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German Car Blog, Performance, Tuning, Motorsport, and Modification News
Published on 05-11-2011 04:00 AM
The SLK isn't the manliest car to begin with but Piecha Design has managed to add some aggression to the new R172 SLK. From the quad exhaust to the front lip this car does a good job previewing what the AMG version may look like. If you are wondering why you see the sideskirts lightning up it is because there is an LED light option for the sideskirs. Yes, it seems tuners aren't satisfied with just sticking LED's in the front bumper but now are trying to put them anywhere they can. Price and part list is below. ...Published on 05-11-2011 04:00 AM
We knew the Audi S7 was coming from leaked documents detailing the motors going in upcoming models. Spyphotos of camoflauged cars have been circulating the web but now we have undisguised photographs. Nothing shocking here, basically what we expected. A quad exhaust and a more aggressive front fascia on a slightly lowered suspension featuring larger wheels. The car is likely to be unveiled at the Frankfurt show and rumors suggest an RS7 sharing the RS6 powertrain is in the works. ...Published on 05-11-2011 04:00 AM
The E93 M3 in question here is a manual. It is completely stock and on 91 octane pump gas. The reason the year is emphasized as being a 2010 on is due to the tuner lockout software BMW implemented to try to stop tuning with cars featuring 2010 and up build dates. These locked ECU's have stopped some tuners but the as the graph and video here shows OE Tuning is able to circumvent the lockout and custom dyno tune the car. Gains are shown throughout the curve with a healthy 21 wheel horsepower at peak, tune only. ...Published on 05-10-2011 08:30 PM
Here is the Carlsson offering for the new E-class convertible. Pretty standard fair as expected with the usual body pieces. Carlsson offers a front lip, sideskirts, diffuser, and trunk spoiler. Carlsson exhaust tips are included with their exhaust offering. An ECU upgrade is available for the diesel model thus far (which is not available in the USA) with others coming shortly. Carlsson wheels and lowering springs round out the overall well done package which we like although we could do without the huge Carlsson grille badge. ...Published on 05-10-2011 09:00 AM
BimmerBoost graphic design artist Wild-Speed has done it again. This time, he rendered the F11 M5 touring. Will there be a touring? Considering BMW did an E61 M5 wagon we feel an F11 is almost sure to come. The question mark will be if it makes it to the United States which the recent reveal of Mercedes bringing the E63 AMG wagon over might convince BMW to do the same with the F11 M5. Imagine a CTS-V vs. E63 vs. M5 all wagon shootout? Yes, awesome. ...Published on 05-10-2011 04:00 AM
We wish more installers did these types of videos showing the work that goes into the installation of a kit. The VF420 supercharger kit is a 4 psi, non-intercooled kit yet you can see it still takes a lot of time and effort to install even without the intercooler. No dyno numbers for this particular car have been released and we are interested in seeing what the basic VF kit puts down. The VF420 retails for $5,900 and is easily upgradeable to the higher horsepower level kits. ...Published on 05-10-2011 02:02 AM
Stasis has released their Audi R8 V8 supercharger which bumps the R8 to 540 horsepower. The supercharger is a positive displacement Eaton TVS 1900 pushing 7.5 psi of boost. The supercharger is part of their V8 Challenge Extreme Edition package which includes suspension, brakes, and wheels but what we are mostly concerned with is the supercharger itself which can be purchased separately. No pricing revealed yet an it is only available in the UK at the moment and the UK importer is offering a 10% discount. ...Published on 05-09-2011 08:09 PM
There is a reason many of us likely would not hand a senior the keys to our performance BMW's, but that reason rarely is that they will take it on a drifting spree roasting the tires. Most of you guys are probably thinking an older person got behind the wheel and something bad happened. Well, in this case, a silver haired fox got in an E46 M3 and did her best Tanner Foust drifting impression. Check it out, pretty funny, but the video clearly is an advertising promotion. Even so, props to the Golden Girl. ...Published on 05-09-2011 04:25 PM
Below you will find BMW's new video showing the F10 M5 being run at the test track. What is interesting is we get a nice shot of the tachometer showing the redline is indeed over 7000 rpm. What does this mean? Well, the S63 in the X5 and X6 M redlines at 6800 rpm so BMW has likely made some changes to shift the powerband more to the right. It looks like it gets up to about 7150 rpm from the video. The launch control function is also shown in action and seems to launch at about 4000 rpm, check it out below. ...Published on 05-09-2011 04:00 AM
We would like to thank BenzBoost user 220S for helping us obtain the dealer order guide. There are some very interesting things in the dealer document namely that the E550 will only come in 4Matic. No rear wheel drive E550? Yes, sounds very odd but look at the document yourself. The guide also confirms that the W212 E63 wagon with the M157 twin turbo motor will be coming to the USA. Very cool, but we still do not understand why the decision was made for the E550 to be all wheel drive only. ...Published on 05-09-2011 02:52 AM
We often say that less is more and that certainly applies here. The R8 is a beautiful car to begin with and improving on it is not easy. These modifications by Rimsource we do not consider an improvement. Surprisingly, on the Cardomain page for this car there is a lot of praise and we do not understand it. This is the type of modification that appeals to the DUB or bling crowd whose idea of tuning we rarely consider done in good taste. ...Published on 05-08-2011 04:42 PM
There have not been too many aftermarket options for E92 headlights. Most offerings consisted of just changing the bulbs to alter the color of the angel eyes. OSS was really the only option to change the housing and look of the angel eyes themselves, until now. MAC offers several packages to choose from including just changing to the Orb style LED rings, Euro projector lenses, carbon bezels, or to LCI style turn signals. These do not come cheap however as the full package will run $3000, ouch. Options and pricing below. ...Published on 05-08-2011 04:12 PM
The Turskish Grand Prix has come and gone and Mercedes continues to struggle. Sebastian Vettel, on the other hand, continues to dominate leading the Turkish GP from start to finish. There have only been 4 races this season and Vettel has won 3 of them for Red Bull. For Mercedes-Petronas, Rosberg and Schumacher finished in 5th and 12th place respectively. Lewis Hamilton and Jenson Button finished in 4th and 6th for McLaren-Mercedes. Full results and videos below. ...Published on 05-07-2011 11:51 PM
The 1000km of Spa-Francorchamps is the first official race for the Audi R18. 3rd place is not a bad finish obviously but a disappointment considering the R18 had a perfect qualification for the race taking spots 1-3. Audi was bested by Peugeot, their main rival, who took first and second place. We expect Audi to rebound strongly in time for the LeMans 24 hours which will be the real test. ...Published on 05-07-2011 11:20 PM
Now, you might be scratching your head, why 573 whp when the previous dyno released was 640 whp? Well, this dyno no longer has the dip the 640 whp dyno had which leads us to believe the boost was turned down to not have torque limiter issues. We were told this dyno was 10-11 psi vs. the previous 14 psi. The dyno was done on C16 race gas as well, just like the previous dyno. What we gather from this is that going over 10 psi created issues for the torque limiters in the ECU and transmission software. So while this dyno does not make as much power, it is cleaner and provides a steady curve until redline. ...Published on 05-07-2011 06:02 PM
As it stands, there is only 1 real supercharger option for the S85 V10 based BMW vehicles and that is G-power. There are two options on the horizon, ESS and Gintani. Both have been taking a VERY long time to come to market and both were already supposed to be available. Completely understandable they are delayed with a motor with the high compression and complexity of the S85. We know both are still works in progress but these two will likely be the best value forced induction options with the basic ESS kit rumored to have an MSRP of under $10k. Sit tight, no word yet on when either will hit the market. ...Published on 05-06-2011 02:52 PM
With the most revealing spy photos yet of the F30 having hit the web recently, it was only natural for rendering of the design to follow. AutoBild has done some great rendering work and we think they are on to something. You can clearly see that the design borrows a lot from the F10 5 series. The rear lights are almost too similar but BMW is returning to conservative styling keeping the models similar to one another. If the real thing looks like this, job well done. ...Published on 05-06-2011 02:12 PM
If you are not familiar with this vehicle do not worry about it as few are. The BMW Nazca C2 is a concept car created in the early 90's with only 3 having been constructed. It was designed by famous design house ItalDesign. The car features a 5.0 liter V12 based on the motor out of the E31 850. It was designed as a mid-engine supercar which would be an answer to the other early 90's supercars (XJ220). It was never produced, but you can buy one of the three original concept cars for a cool 720,000 Euros if you desire. ...Published on 05-06-2011 04:00 AM
Hot on the heals of the reveal that the E63 AMG would be making the switch to the M157 turbo V8, Mercedes has announced that the E550 for 2012 will receive the M278 4.7 liter direct injected V8 turbo. This motor produces 402 horsepower and 443 pound-feet of torque at 13 psi. What is interesting is that the BMW 550i produces about the same horsepower from 4.4 liters at only 10 psi. Audi will also be putting a turbo V8 in its upcoming S6 so the competition in this segment is going to be quite interesting. ...Published on 05-06-2011 12:31 AM
AWE Tuning will released their switchpath exhaust for the R8 V10 in the next few weeks. Prior to the official launch, dynographs and videos of the exhaust sound were released. The gains are modest with about 9 horsepower picked up at all 4 wheels. It is nice to see that AWE provided crank and wheel dynos with us obviously preferring the wheel numbers on the Mustang dyno. The exhaust also saves 32 pounds from the rear of the car. Check out the video, the exhaust is worth it for the sound alone. ...
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