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German Car Blog, Performance, Tuning, Motorsport, and Modification News
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. ...Published on 11-24-2011 01:50 AM
Here are the first performance numbers for the brand new 991 Carrera S. The car has a 394 horsepower 3.8 liter flat 6. The vehicle tested had the 7 speed manual transmission and put up a very respectable 12.7@113. This puts it just slightly ahead of an E92 M3 even with DCT. We expect a PDK version of the 997 Carrera S to run mid to low 12's at around 115 mph meaning in a straightline the vehicle should be just as capable as a standard 996 generation turbo. Impressive? Absolutely. ...Published on 11-23-2011 07:30 PM
What is going on? This is now the second major driver BMW has managed to somehow steal for the upcoming 2012 DTM season. First it was Mercedes driver Burno Spengler and now it is the 2011 DTM champion Audi driver Martin Tomczyk. It would seem that BMW is not messing around and intends to have the best car as well as the best drivers for next year. It is going to be a very interesting season.
...Published on 11-23-2011 04:51 PM
We all knew the C63 AMG Black Series Coupe was going to be an impressive vehicle. We just had no idea it would raise the bar so far. Ex-DTM driver and champion Bernd Schneider was able to get it around the famed Laguna Seca course in a minute and thirty-six seconds. That puts the C63 Black Series on par with the 458 Italia, Nissan GT-R, Lexus LF-A, Porsche, 997 GT3 RS, and Audi R8 GT around the roadcourse. Pretty elite company indeed, check out the laptime list from fasted laps for Laguna Seca below. ...Published on 11-23-2011 03:03 PM
In an earlier article we reported that the 550dx was rumored to get 500+ horsepower. We were skeptical and stated that previous 400 horsepower and 550 pound-foot of torque numbers sounded far more realistic. Well, turns out that is exactly the case as the final numbers are 381 horsepower and 516 pound-feet of torque for the triple turbo diesel powerplant. Disappointing? Yes, as the hype for this car was out of control. This motor is mated to all wheel drive as previously reported which will help put all that torque down. Expect to see this engine make its way into other BMW models like the X-series shortly. ...Published on 11-23-2011 02:57 AM
The B8 S4 continues to evolve and the 1/4 mile times continue to drop. Just a little over a week ago we reported the first 11 second B8 S4. That run was an 11.9@117.73 and this was improved to 11.7. The trap speed was only 116 but this same car also hit 118 setting a new fastest time in the process as well. The vehicle below is a 2010 S4 with DSG. It is running a beta APR race tune, APR pulley, miltek exhaust, and a custom intake. ...Published on 11-23-2011 01:32 AM
We really like what APR does. Their performance options for VW and Audi vehicles are well tuned and reliable. Lately they have been stepping it up taking the 2.0 TSI motor in VW's to 470 wheel horsepower on 100 octane. On 93 octane they hit a very respectable 423.8 wheel horsepower. The Stage III+ setup is available for sale and is a $2,999 upgrade from the Stage III. These are some very impressive results. Perhaps we will see 500+ whp from APR and the 2.0TSI in the near future. ...
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