German Car Scene

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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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  • Chris Harris on GRID 2

    Pagani Huayra
    Codemasters, the developer and publisher of GRID 2, has released this video of when Chris Harris was invited to Italy for some fun in a Pagani Huayra. Obviously there is a little sideways action involved.

    Powered by a revised version of the 6.0-litre Mercedes-AMG V12 Bi-Turbo engine from the SL 65 AMG Black Series, the Huayra produces a substantial 515 kW (690 hp) and 1,000 Nm of torque and, at 1,888 kg, is 538 kg lighter than the Veyron.
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  • PPI Razor Spyder GTR

    PPI Razor Spyder GTR
    Waiblingen-based tuning specialist PPI Design has revealed its Razor Spyder GTR package to suit Audi’s R8 V10 Spyder.

    Building on the company’s R8 Razor GTR, which focuses around a complete wide-track carbon fibre body program, new additions include carbon fibre mirrors with integrated LED indicators, twin scoops in the engine cover to aid cooling, and those doors. Constructed from aluminium-reinforced carbon fibre, their function is to maintain an open-air feeling even with the roof in place. If your budget won’t stretch this far you could always paint some legs onto the side of your car. Wearing PPI ICE Blue Kyanite paintwork, the Spyder sits on lightweight forged wheels.

    Moving inside, all plastic trim has been replaced by carbon fibre items, while the carbon seats are heated and ventilated, the centre tunnel and arm rests have been painted, and there’s a new racing steering wheel with red-line indicator. Finally there’s a custom carbon fibre and leather luggage set along with trunk mounted umbrella holders.

    Moving to the engine, PPI fits a new exhaust system with four adjustable valves and remaps the 5.2 FSI unit’s ECU software, which sees output climb from 382 kW (520 hp) and 530 Nm of torque to 463 kW (621 hp) and 565 Nm. Those tweaks result in a new 0-100 km/h time of 3.2 seconds and a 335 km/h (208 mph) top speed.
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