The Smoking Tire’s brilliant Matt Farah finally got his hands on BMW’s 1 Series M Coupe, so he headed out to the open roads of California to see what it could do. Powered by a 340 bhp, twin-turbocharged 3.0 L straight-six, the Baby M cracks 100 km/h in 4.9 seconds, and 200 km/h in 17.3 s. Top speed is governed to 250 km/h.
Month: October 2011
Nine millionth Corsa produced at Zaragoza plant
The nine millionth Corsa has rolled off the production line at Opel/Vauxhall’s Zaragoza plant in spain.
Autocar drives the Audi A6 Avant
Andrew Frankel delivers a 90 second verdict on Audi’s latest A6 Avant model. The model on test is Audi’s lower-powered 3.0 TDI version, which sends 201 bhp and 295 ft of torque to the front wheels, via the Multitronic automatic transmission.
MINI Roadster added to the range
BMW’s MINI brand has added a sixth model, the Roadster, to its range. Cutting the roof off its two-seater Coupé, the steel panel is replaced by a manually-operated soft-top fabric roof, adding an open-air element to the three-box body structure, which also includes a wide-opening tailgate, 240 litres of luggage space and a wind protection insert, mounted between the roll-over bars.
Initially, four versions of the Roadster will available, beginning with the 105 kW (143 hp) Cooper SD, which is capable of hitting 100 km/h (62 mph) in 8.1 seconds, before reaching a top speed of 212 km/h (132 mph), and a 90 kW (122 hp) Cooper with a 0–100 km/h (62 mph) time of 9.2 seconds, and top speed of 199 km/h (124 mph). Moving up the scale is the 135 kW (184 hp) Cooper S Roadster. This completes the 0–100 km/h (62 mph) sprint in 7.0 seconds before running out of steam at 227 km/h (141 mph).
Finally, the 155 kW (211 hp) John Cooper Works Roadster model cracks 100 km/h (62 mph) in a respectable 6.5 seconds, while top its speed is 237 km/h (147 mph).
The Roadster features MINI Yours options, which consist of sports stripes, electrically adjustable mirrors, MP3 compatible CD player, parking distance control and air conditioning (excluding the Cooper model). Optional extras include adaptive headlights, a Harman Kardon sound system and black headlights.
[Source: MINI]
Auto Express Review: 2012 Bentley Continental GTC
Auto Express has been driving the 2012 Bentley Continental GTC. As subtle as the changes are, Bentley says that every visible panel differs from its predecessor’s, and even though it weighs over 100 kg more than its Coupé sibling, this 567bhp Convertible is still capable of hitting 60 mph in just 4.8 seconds and a top speed of 195 mph.