German Car Blog, Performance, Tuning, Motorsport, and Modification News

Weistec has released their high flow air filters for the M157 and M278 Mercedes twin turbo V8 engines. For those familiar with modern German engines such as those from Mercedes the factory uses a restrictive filter namely out of emissions concerns. The stock filter is a point of restriction on these motors and the Weistec filters flow much more freely giving gains of 5-20 horses depending on the motor and modifications. Gains will be greater when combined with an ECU tune which of course requires more air. ...

Well it is finally here, the Porsche expansion pack for Forza Motorsport 4. Turn 10 and Electronic Arts were able to come to an agreement and that means that 30 new Porsche cars are available for the game along with 20 new events and 10 achievements. This brings the grand total of cars in Forza 4 to an impressive 625. The full vehicle list is below and although $19.99 is not a cheap add-on we are glad it exists and since it is Porsche we will look the other way and download it as any car enthusiast no doubt will. ...

Five different races, five different winners. Unpredictable doesn't even begin to discribe the season so far. With the ban on off blown diffusers and higher degrading tires, the grid has never been closer. Mercedes AMG with Nico Rosberg already claiming the win in China, look to continue their success here in Monaco, while Michael Schumacher will continue to attempt to break into the podium. The Monaco Grand Prix is the most famous track in F1.This race shows the difference between a great driver and a good one. To win this race, a driver needs to be precise, quick, and brave. This is why it is considered a "must win" for drivers. The track, a combination of being technically difficult but also extremely glamorous and high profile. The circuit is one of the most demanding with no margin for error as the Armco barriers that line the track are at some points just inches from the cars. ...

You should all know by now that Mercedes is bringing back the twin turbo V12 with the new R231 SL65 AMG. We originally thought this was just the same old M275 V12 that had seen duty in the previous generation 600 and 65 AMG's but the motor has received some updates along with a new M279 engine designation. The 6.0 liter V12 to reach its new 630 horsepower rating received far more than just different ECU software. ...

BimmerFest has come and gone and for those who could not attend we have high 198 photos below. For those interested in higher resolution images for a background, they are also available. Like last year BimmerFest took place at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena California. A very diverse group of BMW's and it was nice to see the new F30 3 Series already getting modification attention. The photography is courtesy of European Auto Source, enjoy. ...

This is the Misha Designs body kit for the new W218 Mercedes CLS-Class. This is a widebody kit that includes fenders. In addition to the widened fenders it includes side skirts, a front bumper, carbon lip, hood with carbon vents, and a roof spoiler. There are optional carbon fiber accents as well. We have seen this kit in person and it definitely makes the new CLS look far more aggressive and attractive. Everything works well, except the wheels chosen here. ...

The R8 will get a facelift later this year for the 2013 year model. The changes are small with the LED headlights getting a revision as well as the grille. The rear will be changed to mirror the R8 GT exhaust tips. The rear lights will also be getting a change. The cosmetic updates are fine but the main thing we want to see is for the car to get a dual clutch transmission finally and a horsepower bump on the V8 to match the new RS4 and RS5 with 450 horsepower. The V10 is also expected to get an increase thanks to software changes. ...

The new S-Class is completing testing and will be revealed sometime later this year. In the meantime, our graphic design artist Wild-Speed has done his usual superb work in showing us what the finished product will likely look like. The new S-Class will likely be getting lights similar to the SL featuring LED's as is customary for new Mercedes models today as well as a new taillight design inspired by the CL. ...

Braking has always been a bit of a contentious subject with BMW M. If there was one consistent weak spot in M vehicles it would be the brakes. It is not that they did not perform well as much as that they were rapidly susceptible to fade. For M track junkies, the brakes were almost always the first place to look at upgrading. Well, that is until now. With the new ceramic brake option coming for the F12, as you can see in the photos below, the BMW M Achilles heel is likely gone for good. We just are scared to ask what BMW is going to price this option at. ...

Congratulations to Audi whose R8 LMS Ultra GT3 race cars finished the 2012 Nurburgring 24 Hour race in first and second place. This is Audi's first overall victory in the Nurburgring 24 Hour race. The pole setting BMW Z4 GT3 unfortunately had a driveshaft failure costing over 6 laps before it was fixed. The sister BMW Z4 GT3 car had gearbox issues which cost the car its lead. This left the door open for Audi who capitalized in a hard fought race. ...

Introducing the Vorsteiner GTS-V edition BMW E82 1M coupe. The body pieces are all constructed from carbon fiber. These pieces include a front lip with brake ducts, a rear diffuser, and a trunk with integrated lip that weighs only 11.5 pounds. The wheels featured on the car are Vorsteiner's lightweight three piece forged VS-400 model. In addition to the body pieces and wheels, a titanium sport exhaust is available that Vorsteiner states offers gains of 15 horsepower. Pictures and video below. ...

Congratulations to Mercedes DTM driver Gary Paffett for taking the win at Brands Hatch, maintaining and extending his first place lead in the driver standings. Audi, BMW, and Mercedes all got on the podium with BMW driver Burno Spengler finishing and second and Audi's Mike Rockenfeller finishing in 3rd place. The next race will be taking place on the Red Bull Ring in thirteen days. ...

Vishnu Tuning finally managed to eek out a 10 second pass in their single turbo E92 335i that they were once touting would be in the 9's. After multiple unsuccessful attempts (with driver errors) from Vishnu owner Shiv Pathak he was able to get a high 10 second slip by raising the boost according to his data log and shifting cleanly. Details are scarce as Vishnu did not provide information on the youtube video upload and there also is no exterior view to show the slip actually correlates to the run shown in the video. ...

The 997 GT2 RS is a very strong car in stock form offering 89 horsepower and 150 pounds less weight over the standard 997 GT2. AWE Tuning is now offering an exhaust, headers, and ECU tuning software packages GT2 RS owners who want more from their car. There are two packages, the Level I offering the exhaust and software, and the level II which adds in their headers. These packages are priced at $8,545.25 and $10,630.50 respectively. ...

Conrgratulations to driver Use Alzen for BMW Team Schubert who set the fastest lap at the Nurburgring taking the pole position for the 40th running of the 24 hour race in his Z4 GT3. He was able to outpace stiff competition coming from Audi in their R8 LMS as well as the Porsche GT3's, Mercedes SLS AMG GT3 race cars, Corvette Z06 GT3's, and the Aston Martins. This is going to be a tightly contested race and we will bring you updates as it unfolds. ...

Mercedes never built a Black Series AMG CL-Class car. No reason to really as the CL is more of a heavy grand tourer than a track machine. Still, the Black Series vehicles have a very aggressive widebody look to them and if Mercedes ever built one it would likely look similar to this. This Version 2 kit from Prior-Design for the W216 CL is simply very well executed and makes the CL look very mean and aggressive, just as a Black Series style kit should. ...

This rendering comes from German magazine Auto Motor Und Sport. The F32 4 Series is obviously going to be based on the new F30 3 Series chassis. We expect drivetrain choices to mirror each other although the coupe will likely be a bit more expensive. We still think a 4 Series is not necessary but it is coming one way or another. Auto Motor Und Sport believes their rendering to be close to the finished product although they just seemed to take the F30 headlights and just chop aggressive angles. We do not know if this is accurate but if it does look like this we will not be complaining. ...

The Porsche 918 hybrid supercar is still on track and Porsche states the vehicle will be produced in September 2013 with first deliveries before the end of that year. They released photos of their test mule and the styling from the concept seems to have been dumbed down a bit. The car boasts over 770 horsepower now although they have not arrived at the final figure. This comes from a 4.6 liter V8 with approximately 560 horsepower and the rest from the electric motor which exclusively powers the front wheels. ...

The Mercedes DTM cars in 2012 have been very, very fast. It is rumored they are making the most horsepower but power is not the only change from 2011. The 2012 season is incredibly competitive with BMW entering the fray so Mercedes looked at several things to make sure they would be at their absolutely best and in compliance with updates regulations. Coulthard first hits on the most obvious and one of the most important which is the tires. ...