| Terrifying Mercedes SLR crash in Qatar Posted: 18 Jul 2008 05:54 AM CDT  The crash you see in these photos happened sometime during the morning of July 15th, somewhere in Qatar. By looking at what was left of the Mercedes SLR, we can tell that the car was travelling at very high speeds. And, as you’d expect, the 22 year old driver instantly died. We don’t have any other details so far, so we don’t know if the driver lost control of the car or it had some mechanical problems. All we know is that this accident really is terrifying and shows, once again, that supercars might be really really cool, but they’re definitely dangerous. More photos after the jump.
Photo Gallery: Mercedes Benz SLR Crash in Qatar
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| “Scaniagen”! VW buys 68.60% of Scania Posted: 18 Jul 2008 05:28 AM CDT  The world-renowed Swedish truck manufacturer, Scania, has been acquired by the Volkswagen Group (VAG). Recently VAG has received antitrust approvals to increase their shares in Scania from 37.98 percent to 68.60 percent, bringing Scania well within the majority of voting rights, and officially taking control of the company. It is known that VAG also has shares in MAN AG (German truck manufactuer). MAN was supposed to make a hostile takover of SCANIA, (while the Volkswagen Group, who owned stakes in both companies, came winning from the allegedly merger) but that has been denied, and VAG acted on its own on Scania shares.
Coming as the ninth company in the VAG portfolio, Prof. Martin Winterkorn, Chairman of the Board of Management of Volkswagen AG. stated that Scania will retain its well known values, its corporate identity and established culture, while having a clearer shareholder structure. Scania will not change its name after Volkswagen either, “Scaniagen” is just something we invented. Bookmark, E-mail or Share 
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| New Sport Package for the BMW 6 Series Posted: 18 Jul 2008 05:23 AM CDT  BMW fans sure have had it good this last month, after the launch of the new 7-series, the introduction of the facelifted 3-series and the promise of the CSL version of the M3, people thought that BMW would be out of announcements to make. Well they were wrong, this time they’re launching a brand new sport package for one of the most beautiful coupes and cabriolets out there, the 6-series. Quite a few new stuff is included in this package, the most important is the new re-styled hood, taken from the new 7-series and facelifted 3-series, to further more accentuate the agresiveness of this model. Other changes are the new suspension borrowed from BMW’s performance M division, the 19 inch allow rims, and on the inside, sport leather seats and a new M branded steering wheel. Besides this, the top of the range 650i also received dark chromed tail pipes. All of these changes are available in 7 different exterior colors.
Source: BMW (via CarScoop) Bookmark, E-mail or Share 
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| Vauxhall Corsa VXR Arctic Edition Posted: 17 Jul 2008 04:31 PM CDT  The Vauxhall Corsa VXR (known in Europe as the Opel Corsa OPC) is one fun car to drive and the guys from Opel thought to make it even cooler, by creating the Vauxhall Corsa VXR Arctic Edition, which will debut next week at the British Motor Show in London. But don’t expect the car to be a Corsa fitted for North Pole expeditions, because the name comes from the special Glacier White paintwork. Available in only 500 units, the car is fitted with a Remus Sports exhaust which increases the 1.6 liter turbocharged engine’s power output by 15 hp, so the Arctic Edition develops a total of 207 hp. This, combined with the dark tinted rear windows, the black roof and side mirrors and the new 18 inch V-spoke alloy wheels, make the Vauxhall Corsa VXR Arctic Edition a really good deal for the £16,995 (around $34,000, £995 more than the standard Corsa VXR), you’ll have to pay for it. No official info on the performance figures, but we don’t think there’ll be any major improvements compared to the ‘regular’ Corsa VXR’s (0-60 in 6.8 seconds and 140 mph top speed). Check out more photos after the jump.
Photo Gallery: Vauxhall Corsa VXR Arctic Edition
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| Toyota Aygo Carbon Fiber Kit Posted: 17 Jul 2008 04:08 PM CDT  So you think you’re pretty cool if you have carbon fiber? Apparently, Toyota thinks so, becuse here’s the latest Aygo version, with a lot of carbon fiber elements. The model is only available in white color, and I do not know why, just for the Dutch. Toyota Motorsport were the ones in charge of creating the Aygo, which has carbon fiber spoilers, mirrors, handles doors and roof, 15" wheels with Yokohama tyres, the interior is black and white, with a leather sport steering wheel and various accessories, all white. So, what do you think, you like it?
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| World’s police cars Posted: 17 Jul 2008 04:03 PM CDT  Policemen all over Europe drive the hottest cars. Why I am saying that… just look at the following examples. The German cops a driving the fastest legal sedan a 700 bph, twin turbo V12 Brabus CLS Rocket. It can reach 200 kilometers per hour in just 10.5 seconds. Now this is a real police car! Their neighbors, from Austria, are driving a 150.000 euro beauty, a Porsche 911, which can reach 100 km/hour in 3.4 seconds. In Italy you are very lucky to be in the police. You can drive a Lamborghini Gallardo. They have only two, one was donated to the police and one was bought. It has over 500 bhp and a very sporty look. We should go to USA too. The cops like to drive there a Dodge Viper that can brake from 100 km to 0 less than 30 meters if needed, a Ford Mustang or a 7 litter super charged H2.Lotus Exige is the choice of the UK police. It has a V8 engine which has an average consumption of just 5 liters per 100 kilometers – it's great for long chases. In Australia cops prefer a Holden VE Commodore fitted with a V6 engine that can generate 590 Nm of torque. They also like the Alfa Romeo GT. When Asians drift on public roads, the police will chase them with a Nissan Skyline GT-R, which seems to be a little faster then a 911 or a Gallardo as a Nurburgirng test showed. So what kind of cars the cops are driving in your country?
Check out more cool police cars on Concept-cars.org. Bookmark, E-mail or Share 
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| Want to attend Top Gear ? Better have 21 years free Posted: 17 Jul 2008 12:03 PM CDT  Top Gear is one of the most popular car-based tv shows around, having won many prizes and distinctions not only from the car industry but also from the entertainment one, all of us knowing that the trio of Jeremy Clarkson, Richard Hammond and James May don’t only test cars but also undertake crazy endeavours and races. The show is watched by millions of people worldwide, but only a few of them are priviledged to see them live, when they tape the show in front of their audience. Well if you want to be a part of those lucky few, then you must wait an astonishing 21 years to attend a show. That’s right, there are already another 336,000 people already on the waiting list to attend Top Gear. If they were to be set in a que, it would be 127 miles long and it would be moving with the “great” speed of 0.0007mph. No doubt, it would still be worth it, just to see what Jeremy finds on the Internet every show  , but I’m quite satisfied with watching it on my TV. Bookmark, E-mail or Share 
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| Lotus expanding its range with the Eagle Posted: 17 Jul 2008 11:55 AM CDT  More news about the Lotus Eagle. In case you don’t know, it is the future 2+2 coupe from Lotus which is set to be unveiled at the British Motor Show in London. This should bring a whole new array of customers to Lotus, since the car will add some practicality to pure sportiveness. The Eagle is slightly bigger than the Elise and 8 centimeters shorter than a 911. Due to this, you can finally fit a golf bag in the trunk. The engine will come from Toyota, so reliability should not be an issue. It will have 276 bhp, so plenty of power for everybody. The candy will come in about 2 years, with the release of the convertible version. Until then, enjoy the coupe! Bookmark, E-mail or Share 
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| Mercedes Benz GLK, official pictures and details Posted: 17 Jul 2008 11:52 AM CDT  The compact crossover market segment will be really disputed in the next period, most manufacturers preparing one player for this class. What is the GLK? If you analyze the acronym GLK with the German-English dictionary, you will find that letter K stands for “kurz” which means “short”. So the model will be a "miniature" of seven seats Mercedes model and inherits many features of bigger brother, including the quadrate profile. With 4.52 meters, GLK is shorter than the BMW X3 and the Audi Q5, but longer than the Volkswagen Tiguan. If we compare strictly the german quartet we’ll have to wait until we see them all on the roads, but in manufacturers class Mercedes is in top, having the most diverse group in the crossover premium group. The GLK was seen in videos, so mystery surrounding the release of the series has pretty much dissapeared. The commercial version does not differ much from the concept that was presented at the Auto Show in Detroit. Mercedes says that GLK is one of the best SUVs on the road. All versions are equipped with 4MATIC full traction and the power distribution ratio is 45:55. The secret skills outside the road lie in the specific program activated by the “G” button placed on the central console. With a single click of a button accelerations becomes more soft and enable off-road ESP, which improves the control. The top of the line is the GLK350 which comes with a 272 hp 3.5 liter V6 and sprints from 0 to 100 km/h (60 mph) in only 6.2 seconds. Europeans will also get the 170 hp 220 CDI diesel, the 320CDI BlueEfficency and the 231 hp 2.8 liter V6. The GLK comes with chrome-plated elements, 20" alloy wheels, a navigation system that saves the route travelled so the driver can easily find the track back. The model also provides a revolutionary intelligently tri-zonal air-conditioning system. The well-known luxury interior will not be missed, having noble materials such as Sienna Pine wood, leather and chrome, all depending on the level of facilities. It also will not be deprived of panoramic roof, Sirius audio system and the display from central console. Prices for the German market, without VAT, are:
• GLK 220 CDI 4MATIC BlueEFFICIENCY: € 33,900
• GLK 320 CDI 4MATIC: € 38,700
• GLK 280 4MATIC: € 36,600
• GLK 350 4MATIC: € 38,700 More photos after the jump.
Photo Gallery: The Mercedes Benz GLK
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