Wednesday, April 22, 2009

Rolls Royce Ghost 2010

The beautiful looking RR 4 officially got it's production name today. That would be the Rolls Royce Ghost. The vehicle will be powered by a 6.675 liter twin turbo V12 pumping out HP north of 500. This car will be smaller than it's big brother the Phantom and will probably be a lot more fun to drive. I'd expect that a few "drivers" may be delegated different jobs when the owner of the RR Ghost wants to drive it them self rather than being chauffeured.
Rolls Royce CEO Tom Purves announced the vehicles name at the Shanghai Motor Show. The new Ghost will be built at the Goodwood manufacturing facility on the south coast of England as a 2010 model towards the end of 2009.

Friday, April 17, 2009

2010 Jaguar XJ

The photo above ( Courtesy of Auto Express ) is that of the 2010 Jaguar XJ. The new XJ looks to have taken some styling cues from the handsome XF and is gunning for 7 Series and S Class business.
Rumor has it that the base engine will be 385 HP V8 with a 503 HP Supercharged V8 at the flagship model designed to give the S63 and the 760 a run for the money.
A diesel option is also likely.
I look forward to seeing the new model in the flesh and I wish Jaguar great success.

Thursday, April 09, 2009

2010 BMW 760


BMW has outdone themselves with the new twin turbo V12 engine announced for the upcoming 760 series. BMW designed a new engine from the ground up to replace the previous normally aspirated 453 HP V12. The new twin turbo unit has considerably better fuel economy (about 4.5% better) has a lot more power ( 400kw / 544hp @ 5000 rpm ) and maximum torque is 750 Newton-Meters (553 lb-ft) at 1500 rpm.

This car has tire shredding power and can sprint from 0-62 mph in about 4.6 seconds. Best you keep your eyes peeled if you think you are fast in your M3. Also new to BMW is an 8 speed transmission a la M Benz.

It is entirely likely that the new engine will find its way into the Rolls Royce Phantom which is hovering around with the old engine, but time will tell.

It is nice to see BMW using turbo engines, getting fuel consumption and emissions down and bringing the power back.