German Car Scene

Month: August 2013

  • Volkswagen Kombi Last Edition announced

    Volkswagen Kombi Last Edition
    Volkswagen do Brasil has announced details of the Kombi Last Edition, a commemorative series that marks the end of a 56 year Kombi production run in Brazil.

    Finished in two-tone white and blue paintwork, special design details include whitewall tyres, white centre wheel caps, tinted rear windows, front indicators with white crystal lenses and an exclusive ‘56 anos – Kombi Last Edition’ decal on the rear. Power comes from a 57 kW (77 hp) 1.4-litre unit mated to a four-speed manual transmission.

    Moving inside, the seats and panelling are upholstered in Atlanta Blue vinyl with white detailing, while the cabin, luggage area and spare wheel cover are trimmed in carpet. Other features include blue fabric curtains, an MP3 player with auxiliary USB ports and a numbered identification plaque on the dashboard.

    Just 600 examples of the Kombi Last Edition will be created, with each owner also receiving a special certificate of authenticity.
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  • Brabus B63S – 700 Widestar Mercedes ML 63 AMG and GL 63 AMG

    BRABUS B63S - 700 Widestar Mercedes ML 63 AMG
    Brabus has revealed another Mercedes-Benz SUV program, this time for the ML 63 AMG and GL 63 AMG, with the B63 – 700 Widestar.

    Powered by that glorious 5.5 L V8 biturbo engine, developing 410 kW (557 hp) and 760 Nm in standard form, Brabus adds a pair of larger turbochargers, remaps the injection and ignition and increases boost pressure, and fits a stainless steel exhaust system with integrated butterfly valve and a free-flow metal catalyst, resulting in 515 kW (700 hp) and a limited torque figure of 960 Nm. Those changes mean the ML hits 100 km/h in just 4.4 seconds, with the GL taking 4.6s, while their top speeds are electronically limited to 300 km/h (174 mph). Sensibly, there is also a brake upgrade using cross-drilled 405 x 34 mm front discs and 380 x 34 mm rears gripped by six and four-piston fixed calipers.

    Visually the Widestar body package comprises of an aggressive front fascia with large intakes, wheel arch extensions adding 6 cm to the width of the M-Class and 8 cm to the G-Class, a roof spoiler and diffuser with ceramic-coated tailpipes. Brabus offers a large choice of wheel styles in sizes ranging from 21 upto the 23-inch Monoblock E evo, F and R items, while its electronic module lowers the GL-Class air suspension by 30 mm.

    Moving to the cabin, Brabus can reupholster the interior to suit any specific requirements, using materials including leather Alcantara, wood and carbon fibre, along with aluminum components such as pedals, door pins, longer shift paddles and illuminated sill plates.
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  • DTM Nurburgring: Robert Wickens win for Mercedes

    2013 DTM Nurburgring
    Mercedes Junior Robert Wickens conquered the difficult weather conditions to secure his maiden DTM victory at the Nurburgring today.

    Starting from seventh on the grid, Wickens soon worked his way up to fourth before passing Augusto Farfus and Adrien Tambay for second behind Mike Rockenfeller. The Audi driver had fallen to the back of the field after sliding off at the first corner, but came in for wet tyres before anyone else – and before the pit had window opened. So even though he was leading he had to complete three stops as opposed to everybody else’s two. Wickens moved into first place while Rockenfeller made his last stop.

    Poleman Augusto Farfus, who had initially lead the race in his BMW M3, ran a smooth race, coming home just two seconds behind Wickens, while Mercedes’ Christian Vietoris took the third step of the podium after starting from eighth.

    Rockenfeller eventually finished fourth, extending his lead in the championship to 35 points ahead of Christian Vietoris (71) and Robert Wickens (70). BMW’s Martin Tomczyk did very well to round out the top five after starting from 20th. The German battled his way through the field to grab his first points since last year’s Nurburgring round.

    “It feels absolutely fantastic to have won the race at the Nürburgring. I started from seventh position and honestly did not really know what to expect. Then came the rain and everything got a bit crazy. For a while, I didn’t know what position I was in and how fast I was going. But then I was able to overtake the three cars in front of me, which brought me success in the end,” said a jubilant Wickens.
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  • BMW M3 GTS eargasm

    BMW M3 GTS
    Here’s a video from Gumbal, who recently captured a pair of BMW M3 GTS models tearing around the Nurburgring.

    The limited edition M3 GTS develops 331 kW (444 hp) and 439 Nm of torque from its 4.4-litre eight-cylinder powerplant which is based on the 4.0-litre engine found in the regular M3. BMW also managed to shed 13.6 kg of weight from the car.

    Priced at an eye-watering €115,000 when new, just 250 units of the track-focused machines were manufactured in 2010. It’s rare enough to see one in the flesh, so spotting a pair of them together is as probable as stumbling across a Jay Leno video where he isn’t wearing a blue shirt.

    These examples also benefit from the fitment of a throaty Akrapovic exhaust system.
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  • Prior Design previews widebody BMW M6 Coupe

    Prior Design PD6XX BMW M6 Coupe
    Kamp-Lintfort styling specialist Prior Design has teased its new widebody program to suit the BMW M6.

    No details were released with the images, but we can see that the PD6XX package comprises of an aggressive front bumper with large air intakes, flics and splitter, widened fenders with air outlets, a ventilated hood, side skirts, rear wheel arch extensions, motorsport trunk spoiler and rear bumper with integrated diffuser.

    Inside, the cabin has been upholstered in leather and Alcantara with quilted stitching on the door panels and seat centres.
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  • Latest production version of Porsche’s 918 Spyder at Monterey

    Porsche 918 Spyder
    Porsche has taken to Twitter to share a photo of what it calls the ‘latest production version’ of its 918 Spyder at Monterey in California.

    The company has previously shown the car at Goodwood in July, but that particular model featured such components as pre-production headlight units and Porsche 991 rear light clusters.

    Propelled by a 453 kW (608 hp) 4.6-litre V8 engine along with a 115 kW (154 hp) hybrid module at the rear and a 95 kW (127 hp) electric motor driving the front wheels, the Spyder can crack 100 km/h in 2.8 seconds and 200 km/h in 7.9s, while top speed is 340 km/h (211 mph).

    Pricing starts from €781,155, or €853,155 with the hardcore, track-focused Weissach package.
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