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

Wald International, a Japanese body kit maker, has turned their attention toward the Porsche Panamera. This is their Black Bison kit which is a widebody. It includes a new front bumper, fenders, sideskirts, and a new rear bumper as well. Wheels designed for the kit are available as well. We think the kit is a little bit too busy and takes away from the sophistication and elegance the Panamera should have. ...

There are a lot of N54 guys that like to track their car who will likely be interested in this oil cooler upgrade from Turner Motorsport. Turner states this upgrade is just for 335i's with the N54 as it is listed as fitting the 2006-2010 E90, E92, and E93 335i including the Xi. Pricing is $899.00 for cars that have the factory oil cooler and a retrofit kit can be added for an additional $530 for cars without the factory oil cooler. Full details listed below. ...

The recent reveal of the 981 Boxster naturally leads to questions about the upcoming 2013 981 Cayman that will be based on it. The motor and transmission offering will obviously mirror the Boxster so what everyone really wants to know is what the car will look like. Our graphic designer Wild-Speed did a rendering of the back and front and we must say the vehicle looks superb. The new Boxster has been received very well and the new Cayman will likely be no different if it looks like the images below. ...

It seems like we just got used to the MKVI Golf and the MKVII is already on the way. The car will officially be unveiled at the Paris Auto Show in September but we expect an earlier leak of the official product as seems to happen often these days. The MKVII Gold will be riding on a modular platform known internally as MQB. Expect the familiar 2.0 turbo to return in the GTI and the entry level Golf to have a new 1.8 liter turbo to replace the inline-5. ...

The A25 AMG is clearly on the way as seen here. The model testing comes very quickly on the heels of its production being announced and that the A-Class would be coming to the USA. As stated in the previous report, the car will get a 340 horsepower 2.0 liter direct injected turbo 4 cylinder. It will compete with the Volkswagen Golf R and Audi S3. With no 1 Series in the USA it would seem Mercedes will have an advantage over BMW in this segment. ...

S63 twin turbo V8 owners now have another downpipe options courtesy of Akrapovic. The piece itself is made out of stainless steel and is catless. No additional details were supplied. We would like to at the very least know the cost and claimed power gains. A dyno would definitely be warranted as well. Akrapovic makes quality exhaust pieces but without further details it makes for a very weak product unveiling. Akrapovic pieces tend to be expensive so do not expect this to be a value in S63 tuning. ...

The Porsche 918 Spyder is still on track. As most of you know, this is going to be a hybrid supercar. The gasoline motor recently received an upgraded from the originally proposed 3.4 liter in the concept to a 4.6 liter V8 with 543 horsepower based on the motor in the RS Spyder LMP2 race car. This motor combined with two electric motors will make for a total output of 720 horsepower which will move the projected 3700 pound car nicely. Definitely a hybrid no car enthusiast is going to laugh at. ...

There have been a surprising number of S65 V8 failures. Some of these have been with supercharged motors and often times fanboys and tuners alike would engage in a mud slinging campaign pointing to a competing tuner as the reason for the failure. The fact of the matter is, the S65 V8 seems to have an inherent weakness. It's wet sump oiling system does not seem to evenly lubricate the bearings which eventually leads to a failure. ...

Audi has dominated the 24 Hours of Le Mans. The only real challenge to Audi's dominance has been from Peugeot who managed to beat them in 2009. They put up a great fight in 2011 as well and we were hoping for an epic battle between the two in 2012 but Peugeot has quit with an indefinite return date. The decision is for economic reasons and with how expensive racing is it is understandable. Are we just supposed to give Audi the title in 2012? ...

This is good news. Mercedes is embracing diesel motors in the USA and intends to expand their lineup due to strong diesel demand and sales in 2011. The GLK will likely get the 2.2 Mercedes 4 cylinder diesel motor that puts out 167 horsepower and and 295 pound-feet of torque. This would make for the sixth diesel in the Mercedes lineup (the ML, GL, R, S, and E all have diesel options) and competitors like BMW with the X3 do not have an answer for it at the moment. We just wish they would give it the 6 cylinder diesel but we are just happy Mercedes is expanding the diesel offering. ...

Audi replaced their V10 turbo diesel race engine that won Le Mans with a 3.7 liter V6 unit in their R18 race car. This new motor was awarded Race Engine of the Year by the publication Race Engine Technology. It is difficult to argue against the 540 horsepower motor which powered the Audi R18 to an overall Le Mans victory in 2011. Additionally, the motor is 25% lighter than the V10 it replaced while using less fuel offering greater efficiency which especially comes in handy in endurance racing. ...

The Renntech Stage 2 tune made an impressive debut on the drag strip propelling the first CLS63 AMG into the 10's as well as the first M157 5.5 liter twin turbo V8. That was done with a run of 10.98@129.4. Renntech has managed to improve on this by almost one full tenth with a run of 10.90@128.96. The 60 foot in this latest run is 1.703 versus the previous 1.797 which explains the better ET as well as the slight drop in trap speed. Congratulations on the new overall M157 record! ...

AutoExpress spotted the new Porsche 991 GT3 testing. The car should be available in 2013. AutoExpress states the vehicle will have no PDK, be lighter by almost 100 pounds, and offer 450 horsepower from a 3.8 liter. It would seem Porsche may be leaving room for another 4.0 RS model with more horsepower. There are conflicting reports on the PDK as AutoExpress states the car will be manual only like the 997 but EVO reported that the GT3 will get a PDK and 470 horsepower. Time will tell who is right, we hope for a PDK. ...

Active Autowerke has been in the BMW tuning game a long time. They are a well known and established name. This blown motor is a story we reported in September of 2010. We asked for further details on how this was resolved and what happened but never received them and Active Autowerke did not seem interested in addressing it. They sure have had plenty of time to do so. Read the experience of the kit owner below and come to your own conclusion but perhaps how this was handled and other internal issues explain why certain key people have left Active Autowerke as of late. ...

Dinan has released their Stage 2 Performance Software for BMW's equipped with the N55 direct injected turbo six cylinder. It is currently available for 2011-2012 BMW 335's (including X-drive), E82 135i, and the E70/E71 X5 and X6 35i. Applications for the F10 535i and F25 X3 xDrive35i are coming soon. $1999 is a bit on the high side but one can be very confident in choosing Dinan and the Dinan supplied warranty in lieu of the BMW factory warranty is always an attractive option for owners concerned about any potential issues. No dyno graph provided as usual and we wish Dinan would get out of this habit. ...

Congratulations to Team Abu Dhabi Black Falcon for winning the 24 Hours of Dubai. The Heico Motorsports SLS GT3's finished in 2nd and 3rd place. That means Mercedes SLS GT3 cars swept the podium at the first major endurance race of the season. This marks the first victory for the SLS GT3 race car in a 24 hour race. There were a total of 4 SLS GT3's in the race, the last of which finished in 7th place meaning all four cars were in the top 10, impressive. ...

This news is not all that surprising and comes hot on the heels of Volkswagen announcing the VW Bluesport Roadster (which this Porsche roadster would have shared its platform with) was delayed indefinitely. Porsche believes it needs to wait a generation as this car would likely eat into Boxster sales and it is currently focused on getting its entry level Cajun SUV out. Disappointing to say the least but it keeps the premium brand upscale. No telling how this will affect Audi R4 prospects which also was to share this platform. ...

BMW is testing the replacement for the current X5 which is due in 2013 as a 2014 model. So what will be different? Well, apparently LED's will be included and a hybrid model will be a focal point. Styling will get a mild update of course and we expect BMW to play it conservative as it has with the current batch of next generation models. What we want to see is the weight drop significantly as Porsche managed to do in the new Cayenne and more diesel options for the USA. ...

The Weistec Engineering offering for the SLS AMG is not just limited to their supercharger. Wesitec expanded their naturally aspirated tune offering with an M159 V8 tune. The tune adds 27 horsepower at the wheels as well as 36 wheel torque on 91 octane pump gas. The top speed limiter is removed along with a change in the throttle mapping for sharper response. The tune retails for $1900, specs and dyno sheet below. ...