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German Car Blog, Performance, Tuning, Motorsport, and Modification News
Published on 04-25-2012 04:11 AM
Well here is what we have all been waiting for, forged internals for the Mercedes M156/M159 V8 and associated hardware from Weistec. These are the upgrades necessary to take already ridiculously fast Weistec supercharged M156 V8's to the level of shock and awe. The parts available are forged pistons, forged rods, head studs, gaskets, and valve buckets. These parts are all detailed below with specifications and pricing. The M156 and M159 game just entered the next level. ...Published on 04-25-2012 02:02 AM
The facelifted pictures of the 2013 Audi Q5 were leaked a bit early. Nothing major here, minor changes to the styling including the front and rear lights. The front grille and bumpers are also slightly reworked. The big news is that the 3.0 TFSI supercharged V6 from the S4 goes under the hood although in detuned form with only 268 horsepower. We are guessing upgrades to bring that powerplant up to the S4's level are going to be popular. It also seems that a tuned version of this motor will find its way into an SQ5 model to come at a later date. ...Published on 04-25-2012 12:52 AM
We love what APR does, really, we do. Well designed and tested products with solid reliability. Recently the development car for their K04 turbo software in the UK was able to put down some impressive times turning low 12's at Santa Pod Raceway in the UK and also hitting high 11's on a VBOX. We do not consider VBOX times the equivalent of a timeslip but clearly the APR software and associated mods are capable of powering a car into the 11's in better conditions (wet out when the runs were made). Good stuff continues to come from APR. ...Published on 04-24-2012 09:49 PM
BMW was absent from DTM for a long time, over two decades. If one would like to see BMW's DTM racing statistics, that information is available here. The first race is this Sunday and BMW is not pulling any punches. They are letting everybody know they are back and playing for keeps. This is a fantastic BMW Motorsport teaser video and it has us pumped up for the start of the season. DTM is going to be better than ever. ...Published on 04-24-2012 09:32 PM
Those of you with 997.2 911's have a new filter option courtesy of AWE-Tuning. Their S-Flo filters are a popular upgrade and for good reason due to their flow characteristics over the stock filters. The increase in flow over the stock filters is 27% which results in claimed gains of 14 horsepower and 13 pound-feet of torque. These are not yet available to order but are being wrapped up. This is a simple drop in replacement, we'll update you when these are available for order. ...Published on 04-24-2012 07:09 PM
The F10 M5 is a pretty quick car trapping in the low 120's stock. The C6 Z06 is also no slouch and has run 10's stock as well as trapped in the high 120's. More realistically though it is low to mid 120 trap car in the 1/4 mile. With even a decent tune, a C6 Z06 is not going to lose or even run door to door with an F10 M5. This is the problem with M5board videos as the former owner likes to make BMW's look faster than they really are. ...Published on 04-24-2012 06:38 PM
The Bahrain GP took place as planned even with all the turmoil (which our members who have visited and are from Bahrain say was generated by the media) that was reported and hyped up everywhere. Sebastian Vettel won the race and Lotus-Rentault had a nice finish with both drivers on the podium. Mercedes-Petronas did not do poorly as both Rosberg and Schumacher scored points which is definitely a positive. Rosberg was faster than Schumacher though which seems to be the established trend. The next race is in Spain, May 13. ...Published on 04-24-2012 02:53 AM
The Mercedes SLR is a very fast car with its supercharged M155 5.4 liter V8 putting out 615 horsepower. The car is capable of low 11's stock with trap speeds just under 130. The SLR is a bit dated now though and the Aventador is the new kid on the block sporting a 690 horsepower 6.5 liter V12 putting power to all four wheels and a sequential gearbox making shifts in the 50 millisecond range. We are still getting a feel for how fast the Aventador is and although this is only an 1/8 mile race that is over pretty quickly the Lambo is able to pull the SLR pretty quickly. If the race went a full 1/4 mile, it would have been ugly for the Benz. The Aventador definitely is fast. ...Published on 04-24-2012 01:28 AM
Congratulations to Saad Racing and Pro-EFI for a record setting run at the Las Vegas Motor Speedway Dragstrip. This is a difficult track to have record settings runs at due to the desert climate but the car was able to run an impressive 10.56@142. At a different track in better conditions, this will likely improve considerable. The run was 2/100th's off the ET record which is also currently held by Saad and Pro-EFI for street BMW's. This car belongs to BimmerBoost member ZooyorQ and we know this won't be the last we will be seeing it at the strip. Congrats to all involved. ...Published on 04-20-2012 05:30 AM
Well, Mercedes has decided its current naming scheme is too confusing so in order to ease confusion they are going to introduce new model names which will... confuse us. Ok, what was supposed to be the CLC (the baby CLS) will now be the CLA. CLC will instead denote the C-Class hatchback. What was supposed to be the GLC (X6 type SUV) will now be the GLA. The E-Coupe will likely be renamed CLE. The SUV's are likely to get renamed as well. We do not see how any of this is less confusing and we hope Mercedes abandons this nonsense. We will just wait for the official model names before trying to sort this mess out. ...Published on 04-20-2012 03:11 AM
Here is Hamann's F10 M5 kit and it is a bit disappointing considering their F12 6 Series effort was actually pretty good. As this is a widebody kit, new widened fenders are included along with the modified front and rear bumpers as well as sideskirts. The front on this is rather bland with LED's seemingly tacked on. The fenders just do not look clean and neither do the two spoilers, trunk and roof. The Hamann F12 6 Series was more innovative and cleaner, this is just too much stuff tacked on simply to be there. 21x9.5 front and 21x12 rear wheels with 265/30 and 325/25 tires respectively round this out. ...Published on 04-19-2012 10:48 PM
Congratulations again to Weistec for yet another magazine feature. Earlier this year if you recall BenzBoost member Ecampbell's Weistec supercharged CLK63 Black Series was featured in Mercedes Enthusiast and late last year Graham Rahal's supercharged CLK63 Black Series was featured in European Car. This particular feature is a bit different as it is about the Weistec M159 V8 SLS 750 supercharger system which produces 638 horsepower to the wheels. ...Published on 04-19-2012 08:54 PM
Audi released a new video and pictures of its 4.0 TFSI twin turbo V8 direct injected motor. This engine is going to be an important part of the Audi lineup to come (and for Audi tuners!) as it it is going in many models including the S6, S7, S8, and the Bentley Continental GT. In the S6 and S7 it is in a tune range of 420 horsepower. Bore and stroke are 84.5 x 89.0 respectively with a cylinder angle of 90 degrees. ...Published on 04-19-2012 04:50 PM
Uh oh, it seems to be true, the ladies do love BMW's! A survey by Illicit Encounters states that there is an intrinsic link between success and cheating. We will take the compliment that a BMW equals success. Additionally, married women are most likely to cheat with a BMW owner. The survey also claims BMW drivers are less likely to settle for an unsatisfying relationship. BMW owners polled who said they were unfaithful were more than double the next group which was Audi owners. This proves once and for all that Quattro simply is not as exciting. No word on just how irresistible the opposite sex finds modified BMW's such as supercharged M3's but based on the numbers here our boosted brethren are going to have vibrant social lives. ...Published on 04-19-2012 04:20 PM
Tensions between Iran and the USA are high. What does this have to do with a German automotive company? Well, the group United Against Nuclear Iran (UANI) announced that Porsche is no longer doing business in Iran and has no intention to in the near future. The idea is that companies will put pressure on Iran to abandon their nuclear ambitions. UANI essentially is attempting to force businesses to choose between doing business with Iran or with the United States. Not surprisingly, Porsche sided with the American consumer. ...Published on 04-19-2012 03:16 AM
Hot damn! Mercedes is simply doing a hell of a job with their concepts. Much in the same vein as the A-Class concept the Concept Style Coupe gives us a preview of the CLC. The design is gorgeous and we wish this exact same design would carry over to the production version. Unfortunately, just like the A-Class it will not but we are hoping that just like the A-Class the final production model does not lose too much in translation. ...Published on 04-18-2012 11:58 PM
We reported last week this deal was done and now we have the final selling price: $1.1 billion. That is a big chunk of change to spend on a niche. However, let's put this acquisition in perspective with other VW group brands. Ducati generated just under half a billion Euros in revenue last year. This actually exceeds some of the other 11 brands in the VW group. So, Audi has their rival for BMW Motorrad. However, both of these entities are a respective drop in the bucket of the total revenue each company generates meaning the motorcycle brands are essentially luxuries and not being counted on as major sources of revenue. ...Published on 04-18-2012 11:52 PM
We wish we could say this was new news but it isn't. We reported this just about 2 years ago yet other sites did not seem to believe us. Well, a recent Car and Driver interview with head of BMW M Friedrich Nitschke confirms our two year old story. Car and Driver asks him point blank, "Will you have an M Performance 7-series to compete with the Audi S8 and the Mercedes S-class AMG?" The response? "We are considering it." ...Published on 04-18-2012 10:58 PM
We are finally starting to see more tests of M157 twin turbo V8 equipped E63 AMG's. MotorTrend got their hands on one with the P30 Performance Package which ups power to 550 horses. It comes at a price though and this E63 was not cheap with a final price of $131,045. We advise BenzBoost members to not get the Performance Package and instead get a tune that will give you more power for far less money from one of our vendors. ...Published on 04-18-2012 04:51 AM
Yes, the Porsche Macan is still on track. For those scratching their heads at the name Porsche unveiled the official name for what was rumored to be the Cajun would be Macan. So, why a twin turbo V6? Porsche can not give the Macan the same turbo engine as the Cayenne as it would flat out stomp its big brother in performance. To keep Cayenne Turbo owner's egos in check Porsche is rumored to be developing a 3.0 liter turbo version of their Panamera 3.6 liter V6 powerplant. ...
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