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This one is added to our huge list of European Fords that we want, but we don't get. I think we have enough to start a petition. Ford unveiled the Iosis-X Concept in Paris last fall, which was a preview of Ford's future crossover for the European folks. The Frankfurt Autoshow is right near our door and Ford released some teaser information along with an attractive sketch of the vehicle.

Named the 'Kuga', the crossover will sit on Ford's C1 platform, which also underpins the Ford Focus, Mazda3, Volvo S40, and the Land Rover LR2. The Kuga is Ford's attempt to combat the Honda CR-V, Toyota RAV4 and the Nissan Qashqai. The name, which distinctly sounds like a British pronounciation of Mercury's Cougar, clears any speculations made like the X-MAX. The design, which derives from the Iosis-X Concept, seems to have stayed intact in the concept to production transition.

The Kuga is slated to go on sale across Europe in early 2008. Folks in North America will have to deal with the Escape for quite a bit more, which still runs on rear drum brakes by the way. Continue reading to view the official tidbits from Ford. Mind you, it's German (we think Google needs to tweak the translator a bit more). Check out AmericanTrucks.com and their large selection of Truck Performance parts.

The production version of the Kia coupe Concept that was previewed earlier this year at the New York Auto Show will go on sale in the States during the third quarter of 2009, according Lee Hyun-soon, president of Hyundai-Kia Motors' R&D division. Kia's first ever Coupe model will be based on the replacement for the Spectra, teaser shots of which have already appeared throughout the web.

The Spectra sedan, that may bear a different name, will be available in the U.S. by mid-2009. According to Lee, the Spectra hatchback will no longer be sold in the U.S. as the Korean automaker believes that the Coupe variant will easily outsell it.source:autonews.com

What started life as a Bentley GT Speed has been taken and transformed by Zagato into something that has the style and presence to contend with the scion of the best luxury automobiles.

The Bentley, now named the GTZ Zagato, features extensive but subtle bodywork from the famed and legendary design house of Zagato Atelier, and was revealed to the world at the 2008 Geneva Auto Show.

The most obvious changes are the redesigned grill, hood, and overall front, and the paint. Especially the paint, as this car looks even more expensive and luxurious with its mute but metallic two-tone coat of dark green and gray. The back has also been redesigned, with a longer deck and exotic-looking slim, gray tail lights. And, of course, which Zagato creation would be complete without the trademark double-bubble roof? As for the interior, from what I gather, it is even more scrumptious than the GT Speed’s, with a Zagato designed interior redolent with leather, wood, and other exotic materials.

I’d like to give you some performance info, but I can’t, as there is none on this car. The best I can do is give you some estimates. If the GTZ Zagato keeps the technical and engineering aspects of the GT Speed, that means it will have a 6 liter W12 behemoth that produces 600 horses and 553 pound-feet torque, along with a 0-60 time of 4.3 seconds. Now, since Zagato usually tweaks the performance in their creations, expect a slightly better stats for all of the above, including a 200+ mph top speed.

The unison of Italian manufacturer,Maserati and the British fashion house Burberry could never be this hideous. But some stinky rich loser in Saudi Arabia with awful taste has plastered his Maserati Quattroportein a Burberry plaid gift-wrap paper.


I thought that type of a print only went over fragrance cartons and Burberry handbags, but this dreadful magnum opus seeks to open new gates for future gruesome innovations. The Italian maker shouldn’t turn a blind eye to this horrid attempt at blemishing its scrupulously established reputation.Source: : luxurylaunches

(from Hamann Press Release)


A thoroughbred stallion with 630 horse powers: The HAMANN STALLION based on the Porsche 911 Turbo.Like an Arabian stallion collecting its attention for a jump. Concentrated and full of dynamic body tension. This is how the silhouette of the super sports car called STALLION presents itself. But the latest development of the premium refiner HAMANN MOTORSPORT offers far more than a fascinating new aerodynamics concept. The efficiency boost to 630 hp and the HAMANN-sport chassis turn the STALLION into one of the most powerful and fastest sports car in the whole world.The core of the Stallion is its modified engine. The Hamman motor technicians enhance the 3.6 litres Boxer Biturbo motor from standard 480 hp / 353 kW to 630 hp / 463 kW at 6,300 rpm. The upgrade also includes two larger VNT (variable nozzle turbochargers), a sport air strainer, a stainless steel exhaust system with metal catalytic converters and a new motor management.

These are measures which certainly hit their target. The Hamman Stallion accelerates to 100 km/h in only 3.3 seconds and is therefore six tenth of a second faster than its serial counterpart. The new maximum speed tag is sensational. With its efficiency boost and the reduced air resistance by Hamman -Aerodynamics, the Stallion achieves a maximum speed of 359 km/h.

Only the most precious materials can be found in the interior. Stallion The Hamman upholsterers only use selected leather for covering the fittings and sport seats. Aluminum gear shift and aluminum pedals make the cockpit gleam in a noble look and perfectly match with the carbon parts of the interior set. Precisely applied embroideries of the Hamman logo in the floor mats and headrests set further creative accents. All of these features complement one another in a stylish symbioses of motor sports flair and lifestyle.
Source: seriouswheels

From the unlikely origin of Hungary comes the Antro Solo, a green driving machine perfect for those who find the likes of the Prius a tad too plain.



Its resemblance to a vacuum cleaner aside, the gas-electric powered Solo incorporates a variety of exciting features, including solar power for short trips, a hardly-there weight of 270 kg (courtesy of carbon fiber and composite materials used in its construction), and pedals for manual battery charging under low-sunlight conditions.

It also boasts a top speed of 87 mph and an ultra-efficient fuel consumption rate of 100 mpg. Seating arrangements are similar to that of the McLaren F1, with the driver sandwiched between passengers on both sides. This eco-cruiser is expected to hit the streets in 2012.

The most famous armada of all time was sent by King Phillip II of Spain to invade England and usurp the heretic Queen Elizabeth. This armada was enormous, formidable and a force to be feared. In the end, though, it vanished into the North Atlantic, a victim of smaller British ships, some unfortunate westerly gales and the scraggly Irish coast. Nissan hopes that its enormous, formidable 2009 Armada doesn't suffer a similar fate, although there are a few westerly gales brewing in the automotive marketplace as well.

Based on the Titan pickup, the Nissan Armada full-size SUV was introduced for 2004, a year that seemed to signal the tail end of the "to heck with fuel economy, big trucks for all!" period. It featured (and still does) several avant-garde styling elements, like its curved roof line, designed to set the Armada apart from its competitors. A refresh conducted last year gave the Armada a more pleasant cabin with smarter ergonomics and much nicer materials. In the top-level LE trim, the Nissan Armada is actually none too different from its Infiniti counterpart, the QX56.



Unlike most of its competitors, the 2009 Nissan Armada is only available with one engine, a 5.6-liter 317-horsepower V8. In addition to brisk acceleration around town and prodigious passing power, the 5.6 allows a 9,100-pound tow rating when properly equipped. We've driven the Armada with and without a trailer and were very impressed by its stamina when hitched up.

Of course, that type of power and the Armada's heavy, boxy body translate into poor fuel economy -- which is subpar even by full-size truck standards. In today's climate of high gas prices, an unstable economy and global warming concerns, Nissan's Armada is entering uncharted choppy waters. And like the Spanish Armada, the full-size Nissan has smaller models conquering its sales as buyers move away from thirsty, large SUVs.

Mind you, such vehicles will always be preferred for serious off-road and towing duties. Although a large crossover like GMC's Acadia is superior for simple people-hauling, it just can't handle the rigors of lugging a Bayliner. However, the Armada's newer rivals from Chevrolet/GMC and Toyota have similar heavy-duty capability and are superior offerings to boot, with a wider choice of engines and a more refined ride.
edmunds

In 2006, Rolls-Royce Motor Cars unveiled 101EX, an experimental car hand-built to explore an exciting new design direction for a modern coupé. Wrapped in a sleek, rakish body, 101EX was an engineering-led study, showcasing the technical and architectural innovation inherent in the quintessential modern Rolls-Royce car. Both handsome and elegant, it encapsulated the essence of contemporary coupé style.

So positive was the worldwide reaction to 101EX that, in autumn 2007, Rolls-Royce Motor Cars announced that a series model would go into production in the summer of 2008. This coupé would complete the Phantom family, standing alongside the Phantom, Phantom Extended Wheelbase and Phantom Drophead Coupé.

Revealed at the Salon International de l'Automobile, Geneva in March 2008, the Phantom Coupé is the third new model from Rolls-Royce Motor Cars since BMW Group became custodian of the marque in 1998.

The Coupé is the most driver-orientated model in the Phantom line. A number of subtle but significant modifications have been made that change its character. It is noticeably more dynamic, whilst still offering incredible levels of comfort a balance not easily achieved.

The Coupé marries cutting-edge technology with a beautifully proportioned, muscular body that exudes power and style. Utterly contemporary in appearance, it nonetheless incorporates timeless Rolls-Royce design cues such as the long bonnet, large-diameter wheels, short front and long rear overhangs and the classic dynamic, rising profile.

Pleasing to the touch and to the eye, every material used in the Rolls-Royce Phantom Coupé has been carefully selected to combine form with function. The cabin's sumptuous leather, rich wood grains and cool chrome accents create a driver environment unparalleled in luxury and comfort.

Designed to cover great distances with the minimum of fuss, the Coupé is a sublime choice for a transcontinental trip, its effortless power provided by the Phantom's 6.75-litre V12, producing a phenomenal 453 bhp and 720 Nm of torque. Agile, fast, long-legged and virtually silent, the Phantom Coupé allows both driver and passengers to emerge unruffled, even after an all-day run.

New spy pictures of Ford's expected F-150 Raptor factory-built desert runner confirm details that escaped from Ford’s closed-door dealer meeting in Las Vegas in April. At that gathering, Ford marketing chief Jim Farley showed video of the truck racing off-road, plus a picture of the production grille with the word "FORD" prominently stamped across black mesh.

The latest Raptor photos show that Ford's long-travel 4x4 has swapped out a standard 2009-model-year grille (seen in pictures of earlier Raptor mules) for the one Farley previewed. You can see it has a rectangular mesh pattern on the top and bottom of the grille, with "FORD" taped over in the middle.

The Raptor is expected to be powered by Ford's new large-displacement Boss V-8, with Fox Racing running gear and 35-inch all-terrain tires to soak up desert bumps. We're also expecting it to be badged as a Ford Special Vehicle Team product.
Check out AmericanTrucks.com and their large selection of Truck Wheels.

Toyota Motor Corp. on Tuesday told 200 temporary workers at its full-size truck plant here they will be laid off this summer.

The company will also slow production at its Tundra plant, scheduling 14 days between now and October when no trucks will roll off the assembly lines. Those days, workers will be allowed to take vacation, days without pay or work at the plant on non-manufacturing duties as they choose, said Toyota spokesman Mike Goss.

The temporary workers were hired at the plant with hopes of becoming permanent employees as other workers left, but they will instead be returned to the agency that helped hire them, Goss said.

"We have a very long-term view of that factory in Texas. We're trying not to overreact. We're trying not to shut it down," said Goss, who noted record-high gas prices and a slowing economy have badly damaged truck sales.

The layoffs announced Tuesday do not affect the company's permanent work force of 2,000 at the San Antonio plant that opened in November 2006. At full capacity, the plant can produce 200,000 trucks a year.
read the last entry on : www.iht.com

After outlining its green ‘Road to the Future’ in a very long press release that we attempted to pull apart earlier this week, Daimler is now saying that it wants its two electric cars in 2010 in order to take on Toyota and GM’s upcoming electric cars.

Daimler CEO, Dieter Zetsche, said that the company wants to have an electric version of the Smart car and a electric version of a Mercedes-Benz by the 2010. Speaking to Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitungn, Zetsche said the price will depend on whether the electric batteries will be sold together with the car or whether the batteries would be leased instead.

Of course most of us know that Daimler will most likely offer an electric version of the ForTwo for the Smart brand. We did some searching on our older posts and found an official press release for the 2010 Mercedes-Benz F-Cell B-Class electric car set to debut in 2010.

Power for the latter will come from an electric motor that produces 136-hp and a maximum torque of 236 lb-ft. Along with zero-emission fuel-cell drive. The B-Class F-CELL is expected to get a fuel-economy of 81mpg.

Source: Automotive News

Mazda Motor Corp. says it has received permission from Japan’s Ministry of Land Infrastructure and Transport to begin testing the Premacy Hydrogen RE Hybrid minivan on public roads.

The minivan incorporates Mazda’s duel-fuel system, which enables the vehicle to run on either hydrogen or gasoline. The system first appeared on the RX-8 Hydrogen RE, which was the world’s first commercially availably hydrogen-powered vehicle in 2006, Mazda says.The Premacy features a hybrid system that combines an electric motor with Mazda’s rotary engine, boosting power 40% and extending the vehicle’s hydrogen-fuel range to 124 miles (200 km), the auto maker says.

The vehicle also boasts a number of environmental technologies that Mazda says help reduce carbon-dioxide emissions, including plant-derived “Mazda Biotechnical Materials,” which will be used in some plastic components and seat covers.read the last entry on : wardsauto.com

Hyundai Design Center Chief Designer Joel Piaskowski says the Hellion concept was inspired by hard-shell backpacks. Low and wide with squared-off front corners, the concept's two-door hatchback styling is accentuated by big fender flares that house 20-inch wheels. There's a scoop in the clamshell hood, and the taillights look like small wings on the rear-quarter windows.The minimalist interior has front and rear bucket seats with a built-in hydration system, a la CamelBak, that Hyundai says allows the Hellion to do without cupholders. How does this work? It's sort of derivative of the old college hat with two beer cans on top, with tubes to drink from. Really. If that weren't enough, the backs of the bucket seats also have removable backpacks.

The letter F is an auspicious one in Lexus lore. Back in the mid-'80s, when the Lexus brand was still in the planning stages, Toyota insiders referred to the prospective luxury division as "Circle F." And the car that put Lexus on the map, the LS 400, was known internally as Flagship One, or F1. For 2008, the letter F is back: The company has decided to crash the über-sport sedan party with the 2008 Lexus IS-F, a hard-edged performance car based on the IS-series sedan and aimed squarely at perennial magazine-cover fodder like the Audi RS4, BMW M3 and Mercedes-Benz C63 AMG.

The IS-F marks the official launch of Lexus' F line, and it's akin to the aforementioned competitors' in-house performance divisions. As such, Lexus has gone to great lengths to differentiate the IS-F from its more sedate IS-series brethren. Take the IS-F's exclusive power plant, for example, which begins life as the gas-swilling half of the LS 600h L's hybrid engine and then gets a thorough makeover from Toyota's longtime performance partner, Yamaha. The end result is a 5.0-liter V8 that churns out 416 horsepower and 371 pound-feet of torque, compared with 306 and 277, respectively, from the IS 350's already potent 3.5-liter V6. Likewise, the IS-F eschews the IS 350's six-speed automatic transmission for a heavily modified version of the LS 460's eight-speed unit that boasts Ferrari-quick upshifts and automatic throttle blips on downshifts. The singularity and complexity of this powertrain serve notice to the old guard that this Lexus means business. Like its F1-cum-LS 400 forebear, the 2008 Lexus IS-F is designed to go toe to toe with the best.
© Source: edmunds

The next Nissan Skyline will be wilder than ever when it hits the streets in two years. The all-new R35 Skyline GT-R will use a Le Mans-proven V8 engine that produces around 400bhp. With a 3.5-litre variant of the unit that powered the Nissan R390 GT1, the R35 will rival Porsche's 911 and the forthcoming V8-powered Honda NSX, sprinting from 0-60mph in less than 4.5 seconds and hitting a top speed of 170mph.
The current hi-tech, four-wheel-drive Skyline is powered by a turbocharged straight six-cylinder engine delivering 280bhp. Insiders at Nissan say the new unit is necessary to allow its models to compete with European supercars as more power is needed, and that rival Japanese models, including Mitsubishi's Lancer Evo VI, already produce more than 280bhp. The R35 will borrow from the existing R34's innovative drivetrain and computerised gadgetry. That means the R35 will use a six-speed gearbox and four-wheel-steering. The brakes will be uprated, though, and the suspension tuned to give greater flexibility on demanding roads.
The price will increase, and it is expected the newcomer will cost a Porsche 911-rivalling $60,000. Nissan is not alone in adopting such a change of strategy. Honda is developing a new 400bhp V8 engine, while Mitsubishi is currently working to produce a range of powerful GDi direct-injection units including a 2.0-litre turbocharged version for its rally cars, a V8 and a V12.

2008 Cadillac SRX Summary



The 2008 Cadillac SRX is a 4-door, up to 7-passenger luxury sport-utility, available in two trims, the V6 and the V8. Upon introduction, the V6 is equipped with a standard 3.6-liter, V6, 255-horsepower engine that achieves 16-mpg in the city and 23-mpg on the highway. A 5-speed automatic transmission with overdrive is standard. The V8 is equipped with a standard 4.6-liter, V8, 320-horsepower engine that achieves 15-mpg in the city and 21-mpg on the highway. A 6-speed automatic transmission with overdrive is standard.

1971 Dodge Challenger
This vehicle retains its unibody construction, and has been equipped with a chassis upgrades by Modern Muscle. They call a vehicle built this way a "Muscle Car." The chassis features a Modern Muscle independent front suspension that includes upper and lower control arms and power rack and pinion steering up front. In the rear, it features a four link suspension with coil overs.



The result is superlative ride and handling. Big SSBC disc brakes and Modern Muscle signature forged wheels are yet further examples of how this Challenger features 21st century upgrades. Add a new 6.1 HEMI engine with electronic stack injection, a 5 speed Tremec transmission and the result is the best of both worlds; Classic vintage Mopar inside and out, with a thoroughly modern driveline and supsension system.
© Source: seriouswheels

the German premium SUV will actually be available with a diesel powerplant. Adopting a version of Audi's V6 turbodiesel, the Porsche Cayenne with an oil-burner will reach showrooms by March 2009.The engine will reportedly produce about 240hp of power so it well may be the same 3.0-liter 550 Nm (405 lb-ft) TDi motor currently installed into the Audi Q7 crossover SUV. It will be safe to assume that with this kind of motivator the Cayenne will feature zero to 100 km/h acceleration time of about 8 - 8.5 seconds and will consume about 10 liters per 100 km (which is less than 24 mpg) of diesel fuel.