Utes are a way of life down under, so Motorline BMW – a dealership in Queensland, has created what it sees as the best of both worlds – an X5 with the practicality of a pickup.
Taking a pre-facelift E53 3.0d automatic model, the crew at Motorline welded up the rear doors before removing a large section of the roof and fabricating a new back panel with Toyota window. A chunky rollover bar completes the changes.
(more…)
Slotting in between its AS3 and AS5, Kempten-based ABT Sportsline has revealed details of the AS4 program for – you’ve guessed it – Audi’s current A4 Saloon and Avant.
Visually there’s a front spoiler with central lip, side skirts, horrendous fender vents, a roof or boot lid spoiler and rear bumper apron with diffuser section and apertures for the double-twin tailpipes. The car can either be lowered with a sport spring kit or height-adjustable coilover system, while the CR and DR alloy wheels are available in 19 or 20-inch diameters.
ABT’s performance upgrade for the 3.0-litre V6 TFSI sees an impressive increase of 79 kW (108 hp) and 100 Nm of torque to 279 kW (380 hp) and 500 Nm. Other engines catered for include the 1.8 TFSI, which climbs from 125 kW (170 hp) to 155 kW (211 hp) and the 2.0 TFSI with 199 kW (270 hp) – up from 155 kW (211 hp).
Moving on to the oil burners, the 2.0 TDI can be made to produce either 103 kW (140 hp), 125 kW (170 hp) or 151 kW (205 hp) depending on base model, while the 180 kW (245 hp) 3.0 TDI no churns out 221 kW (300 hp).
(more…)
Volkswagen UK has announced that a colossal £5600 will be sliced off the price of it’s meaty Golf R Cabriolet, with the rest of Europe following suit.
At the time, many fans needed reviving after being told that Volkswagen would be asking £38,770 for the range-topping model, making it more expensive than such vehicles as the Porsche Boxster. Thankfully the company has done the right thing.
“The price and premise were wrong, and with the benefit of independent perspective we pushed very hard to get the pricing modified,” confirmed Robert Hazelwood, Volkswagen UK boss.
The six customers who are currently awaiting delivery of their R will be refunded the difference, but if you’ve just taken possession of yours the news isn’t quite as cheery…
The R Cabriolet is powered by VW’s 2.0-litre FSI engine, which develops 195 kW (265 hp) and 350 Nm of torque and is mated to a six-speed DSG transmission, allowing a 0-100 km/h time of 6.4 seconds and a 250 km/h top speed.
[Source: Autocar]
In what appears to be a world first, DRIVE‘s Chris Harris has got the jump on everyone else by reviewing Porsche’s new 911 GT3 model.
The 350 kW (475 hp) track weapon hits 100 km/h in just 3.5 seconds, 200 km/h in less than 12 seconds, and enjoys a top speed of 315 km/h (195 mph). It also eclipses the 997 GT2’s ‘Ring time.
So, does it live up to the hype? And will GT3 fans be smashing down the dealership’s doors when there is no manual option?
(more…)
Following on from the news that Porsche will be returning to World Endurance Championship and the 24 Hours of Le Mans in 2014, the company today revealed that the LMP1 sports prototype has completed its first rollout with Porsche works driver Timo Bernhard behind the wheel.
Prepared at the Weissach Motorsport Centre outside of Stuttgart in new workshops and premises housing around 200 employees, the closed-cockpit machine turned its first laps on the circuit several weeks earlier than originally planned. “Our newly formed team has worked with utmost concentration on getting this highly complex vehicle on the track as soon as possible. This allows us a few additional weeks for more testing and further development,” commented Fritz Enzinger, Head of LMP1.
“The engineers were able to start with a blank sheet of paper in the design of the new LMP1 car that was out here today on the Weissach race track for the first time. Hence, they were able to apply many new technologies within the framework of the regulations that will also benefit the customers of our road legal automobiles in the future. After all, there’s a race car in every Porsche,” said Porsche CEO Matthias Müller.
“I’m very proud that I was the one to take our baby through its first paces today,” said Bernhard who will be joined by Romain Dumas to carry out the majority of the testing at various international circuits throughout this year.
(more…)
Volkswagen Commercial Vehicles has announced a special version of its Amarok that boasts £3,400 of additional equipment at a £2,000 saving.
Based on the Trendline specification vehicle, which already includes body-coloured bumpers and wheel arches, the Amarok edition gains a set of 18-inch Durban alloy wheels, exclusive decals, rear privacy glass, black side steps and styling bars across the load area. There’s also a protective coating for the load area and front and rear parking sensors, while the interior is treated to a five-inch colour touchscreen system with Bluetooth connectivity and satellite navigation.
Power comes from the 2.0-litre BiTDI engine, developing 132 kW (180 hp) 420 Nm of torque, which comes with either a six-speed manual gearbox with selectable 4MOTION, or eight-speed automatic with permanent 4MOTION.
Available in either Reflex Silver or Black, this UK special edition will be limited to just 300 examples with pre-VAT pricing starting at £22,495 for the manual transmission model and £24,225 for the automatic.
[Source: Volkswagen UK]