A British journalist recently decided to challenge BMW‘s claim that its new 320d EfficientDynamics sedan could drive for 1000 miles on a single tank of diesel, and managed to achieve the feat, driving exactly 1,013 miles. Tom Ford, the driver of the BMW, kept the windows up and the air-conditioning off, but avoided hypermiling tricks...
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Alpina is an interesting BMW tuner, taking run-of-the-mill BMWs and transforming them directly on the BMW assembly line. In some markets, like here in Southern California, you can walk into your local BMW dealership and see a (grossly inflated) Alpina vehicle on the showroom floor. The company’s resume extends from 3-Series E21 to E90, 5-Series E12...
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Legendary Italian design firm Italdesign Giugiaro will sell a 90 percent stake to the Volkswagen Group, as the German firm looks to consolidate even more power in the automotive world. “The Volkswagen Group will be continuing its model initiative over the coming years and will benefit from the capacity and competence of Italdesign,” said Volkswagen...
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We’ll file this under hard to believe rumors for now, but according to one report the next generation Infiniti G and M models will share their underpinnings with the Mercedes-Benz E-Class. According to Japan’s Best Car magazine, the move is part of broader cooperation between Mercedes parent company Daimler and Infiniti parent Renault – the...
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Mercedes-Benz is hoping that new variants of their small C-Class sedan will spearhead a 30% increase in sales over the next five years. The blitz will begin with a C-Class coupe that will go on sale next year, as well as a new C-Class in 2013, followed by a C-Class based convertible shortly after. Mercedes...
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Much like soccer, the Volkswagen Golf is immensely popular all over the world, with the exception of Canada and the United States. The two holdout countries prefer the Jetta by a significant margin, and Volkswagen is well aware of this – even going as far as to engineer an entirely new Jetta designed specifically with...
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BMW‘s oddball 5-Series GT hatchback/station wagon/SUV thing is not off to a great start in the United States, and BMW executives are blaming the decision to market only the top-of-the-line rear-drive V8 car upon launch as the culprit behind sluggish sales. “The V-8 was probably not the right car to launch it with,” said Rich Brekus,...
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Xenatec is a German-based company that often times fulfills special vehicle requests of a particular nature. This can range from stretching an Audi R8 to bullet-proofing your Rolls-Royce Ghost. Whatever may be the case, Xenatec clearly has the expertise, knowledge and engineers to safely take on the task of heavy chassis modification. So it’s no...
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Zero Hedge, a blog more concerned with the imminent destruction of our economy than the demise of the internal combustion engine, recently obtained word that the U.S. Tresury is going to be auctioning off some serious machinery made in the U.S., Italy, France and England. Thanks to the Treasury’s asset seizure program, the property of...
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“A racecar for the street” is one of auto journalism’s most wretched cliches, but the moniker might be fit for one car in the world; the Porsche 911 GT3 RS. The most hardcore 911 features things like ceramic brakes, one piece bucket seats, adjustable aerodynamics and a rollcage, making it suitable for racing right off the showroom...
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Despite an even better than expected reception in Europe, Audi still has no plans to bring its A1 subcompact model to North America. Initial production for Europe was scheduled to be 50,000 units, but Audi may look at upping that number thanks to overwhelming demand. In Europe the “small premium” segment is catching on fast...
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BMW insider SCOTT26, posting on E90Post.com has dropped another juicy rumor on us: a successor to the Z8. Known internally as the Z Spyder Stradale the car is rumored to be the pet-project of BMW boss Norbert Reithofer. The name Spyder Stradale comes from a special version of the BMW 328 MM dating from the...
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Chances are, if you’re reading this, you will never even glimpse the top of the motorsports pyramid that Michael Schumacher was sucessfully climbed – 7 times over. But if you have roughly $745,000, you can own a well known piece of Michael Schumacher memorabilia – his Bugatti EB110SS. Before the Veyron, and having Volkswagen to subsidize them,...
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Porsche‘s 918 Spyder is set to contest the 24 Hours of Nurburgring in 2011, making it the second hybrid Porsche to compete in the grueling endurance race, with the 911 GT3R Hybrid being the first. The 918 Spyder made its debut at the Geneva Auto Show in March, and boasts (theoretical) numbers like 718 horsepower,...
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The latest nugget of information surrounding Volkswagen‘s often-rumored foray into Formula 1 came at last weekend’s 24 Hours of Nurburgring race, with a VW executive claiming that the Volkswagen Group’s premium brands, like Audi or Porsche would be the best fit for the company’s shot at the world’s most prestigious motorsport. “Within the group, for...
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The BMW X6 M continues to be a confused child in our eyes in the crossover segment. The twin-turbocharged 4.4L V8 tosses out 555-hp and 501 ft-lbs of torque, numbers that rival the much larger and more popular Porsche Cayenne Turbo. But BMW sticking their coveted M-badge on a SAV (or SUV, whichever you’d like...
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Things have gotten very interesting in Japan now that many tuners are expanding the term JDM (Japanese Domestic Market) to encompass European vehicles. Japanese tuner 3D Design specializes in tuning BMWs and has made quite the splash in its young American presence. The company is already quite popular with the newer model E90 and E92...
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Canadian auto journalist Peter Cheney now likely regrets tossing the keys to a 500-hp Porsche 911 Turbo to his son, who then accidentally drove it through the garage door.
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BMW has now officially announced a new matte-black paint option that will be offered on M3 models equipped with the Competition Package. Titled Frozen Black Matte, the new paint color was first showcased at the Beijing Auto Show, but BMW has taken until now to release a selection of photos for us to drool over....
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After (supposedly) falling behind Ford in the sales race in Europe last month, Volkswagen has reclaimed the lead for April while Ford has slipped to just fourth. In total, VW moved 138,304 units in EU countries, while Ford managed just 87,721 units. Renault and Peugeot placed second and third respectively with 99,642 and 88,721 units....
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You really don’t want to crash at the Nürburgring. Seems like a pretty obvious statement, right? Well it is, but not necessarily for the reasons you may be thinking. The ‘Ring may be one of the most feared racetracks in the world, with its 13+ miles of twists, turns and elevation changes, but the most...
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Porsche enthusiasts were up in arms when the brand launched their Cayenne SUV, but 8 years on, the car truck saved the brand from oblivion, and helped fund new, exciting models like the Panamera and the Boxster Spyder. For 2011, a more capable, more streamlined and less belligerent Cayenne is on its way and pricing...
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Volkswagen patriarch Ferdinand Piech is no stranger to grandiose projects, having overseen the Volkswagen Phaeton uber-luxury sedan, as well as the Bugatti Veyron hypercar. While Jeremy Clarkson of Top Gear lamented that the worst part about driving a Veyron is that after it was over, he’d never be able to experience it again, it looks...
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A Bugatti Veyron that appeared on the BBC hit show Top Gear was owned by a man recently sent to jail for pretending to be a member of Kuwait’s royal family and bilking retired nurses out of their pensions. Koroush Pour operated a leasing firm in the upscale Kensington district of London. According to the UKPA,...
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