2009 Peugeot RC Hybrid Electric Concept

If your going to design a Hybrid car why make it god awful like the Prius? where as the French have taken a Hybrid idea and implemented a good looking design. The concept hybrid is a front engined GT Sedan able to produce 313bhp but the photo is rather dark which doesnt give us much faith that the end design will hold much confidence but the outline looks nothing as terrible as the Prius. The only factor is that its a french car which a poll undertaken in the last year saw a high percentage of owners dissatisfied with their cars were in fact French with most being Pugs. However, we still have great hope for Peugeot as the cars they are releasing as of late seem to have undergone a complete make over and are looking quite astounding. This Hybrid could be included in that group and look forward to seeing this concept go into production so I can have to opportunity to write it up in future.

2008 Insignia Interior

NISSAN: Eco Pedal

Japanese car maker NISSAN have produced an Eco-Pedal system that alerts the driver if they are not driving economically. In the present international Fuel and Credit Crisis they expect to capture customers whom are feeling the pinch the pedal has been designed to push back on the drivers foot when the system thinks the current pressure applied is too much & informs the driver they are not driving efficiently, thus saving the driver money. The eco-pedal has a driving indicator which fits to the instrument panel and able to show real-time fuel consumption. Nissan believe that drivers will now beable to save up to 10% with this new system which does also includes an off function. These Eco-pedals are expected to be fitted to cars from next year.

Here are some personal comments.
I have some questions to raise here in relation to its practical applications. Firstly, it will be outfitted to their cars as of next year so in saying, if you can afford a new car you wouldnt exactly be feeling much of the credit crunch or concerned about driving economically most of the time. Secondly, if you just drive economically from the get go the need of such an item is made comletely redundant & Thirdly, this is coming from a company that produced the Nissan GTR which is just a complete animal and the thought of including that technology in that car is just mind-blowing.
Test Case
In the last year, Jeremy Clarkson made a test using a Toyota Prius and a BMW M5. One is built to be eco-friendly and economical and the other isnt. The test involved the Prius being driven flat out around their test track over 10 laps and Clarkson in the M5 and only had to pace the Prius. The result was that over the 10 laps the M5 was the more fuel efficient and it clearly marked the point that its not What you drive But How you drive. So if you want to save on fuel simply follow a few quick points.

Dont race off from a standstill rather gradually build up the speed, turn off the air-con, brake early and softly, keep a steady constant speed at all times where possibly. Follow that and you'll cut your fuel consumption to that 10% without having to pay an additional 10% on a new priced car in order to save the 10% you could do right now in what ever car your driving.

In closing, I have to hand it to the innovation of the Japanese, by all means not a bad idea as may come handy for drivers that suffer from the leadfooted syndrome.

Volkswagen CC

The VW CC Gold Coast, based on the Passat, is a luxury sports coupe that showcases some very bold lines and a stunning paint job highlighted in the picture above.
This model features a 3.6l TFSI estimated to produce an output of 280 horsepower and 360Nm of torque. The DSG (double-clutch 6-speed automatic transmission with Tiptronic)system can offer the advantage of choosing between fully automatic or full manual selection, DSG also changes gears more quickly and smoothly than a conventional transmission, while improving fuel economy which is a bonus in todays fuel crisis.

Bad news for New Zealanders is that this model goes on sale this year it wont be sold here in Aotearoa which is unfortunate for us as it looks a bute. When it goes on sale in America later in the year the estimated starting price will be approximately $27,000.

New Opel Insignia (Holden Vectra)

Hopefully this is a new generation moving forward from the Vectra days. The new model looks superb and looks to compete alongside the much loved Mazda6's.
They will go on sale in Europe meeting the current Euro 5 legislation on emmissions which is brillient considering it comes from Holden in a country NOT signed up to they Kyoto aggreement.
The new Insignia will come in either Manual or 6-speed automatic transmission in either a saloon or hatchback where the entry model will have a 4-cylinder 104kw petrol engine or choice of a 2.0 turbo diesel engine producing 97-120kw. At the high end there will be a V6 engine with 194kw.
It looks set to now rival the very well known Mazda 6 series and the Ford Mondeo's.

Lightning GT

Don't blink, don't even breathe or you'll have missed your opportunity to see this prototype car. The Lightning GT is 100% electric incorporating the very latest battery technology (Nanosafe) enough energy they say to match the equivalent power of 700bhp which is staggering but we'll have to wait to put that claim to the test. Like the Tesla, it also should be 0-62mph in sub 4 seconds and the four individual motors powering each wheel (each 120kw Power Permanent Magnet Brusless Motors) certainly helps with grip, balance & just sheer imagination.

The stat's the company have released have high claims and too be honest I would be thrilled to see them not only meet those but absolutely smash em'. But one thing they have done from the get go and can be seen immediately in the picture above is that it doesn't appear to be a typical ugly EV. It is in fact an absolute **STAR** and looks just smashing and we can see the designers have thought long and hard about what tract they were heading down. I won't run thru the major EV stats of the Lightning GT as wish to focus on its design apperance being the new front runner poster child of the modern era EV's, sorry Tesla but you have strong competition.
The sleek lines are magestic like the Aston Martin and while in a contemporary phase of its design there is certainly plenty of room for bolder models to follow. Because there is no use of an exhaust on an EV the rear is far from typical now housing a downforce diffuser and the ability to create a signature shape.

Pre-orders are currently being accepted for an equivalent of NZ$40,869.32 or in British poundes 15k.

2008 Fiat 500 Abarth

As far as small cars go I have to rate this right at the top.
This car marks the return of Italian car maker Fiat to the world of compact sports cars getting away from the boring econovans and I have to say, what a pearl.
It's front engine FWD turbo I4 tapping out 135bhp at max gives this little gem a top speed of 127mph. The 500 Abarth is a compact car with a subtle attitude saying "yes, see me, luuuv me" which gives this wee tot almost a soul.
Looking at this car I just can't help myself from wanting one, but at the same time I can't find myself behind the wheel of one. Maybe your wife might be better suited to zip up the road to your mothers to retrieve the home baked apple pie. Yet the more I look at it the more intrigued I am to test drive it when it lands in NZ.
It has an estimated fuel consumption of 33mpg which to say if your mother in-law was behind the wheel that maybe the case. The average kiwi bloke in a small manual sports car couldn't help but throttle it racing thru the gears and in the spirit of the upcoming Olympics, GO FOR GOLD. Peace of mind comes in the knowledge that it will meet with Euro 5 legislation so would be the perfect car for Beijing clearing the air for our sports atheletes.
In closing, there's just something about this car I just cant put my finger on but would love to have one...maybe at some point.

sQuba - Underwater Car

Unlike Alan Gibbs Aquada, this car can actually submerse itself to a dept of 32.8ft below the water line. While the car drives off road as a convertible it is also a convertible underwater so scuba regulators are required and supplied as part of the car. It was designed as an open water vehile for safety purposes so occupants could evacuate the vehicle quickly and easily in case of 'emergency'.

Full pic's and details can be viewed at the following blog click here

Its an electric car so has zero emmissions so would work silently above and below water. Would be a stylish car for the US Navy Seals but most likely impracticle in most parts however a great idea. It can travel above water so there's not always the need to get wet and is another alternative in the normal commute to work, espcially a unique way if you live in the likes of the Caribbean.

2007 Gumpert Apollo Sport

It's not the most eye appealing supercar on the roads today and weilds a name to that of some eastern european village idiot but the stats on this vehicle are more than enough to crush anyone who'd put shame to its name.
This is the top of the range model which comes with 800bhp, the lowest they go for the entrance driver to the Gumpert is 650bhp and middle of the range is 700bhp so no matter what Gumpert you end up with, it will have more than enough power to propel you into the future. If your above average height you may not be able to own/drive one as the seating position is fixed so if your 6ft tall, you may have to allow your long legs to become part of the crumple zone. But the benefit is, perfect weight distribution, not being thrown off by adjusting the seating position fwd/back.
The beauty of this car and the fact that I love it so much is that it is not at all a pretty car, to be honest it's hard to find a good angle that would make Jamie Oliver say "Pukkah" but the reason I truly love this car is that its not pretty like the Ferrari's, the Aston Martin's & most other supercars making it hard for the Gumpert to be concieved as a chic's car. This has got power, a strong design, handles brilliently and a real mans driving car that even Louis Hamilton would love if he wasn't happy driving his pimp-mobile on his down time off the circuits.
Ok so Louis Hamilton maynot take one home, but then again if your not going to be attending any gala dinners or prestigeous award ceremonies where a fancy car would be required or at the very least expected then the Gumpert is a car to consider.

HSV W427. The 500hp Australian BEAST.

Holden Special Vehicles (HSV) today announced the seven liter W427 program.

Tom Walkinshaw, who has been involved with making a few fast cars in the past, confirmed the price of the W427 will be $AUS150,000, plus on road costs. HSV will build up to 427 W427s, with vehicles being built to order. These will surely become collectors items up there with the SLR5000, VK Group A Brock, GTR XU-1 etc etc etc.

Each New Zealand and Australian HSV Dealer (64 in total) will be allocated one W427, as long as they have a firm retail order. Remaining W427s will be allocated to dealers based on 2007 sales figures.

Tom Walkinshaw has confirmed the final power output figure for the HSV W427. It will be 375kW (502.88HP) and 640NM of torque.

The Holden Special Vehicles W427 will go on sale in August. Looking forward to seeing what the 0-62MPH and 1/4 mile will be. I am guessing 4.3-4.5 to 62mph (100kph) and 12.8-13.0 for the 1/4.

The mighty Powertrain
- 7.0 Litre, LS7 Engine with HSV specific calibration
- Putting out 502.88 HP (375kw) @ 6500rpm & 640Nm @ 5000rpm
- Over radiator style cold air induction system – with high flow air filter.
- Dry sump lubrication system with 2 stage pump.
- Hand fabricated aluminium oil reservoir, with baffles for high G loading.
- Front mount, 13 row engine oil cooler
- Ceramic coated, high flow 4 into 1 extractors
- High flow catalytic converters and exhaust system (3” into 2 ¾”)
- Active bi-modal rear mufflers
- Exhaust back pressure management
- Improved noise quality
- High strength limited slip differential
- New high strength 6 speed manual gear box (TR6060)
- GMPT LS7 Clutch with new actuator and pedal assembly for high clamp loads

Save up your gas money folks.

2009 Cadillac CTS-V

It seems that the 2009 Cadillac CTS-V is going to be a tire smoking power house. Its 6.2-liter supercharged V8 is expected to produce 556 horsepower at 6,100rpm and 551 pound-feet of torque at 3,800rpm. Cadillac claims the CTS-V sedan will go from 0-to-60mph in just 3.9 seconds and through the quarter mile in 12 seconds flat. Now that my friends is FAST.

Top speed when equipped with the six-speed automatic transmission is limited to 175mph. Get the six-speed manual and you’re free to run all the way to 191mph. Autobahn type situation on our hands courtesy of Detroit.

Even with gas at about $5 per gallon, if it is as economical as it's cousin the Corvette ZO6 then this may well be the candidate for my next vehicle.

Holdens 60th Anniversary

Holden celebrate their 60th anniversary since first opening at its Fishermans Bend plant in Port Melbourne, Victoria Australia. They spotlight the 6 decade achievement with the Coupe 60, a concept car to take the VE brand further into the future of the company.

The coupe is 60mm shorter than the VE sedan and a pillarless concept car exploring the rear-wheel drive capabilities of racing design and technology for the casual on-road sporting experience. The engine is a 6.0l V8 with active fuel management calibrated to run on E85 Ethanol and sports the very latest in Holden Design and technologies they have to date.

The body is covered in a one off original paint scheme called "Diamond Silver" to give it a liquid aluminium finish. Racing enhancements include a full flat underbody, rear underbody diffuser along with a functional rear deck lid spoiler that houses LED tail lamps. The interior includes a sports inspired flat bottom steering wheel, one piece carbon fiber bucket seats.

All designed to encompass the 'Holden DNA' factor, while strickly a concept car there are no company updates to mark if this will go into production as the next chapter after the release of the updated Monaro. The Coupe 60 has been designed for those Holden fan's to herald a new chapter in their future design's.

Saleen S5S Raptor

Famed US vehicle tuner and manufacturer has released a new concept called the Saleen S5S Raptor. The vehicle is powered by a hand built 5.0 V8 supercharged 650 hp engine. The car is likely to go into production within 2 years with a price of approx $185,000 This car is a good look and if it preforms as well as it looks it will certainly be a US built vehicle that will give Porsche, Ferrari and Lamborghini a good run for their money.

Unleash the beast.

BMW Gran Turismo

BMW has confirmed that the CS Concept is a design study outlining the company’s new flagship Gran Turismo model. The car will fit above the 7-Series when it hits markets in 2011, and will compete with other 4 dr coupes including the Porsche Panamera, Aston Martin Rapide,
Mercedes-Benz CLS etc

Gerhard Richter, a member of the management team of the BMW Motorsport, will be assigned project leader on the upcoming Gran Turismo, which means that this is going to be a fast beast.

Various reports say that engine choices will range from a V8 all the way up to a V12. A new report from a German magazine says that the BMW Gran Turismo will get a new V10 twin-turbo charged, direct fuel injection engine that is capable of producing up to 625-hp, which is just a little more than the Mercedes Benz S65 AMG. The report also says an entry level V8 twin-turbo will also be offered producing 450-hp.

What will BMW come up with next?

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The Return of KITT

growing up as a young boy there were several TV programs that interested me such as The Duke's of Hazzard which created my fascination with car's followed by Knight Rider. Apart from the Million Dollar Bionic man, this year in 2008 we shall not only see the return to the small screen the Bionic Woman but the continuing story of the Knight Rider along with KITT.

Upgraded from the Trans Am we still see the flashing red light but the car has been moved to what critics are saying is a huge push on commercialised advertising in a TV series, highlighting the range of Ford vehicles.

Pictured above is the new KITT, but also hightlighted in the series will be the new ford focus and a selection of other vehicles.

You can google the search for the week story outline but as per the original TV series starring the Hoff, the show was mainly focussed on the car which for every boy growing up thru the 80's always wanted a car the could smash thru walls and most importantly have the option of the Turbo-Boost.

Kimi Raikkonen is 2007 F1 World Champion

Congratulations to Kimi Raikkonen from Ferrari who had luck on his side today when he came from behind to clinch the 2007 F1 World Drivers Championship. Well deserved, and it confirms it to me that Kimi is the best F1 driver out there. Lewis Hamilton let it slip by making a few silly mistakes, and Ferrari simply out preformed McLaren today. Alonso came in 3rd behind Massa.

So
Kimi is Champ with 110 points followed by
Lewis Hamilton with 109 point, then
Fernando Alonso with 109 points.What a great year in F1. Now we have to wait to March next year for the beginning of the 2008 Championship.

2007 SSC ULTIMATE AERO

SCC (Shelby Super Cars) have manufactured a vehicle that Guiness themselves are yet to officialise as the worlds fastest production car. At first glimpse of the photo I thought I was looking at a Pagani or Koenigsegg however reading further I was pleasantly surprised to find the Shelby Corp were behind this remarkable acheivement.

The site chosen to test the speed was a stretch of road temporarily closed in Washington State where it posted a top speed of 413.83km/hr (257.31mph) on its first run and 409.71km/hr (254.55.83mph) on its return run giving it an average of 411.76km/hr (255.83mph) which makes it faster that the official record held by the Koenigsegg CCR and faster than the Bugatti Beyron's unofficial speed by 3.11mph.

Due the a specific S bend in the road, Shelby believe the car could have reached higher speeds

The engine is a twin turbo V8 with 1183bhp posting 0-60mph in 2.78 seconds
Price estimated at $654,500

Not surprising now that I think back to a previous post in regards to the Dodge Viper Hennessey which was 1/4 the price of a Bugatti Veyron and moderately faster as well, yet the luxury that comes with Bugatti is hard to beat.

2007 BMW Hamann Thunder

Still holding characteristics to that of the M3 the Hamann Thunder take's it to the next level at 560bhp from its V10 engine. Hamann have stepped up to the plate changing not only the exterior physique of the car but the interior as well and as for what lies beneath the hood, that's something truly mind blowing. To explain, BMW's production line for it's engines roll off a number of models for the 3 series where the M is the more powerful.

Hamann figured where a V8 would fit so would a V10 taking the production figures from a 4ltr at 420bhp up to 560bhp at 7750rpm's. It also boasts 424lb-ft of tourque at 6100rmp's where any passenger will be pinned back hoping the seat belt secures them fastly. The power is delivered via a 7 speed manual SMG transmission resulting in impressive acceleration and power of 0-100km's in 4.2 seconds where it can top out at 208mph where it's limitation output peaks.

The rear 4-pipe sports muffler not only look eye appealing but keeps with the Name 'Thunder' making sure you hear it coming from the next town. Four stailess steel pipe's at 76mm in diameter are enough to get your heart racing as the thunder pumping sound will make the hair on the back of your neck stand on end.

Carbon Fibre has taken over many facets of the design for max weight reduction, applied to the roof and interior panel's in a modified Hamann design of the M3. The interior also incorporates light weight racing sports seat to hold the driver in place around corners.

McLaren fined and wiped of constructor points for 2007.

Formula 1 team McLaren Mercedes has been stripped of all of their constructors points and fined $100 Million US less their loss of income from the FOM for 2007. This will allow drivers Lewis Hamilton and world Champ Fernando Alonso to continue and race for the drivers championship.

This is all because of the Stepneygate saga involving possibly using Ferrari information to modify the McLaren cars. This will be a blow for the team, but I guess they are lucky to not be totally banned. The fine was the largest in motor sport history.

McLaren will need to have their 2008 cars scrutinized by the FIA before the start of the race season next year to make sure no Ferrari type parts or intelligence has been used.
Ferrari are effectively now the 2007 Formula 1 constructor champions.