Brazilian college student and motorcycle driver Renan Ribas together with his cousin, who was riding at the back, are extremely lucky to be alive after a Volkswagen Polo that had just made a dangerous and foolish pass slid out of control on the BR-280 highway in São Francisco do Sul, this past Saturday, clipping the bike before crashing into another vehicle.
You can actually hear the sound of the German sedan touching the motorcycle in the footage sourced from the rider's helmet camera.
"I was testing the camera for the first time and just taking everything in," Ribas told Brazilian media. "[The] car came in the opposite direction, bumped into me and hit the car behind," he said.
The Volvo V60 Wagon looks very different from traditional boxy Volvo wagons, and Consumer Reports’ Tom Mutchler believes that’s a good thing from a styling point of view. However, when it comes to practicality, the V60 doesn’t live up to its predecessors. That’s why Consumer Reports see the V60 more as a lifestyle wagon.
However, what it lacks in practicality, the V60 makes up in handling, as it’s surprisingly good for a wagon in this respect. That’s because it’s based on the S60 sedan, from which it also sources the 2.0-liter turbocharged 4-cylinder engine derived Volvo’s new DRIVe family. Producing 240 horsepower, the unit is mated to an 8-speed automatic transmission.
Following the teaser released last week, Rolls-Royce has unveiled the Ghost Series II at the Geneva Motor Show. The first facelift in the history of this model is a subtle one, with the most obvious change taking place on the front end, where the headlights receive a different shape.
The re-sculpted LED headlights are encircled by daytime running lights and add to other changes like the tapered “wake channel” on the bonnet that hints at the car’s dynamism. The bumpers have also been subtly revised, creating a stronger stance and a sense of extra width and height. The front air intakes now feature chrome inserts, while the famous waft line has been redesigned to lean further forwards.
Rolls-Royce offers new optional 21-inch forged wheels besides the standard 19-inch wheels, as well as an optional monogrammed stainless-steel fuel-filler cap.
While Infiniti didn't say it specifically in its release, all evidence points to the use of the same ferocious 3.8-liter twin-turbocharged V6 found in the highly acclaimed Nissan GT-R series in the reheated Q50 Eau Rouge Concept that went on display at the Geneva Motor Show.
We first saw the study at the 2014 Detroit Auto Show in January, but in Switzerland, Infiniti popped up the hood revealing the V6 powerplant, rated in this application at 568PS (560hp) and 600Nm (592 lb-ft), which if applied on a production model as rumored, takes the compact luxury sedan segment to a whole new performance level.
Infiniti's stab on the BMW M3 saloon, pairs the twin-turbo V6 to a full-time, all-wheel drive system with 50/50 front-to-rear torque split and a 7-speed transmission, for an estimated 0-60mph (96km/h) acceleration time of less than four seconds, and a top speed close to 180mph (290km/h).
"Building on the extremely positive feedback on the Q50 Eau Rouge at its recent Detroit Auto Show launch, we decided to further whet the appetite of performance sports saloon fans by engineering this powerful heart into our blood-red beast,” said Infiniti boss, Johan de Nysschen.
“A car with such pronounced styling treatments demands the very best in terms of high-performance powertrains, which is why we installed this V6 twin-turbocharged, 7-speed combination as an example of what a potential powertrain for the Q50 Eau Rouge may look and sound like,” he added.
Infiniti says the car has not been confirmed for production, but leaves the door open stating that it "underlines the company’s determination to create engaging performance cars for a premium segment".
Cadillac’s recent ascent onto the global luxury stage is a breath of fresh air in the industry (and a source of sleepless nights for some German, Japanese and Italian folk), after decades of being second rate, held together almost entirely by the strong resonance of its name and the now meaningless marketing slogans that stood true for its products back in the day.
Now, they have some really attractive metal lined up, that would almost sell itself, yet they seem to be unsure of their ELR and have therefore adopted a… patriotic point of view as the basis for their first commercial dedicated to the range-extender EV coupe.
Thus, they have enlisted the help of actor and producer Neal McDonough to whom they’ve assigned a distinctly patriarchal and pro-American persona. He is portrayed as the head of the family, living in an architectural jewel of a modern house, with a pool so big it even has grass on one side… He plays a rich stuck up board meeting lover who’s “worked hard” and has managed to become the owner of an ELR because “he believed anything was possible” and “only took two weeks off in August.”
The ad is okay and worth the sixty seconds you spend watching it; McDonough’s perfect suit exudes businessman-like confidence and his performance here is excellent too.
Bottom line: the ELR is a nice car, a unique model not only for the manufacturer, but the entire industry as it currently stands, and it’s sad that Cadillac still wants to cram the whole lifestyle they think you should have up your throat.
This commercial sticks to the same guidelines as thousands of other uninspired and repetitive car ads that are shot in a specific type of house (which gets bigger with the vehicle’s price tag), with carefully chosen characters that speak in ambiguous code (with clothes and language also get nicer the higher the car’s price is) whose sole purpose is to try and appeal to you if what you’re already living is a match to what you see onscreen.
Edward brought to our attention this hit-and-run incident involving a yellow Ferrari 360 Spider and a local taxicab from the Kowloon Tong area in Hong Kong that occurred on January 20.
Edward tells us that the Ferrari was seemingly (but not surely) street racing with a VW Scirocco and a BMW Z4, when as you can see from the dash-cam video below, the driver lost control of the 360 Spider and slammed into the taxi.
Instead of doing the right thing, the Ferrari motorist made a run for it, but a few hundred feet later, he lost it…again, performing a 360-degree turn, crashing into the sidewalk next to a gas station. Apparently, no lesson was learned as he abandoned the scene.
"Hong Kong News reported that later, the police found the damaged 360 Spider, but the driver was missing as he had abandoned the car," Edward tells us. "The police were contacted by the owners to assist the investigation."
Can you compare a Chevrolet Corvette Stingray with a Porsche 911 Carrera S that has options worth the price of the Vette? Well, Chris Harris says you can, if only to prove money is not always the best indicator of a car’s capabilities.
While the tested Corvette cost around $60,000, the 911 Carrera S had a starting price of approximately $100,000, plus $60,000 worth of options!
Naturally, that begs the obvious question: was the 911 almost three-times better than the Corvette C7? Harris put both cars to the test on the track to find out, and some of his conclusions were quite surprising.
The “slow and cumbersome” optional six-speed automatic gearbox was the Vette’s only major downside in Harris’ view, but there’s a solution for that: don’t spend extra money on it and choose the standard seven-speed manual - or wait for the upcoming 8-speed auto.
You might be inclined to believe that all action scenes in movies nowadays are made in some remote office by a group of computer geeks working in a virtual environment, but that's not always the case.
When it comes to recording cars in real life, directors employ the use of filming vehicles equipped with special cameras to capture all sorts of scenes from the best angles.
In the upcoming Need for Speed movie that will be released on March 14, the filming crew used a host of camera cars including a supercharged Ford Mustang with 625hp, a Mercedes-Benz M-Class, and older generation A6 and even a Ferrari 458. You can get a taste of the work they did in the first video after the jump.
Mercedes-Benz believes it's time we redefined our views on passenger and commercial vans with its new generation V-Class that replaces the Viano model. On Thursday, the German brand with the star blew the covers off the people-carrier version of the series that will also include a new Vito commercial van.
Benz believes that, besides being suited as a luxurious VIP or hotel shuttle, the V-Class MPV can also actually appeal to some owners of the R-Class - that says a lot about the new model, and before you dismiss this as an idea, keep in mind it’s the inside that matters.
You see, while the V-Class has a typical modern-day van look on the outside, in the cabin, Mercedes has applied the same quality, luxury and styling treatments as it has done on its newest passenger vehicles. If you come to own the new C-Class or GLA, for example, you'll feel right at home in the driver's seat of the V-Class. The difference is that, the rear passengers - up to…eight of them, will have more room in their disposal than what they would in an S-Class.
New Mercedes-Benz V-Class
"With the new V-Class we are expanding the Mercedes-Benz premium passenger car range with a saloon for up to eight people", said dead of Mercedes-Benz, Dieter Zetsche. "Functionality is a must for an MPV. Comfort and style are the icing on the cake. The new V-Class combines both in a way no other vehicle in this segment can offer."
Both the Mazda MX-5 and Toyota GT86 (Scion FR-S) suffer from having too little power, whichever one you go for. This is apparent whatever sporty car you climb out of before driving either of them, but as the EVO video posted below tries to illustrate, there’s no harm in trying to improve these cars to really make the best of their chassis.
First off, the Toyota can be had with a list of factory updates, in the form of a TRD kit. However, that does nothing to up the power and torque of the GT86, the car’s two main quibbles. It does address the grip problem brought about by the use of 17-inch Prius tires in the basic car by swapping them out for larger 18-inch forged rims with much better rubber.
Still not fast enough, but that’s where the MX-5, tuned by BBR, comes in with 70 hp more than the stock GT86, courtesy of a turbo kit. It’s a car that has been slightly neglected ever since the Toyobaru came out, but as the folloowing comparison illustrates, in this slightly-tuned guise, it’s actually a better choice (for the money).
Since the Middle East is one of Rolls-Royce’s most important sales markets, the company’s Bespoke division is preparing the launch of the 1001 Nights Collection, dedicated to this region. Inspired by the tales in The Arabian Nights, the first two stages of the collection saw unique coachlines, eye-catching motifs and veneer inlays with arabesque symbols.
The final stage of the limited edition collection reveals intricate embroidery and arabesque-inspired wood inlays.Rolls-Royce offers a sneak peek into the upcoming collection through a video that shows the carmaker’s craftspeople at work.
The collection is exemplified on a computer-generated bi-color Rolls-Royce Ghost. You can check out how much craftsmanship is invested in this project by watching the official video posted below.
BMW India’s big splash at the 2014 Indian Auto Expo will involve the i8 hybrid supercar. A one of its kind supercar that seats 4 with high performance and high fuel efficiency that go hand in hand, a limited number of BMW i8s will be sold in India as well. The car maker has begun teasing the i8 supercar on social media outlets and on hoardings situated at strategic points across Indian cities. German luxury car giant BMW is betting big on hybrids and is working with Japanese car maker and industry leader Toyota to explore this emerging sector of the automobile industry. The BMW i8 hybrid supercar is one such product that combines high performance with high fuel economy and low tail pipe emissions.
The car uses a 1.5 liter turbo petrol engine – essentially one half of the 3 liter inline twin turbo straight six petrol engine that BMW uses on its luxury saloons – and a electric motor powered by lithium ion batteries. The 1.5 liter turbo petrol motor outputs 231 Bhp-320 Nm and powers the rear wheels of the car by means of a 6 speed automatic gearbox.
Whoever said that you could seriously damage your vehicle and place yourself in danger only when speeding, apparently didn't take into consideration what we like to call the "1 in a million" factor.
Likely filmed in South Korea (judging from the YouTube video description language and a faint glimpse we get of the license plates), this dash-cam footage shows a driver of a silver Kia Optima who wasn't paying attention to the road and a parked car around a corner.
The motorist hit the other vehicle's bumper while turning, which provided enough energy and momentum to flip it over, almost in slow motion…
While Gran Turismo 6 players were treated to a free download of the all-new BMW M4, which they could lightly tune (for now) to over 500 hp and then try to hit all the apexes with, those who play Need for Speed: Rivals got a different sports car surprise, in the form of the all-new Ford Mustang GT that became available in the game.
However, the people who calibrated its handling and performance seem to have overcooked it a bit… Even if it has over 420 hp from its revised V8 engine, it could never realistically hold and reach 200 mph (320 km/h), yet it does so in the game, and if you use the nitrous, it will nudge 220 mph (352 km/h) with no other mods applied.
If the digital speedometer of this Ferrari 458 Italia coupe isn't lying to us, the man sitting behind the wheel of the mid-engined supercar as well as the passenger who was recording the ride, had quite an adrenaline rush during a drive on the highways around Richmond, California.
The Italian exotic often went over 150mph (+240km/h) and at some point, reached 174mph or 280km/h, though, and take this for what it's worth, the footage seems less dramatic than what you'd expect from a car travelling so fast on a public road.
We'll remind you that the 458 Italia is capable of going much faster than that, topping out at 202mph (325 km/h).
They may have a huge age difference in automotive years, but the brand-new 2015 WRX and the 1998 Impreza 22B STI belong to the same lineage of Subaru vehicles that have captured the attention of real-life as well as…racing game drivers of our generation.
Released a week apart from each other, the most recent clip is a promotional video for the 2015 WRX that made its world debut at last month's LA Auto Show. The all-wheel drive model has a 268hp 2.0-liter turbocharged engine paired to either a six-speed manual or a CVT.
On what many would consider a more interesting note, the older video remembers the rarest and possibly, the most sought after Subaru model ever, the Impreza 22B STI of which only 424 examples were made to commemorate Subaru's 40th Anniversary as well as the third consecutive manufacturers' title for Subaru in the FIA World Rally Championship (WRC).
Being involved in a pileup must be a frightening experience, because even seeing such an event unfold on video, from the comfort of your own chair, is still quite a distressing image.
All follow the same pattern of one vehicle slowing down, while the first one tailing it can’t shave off speed quickly enough, and after the first rear end collision takes place, many more follow soon, like we see in this big pileup from Wisconsin, shot a few days ago on the southbound side of Highway 41/45 in Germantown.
For one owner of a 2002 Mini Cooper, the factory-fitted supercharged 1.6-liter engine wasn’t enough, so he added...a second identical engine in the boot of the car. But that wasn’t all: each engine was then boosted to produce 250 horsepower, so this double-trouble Mini has…500 horsepower in total and is all-wheel-drive.
The car has two transmissions as well which yoke to the same controls in the cockpit, so when the driver shifts the lever, gears change simultaneously. Similarly, when the gas pedal is pressed, both engines accelerate at the same rate. The car is not street-legal and is only used for racing, with the owner, Jacques Andres, aiming to take it endurance racing later this month.
For a competitively small aftermarket firm like Vilner, creating a uniquely designed project out of an existing car like the E63 BMW 6-Series Coupe-based Bullshark, is understandably, a big deal.
Named and styled after the infamous testosterone-filled shark species, Vilner's BMW Bullshark represents a complete overhaul of the Chris Bangle-era (pre-facelift) 645 Ci, with only the roof and the doors remaining unchanged from the donor car.
The most eye-catching exterior bits of the Bulgarian design studio's work on the BMW include the sharper looking front end with a pencil-mustache style kidney grille and the Infiniti FX-sourced headlamps, the heavily creased front and rear fender extensions and the side gill design.
The 2014 Bentley Flying Spur, the new one, is more or less of a direct rival to the 2014 Rolls Royce Ghost, even if the latter is more expensive, and it addresses a different clientele.
MotorTrend’s recent comparison of the two reveals each model’s strong points, though it does push one forth as the superior luxury cruiser – the Rolls, though it too is plagued by faults that cannot be overlooked in its price range.
Both cars are put through the standard set of acceleration, quarter-mile, braking and figure eight tests that the magazine has gotten us used to, and here the two are evenly matched, though the Bentley is ever so slightly quicker to 62 mph or 100 km/h: 4.3 seconds versus the Roller’s 4.4 recorded time. However, it does lose out in the quarter mile, despite the faster acceleration.
