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| Mazda CX-9 makes European debut at Moscow Posted: 26 Aug 2008 07:30 AM CDT  After winning North America's 2008 truck of the year today, at the Moscow motor show, the Mazda CX-9 made its European debut. The seven-passengers SUV will be available with a 3.7 liter V6 engine that develops 273 hp and 366 Nm of torque. Mated to a six speed automatic transmission, the engine takes the Mazda CX-9 from 0 to 62 mph (100km/h) in 10.1 seconds, while CO2 emissions are at 309g/Km. Mazda has really put all its efforts in this SUV, making sure that the car offers a quieter cabin, plenty of leg and head room and, of course, improved safety.
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| Renault brings back the Safrane Posted: 26 Aug 2008 07:12 AM CDT  The Renault Safrane was introduced in 1992 as a replacement for Renault’s very popular Renault 25 and was produced until 2000, when Renault decided to replace it with the radically styled Vel Satis and Avantime, neither of those managing to sell well. And now it looks like Renault thought about bringing back the Safrane nameplate, by revealing a new mid-size luxury sedan, which actually is a rebadged version of the Renault Samsung Motors SM5, built on the Nissan Teana and Maxima platform at the Busan plant in South Korea. The new Safrane, powered by a V6 engine mated to an automatic gearbox will only be available in the Gulf States (United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Saudi Arabia, Oman,Kuwait and Qatar). Check out more photos after the jump. Photo Gallery: The new Renault Safrane
Source: Carscoop  | ||||
| Vario Mobil’s Perfect motorhome Posted: 26 Aug 2008 05:46 AM CDT  The German company Vario Mobil, specialized in creating luxury RVs (recreation vehicles), presented their latest creations, the Perfect motorhome. And yeah, we know it’s perfect, but actually that’s its name. The models from the Perfect range have between 7.5 and 12 m (24 and 39 feet) and are based either on MAN, Mercedes Benz Atego or Volvo B12 busses. And with these motorhomes, it’s all about luxury, because you have more features than a 5-stars hotel room: car-garage (where owners can park a Smart ForTwo or a Mini, while top of line models can even accomodate a Porsche 911 or a Ferrari 360 Modena), air condition, generator, inverter, SAT, flat screen TV, radio/CD, rear vision camera, navigation, glass show case, micro wave, espresso machine, seating bench rounded with extendable and removeable seating upholstery/forth seat in driving directory, Granit flooring kitchen and bath, real glass quarter circle shower, interieur BENTart/American cherry with convex lids, hot water floor heating, leather upholstery, awning, metallic painting and lots of premium extras. But of course, all these doesn’t come cheap, because the average price for a Perfect motorhome is somewhere around €600,000 ($875,000). For more details, check out the Vario website and you can see more photos after the jump. Photo Gallery: Vario Mobil’s Perfect Motorhome
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| Rendering of the 2011 Nissan 240SX/Silvia and the 2010 Nissan Micra Posted: 26 Aug 2008 05:03 AM CDT  Without doubt, the Nissan 240SX/Silvia was one of the most appreciated RWD japanese cars in the past, and people have often wondered when was Nissan going to bring back the much loved model. Sure the 350Z is a good car, but the feeling that you got from a Silvia was undescribable, such being the case that a lot of drifters and car racers choose versions of the 240SX for their competition cars. Recently, Best Car published some renderings on what the 2011 Silvia and the Turbocharged version of the Micra will look like. In 240SX’s case, a few rumours are thrown in, that it will be based on a highly modified version of the Rear Wheel Drive platform found on the current 350Z which has proved its reliability. The Turbo version of the Micra is rumoured to be powered by a 1.6 litre turbocharged engine coupled to a front wheel drive system, which will be capable of taking the small car to quite some speed, although no performance specs were released. Until then, enjoy the pictures. Source: CarScoop  | ||||
| Spy lap of the ‘Ring by the Mercedes McLaren SLR Speedster Posted: 26 Aug 2008 04:59 AM CDT The last version of the Mercedes McLaren SLR supercar, the Speedster, has prooved to be one intesively spied car, partly due to its quite innovative design. All the spy shots culminated with this video of a lap on the Nurburgring, that has been posted on the YouTube channel by german car show Auto Motor und Sport. Enjoy!
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| 4-cylinder Cadillac compact sedan to come to the U.S. in 2010 Posted: 25 Aug 2008 04:33 PM CDT  Cadillac’s General Manager Jim Taylor recently confirmed that the next generation BLS sedan, which currently is available only in Europe will make it also be available to US customers in 2010. So far, Cadillac hasn’t decided on a name for the car, which will be placed right under the CTS in the range and it also hasn’t decided whether to offer the car with a V6 unit besides the 4-cylinder engine. “There is a big debate as to whether it is four only. I think that is a bridge too far,” Jim Taylor said, quoted by Automotive News. “There is a piece of the team who is thinking, ‘Well, with this whole fuel economy and gas thing, we ought to go all the way, say, to fours.’ We are resisting that at this stage.” The current BLS is not very successful in Europe, first of all because it’s built on the outdated Saab 9-3 platform and because Cadillac suffers from poor brand image compared to its German rivals, the BMW 3 Series or the Audi A4. The upcoming BLS will probably be based on a rear-wheel-drive shortened version of the Zeta platform and will be available in Europe too. Source: Automotive News (Via MotorAuthority  | ||||
| 2011 Seat Tribu sketches leaked Posted: 25 Aug 2008 04:07 PM CDT  Last year, at the Frankfurt Motor Show, Seat unveiled the Tribu concept and it was obvious that the Spanish manufacturer is getting ready to enter the very attractive small SUV market. And now we have these leaked designs that were registered by Seat at the EU Trademark office. Based mostly on the VW Tiguan, the Seat Tribu will probably benefit from the same engine range as its German sibling and it will compete the Renault Koleos, the Honda CR-V or the Opel Antara. No official confirmation yet, but it seems that the Spanish SUV will make its debut next year, with sales starting in early 2010. Check out one more image after the jump.  Source: Carscoop  | ||||
| Lightweight Jetstream SC250 sports car Posted: 25 Aug 2008 03:29 PM CDT  The car you see in these photos is the Jetstream SC250, developed by British company Jetstream. The ultra lightweight car is powered by the 2.0 liter twin turbo engine from the Opel Astra OPC / Vauxhall Astra VXR, mated to a 6 speed gearbox and whose power output has been increased to 250 hp (that’s where its name comes from). Though that doesn’t sound much, take into consideration the fact that the car only weights 700 kg (1,543 lbs) and you get a nice power-to-weight ratio of 357 bhp/tonne. Given that, the car sprints from 0 to 60 mph in under 4 seconds and reaches a top speed of 165 mph. Jetstream announced that the car will be priced at £29,495 (~$55,000) and that a prototype of the car will be on display at the Autosport International Show in January. The cars are manufactured in Cornwall UK and take between 6 and 8 weeks to complete, depending on the customer’s requests. Also, a more powerful 300 hp is in the works and will follow the SC250 shortly after its launch. More photos after the jump. Photo Gallery: Jetstream SC250
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| Video: The 580 hp Audi RS6 Sedan Posted: 25 Aug 2008 03:00 PM CDT After last week we’ve showed you a video presentation of the Audi A6 Facelift, now we’ve got a video of the other recent premiere from Audi, the 580 hp RS6 Sedan (read more about it here). Enjoy! Source: WorldCarFans  | ||||
| 2009 Kia Forte compact sedan details Posted: 25 Aug 2008 02:32 PM CDT  Last Thursday, the South Korean company announced their latest car, the 2009 Kia Forte compact sedan. With the recent high gas prices, Kia hopes to boost sales by releasing this new fuel efficient car, of which they hope to sell 30,000 units this year and up to 250,000 in 2010. The car will be offered with Kia’s 124 hp 1.6 liter engine and a 2.0 powerplant is scheduled to be added to the range soon. Priced from 11.9 million won ($11,300) to 19.6 million won ($18,300), the 2009 Kia Forte will go on sale this week and will compete cars like the Hyundai Avante, the Renault SM3 or the GM Daewoo Lacetti. More photos after the jump. Photo Gallery: 2009 Kia Forte compact sedan
Source: Kia  |
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