive, putting out only 136g/km of CO2 and using only a measly 5.2 liters per 100km, equivalent to 54.3 UK mpg. The following are the various X1 variants:

As you can see the European range is mostly diesel-centric, with the sole petrol engine being the 3.0 liter inline-6, tuned to make 258 horses, hence the “28i” rating instead of “30i” which usually puts out about 272 horses in their latest incarnations. The rest are diesel, and ditching the weight and losses of xDrive reduces fuel consumption by about 0.1L per 100km with the 20d and 18d models. All manual models come with auto start-stop and a gearshift indicator.

The interior features a 40:20:40 split backrest at the rear which can extend the 420 liter cargo area up to 490 liters if you set the backrest angle to something more vertical, or if you just drop them down, storage goes up to 1,350 liters. The rest of the interior is a typical BMW and you don’t get some of the more modern interior bits such as the shift by wire gear knob and the Black Panel multi-info LCD, but you do get the new hard disk based iDrive system.

Look after the jump for a full press release, some videos, and a full photo gallery of the new BMW X1.

Click here to read the rest of New BMW X1 compact SUV officially unveiled!

BMW has had immense success with their The Hire short film series. Not sure if you guys have seen it before but tyre maker Pirelli also had something similiar up their sleeves, with two videos released so far, starring Uma Thurman of Kill Bill fame and Naomi Campbell. Both are promotional videos for the Pirelli P-Zero tyres.

The Uma Thurman video titled Mission Zero from 2007 is directed by Kathryn Bigelow of Strange Days and Point Break fame. It features Thurman, a Lamborghini Gallardo, Pirelli P-Zero tyres, and a chase scene through Los Angeles.

The other Naomi Campbell video is also fo the P-Zeros and also stars John Malkovich. It’s directed by Antoine Fuqua and is said to be inspired by the success of the Da Vinci Code and Angels and Demons series. Naturally it involves priests and etc, and a fast TVR. Watch the videos after the jump.

Click here to read the rest of VIDEO: Pirelli P-Zero Promo Films starring Uma Thurman and Naomi Campbell

Here is a fifth video in a series of Jaguar XJ teaser videos. It’s not very long now until the new flagship XJ is unveiled on the 9th of July – that’s next week actually! Some of Jaguar engineers talk about the XJ’s driving dynamics in this video. We all know less weight means better handling, and the XJ’s aluminium chassis contributes to that. But dynamics goes into a scope that extends to more than handling.

Watch the video after the jump.

Related Posts:
Jaguar XJ Teaser Video #1: launch set for 9th July
Jaguar XJ Teaser Video #2: Ian Callum on the design
Jaguar XJ Teaser Video #3: Sound System
Jaguar XJ Teaser Video #4: Aluminium chassis

Click here to read the rest of VIDEO: Jaguar XJ Driving Dynamics Teaser

What happens when you take two canvasses, lots of Akzonobel Sikken paint (1,200 liters to be exact), and a Vodafone McLaren Mercedes Formula 1 car and put them all together? Well depending on how artsy fartsy you are, it’s either art or a terrible waste of good paint. Seems to be a common theme these days, creating art with paintings done by a car in motion, like the one by BMW with the Z4.

Watch the video after the jump.

Click here to read the rest of Hamilton’s MP4-24 F1 car is a paintbrush

We seem to have no shortage of promo videos for the new Porsche Panamera. This time we get to see the Panamera 4S in an entirely different setting compared to the previously featured video – while the previous video was set in more of an urban environment, this one takes us onto the open roads.

Watch the video after the jump.

Other Porsche Panamera Videos:
New Porsche Panamera Promo Footage: exterior, interior, retractable spoiler, etc
VIDEO: Porsche Panamera Promo Footage

Click here to read the rest of VIDEO: Porsche Panamera 4S Beauty Footage

Like the outgoing Jaguar XJ, the upcoming new XJ set for a 9th July 2009 debut will have an all-aluminium body and chassis construction. That’s the only way a large car like the current generation XJ could weigh less than 1,600kg.

Jaguar has released another teaser video, this time centered around the new XJ’s all-aluminium chassis. We get to see the chassis from the side and top, which should give us a better idea of how the car’s roofline will be shaped like.

Watch the video after the jump.

Previously featured Jaguar XJ Teasers:
All-new Jaguar XJ set for 9th July debut!
Is this what the new Jaguar XJ will look like?
VIDEO: Ian Callum on the new Jaguar XJ
VIDEO: Jaguar XJ Bowers & Wilkins Teaser

Click here to read the rest of New Jaguar XJ’s all-aluminium body and chassis

Italian-based Fiat recently launched the 500C at this year’s Geneva Motor Show. The 500C is not a full convertible variant of the famous micro-car, instead it is a topless model that comes with an electric sliding roof.

The cute little Fiat 500C is offered with three engine options, including a 75HP 1.3 liter MultiJet Turbodiesel mated to a 5-speed manual, as well as a 69HP 1.2 liter and a 100HP 1.4 liter powerplant from the petrol family. It also comes with a Start & Stop engine shut down system.

On that note, Fiat has released a 5 minute 27 second-long driving footage of the 500C. Continue reading to watch the 500C being driven on some gorgeous European routes.

Click here to read the rest of Fiat 500C: 5 minute-long driving footage