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German Car Blog, Performance, Tuning, Motorsport, and Modification News
Published on 03-20-2012 03:46 AM
Automotive news and reveals move pretty fast these days. Last week we reported that Mercedes intended to launch a new SL65 AMG with the reveal taking place next month at the New York Auto Show. Mercedes decided for whatever reason to reveal the vehicle online early before the show which more and more manufacturers seem to now be doing with their vehicles. The car looks absolutely fantastic. ...Published on 03-20-2012 02:37 AM
The Carrera GT has been out of production for some time now but it is not exactly a common car with a huge sample of dyno's. When one pulls up to a dynojet it is sure to peak interest in what the Porsche supercar will put down. This completely stock Carrera GT (not exactly a lot of modifications available for it either) put down 548 horses to the wheels on a dynojet at the TX2K12 event. From a 5.7 liter naturally aspirated V10, that is pretty damn good. Video of the dyno run is below. ...Published on 03-20-2012 12:53 AM
BMW has won the ALMS GT championship the past two years in a row. Impressive? Absolutely. Now they begin their quest for a three-peat and it is off to a good start with a victory at this past weekends 12 Hours of Sebring. The winning M3 GT was driven by Joey Hand who completed an intense final two laps to get BMW its second straight Sebring victory. We will see if BMW Team RLL can keep this up in the highly competitive ALMS GT class (with Corvette Racing coming on strong). The next race is the Long Beach Grand Prix April 13-15. ...Published on 03-20-2012 12:36 AM
The Audi R18's are picking up where they left off last year winning just about wherever they race. This is the first 1-2 victory for Audi at Sebring since 2005. The winning R18 did so comfortably winning by four laps. Audi may have won 1-2-3 if it was not for gearbox problems in the number 1 R18. The new E-Tron Quattro and Ultra R18's did not participate in this race as they will make their racing debut at Spa (Belgium) on May 5. ...Published on 03-19-2012 11:41 PM
It is no secret Volkswagen wants to improve its model share and creating another model is a good way to do that. VW sees the opportunity to create an entry level four-door coupe done in the same style as the CC but based on the cheaper Jetta platform (instead of the Passat like the CC). This car would be a natural competitor to the upcoming Mercedes CLC which itself is a cheaper, entry level version of the CLS. ...Published on 03-19-2012 10:40 PM
Doubt this will get much outrage out of our users but the plug has been pulled on the R-Class in the US market. The reasoning behind the move? Lackluster sales. The R received a refresh in 2011 but it did not help things. We always questioned the idea of a mini-van in our SUV obsessed culture and it seems the market spoke clearly. Sales were sliding as early as 2007 at only 13,000 units in the USA falling well short of the 50,000+ per year goal for this model. ...Published on 03-17-2012 07:00 AM
We have discussed the G65 AMG a couple times before and now it is confirmed the vehicle is indeed coming. AutoEvolution reports the G65 AMG will come with an M275 V12 at 6.0 liters with 612 horsepower and 738 pound-feet of torque. The expected price is somewhere in the 220,000 Euro range making this an absurdly expensive G-Wagon. Will it come to the USA? We hope so, just because the idea is so ridiculously over the top.
...Published on 03-17-2012 06:10 AM
This is a vehicle to commemorate RUF's 35th anniversary of expertise in tuning turbocharged vehicles. It is of course based on the new 991 Porsche 911. This a turbo only vehicle with PDK and rear wheel drive. Horsepower is at a plentiful 630 and torque is at 608 pound-feet. Ruf states the top speed is at 205 miles per hour. This is basically OEM level work and can be seen as an early 991 GT2 which surely will be similar in specification. ...Published on 03-17-2012 12:49 AM
Renntech keeps slowly but surely pushing the platform forward. They were the first to runs 10's, first to crack the 600 whp barrier, and now the first to crack the 130 MPH barrier in the 1/4 mile. The new fastest M157 record is 131 miles per hour. Keep in mind, this is before Renntech's latest round of mods have pushed the M157 motor to 627 wheel horsepower. It is safe to say this record will be surpassed fairly quickly as well. Check out the video below. ...Published on 03-16-2012 10:53 PM
Well seems they keep changing their minds about whether should or should not produce this car. In January, we reported Porsche CEO Matthias Mueller stated the roadster was delayed indefinitely. Now reports are coming out that Mueller is stating the car is back on the table and will be produced. Porsche supposedly held a focus group last month regarding the car and it swayed them toward producing it. The only thing stopping them is the worry about the brand image. We like that Porsche is being cautious and not just throwing in as many models as they can like everyone else. ...Published on 03-16-2012 10:40 PM
The M6 Gran Coupe is rendered here courtesy of Theophiluschin. Yes, the car is coming as it has been spotted testing and we should see a reveal by the end of the year. So if in the market for an M5 should someone wait for this instead? Well, it is likely going to be much more expensive as 6 cylinder 640i Gran Coupe starts at $76,895. It may be a little lighter than the M5 though as the 640i weighs 4191 pounds. Really, once the bigger brakes, wheels, and motor are added it seems the weight will be a wash. It definitely will look sportier though, check out the renderings below. ...Published on 03-14-2012 07:44 AM
There was little word from Mercedes on whether they would produce another SL65 AMG or not. The current SL63 with the performance package easily exceeds the previous generation SL600 and is likely more than a match for the previous generation SL65 AMG (Black Series excluded). So it appears the V12 twin turbo M275 will be making another appearance but will it get any significant upgrades? If not, it almost seems redundant with the existence of the new twin turbo V8 with the performance package especially considering it will be more expensive. ...Published on 03-14-2012 07:17 AM
With the major German luxury players all having turbo direct injected four cylinder motors in their entry level cars it was only a matter of time before we got this comparison. Finally, an N20, 2.0T, and M271 battle royal thanks to Insideline who continues to do the best comparisons in the industry (until they let GermanBoost start testing cars). So who comes out on top? Well, read below to find out. ...Published on 03-14-2012 06:20 AM
The new Boxster certainly is impressive, inside and out. Everyone has been commenting mostly on the design but with a sub 8 minute run we can now discuss the incredible performance as well. The performance increase on the Nurburgring for the new Boxster is substantial gaining 12 seconds on the previous generation 987 Boxster despite only having 5 more horses. Incredible? Absolutely, especially considering this time is only 18 seconds off the new (and much more powerful) 991 Porsche 911 Carrera S. ...Published on 03-14-2012 02:41 AM
It is a good time to be an executive as the Volkswagen Group. $23 million is a lot of dough and we can argue about if it is warranted. Martin Winterkorn is the CEO and his 2011 salary was about $12 million. His 2012 salary? Almost double at $23 million thanks to bonuses and incentives. Winterkorn sure is making an incentive laden contract look good and we would love to know the deals as to what bonuses he gets for what goals. Regardless, all board members have earned a 94.2% pay increase since 2010, wow. ...Published on 03-14-2012 02:11 AM
This is our second set of US performance numbers for the new M5. Car and Driver put up numbers last year and hit 12.0@122. MotorTrend got it into the 11's with a 11.9@120 mph run. Certainly not bad but not exactly blazing performance these days either especially considering MotorTrend hit 12.5@115 in a 6 speed manual previous generation E60 M5. That car was already a heavy 4100 pounds and this new M5 is almost 300 pounds heavier. ...Published on 03-13-2012 06:35 AM
Renntech moves the M157 bar yet again with a dyno run of 627 wheel horsepower on 93 octane setting a new M157 record. This comes less than a month after Renntech was the first (and only) tuner to break the 600 wheel horsepower mark on the M157. Renntech now hopes to clear the 700 wheel barrier and the next steps for the M157 are billet turbo upgrades and transmission upgrades. Renntech is aiming to have these ready by the end of the year. Congratulations to Renntech for raising the bar yet again. ...Published on 03-13-2012 02:13 AM
Last month we reported that the Mercedes AMG brand was a likely buyer for Italian motorcycle produce Ducati. AMG is a logical choice as they would like to have competition for BMW Motorrad. In an interesting twist, Audi is entering the Ducati sweestakes. Why Audi and not VW? Well, technically the brand would be under the VW halo but Audi has a motorcycle history. Also, clearly Audi wants to compete with BMW's bikes as well. Is this simply a move to drive the price up beyond what AMG is willing to pay for it? The price is now rumored to be over the billion dollar range. We'll see who wins or blinks first. ...Published on 03-12-2012 10:38 PM
The Mustang 5.0 is being compared to the M3 pretty frequently although these are not cross shopped cars. Understandable as the M3 is the benchmark and has been since 2008. The Mustang is a great performance value as it has and should be. Well, this 2012 M3 is stock except for a rear section exhaust but it is a dual clutch. The Mustang has an off-road H-pipe (meaning no cats), intake, tune, and exhaust. ...Published on 03-12-2012 10:10 PM
Mansory body work is not subtle and that is absolutely fine by us as long as the result is good. In this case, the result is definitely good. Obvious changes are the carbon fiber front clip, rear, grill, and hood as well as the widened fenders. Where we feel the kit goes a bit too far is the LED lights in the front bumper and the rear exhaust with the odd rectangular tips. However one feels about the tips and LED's, this certainly is an aggressive body package for the new CLS. ...
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