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German Car Blog, Performance, Tuning, Motorsport, and Modification News
Published on 11-29-2011 06:04 AM
Um, this seems to be an answer to a question nobody asked. We have already received the coupe and the sedan is likely coming as well but we just can not figure out why Mercedes would want to do an estate version. The Black Series is supposed to be a hardcore and more track focused version of the base AMG car and we just can not imagine too many station wagon owners wishing their vehicle carved corners better. The pictures do not lie and Mercedes is testing it but the European market is likely where this will have any appeal. ...Published on 11-29-2011 02:58 AM
The current MKVI Golf does not look dated to us but Volkswagen is preparing its successor. It is reported that the car may be available as early as the end of next year which will make it a 2013 mode. The main change other than the looks of course will be the new 1.8 liter turbo four cylinder which will become the entry level motor. There is also a rumor that the next Golf R will be a diesel variant. We will just have to wait and see, enjoy the spy photos. ...Published on 11-29-2011 02:26 AM
Congratulations to Audi. The German publication Auto Bild named the R8 GT the 2011 sports car of the year and the award was accepted in person by Audi at the Essen show. The R8 GT is an absolutely special automobile but is it truly the best sports car of the year? Debatable, but not really a surprise to see the Germans pick a German. Readers voted a further 5 models into the top 3 positions in their respective categories. ...Published on 11-28-2011 06:59 PM
This is something we have been waiting to see for a while. An M157 comparison between a standard CLS 63 AMG, a performance package CLS 63 AMG, and a Renntech tuned CLS 63 AMG. The standard car puts down 483 wheel and 478 wheel torque. The performance package ups this to 516 and 544 respectively which is a very nice jump. The Renntech tune then takes this to 583 wheel horsepower and 643 wheel torque which is just about a 100 pound-foot gain on top of the performance package. Incredible? Yes. ...Published on 11-28-2011 06:11 PM
This is a video of the F10 M5 gauge cluster as it accelerates from a stand still to 300 km/h. For those not familiar with KPH 300 works out to 186 miles per hour. Launch control is not used on the car and it spins the tires noticeably from the standstill which is no surprise. Once it hooks it moves pretty fast but does start to slow a bit up top. Still, hitting 186 MPH as quickly as it does clearly shows there is a lot of horsepower at work here. A video of a CLS63 with a tune accelerating from 0-300 is provided for comparison. ...Published on 11-28-2011 02:56 AM
Porsche Design does some very cool things. They seem to do just about everything from bars, to water-pipes, to now buildings. This 57 story Porsche Design Tower condo complex will feature an elevator system that does not force one to leave their car until they literally are inside their home. No pricing information has been released but this development will likely be an attractive to car guys who no longer will have to wonder if anyone is dinging up their car in the parking garage. ...Published on 11-28-2011 02:12 AM
AWE Tuning has released their FMIC (front mount intercooler) for the 2.0 TFSI powered Audi Q5. The FMIC features full aluminum construction and fits behind the factory crash bar. It is also designed to reuse the OEM hoses and clamps. AWE Tuning claims they were able to reduce temps with their FMIC vs. the stock intercooler by 31 degrees Fahrenheit. This is an improvement of nearly 25%. Definitely nice to see companies produce performance products for the Q5. ...Published on 11-27-2011 09:51 PM
Well, that was fast. The boost only 1/4 mile record for the E9X M3 barely stood for a week before being broken. VAC Motorsports managed to raise the bar by almost 2 tenths with a run of 11.1@126.99. They also set the new E9X M3 60 foot record breaking BimmerBoost's own 1.781 with a 1.776. Very impressive results for a DCT M3 with a full Fabspeed exhaust, Mickey Thompson drag radials, and a VF620 supercharger kit. Congratulations to VF-Engineering and VAC. ...Published on 11-27-2011 07:04 PM
The 2011 Formula 1 season is officially over. For Mercedes, there were ups and downs (mostly downs unfortunately). Redbull and Sebastian Vettel simply dominated and it was not ever really close. The fight for second and third place was really the only exciting battle. Michael Schumacher finished the season in 8th place. Interestingly, one spot behind his teammate Nico Rosberg. Congratulations to Sebastian Vettel for a dominating season and we look forward to next year which hopefully is more competitive. ...Published on 11-26-2011 11:43 PM
Well, congratulations to Sebastian Vettel who broke the record for pole positions in a season with 15. This breaks Nigel Mansell's record which stood for 19 years. A remarkable achievement any way one looks at it. Nico Rosberg qualified in 6th place making the top 10 in 18 of the last 19 races. Michael Schumacher in what may be his last race qualified in the 10th position. The last race of the season takes place tomorrow at 8 AM PST. ...Published on 11-26-2011 09:41 PM
Mansory has a tendency of overdoing it when it comes to body kits. This package for the R8 Spyder definitely borders on being a bit too much but is more restrained than most of Mansory's products. Basically, Mansory just added a bunch of carbon fiber to the car. A carbon lip, carbon hood, carbon sideskirt add-on, carbon sideblade, carbon diffuser, carbon wing, and carbon interior pieces. The pieces stand out on a white car to show you what was changed and we think on say a black vehicle the carbon pieces would look great. ...Published on 11-26-2011 09:21 PM
Well, that did not take long. Here is the Brabus tuning program for the new W166 ML. The obvious difference is the bodykit which is made out of polyurethane. It consists of an add-on front spoiler, side skirts, LED's, rear spoiler, and a diffuser. Brabus offers Bilstein sport springs which lower the car 30 mm on top of their 22 inch wheels for the W166 ML. A sport exhaust is also available for the ML350 including the diesel version. Overall, a very classy body kit that is not overdone which is to be expected of Brabus. ...Published on 11-26-2011 02:43 AM
$19 billion is a lot of dough. It seems Volkswagen thinks it is worth putting this much money in China and intends to do so in between 2012 and 2016. The automaker expects the Chinese market to grow significantly even though it has cooled as of late. VW will launch 50 additional models in China by 2015. VW is on pace to sell 2 million cars in China this year and expects a steady increase of 15% per year. ...Published on 11-26-2011 02:11 AM
Insideline recently tested in the new 991 Carrera S and has now decided to pit it against the R8 in a comparison. The R8 4.2 V8 is not a slow car by any means. The problem though is that this is 2011 where a Porsche 911 with a 3.8 liter 6 cylinder eats it alive. Kind of embarrassing in a way for the more expensive R8 with a larger V8 motor that revs higher to be easily beaten by the Porsche 991 Carrera S that traps 4 mph higher. Not to mention this is just a 6 speed manual version of the 991 as the PDK will make the gap between the two even larger. ...Published on 11-26-2011 01:26 AM
Very nice results for this RMS Stage 2 supercharged E39 M5 that belongs to Buckhead Imports Performance. The vehicle dyno'd an impressive 535 wheel horsepower on a Dyno Dynamics and ran the 1/4 mile in 11.7@122. We must say it is very nice to finally see some positive results with RMS built/tuned hardware on the E39 M5. This supercharger kit will eventually be on sale to the public and we will bring you more details then as this is a promising start. Enjoy the pictures and video below. ...Published on 11-26-2011 12:21 AM
Gemballa seems to be set on making a comeback despite company founder Uwe Gemballa being murdered earlier this year. Like it or not, Gemballa is a major name in tuning and investors want to continue to use it. Case and point, the new 2011 Gemballa Tornado based on the 958 Cayenne Turbo. The black body panels you see are carbon fiber. The Tornado package consists of those panels plus a new front bumper with LED's, side skirts, rear exhaust with matching diffuser/bumper, hood, spoiler, rear lights, and wheels. Power output is claimed to be in between 675-700 but there is nothing to support this claim. Only 30 Tornados will be made with a price no doubt fit for a Sheikh. ...Published on 11-25-2011 09:50 PM
We reported in October that the future of the Maybach brand was in doubt as talks with Aston Martin who was to provide future styling for the brand fell through. Autoweek now reports that Mercedes executives stated the brand would be killed off in 2013 as it failed to meet sales expectations. We can not say we are surprised as the Maybach was just really an expensive S-class. Mercedes would agree it seems as rather than offer another Maybach model based on the S-class a top of the line Pullman edition S-class will be sold instead. ...Published on 11-24-2011 08:02 AM
RENNtech is proud to announce our latest ECU performance upgrade for the all new M278 engine currently in the C218 CLS 550, E550, CL550, S550 and other upcoming Mercedes models. We have been hard at work refining our performance tune for these engines and are pleased to announce our latest ECU upgrade. It’s clear that the 4.6L V8 biturbo engine from Mercedes is certainly underrated from the factory and though our extensive testing and R&D; our ECU upgrade truly unleashes the performance lurking in the M278 engine. ...Published on 11-24-2011 07:21 AM
Here is the new AC Schnitzer ACS6 coupe based on the F12 650i. AC Schnitzer claims to raise output to 540 horsepower although we seriously doubt that especially without any evidence to support it. AC Schnitzer pretty much never supports their power claims so no surprise there. The main feature is the aero kit which consists of a front spoiler add-on, trunk spoiler, and a rear diffuser designed around the ACS exhaust (which sounds awesome, check out the video). Overall the body pieces are nice additions but we would like to see a dyno or details on their claimed power upgrades. ...Published on 11-24-2011 02:11 AM
This is the new 2012 Passat Alltrack. Basically, it's a Passat wagon. The US market is not too fond of wagons so we understand Volkswagen's apprehension about bringing it here. The press release for the vehicle mentions 4 motor options in the UK and conveniently omits the USA which does not bode well for our chances. It is not too big of a deal in our opinions but we always hate when models are withheld from the US market. ...
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