Culture|Garage

Thanks to the Spanish auto site Motorpasión which has posted the first press release photos of the Audi TT-S coupe and roadster. This will be a hardcore version of the regular TT, similar to the S-branded Audi lineup.

The TT-S is rumored to get Audi’s 2.0 TFSI four cylinder producing 272 hp. Among the changes is revised bodywork, LED daytime lights (similar to the ones found on the S6 and R8) and your choice of 17- or 18- inch wheels.

More pictures after the jump. Read the rest of this entry »

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This is not new or breaking news, but I feel we need at the very least a summary article to show those in the dark just how good Hyundai is becoming as a company. Let’s start with the Hyundai Genesis coupe, scheduled to go on sale in 2009.

This little baby is typical Hyundai bang for the buck. The difference is, this car may turn the tide for the company. Instead of being hindered by the brand name, people may actually be proud to own a Hyundai after this car is released.

 The concept shown above is how the actual production car should look, aside from the real carbon fiber hood, which I doubt they will try to sneak in there with a base price of under $25,000.

Those scoffing at paying 25k haven’t seen the goods yet. And yes, the goods are good.

Read more after the jump to see what the Genesis is packing for hardware.

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The Swiss Porsche tuner, Rinspeed, has released their newest creation based on the Porsche Cayenne 957, its name, “X-treme”. It’s a cheesy name but everything else is simply badass. Overall the complete tuning package gives the Cayenne a sportier appearance and more performance.

The “X-treme” tuning package includes new front skirt and bumper, bigger air intakes, much bigger wheel arches, new side and rear skirts and two rear chrome exhaust tips. Performance is also increased by a new sport exhaust system which now outputs 600 horsepower.

The air suspension improves its appearance and drops the Cayenne 35 mm. Interior is upgraded with sport bucket seating and an available home entertainment system offered by Rinspeed. (how the hell you have “home” entertainment in a vehicle, is beyond me — Chris)

Press Release: Read the rest of this entry »

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Finally available to the public are these spy shots of the MINI SUV which were taken in Europe recently where the prototype was spotted. The bodywork appears almost identical to the standard Clubman, but there are a couple of visual cues that give it away that this MINI will venture the road less taken.

The biggest visual change is the increased ride height. It will give the MINI some extra ground clearance. The MINI appears to be larger and more muscular, which can be contributed to the bigger wheels and wider wheel arches. Also its wheelbase is a little longer.

And if you look closely at the picture of the rear you are able to see the rear differential between the wheels, it becomes clear that this MINI is all wheel drive. It’s definitely not ‘trail-rated’ like your Jeep Wrangler, but it’s aimed to steal sales of the Land Rover Freelander.

Expect to see it be revealed later this year but its name still remains a mystery. A couple of likely candidates are Crossman and Monte, pricing starts around £20,000.

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 This is one of those one in a million shots that would leave any Jeep owner laughing…after they’re done crying.

The owner was out on the trail, driving cautiously, when out of nowhere a small tree decided to enter the cabin via the firewall and impede his progress. Good thing it wasn’t a few inches over or he would have been a shish ka bob.

He ended up with $250 worth of damage (It looks worse, doesn’t it?), some bruises, and oh, some internal injuries.

Read the full account and see some more pictures after the jump. (Ouch.)

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Not much is known about the Mazda Furai concept at this time, other than it looks like something Batman would drive if he cared about renewable resources.

Furai, pronounced “Fu-rye,” is Japanese for “sound of the wind,” which seems appropriate since this thing probably slices through it pretty well.

The car, revealed on December 27, 2007, is powered by a 450 horsepower three rotar rotary engine that uses 100% ethanol.

There are no other real specs at the moment, with more to be revealed at the 2008 North American International Auto Show (NAIAS), to be held in Detroit from Sunday, January 13 through Sunday, January 27, 2008.

If this is an indication of the future of Mazda’s “Nagare” (flow) design language, we should see some pretty unique automobiles coming from them. Let’s just hope some of them make it to production.

More from Mazda regarding the Furai after the jump, including a couple more pictures of this knockout.

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We’ve all heard the story or had a friend that races the unmarked cop car, and loses, and this story is no different. An 18 year old man in Ontario apparently wouldn’t let an unmarked Impala pass him, accelerating his Chrysler 300 (non-hemi I assume…) up to 160 km/hour before being pulled over.

 That’s a brisk 100 mph, so, no, it must not have had the hemi.

 The best part, and the reason I am posting this is the quote from the arresting officer: “He was playing tough guy until he got stopped. Then he cried until his parents got there.”

I hope he learned his lesson that Impalas with deep tints are not to be trifled with.

The full story after the jump. Read the rest of this entry »

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Porsche today, officially announced that they will be building a hybrid model of their upcoming Panamera.  The vehicle will feature the same hybrid motor that is due out soon in their Cayenne.  The claim is that it is an overall reduction of 30% in fuel consumption (compared to what, the current V6 or V8?).  The beauty of the system is that it can fully disengage the combustion engine and run entirely off of the electric motor, making it a zero emissions mode.  As I opened the press release I was hoping to see an actually image… instead we got the above cutaway. 

Full release Read the rest of this entry »

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