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German Car Blog, Performance, Tuning, Motorsport, and Modification News
Published on 02-18-2011 01:32 AM
In South America, South Africa, and parts of Europe, this is apparently a very popular option. It features a 6.3 liter W12 motor with 500 horsepower and 460 pound-feet of torque. 0-60 is only 7.3 seconds though considering the major heft. The windows are all specially made to be able to resist whatever is thrown at them and they alone add almost 700 pounds of weight to the car. A standard A8L W12 weighs almost 4600 pounds so this thing is definitely up there. ...Published on 02-17-2011 08:41 AM
Guys, I hate to toot my own horn here but Endras BMW is having a contest to see who is the ultimate BMW performance enthusiast/blogger. The winner will get a $65k salary along with a condo for one year. In addition, they will get a new BMW every 6 months and attend BMW events, trips, and promotions while covering it all for Endra's BMW Blog. I think when it comes to BMW performance blogging, well, I'm the man for the job. So please vote for me and let's dominate this contest: http://endrasbmw.com/ultimateblogger/Sticky# ...Published on 02-17-2011 07:17 AM
Sorry to give you pictures of the motor in bits and pieces like this, but they are hard to come by. Earlier this month we showed a low resolution picture of the motor. It was the best we had, until now. We have a high resolution side profile shot of the motor revealing some more details. Does not seem to be too large of a turbo sitting in there. ...Published on 02-17-2011 06:53 AM
Yes, the video is in German. If you can get past that, it is pretty good and worth watching as they drag race the X5 M vs. the Cayenne turbo, (skip to 2:47). The X5 M gets a jump on the Cayenne Turbo yet the Cayenne still pulls past it up top. They are pretty evenly matched despite the X5 M having a power advantage on paper but the current Cayenne is much lighter. The X5 M's weight simply works against it. We must say, Porsche did the smart thing working to make the Cayenne lighter. ...Published on 02-17-2011 12:24 AM
Mazdaspeed6 had his RB turbo upgrade on his 335 dyno'd and here on the results on 93 octane. Supporting mods are cp-e exhaust, raceland dp's, ams fmic, cp-e chargepipe, bms dci, and a JB4. In his words:
Hey guys, I just got the drf files in.. Heres the story, I ran 100 percent meth a few months ago and killed my flow sensor so I am waiting for a new one. So we had a dyno session set up this morning and terry and i decided to just do a few pulls on 93 pump, so i did... here was my best of 5 or 6 pulls i did... THIS IS MAP 2 14.5 PSI, no special map, no special tuning at all... Im happy with the numbers for 3 week old 93 pump and off the shelf map 2.. Big Thanks to terry, encinitas, rob beck, and george at ics.. ...Published on 02-16-2011 02:30 PM
The new Audi A6 has received an all LED headlight option. It joins other cars in the Audi lineup like hte A7, R8, and new A8 with all LED headlights. The light system is adjustable based on conditions. The control unit uses a small video camera that is situated in the rear view mirror along with data from the navigation system to anticipate changes in ambient lighting. This means cornering lights can be adjusted before the car reaches a corner or adjust based on oncoming traffic. Pretty sophisticated, and they looks great. ...Published on 02-16-2011 11:23 AM
AutoBild has rendered the upcoming Mercedes CLC. The car will be based on the underpinnings which will serve as the basis for the new A and B class. It will be an entry level 4-door "coupe" and the base model will be front wheel drive. Sound bad? Well, it will also be available in an all wheel drive model. The competition will be the Audi A3 and the upcoming 1 series GT both of which likely also will be FWD models. ...Published on 02-16-2011 10:43 AM
AutoExpress got their hands on the new Audi A7. Note, this is a diesel version they are driving and there really aren't and performance numbers but they do provide some nice impressions. They feel the car is one of the best looking in the Audi range. In addition, they state it handles fairly well for its size and offers pretty good feedback. The tester seems to imply it offers a better connection to the driver than the new CLS. ...Published on 02-16-2011 05:10 AM
Let's be honest, the S54 turbo scene has been dominated by Horsepower Freaks. That is not necesassrily a bad thing as they are a high quality option. However, there have not been any tuning options for those wanting to do their own turbo kit or perhaps go in a different direction. Well, ProEFI may be shaking things up considerably. ProEFI has released some initial details of their E46 M3 turbo setup using the Pro128 computer. ...Published on 02-16-2011 05:00 AM
KW has released their Variant 3 coil-overs for the Mercedes SLS. The compression and rebound settings can be altered with wheels on the strut. The HLS (hydraulic lift system) works in conjunction with the coil-overs to lift the SLS up to 40 millimeters at the push of a button. The system also automatically lowers the car back to normal when it reaches of a speed 50 miles per hour. The coil-overs are 3299 euros (cheaper in the US as VAT is included in the price) and the HLS system is 7499 euros. ...Published on 02-16-2011 04:16 AM
The rumors about an S or RS version of the Q5 continue to come. Audi did register the SQ5 and RSQ5 names with copyright authorities in Germany so it seems there is some smoke here. If it comes, expect it to have a tweaked version of the 3.0 TFSI supercharged V6 putting out about 400 horsepower. We definitely like the sound of that. ...Published on 02-16-2011 12:13 AM
People behind the scenes have been aware for a few weeks now that a sale of Powerchip was in the process of being completed. We did not report on it as a courtesy but we learned that the sale fell through and now can reveal what took place without having an affect on the outcome. Wayne Besanko attempted to sell Powerchip to an Asian investor he had been in talks with previously. This took place after the fall out from the performance forums debacle in which Powerchip's image took a huge hit and this spread to almost every forum and major blog. ...Published on 02-15-2011 10:40 PM
Audi put up a question and answer video from the Chicago Auto Show regarding the US version of the TT-RS. They took questions from facebook and even though this is Audi controlled there is some great information such as the car being manual only. The Recaro seats will also not make their way over which is obvious due to United States crash test standards, check out the video for full details. ...Published on 02-15-2011 05:56 AM
Mercedes put up this video showing their engineers parking a car using a cellphone sending commands through twitter. Pretty cool we suppose but it does not seem they have pinpoint precise control. Still, definitely cool, click read more to see the video. Oh, and while we are at it, feel free to follow BenzBoost: www.twitter.com/benzboost ...Published on 02-15-2011 05:35 AM
We wouldn't put too much stock into this as it just seems the pics are renderings. Regardless, the German tuner says it is offering these parts to make their "seven sins" version of the new A7. They lower it on KW coilovers along with 20 inch Moz wheels also adding a "stripe" across the bottom of the car. The stripe we do not think is going to be too popular of an option. They also squeeze another 45 horses out of the 3.0 TFSI motor. It's interesting, we guess. ...Published on 02-14-2011 10:11 PM
All this time we were under the impression the F10 M5 would be getting a DCT gearbox. BMW apparently tried to get the M DCT supplied by Getrag to work but stronger actuators were necessary which slowed down the response time. Motortrend is now stating the car will be auto only. Uh, BMW, this is an M car, not M SUV. We understand why the X5 M and X6 M have autos, but the M5? No manual option? What the hell is going on? ...Published on 02-14-2011 07:53 PM
Weistec has released updated information on their C63 AMG supercharger kit. At just 5 psi on 91 octane the car puts out 498 horsepower to the wheels. The price has been set at $14,999 for the Stage I and we wonder if they will be able to go beyond these numbers with the transmission limits in place. The supercharger is a 2.3 liter twin screw with a liquid to water intercooler. Custom dyno tuning is included obviously, we look forward to seeing how this develops. ...Published on 02-14-2011 07:30 AM
The new W204 C-class coupe will debut officially at the Geneva autoshow. It will also be in showrooms in the United States by September. The car will initially be available in two trim levels, the C350 with the a 302 horsepower naturally aspirated direct injected 3.5 liter V6 and the C250 which will now have a 1.8 liter direct injected turbo motor putting out 201 horsepower. The 4 cylinder motor (M271) should become an interesting tuning platform. ...Published on 02-14-2011 06:32 AM
Right now, the wait time for a new Audi is approximately 3 to 4 months due to record demand. Bloomberg reports that the A6 and A3 in particular are especially popular. All the major German manufacturers have reported record January sales. Sales chief Peter Schwarzenbauer states they may add shifts in the factories, "We’re working at full capacity at our plants and may add extra shifts on Saturdays.” ...Published on 02-14-2011 04:19 AM
Audi has divulged more information on the upcoming (limited) TT-RS. First of all, the car will be limited to 1000 units. Take note BMW, this is how you produce a limited edition model. Secondly, the car will supposedly have more aggressive ECU tuning. How much more aggressive? Around 360 hp or a boost of about 20 hp over the European edition. It will be possible to delete the rear spoiler and also a sport exhaust option will be available. How much and when? Expect pricing in the low $60k range and for the car to be available by late summer. Well done Audi! ...
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