Newswheel staff :: 29 April 2008 :: Filed under Cabriolet, Front engine sportscar, BMW, BMW M3
Drop-top versions of BMW’s M cars are traditionally a little off message when it comes to driving dynamics. That’s the price you pay for hacking the roof off, compromising structural integrity and cranking up the kerb weight. But the new M3 Convertible is the first BMW to feature the firm’s new seven-speed M Double Clutch Transmission (M DCT). So, it’s a little more interesting than your average 155mph sun trap…
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Newswheel staff :: 29 April 2008 :: Filed under Crossover, SUV, Audi, Audi Q5
There was only so long that Audi was going to allow BMW’s X3 to coin it in the mid-sized premium SUV niche. Actually, Audi has been slow to catch on to the whole SUV game. It allowed the original BMW X5 to go uncontested for pretty much an entire model generation before releasing the monstrous Q7. The new Q5, officially unveiled this week and aimed squarely at the X3, is likewise hardly an early-doors entrant. Still, it has probably arrived just in time - popular opinion appears to be turning nasty on big beasts like the Q7…
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Newswheel staff :: 29 April 2008 :: Filed under Coupe, Peugeot, Peugeot 308
With an interior straight out of the 308 hatch and a generally production-ready vibe, we always had a feeling Peugeot was being a rather coy by calling the RC Z a concept. Sure enough, Pug has confirmed this dramatic-looking coupe will hit show rooms in 2010…
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Newswheel staff :: 29 April 2008 :: Filed under Mid / rear engine sportscar, BMW
Will anything come
out of the many rumours regarding a possible new supercar project
from BMW? Who knows. But if a production car does emerge, it
definitely won’t be a dead ringer for the M1 Hommage concept,
revealed at the weekend. Yes, it’s dramatic. Yes, it’s official BMW
produce. But BMW says the M1 Hommage is nothing more than a 30th
anniversary celebration of the classic M1 supercar…
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Newswheel staff :: 21 April 2008 :: Filed under SUV, Porsche Cayenne
Portly, awkward, VW-derived and philosophically dubious for a car with
a Porsche badge. It isn’t hard to think of excuses to deride Porsche’s
money-spinning ute. But a lack of power doesn’t really factor. That’s
especially true with the environmental lobby tightening the noose. So
kudos to Porsche for metaphorically flicking the bird to good sense and
delivering unto us the new uprated Cayenne Turbo S…
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Newswheel staff :: 21 April 2008 :: Filed under Saloon, Opel / Vauxhall, Vauxhall, Vauxhall Insignia
Gone are the days when the upper medium segment – the repmobile, y’all
- ruled our roads with polyester-suited impunity. Actually, buyers have
generally buggered off in favour of premium brands or niche models -
soft roaders, crossovers and all that jazz. Sales are therefore on the
slouchy side of slumpy. And yet there’s still something slightly
momentous about the launch of a new sales rep special from one of the big
players. At least the new Vauxhall (Opel to our friends across the
Channel) Insignia is handsome and promises to be moderately high tech - LED
lighting and active dampers are options, an EcoFLEX model is on the
cards. And it will of course lend its underpinnings to a wide range of
models in GM’s brand portfolio…
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Newswheel staff :: 17 April 2008 :: Filed under BMW
Bikes may not normally be our bag here on the ‘Wheel (basically, we’re cowards). But this one is a BMW, it’s black, it’s bitchin’ and it looks meaner than Dick Cheney with heart burn. Yes, it’s the new S 1000 RR. For now this is purely a racing bike, but a production model will follow shortly…
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Newswheel staff :: 14 April 2008 :: Filed under Front engine sportscar, Caterham, Caterham R500
With the venerable K-Series engine not long for this world, Caterham
has been shifting its entire range over to Ford-based power. One of the
final pieces of the puzzle is the new Superlight R500, replete with a
263bhp development of the 2.0-litre Ford Duratec all-alloy lump. Factor in
the piffling 506kg kerb weight and you have the magical
500bhp-per-tonne power-to-weight ratio that gives its name to the R500.
Oh, and a claimed zero-to-60mph time of 2.88 seconds. Quite nippy, then.
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Newswheel staff :: 10 April 2008 :: Filed under Coupe, Saloon, Volkswagen, Volkswagen Passat
For a car that will live and die on style alone, we’ve an inkling the Passat CC four-door coupe’s clothes are a touch too retiring. Nevertheless, VW has big plans for the new model including a six-year sales target of 300,000. That’s big money for a niche model. Anywho, the Passat CC goes on sale this autumn. Therefore, to oil our sumps in preparation for this new halo model, VW has released full tech specs including details of the DSG-touting, all-wheel drive 3.6 V6 model…
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Newswheel staff :: 10 April 2008 :: Filed under Coupe, BMW, BMW 1 Series
Forgive
us the Rumsfeldism, but BMW’s planned shift away from large,
multi-cylinder engines towards smaller, more efficient engines is a
known known. It’s the details, as the Donmeister would
say, that are a known unknown. But try this for size. BMW might be tooling
up an uber-high reving four-pot lump for the 1 Series. How
does 11,000rpm and 260 ponies grab you?
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Newswheel staff :: 09 April 2008 :: Filed under Front engine sportscar, Nissan, Nissan GT-R, Europe & UK
Hardly a startling revelation given the uniformly rave reviews Nissan’s
new road warrior has won. But it seems punters are a plumpin' for the
new GT-R uber coupe in large numbers. No fewer than 700 orders were
placed within 48 hours of the 473bhp brute going on sale in the UK.
With production numbers strictly limited, if you haven’t
placed your order yet, you’ll be in for a long wait. Still, at least it
proves the environmental lobby, $100-a-barrel oil and hysteria in
global financial markets hasn’t done for the high performance,
yet…
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Newswheel staff :: 09 April 2008 :: Filed under SUV, Land Rover, Land Rover Range Rover
Most of the speculation regarding Tata’s recent bagging of Jaguar and Land Rover has focused on the implications of the deal for the big cat. But what about our favourite purveyor of all-terrain vehicles? Well, the latest scuttlebutt from the camera-happy sleuths at Brenda Priddy & Co is that A V12 Range Rover is currently undergoing winter testing…
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Newswheel staff :: 09 April 2008 :: Filed under Front engine sportscar, Lexus, Lexus GS, Lexus IS, Lexus LF-A, Lexus LS
In the grand old US of A, Toyota’s luxury brand sweeps all asunder. But it hasn’t really hit critical mass in Europe. Odds are it will soon enough if Lexus' aggressive product plans are anything to go by. Following the well received IS-F V8 compact sports saloon, Lexus will also unleash a speedy ‘F’ derivative of the mid-sized GS luxury barge along with a new compact model that slots in below the IS and will take on BMW’s increasingly successful 1 Series. Needless to say, more hybrid Lexi are on the way, too…
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Newswheel staff :: 09 April 2008 :: Filed under Mid / rear engine sportscar, Porsche, Porsche 911
There’s always been a whiff of chest-wig chariot about turbo-charged Porsche 911s. After all, the venerable Porker is defined by its tactility and driving involvement and that doesn’t really jive with the binary power delivery of a blown flat six. But that’s been less true than ever in recent years as Porsche has dialled out the lag and made the turbo models more progressive than ever. So, can the latest 997-vintage GT2 compete with the magisterial 997 GT3 RS for pure driving thrills? Nope. Or at least not according to our chums on Evo magazine…
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