German Car Scene

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  • 1,000th Lamborghini Aventador built


    A milestone moment took place today at Lamborghini’s Sant’ Agata Bolognese factory when the 1,000th Aventador rolled off its production line.

    Lamborghini’s dashing President and CEO, Stephan Winkelmann, was in attendance to hand over the keys to this historic Argos Orange vehicle to its brand new owner, Bavarian architect Hans Scheidecker. Initially constructing three units a day in Q3 2011, production has sped up to meet demand, with the Audi-owned company now building 4.5 a day, meaning the Aventador has reach this point almost twice as fast as its Murciélago counterpart did.

    Propelled by a 6.5-litre V12, which develops 515 kW (700 hp) and 690 Nm (510 lb/ft), the Aventador sprints to 100 km/h (0-62 mph) in a mere 2.9 seconds, and onto a top speed of 350 km/h (217 mph).
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  • Switzer F900 Porsche 911 Turbo


    Ohio-based Porsche tuning specialist Switzer Performance has released details of its latest piece of work, the F900.

    The 671 kW (900 hp) F900 was built to satisfy the needs of a Canadian customer who had previously owned one of the company’s 746 kW (1000 hp) Switzer Sledgehammer, a car best known for running 9-second passes and a standing mile top speed approaching 200 mph. This time, he wanted a “flex-fuel fire-breather,” a heavyweight machine that combined the characteristics of Switzer’s pump gas P800 package with the R911 race car that consumed 109 octane race-fuel and its Ethanol-burning E900 Nissan project car.

    “He didn’t want a race-gas package or a street gas package or an E85 package. He wanted a car that he could throw anything at. A real, usable, daily-drivable street machine that, at a moment’s notice, could pull up to an E85 station and rip off a pass in the low 10s. Or 9s, ideally,” explains Tym Switzer.

    Modifications to the 997 Turbo include the addition of voluminous intercoolers, a CNC-machined y-pipe intake, a pair of upgraded Switzer turbochargers, sport exhaust system and additional engine sensors operated by a stand-alone ECU, adjusting the timing and injection in accordance with the fuel being used at that time.
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  • Porsche 918 Spyder spied at the Nurburgring [video]


    This short clip featuring Porsche’s forthcoming 918 Spyder has just dropped into our lap.

    Sadly, it’s only a few seconds long, but it’s incredibly clear, and looks to be in a much more advanced stage of development than when Harry Metcalfe had a look around it. It sounds fantastic and we’re also loving the Martini Racing livery and the fact that Walter Röhrl is behind the wheel.

    At the heart of this carbon fibre machine is a 425 kW (570 hp) 4.6-litre V8 engine, which is complemented by a 90 kW (121 hp) electric motor on the rear along with a 80 kW (107 hp) unit driving the front wheels.
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  • Vorsteiner GTS-V BMW 1M Coupe


    Styling and performance specialist Vorsteiner has released a new set of images featuring its GTS-V program for the BMW 1M Coupe.

    Visually, the carbon fibre aero package includes the lower front spoiler with built-in brake ducts, a finned diffuser section for the rear bumper, and a replacement boot lid with integrated lip spoiler which tips the scales at an exiguous 11.5 lbs.

    The twin-seven spoke, forged three-piece VS-400 are also by Vorsteiner and improve performance thanks to the reduced unsprung weight, while the company’s exhaust system, available in either titanium or stainless steel, releases a further 11 kW (15 hp) and 7 Nm (5 lb/ft) of torque from the Baby M’s bi-turbo 3.0-litre straight-six.
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  • Opel Insignia gets LPG option


    Opel has announced that its Insignia can now be specified with an engine reworked to run on liquefied petroleum gas.

    The 1.4-litre turbocharged LPG ecoFLEX engine, which develops 103 kW (140 hp), can be specified in the Saloon, hatchback and Sports Tourer station wagon variants and consumes 7.6 litres every 100 kilometres (124 g/km CO2 emissions). While that’s higher than the regular 1.4-litre turbocharged petrol Saloon’s figure (5.7 l/100 km) pricing for LPG is around 40 percent less. Another plus is the fact that LPG cars emit up to 15 percent less carbon-dioxide than vehicles with a conventional engine.

    The Insignia is converted to run on LPG at the Opel Special Vehicles GmbH, with Opel’s engineers strengthening the engine valves and valve seats, remapping the ECU and fitting a 42-litre LPG tank within the spare-wheel housing. A range of up to 500 kilometres is possible on one tank of LPG, while that figure rises to an impressive 1,700 km when the petrol tank is also used.

    Prices start at €28,150 in Germany for the four-door Saloon.
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  • Electric BMW M3 Coupe gets a work out [video]


    Following on from the company’s teaser video, the guys at Electric Vehicle West have let Pikes Peak veteran and Jalopnik writer, Bill Caswell, loose in their electric BMW M3 Coupe. Rather than the factory 3-litre straight-six unit, this silent assassin makes use of a twin-air cooled NetGain DC electric motor, developing 949 Nm (700 lb/ft) of torque and 298 kW (400 hp). Look out for it at this year’s iconic hill climb event on August 12.
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