Automobiles Review – Page 355 – Car News, Car Reviews, Auto Shows, Car Photos, Car Videos

Donkervoort Celebrates Mille Miglia with D8 GTO 1000 Miglia Edition

Donkervoort D8 GTO 1000 Miglia Edition was created to celebrate a special event. For the first time in its 37-year history, the company was represented in the famous Mille Miglia rally. This is exactly the reason why this D8 GTO special edition was born. Dubbed 1000 Miglia Edition, the car is truly unique and will be produced in only 25 examples.

Of course, there will be a special certificate stating this. Each car will be identified by specially designed logos and badges inside and out, giving a specific serial number and showing its authenticity.

Only 25 examples will be built.

But what is the purpose of this D8 GTO 1000 Miglia Edition? There is no need to ask such a question, since the car carries the GTO designation. Therefore it stands for maximum utilization of the GTO for touring purposes.

What is more, the Dutch-made car was built with the goal to improve the ease-of-use and the total comfort, thus ensuring the maximum enjoyment of driving the GTO on European roads. This also signifies that the vehicle is actually a true touring version. And it makes a pretty good contrast to its more circuit-oriented predecessors – D8 GTO Performance and the Bilster Berg Edition.

Engine

Under the hood of Donkervoort D8 GTO 1000 Miglia Edition there is Audi’s 2.5L R5 TFSI engine, which produces around 310 horsepower (278 kW). This gives the car a slightly milder nature, doesn’t it?

Exterior

The total weight of the vehicle is 760 kg. The low weight is due to a reduction in the use of carbon fibre. In exchange, the driver will get a slightly more comfort on the road. In addition, there is a change in the driving height, which was increased, because of the aim to build a car for street use. This was achieved via adjustable comfort shock absorbers.

Interior

Inside, the dashboard was classically designed. In other words, one sees a dash which includes the conventional dials. However, they have some extra facilities like mobile-phone use and navigation that have been integrated in the cockpit.

Price

Donkervoort D8 GTO 1000 Miglia Edition has a starting price of €115,000.

Source: Donkervoort

June 16, 2015

Rezvani Motors Beast Unleashed [VIDEO]

Rezvani Motors Beast Supercar has been unleashed! Literally. It is hitting the streets this month but before that let me tell you what you will see or get if you decide to purchase. The 500-horsepower production beast supercar looks fantastic and more over it will be sold for a very competitive power, staying true to its original goal. The car has been “born on the track and designed for the road”, as the creator says for it.

More importantly in combination with, it will share with the automotive world new ides for lightweight, high-performance sports car, in combination with great styling. The vehicle is built over a carbon fiber construction, thus weighing only 1,650 lbs. this helps it reach 60 mph in just 2.7 seconds more easily.

Performance

Beast Supercar is a fantastic example for a car perfectly controlled by the driver. Nowadays, more of the supercars rely on electronic aids, but the Beast is giving back the control to the driver. The vehicle is powered by a 2.4-liter 4-cylinder engine that includes a crank-driven Rotrex supercharger and turbocharger. The gearbox is manual, but there is an optional sequential automatic, too. This is how the car is sending 500 horses (368 kW) to the rear wheels.

The low weight is due to the use of materials like carbon fiber. Precisely, Rezvani Motors used Ariel Atom 3’s carbon steel chassis, but significantly upgraded it to be even more rigid. As mentioned, the 0-60 mph sprint is covered in just 2.7 seconds, on the way to a top speed of 165 mph.

Wheels & Tires

Even the wheels are lightweight. Rezvani actually utilized lightweight forged alloys in unique five-double spoke design. They were then fitted with 235/35/19 and 295/30/19 tires at the front and rear, respectively.

Interior

Inside, the car is fitted with carbon fiber seats and gearshift lever, alloy pedals as well as carbon fiber steering wheel. The latter weighs less than a Formula 1 steering wheel with around 300 grams.

Apple CarPlay for Seamless Smartphone Integration was also included in the interior package. This means that driver’s iPhone multimedia could be effortlessly integrated into the vehicle. This will also allow the capability of sending and receiving calls and texts, use of Siri voice control software and music streaming, and even more.

Exterior

If there is anything that hints more to a supercar, that this is the exterior. Rezvani Motors Beast is a true supercar in these terms. Its stunning and aerodynamic looks are supported by aggressive and open-top design. To achieve this, the designers used as an approach minimalist surfaces and low-friction carbon fiber body panels. This allows ultimate performance proportions and maximum downforce at high speeds.

In addition, Rezvani also successfully applied advanced 3D-printing techniques to create shapes like the headlight casing, taillight casing, and mirrors. There is also a windshield, which is optional.

Price

Rezvani Motors Beast Supercar will be available at a starting price of $165,000USD.

Oh, and there is a video officially released by the company which you shouldn’t miss:

httpv://youtu.be/DdLsJDEQlyw

Video Source: YouTube

Source: Rezvani Motors

June 16, 2015

PIECHA Design Recreates Jaguar F-Type R Coupe

PIECHA Jaguar F-Type R Coupe is another fantastic tuning created by the talented specialists at the PIECHA Design studio. This tailor made performance edition of the F-Type 5.0 V8 R-Coupe looks fantastic and exudes an elegant dynamism, even at rest.

To achieve this, the tuner has added new aerodynamic styling kit made from the finest high-gloss carbon. In addition, 21-inch PIECHA MP-Y alloys in high-gloss silver finish round out the new visual appearance of the Jaguar.

Exterior

Jaguar F-Type R Coupe has a purposeful stance even without any additional changes. However, this look is emphasized via the dramatic modifications to the front and rear. Starting with the back, there is a new wide carbon diffuser with two vertical stabilizing fins. We also see satin textured bezel framing the four 90 mm exhaust tailpipes.

There is more to that, the rear deck also received aerodynamically optimized carbon rear wing. Its black anodized aluminum and support struts are very detailed and speak of a lot of attention given.

At the front, we see high-gloss lacquered carbon front cup wings and carbon sill wings. They give the body of the car wider, more wedge-shaped appearance. The front wings were attached to the original spoiler lip, thus making the front spoiler appear deeper.

Suspension

A special lowering system was developed for this project. The bespoke height-adjustable coil-over spring setup was created to match the front end. The tuners added also new springs to the rear.

At the front, the suspension includes main spring and a helper spring separated by a threaded, height adjustable spring pan. This system provides a lowering adjustment range of between 10 and 30 mm. And this is from stock ride height.

Wheels & Tires

The improved optics and handling, received new MP-Y high-glass silver wheels fitted with Yokohama ADVAN Sport tires. While the alloys come in 9.0 and 10.5 x 21 inch sizes, the rubbers are 255/30R21 and 295/25R21 big, respectively.

This Jaguar F-Type is available for 3.0-litre V6 and 5.0 litre V8 Coupé and Convertible models.

Source: PIECHA Design

June 16, 2015

Renault Reveals Details and Pricing for the Best Clio So Far!

Renault revealed pricing and details for the highly-anticipated Clio RenaultSport 220 Trophy model, that is now sort of the leader of the whole Clio range. In fact, the vehicle was one of the main attractions of the 2015 Geneva Motor Show.

The vehicle will make its debut in UK at the Goodwood Festival of Speed and will offer 220 hp (161 kW) and will attract customers with its wonderful performance, handling, stability, style and equipment. In fact, the orders in UK have already begun.

Along with the wonderful price the vehicle comes with the latest EU6-compliant engines, that feature the special Start&Stop function. Torque, economy and CO2 emissions have also improved starts.

As said above, the Clio RenaultSport 220 Trophy is a special model and it is maybe the best Clio model ever released. The vehicle comes with wonderful turbocharger and redesigned mapping, that boosts the overall power output of the 1.6-Liter direct-injection turbo powerplant with 20 hp and 20 Nm for a total of 220 hp and 260 Nm. There is also and even additional 20Nm available with the “Torque Boost” option, available in fourth and fifth gears.

The sporty vehicle also comes and with a special Efficient Dual Clutch (EDC) transmission, which has been further revised in order to bring even better performance: now it allows 50 per cent faster gear shifts and even greater flexibility in Sport mode. But the gearbox is not only thing, that had its attention. the steering wheel is mounted with special paddles, that ensure 30 per cent shorter movement, which provides even better and faster responce.

And as I mentioned modes, the car comes with three of them: Normal, Sport and Race. In fact the Stop&Start system is turned off for Sport and Race modes. Another interesting fact is that in Race mode the gearchange is manually-operated only and it will not go to the next gear only by itself. The vehicle relies on you!

Prices start from $ 35,000.

Source: Renault

June 15, 2015

M-Sport Will Launch a Special Ford Model for the New England Forest Rally

Full squad of Ford rally cars will be delivered by Ken Block in partnership with M-Sport and Team O’Neil. The vehicles will be competing in New England Forest Rally the upcoming month. In fact, one of the most interesting model of them all will be the speical M-Sport Ford Fiesta R5.

In fact, the Fiesta R5 will be driven by Ramana Lagemann, along with his trusty friend and co-driver Nathalie Richard from Canada.

Furthermore, Brendan Reeves and Anthony McLoughlin from Australia will also be joining in the campaign with the M-Sport Fiesta R2, geared with three-cylinder EcoBoost turbocharged engine. In fact, the Fiesta Trophy competitor Max Vatanem took a class win with the same car at the World Rally Championship in Portugal last month.

The R5 comes with 2000cc engine, that is a latest generation unit of Ford’s EcoBoost technology. The machine was developed in-house by M-Sport especially for rally championships, including Rally America, where FIA homologation is not required.

Furthermore, a former factory Subaru driver, Lagemann has retired from being a regular figure on the4 Rally America series. But now he is a contender for numerous more things. Whatever appears and sounds enough interesting for him. As you might remember, he appeared last month at the Olympus Rally, where he dominated the track with a BMW M3 and along with the co-driver Chrissie Beavis.

The New England Forest Rally is the 6th round in 2015 Rally America National Championship. The Subaru Rally duo David Higgins and Craig Drew have already marked five wins since the start of the race. Now, there are three more rounds remaining in the championship and we all impatiently await for the winner!

For further information stay with us!

Source: Ford

June 15, 2015

Porsche Won the 2015 Le Mans Race After 17 Years of Absence!

Porsche has won the legendary Le Mans 24-Hours race for 2015 season. And now they are back since their last victory back in 1998. The drivers in the victorious Porsche #19 were indeed the Formula 1 celebrity Nico Hülkenberg, Nick Tendy and Earl Bamber. They demonstrated the best time in the 395 laps and were able to finish first among all other competitors.

The #19, that started from the third position achieved some incredible positions throughout the night time and scored some incredible results with Hülkenberg and Tandy. In fact, they managed to get onto the first positions after some technical issues made the vehicle get out of the road for some time.

But after the issues Bamber got behind the wheel and managed to get rid of Audi drivers in the early hours of the day, after Audi drivers had to make numerous stops. This allowed Porsche team to get a sort of double victory, after #17 finished at second place.

In fact, last on the hall of fame stepped the Audi #7 drivers, who battled with Porsche #19 throughout the night, but some technical difficulties made them stop for revisions, which is the reason why Audi pilots had to step on the third position.

In fact, Audi #8 crossed the finish line on fourth position, while Porsche #18 made it on the fifth position and after that Toyota #2, Audi #9 and Toyota #1 followed.

We all hope, that this is only the start of a great occasions for celebrations for Porsche team!

Source: Porsche

June 15, 2015

2015 Toyota Prius V Hybrid: With Great Comfort Comes and Great Performance

2015 Toyota Prius V Hybrid seven-seater comes with fresh looks, more comfort and improved performance. There are two models in the lineup, that will bring incredible safety features and hi-tech gadgets like the Lane Departure Alert and the upgraded Pre-Crash Safety System. Furthermore the Prius V Hybrid will demonstrate and wonderful stability with the adjusted suspension system and damping force. But let’s check out what else the model has to offer.

Exterior

The exterior updates of the Prius V shows some elegance and confidence, thanks to Toyota’s latest design concept trends. The vehicle comes with revised front-end features like redesigned upper-grille, more prominent Toyota badge and vertical LED running laps. In fact, the slim headlapms give that distinctive and sharp appearance, that everyone would love, while the gloss black lower grille adopts the well-known Toyota signature trapezoidal shape.

On the other hand, the rear of the vehicle comes with wonderful lamp design and wonderful license-plate trim, redesigned bumper and integrated diffuser.

Furthermore, both the Prius V and Prius V i-Tech include seven airbags, stability and traction control, climate-control air conditioning, rear camera, heads-up display, 16-inch alloy wheel, hill-start assist control, electric vehicle mode and touch-tracer steering-wheel controls

Drivetrain System

Toyota’s Hybrid Synergy Drive powertrain comes with a 1.8-Liter Atkinson cycle petrol engine and a speicla 60kW electric motor, that together with the petrol powerplant produces a total of 100 kW. Furthermore, the power of both motors is blended with a special transmission, that helps for the fuel economy, which is incredible: 4.4 liters/100 km (62 miles) and CO2 emissions of 101g/km

Interior

The interior of the latest Prius is greatly redesigned and refreshed and now comes with fluorescent display centre console, multimedia-information display, new steering wheel and seat trims. Some of the visual upgrades include chrome-plated doors, dark silver finish and the slim-line vents of the center console come with chrome finish for even more sophisticated appearance.

And there is also a special “eco-judge” system, that helps the driver to achieve the optimal performance-economics ratio. How cool is that?

Source: Toyota

June 15, 2015

Alpine Celebration Concept Is Here! We All Wonder What it Has to Offer.

Alpine Celebration is an unique and stylish vehicle, which was released as part of the 60th anniversary of the brand, founded by Jean Rédélé. The surprising comeback is here on the eve of the 82rd edition of the world’s toughest race Le Mans 24-Hours!

The race itself attracts more than 250,000 motor racing fans, which makes it one of the most popular and most anticipated event in the motor sport world. As you know, the event blends sports, human abilities and technology since 1923. And now there are more than 80 million TV viewers from nearly 200 countries and about 3 million followers of the website and the social media.

And this is why Alpine’s unveiling needs to be classy and worthy for all the fans of the event.

The vehicle’s idea is influenced by all the Alpine’s motorsport heritage. The Celebration model is a stylish two-seater coupe, that demonstrates some elegant lines with deep blue color scheme. In fact, this is the same blue painting, that had and the Alpine prototypes, that won the race back in 2013.

The Alpine Celebration manages to remind everyone the wonderful style of Alpines, but at the same time adds and some modern features, that make it really elegant. In fact, the low profile, sloping, creased bonnet, sculpted sides and distinctive rear window are clearly inspired by models line the A110.

As we all can see, the beauty and style of the Celebration model rely on the simplicity. The vehicle demonstrates a lot of things about brand’s heritage. It comes with familiar style, but somehow twisted with a modern manner. The carbon details underline the high-tech components of the car, while the front spoiler, the side sill and the rear air intakes demonstrate confidence and determination.

The seemingly floating spoiler expresses strength and confidence, while the sharp lines and the mirrors tell a story of dynamics and flexibility. And of course, there is the well-known Alpine arrowed “A”, visible on the air intake grille, sides and roof.

With incredible style and significance, the Alpine Celebration has really a lot to demonstrate.

Source: Alpine

June 15, 2015

Ford and Xbox One Release F-150 Halo Sandcat

Ford F-150 Halo Sandcat is one-off vehicle which celebrates the release of Halo 5: Guardians. This is an Xbox One game, but the truck isn’t only a virtual concept. To make this project happen, Ford teamed up with Xbox, 343 Industries and Galpin Auto Sports (GAS). The special version of the 2015 Ford F-150 looks so awesome, that it could have been designed by the Master Chief himself, doesn’t it?

Design Inspired by Halo’s United Nations Space Command Vehicle

The unique vehicle is based on the Ford F-150 Lariat SuperCrew 4×4. Under the hood, it is powered by 3.5-liter EcoBoost engine, producing 365 horsepower (268 kW) and 420 Nm (310 lb-ft). The vehicle is also equipped with FX4 off-road package.

The design F-150 Halo Sandcat is inspired by Halo’s United Nations Space Command machines and their military outfit.

Based on the toughest, smartest, most capable F-150 ever produced, the Halo Sandcat was specifically designated with the M552 codename by the United Nations Space Command. This codename also closely matches F-150’s official Ford codename, P552.

GAS turned the truck into the Sandcat, by adding a wide range of updates in order to achieve the militaristic of United Nations Space Command style that Halo fans will instantly recognize.

Design in Details. Look what’s inside!

To go into details, the Halo Sandcat is equipped with Addictive Desert Designs’ Baja XTR off-road conversion kit. It features FOX Racing shocks, Deaver leaf springs, a Currie full floater rear axle, ADD fenders, side steps, and chase rack. What is more, the pack also adds huge 17-inch wheels fitted with off-road tires which perfectly complement the custom Halo body wrap.

Inside is where the magic happens. GAS installed an Xbox One custom gaming system in the cabin. There are two displays mounted in the rear head restraints and awaiting game players. This feature is so cool, that we definitely need to try it.

For those who are lucky enough to be in LA, Ford F-150 Halo Sandcat will be on display in the South Hall entrance of the Los Angeles Convention Center. The one-off truck will be also on display at several public events ahead of the launch of Halo 5: Guardians.

Source: Ford

June 15, 2015

Audi R8 Family Gets Updated with Innovative Technologies

Audi is famous for is many supercars, but one thing that makes the company truly stand out is that the race cars and production cars have a lot in common. At least in many technical areas, like their controls and displays for instance. The best example however is the similarity between the Audi R18 e-tron quattro race car prototype and the Audi R8 sports car. The first one has actually competed at the 24 hours of Le Mans this weekend, performing great and achieving third place.

Going on sale this summer, the high-performance sports car, is part of a sporty family comprising of the GT race car, the Audi R8 LMS, and the battery-electric powered Audi R8 e-tron. Now, the vehicle is in its latest evolutionary form and this means it can offer even more power, speed and endurance.

As you can see from the picture below, the designs of the steering wheels of both cars as well as their digital displays show significant similarities. It is obvious that the high-performance Audi R8 is extremely close to that of a race car and its controls and displays are showing this, too.

Similarities: Steering wheels & Displays

Audi R8 and Audi R8 LMS

Audi R8 V10 plus is now getting a steering wheel which comprises of 20 controls. Among them there are four new satellite buttons. On the other hand, the LMP1 race car and the Audi R18 e-tron Quattro have 33 buttons on their wheels. In addition, in both cars, the driver shifts gears from the steering wheel.

There are also color indicators, again similar in both, which notify the driver when the engine is nearing its rpm limit. What is more, key driving dynamic parameters can adjusted or set via new control buttons on the steering wheel in both cars. There is also information for the tire pressure and lap times, which appears on a digital display, both in the R8 LMS and R8.

Audi R8 e-tron with 462 HP

Audi R8 e-tron is famous for being the first all-electric car produced by the company. It will produce 462 hp (340 kW) of power, which will enable it to sprint from 0 to 100 km/h (62.1 mph) in 3.9 seconds. In addition, it will be able of covering a maximum driving range of 450 kilometers (279.6 mi). The e-tron is actually a mobile laboratory for Audi and its aims of developing new electrical concepts and components.

Source: Audi

June 15, 2015

Guinness World Record for Audi A6 TDI: 14 Countries on a Single Tank

Audi A6 TDI Ultra has achieved the impossible, covering fourteen countries on a single tank of fuel! And if you think this is a hoax, then we should tell you that the Guinness World Records have confirmed the title! Sound’s exciting, doesn’t it? Audi A6 TDI Ultra has managed to drive through 14 countries and cover a total of 1158.9 miles. And that’s on one tank of diesel. This also means that the Audi A6 TDI ultra has achieved an overall averaged 75.9mpg fuel economy.

The Record Road Trip started from the Maastricht, Netherlands, at 9.48am (GMT) last Tuesday and ended in Hungary at 12.44pm (GMT) the next day. Both drivers, Andrew Frankel and Rebecca Jackson, drove 28 hours almost non-stop to complete the mission in an A6 that was entirely unmodified (if there are any doubts).

In these 28 hours, the motoring journalist and the racing driver, passed through Belgium, Luxembourg, France, Switzerland, Lichtenstein, Austria, Germany, Italy, Slovenia, Croatia, Bosnia and Serbia.

Guinness World Record for Audi

Of course, both drivers faced various challenges in their driving adventure. These included diversions for both heavy traffic because of an accident and a closed tunnel. All this led to an unplanned mountain detour.

They had to maintain an average speed of around 50mph to make this world record possible. So this means that they had to be fully aware of what’s going on the road and anticipate what could happen with the traffic ahead. In other words, maintaining constant, fuel-efficient speed and not being caught out by other vehicles was demanded.

The record achieving Audi A6 TDI ultra represents company’s pinnacle of the Vorsprung durch Technik. This is Audi’s absolute focus on optimum efficiency and outstanding fuel economy and emissions. The ‘ultra’ badge is also reserved for the A3, A4, A5, A7 Sportback and TT models. They are all currently on sale.

By literally covering almost the half of the continent on a single fill-up, Audi has proven that real-world economy of almost 76 mpg can be achieved in reality. This however happens only when the latest technologies are applied.

European cities within range of the A6 TDI ultra	Distance (in miles)
Zagreb	995
Warsaw	982
San Marino	915
Barcelona	895
Vienna	884
Monte Carlo	848
Andorra	783
Prague	757
Milan	701
Turin	731
Munich	684
Zurich	544

Source: Audi

June 15, 2015

Heico Sportiv Volvo XC90 Finally Revealed!

Heico Sportiv Volvo XC90 is finally here! After the teaser image we have published back in October, the company has finally made its world premiere a reality. And the waiting for it was definitely worth it. The debut actually coincides with market launch of the XC90 next Saturday. So, all who want to have a more individualized Volvo, Heico Sportiv is offering an opportunity.

As the tuner says, this is a “holistic customizing program” for the luxury car. It will feature bodykit, wheels and Selected Sound … for the engine. So here are the modifications in details:

Bodykit

When equipped with the new kit, the Volvo XC90 looks more independent and expressive. This is because Heico Sportive has integrated its components into the SUV’s appearance perfectly. Precisely, the tuning pack com comprises very cool components like the PU-R-RIM front spoiler with a centric plastic lamella mesh and a rear skirt with PU-R-RIM upper section and mesh-structured PU lower section. At the rear there are also four integrated tailpipe trims.

The aforementioned rear skirt can be also fitted with the standard end muffler or an in-house made exhaust system with Selected Sound. The last feature is an option and it offers expressive audio for the engine. Here’s more to that.

V8 Sound for Volvo XC90

Heico Sportiv Volvo XC90 Rear View

Selected Sound is a product, which improves the new Volvo Engine Architecture (VEA) engines’ purr, since Volvo has decided on downsizing strategy. It is actually an in-house developed sport exhaust system, which features integrated subwoofer. The e.motion controller and vehicle-relevant data are forwarded from the CAN-BUS to a sound processor with amplifier.

As a result the tuners achieved V8 sound for the engine. What is even better, the drivers can choose between standard, unobtrusively sporty and pure V8 sound. This fantastic feature will be initially only be available for the VEA T6 engine.

Wheels

Heico Sportiv Volvo XC90 Side View

Heico Sportiv will give the Volvo XC90 even sportier and more aggressive looks due to the addition of 23-inch forged wheels. This is one inch larger than the biggest wheels in Volvo’s line-up. In addition, the forged wheels are also 15% lighter when compared the conventional cast wheels.

The design of the wheels features ten clear-cut, elegantly curved spokes that melt away deep inside the rim. Called VOLUTION X. FORGED, they can be optionally mated to 315/25 R23 ContiSportContact 5P tires.

For those wanting to keep the 22-inch size, Heico Sportiv is offering VOLUTION V. sport wheel with timeless five-spoke design. These wheels are perfectly coupled with 285/35R22 tires and can be specified in Black Diamond Cut and a warm titanium color tone.

Engine Uprates & More

Heico Sportive is also offering e.motion performance enhancements for D4, D5, T5 and T6 engines, exhaust systems, lowered suspension and leather upholstery of the interior. There are no details about engine’s output. And this is definitely where we are impatient to get more information.

Source: Heico Sportiv

June 15, 2015

Blog

Engine

Exterior

Interior

Price

Performance

Wheels & Tires

Interior

Exterior

Price

Exterior

Suspension

Wheels & Tires

Exterior

Drivetrain System

Interior

Design Inspired by Halo’s United Nations Space Command Vehicle

Design in Details. Look what’s inside!

Similarities: Steering wheels & Displays

Audi R8 e-tron with 462 HP

Bodykit

V8 Sound for Volvo XC90

Wheels

Engine Uprates & More