2011 Porsche 911 GT3 RS 4.0

The ever-expanding Porsche 911 family tree has a new member, a wild child born of a tryst between the 911 GT3 RS road car and the GT3 RSR racer. The 2011 911 GT3 RS 4.0 is a halo performance machine, limited to just 600 units worldwide. It will likely be the last 997 series variant, as a new 911 is waiting in the wings.

Porsche set the stage for the RS 4.0 as nothing less than an all-out performance machine, noting that it packs the largest displacement engine ever to come in a factory-baked 911. As the name suggests, that engine is a 4.0-liter version of Porsche's flat-six, equipped with forged pistons, titanium connecting rods, and the same crankshaft as found in the GT3 RSR racer. The result is a solid 500 horsepower at 8250 rpm (and an eyebrow-raising 125 horses per liter), with 339 pound-feet of torque available at 5750 rpm and a power-to-weight ratio of 5.99 lbs/hp.

The car is, natürlich, fitted only with a six-speed manual transmission, which has gear ratios specifically designed for track work. Porsche says the car can hit 60 mph in 3.8 seconds and 124 mph in 12.0 seconds, with a maximum velocity of 193 mph. Of course, those are the exact same benchmarks as Porsche specifies for the standard GT3 RS, which offers 450 horsepower from its 3.8-liter flat-six. That means the 4.0's quoted times may be on the conservative side, but we'll have to wait until we're offered some track time with a RS 4.0 to know for certain.

2012 Bentley Continental GT

Meet the 2012 Bentley Continental GT. What do you mean, "Where is it?" It's orange -- how can you miss it? Yes, really, that's the new one.

The craftsmen from Crewe, England, seem to believe wholeheartedly in the mantra of leaving well enough alone. There was little about the old Continental GT worth nitpicking, so rather than risk ruining a good thing, Bentley instead made small, careful changes calculated to improve where possible. The result, as you can plainly see, is a car that appears little different than the one it replaces. To stop there, though, would be to undersell it.

While the Continental GT remains roughly the same shape, a number of small cues will help you distinguish old from new the next time you roll through Beverly Hills. The front turn signals are smaller on the new car, while the grille is slightly larger. The pair of razor-sharp character lines that started outboard of the headlights and near the tops of the front wheels and ran up the sides of the car have been smoothed out. The trunk is pulled up, squared off, and flanked by wraparound taillights finished in LEDs. Naturally, there are new wheels and exhaust tips on the bill, plus chrome accents just above the running boards. In all, the new Continental appears as though it's been melted by the forces of extreme speed, and it's a sleeker, more modern shape for it.

Extreme speed is something the Continental GT has always done well, so it's no surprise that its straight-line performance hasn't been dampened. Though Bentley found another 15 ponies and 37 pound-feet hiding amongst the twin-turbos and 12 cylinders, top speed remains at 198 mph. In fact, objective performance hasn't changed at all. The 2012 Continental hits 60 mph from a standstill in 4.4 seconds and eclipses the quarter-mile in 12.8 seconds at 111.2 mph, nearly identical to a 2005 Continental GT we tested. To its credit, the new car was slightly quicker and stickier on our skidpad and figure-eight exercises. Although the numbers don't bear it out, the delivery certainly feels more enthusiastic, which is an impressive thing to say considering that the old car pulled like a freight train already.

2011 Saab 9-4X

We learned three things about Saab after hanging out with its 9-4x team for a few days in Washington, D.C. One: You have to be taller than 6-foot-3 to work there. Two: You have to be an engineer. (They did bring a marketing guy from Sweden, but it turns out he is an engineer as well.) Three: You have to be an optimist.

Saab has had a pretty tough decade. Becoming wholly owned by General Motors in 2000 after a decade of partial ownership, it has struggled on both marketing and manufacturing fronts. Tight finances demanded shared platforms, which made it difficult to build traditional Saab products. Small budgets made it nearly impossible to achieve the marketing penetration necessary for Saab to attract new customers.

Toward the end of the decade, things looked even more grim. Parent company GM established a date at which the company would either be sold or left for dead. The first unsuccessful purchase attempt was made by Swedish supercar builder Koenigsegg. That fell through. Suitor number two was Beijing Automotive Industry Holding Corp, and that deal also fell through. Finally, at the 11th hour, Saab was purchased by Dutch supercar builder Spyker. Even through all this, employees kept their heads and hopes up.

"With each new event and new product, we looked at it as this will be our time. This time, it will work. Each time, we knew we had tried too hard to let the next challenge stop us. We are going to succeed," exclaimed Saab's 9-4x product manager while holding on for dear life in the back seat during the press drive. I still can't say if his voice cracked from pride or fear.

While the rest of the world waits patiently for the launch of the new 9-5 Sport Combi, Saab is convinced the 9-4x Crossover will be the hit it has been waiting for here in the States. Saab believes this is the first shared-platform vehicle (its mate is the Cadillac SRX) that truly embodies all Saab's core qualities right from the start.

The all-wheel-drive system is Saab's XWD, a front-drive-based Haldex system. In normal driving, the system splits power 90/10 front to rear. If the situation calls for it, up to 90 percent can be transferred to the rear by the computer-controlled center power coupling.

2011 Toyota Corolla LE

The Toyota Corolla should be any automaker's dream car, especially for the accounting department. The basic formula is this: Start with a tidy but not extravagant package that has earned a reputation for safety, value, and reliability. Then, make only the slightest of changes to limit superfluous development costs that would significantly affect the consumer price. Is that a brand-new powertrain and a totally redesigned suspension sitting in the lab? Maybe they'll see use in a couple more years, buddy.

Understand that Toyota has little reason to break the trend. Through March 2011, the Corolla was the top-selling C-segment car in the United States. It's up 18.7 percent for the year, and comfortably leads the Honda Civic by close to 12,000 units. And guess what - it's not incentives solely driving sales. According to TrueCar, Toyota isn't even in the top five for manufacturers offering the biggest discounts this year. What makes this little car a sales success?

2011 Toyota Corolla Rear Three Quarter 2
It's certainly the antithesis cutting edge. Let's examine why.

First off, it's not fast. The Corolla LE you can buy here is powered by a 1.8-liter inline-four developing 132 horsepower and 128 pound-feet of torque. In my past, I've spent extensive time with a 2002 Corolla LE. It also had a 1.8-liter, though it made slightly less power -- 125 horsepower and 125 pound-feet. It wasn't fast then, and it isn't fast now. Perhaps I shouldn't be surprised the two mills sound so similar to each other.

2011 Toyota Corolla Side In Motion

Back in 2002, I enjoyed the normalcy of a four-speed automatic, complete with an overdrive button (remember those?) on the side of the shifter. Nine years later, there are still four gears. This time around, the transmission is called an "Electronically Controlled automatic Transmission with intelligence." The overdrive button is gone. But the shift gate design is modern and the auto seems to swap gears more quickly than its elder model. There's some progress.

2012 Chevrolet Corvette and Centennial Edition will reveal in Kentucky

Chevrolet will reveal the 2012 Corvette models alongside the Chevrolet Centennial Edition at a special event this weekend at the National Corvette Museum in Bowling Green, Kentucky. Production begins this July.

additionally, Chevrolet will boost the Corvette’s performance capabilities having a series of enhancements for the 2012 model year aimed at offering better on-track performance and on-road comfort. The subtle performance improvements concern the Z06 and ZR1 models, although the rest of the Corvette lineup receives modest interior and equipment updates.

New for the 2012MY are the optional Michelin Pilot Sport Cup Zero Pressure tires, which are offered for the 505HP Z06 as well as the supercharged 638HP ZR1 models. These competition-oriented tires promise to boost cornering and handling capability throughout warm, dry conditions. Combined with the Performance Traction Management (PTM) technologies, the Michelins are said to give an 8-percent gain in maximum lateral acceleration (a lot more than 1.1 g) and shorter braking distances.

The new Michelins are included inside the optional Z07 performance package for the Corvette Z06 along with a new PDE performance package on the ZR1. The tires come with all-new aluminum Cup-style wheels in satin black or machined finishes which are about five lbs (2.2 kg) lighter and stronger than the 20-spoke wheel.

Another upgrade is the racing-style spoiler included in both Z07 and PDE packages. The Z06 will also get the Magnetic Selective Ride Control suspension technologies and Brembo carbon ceramic brakes with the Z07 package. Extra optional extras incorporate the carbon fiber hood on Z06 models and taller gearing for the ZR1 in 5th and 6th gear for a 2-mpg improvement in highway fuel economy.

Inside, all 2012 Corvette models will get new seat and steering wheel designs. Chevrolet says the seats will feature larger bolsters for improved lateral support and optional microfiber suede inserts. Furthermore, all models receive contrasting color stitching (red, blue and yellow), and padded center console and armrests.

When it comes to equipment, there is going to be a new Bose audio system with nine speakers (compared to seven in 2011), much better tuned to the cabin’s acoustics. The 2LT trim level will feature a new Technologies Package that includes navigation, head-up display, Bose premium audio system, Bluetooth wireless phone connectivity as well as a USB port. Lastly, clients might be able to chose brake caliper colors from red, yellow, silver or gray.

2011 Inden Design Mercedes-Benz SL65 AMG Black Series

Since 2008, Mercedes-Benz has been producing a special edition version of the SL65 AMG referred to as the Black Series that comes with a fixed carbon fiber roof, a wide body kit, an upgraded V12 and several other performance and styling enhancements. In case you take place to like the look of the Black Series but prefer to maintain the retractable hardtop of the standard SL65 AMG, you might need to take a look at Inden Design’s latest tuning package.

The transformation begins on the outside with a new wide body kit that emulates the look of the SL65 AMG Black series with heavily beefed up wheel arches, new front and rear bumpers, boot lid spoiler, side skirts, as well as a new hood with twin air vents. The blacked out grille and 20-inch alloys shod in tires size 265/30 up front and 325/25 at the rear round off the adjustments.

Interior appointments are restricted to the flat-bottom steering wheel in Alcantara with the identical material partially covering the top portion of the instrument panel.

In European guise, the SL65 AMG’s 6.0-liter bi-turbocharged V12 churns out 612-horses and 1,000 Nm of peak torque, but immediately after Inden Design’s new ECU tune, output is lifted to 680HP, whilst the German firm also removes the electronic speed limiter.

A new exhaust system producing a much more sonorous sound and an electronic module that lowers the ride height by around 45 mm are the final touches of Inden Design’s tune.

Orders of Ford F-150 with EcoBoost V6 increased

Based on Ford, need for that EcoBoost engine inside the F-150 has increased every month given that manufacturing began in January. In March, 1 in each 4 (25%) styles sold within the States was outfitted with the force-fed V6, increasing to around 35 percent in April.

Within the F-150, the three.5-liter V6 EcoBoost engine delivers 365 horsepower and 420 lb-ft of torque offering a towing capacity of eleven,300 lbs mixed an EPA rating of 16 mpg within the town and 22 mpg on the highway. Ford says the turbocharged V6 boosts fuel economic system up to 20 percent and cuts carbon dioxide emissions as much as fifteen percent over a comparable by natural means aspirated V8 engine.

Ford strategies to introduce far more turbocharged engines across its lineup within the next two a long time aiming to produce up to one.5 million EcoBoost engines globally in a variety of autos.

In the second fifty percent of 2011, the company will current the 1st software of its four-cylinder EcoBoost engine in North The us, the 237-horsepower 2.0-liter unit in the Explorer SUV and Edge CUV. The same powerplant will also be provided inside the revised Taurus sedan, through which it’ll return a highway fuel performance of at the very least 31 mpg, while it is going to make its way into the 2013 Focus ST too.

2012 Porsche 911 GT3 RS 4.0

One of Porsche’s most preferred, coveted and effective track-inspired manufacturing autos, has become offered a ultimate, thrilling injection of thoroughbred motorsport technology resulting within theLimited to 600 automobiles globally, the  Porsche 911 GT3 RS 4.0 provides together inside a sports activities auto the attributes which have made the Porsche 911 GT3 a constant winner on the race track.

The motorsport-derived four.0-liter engine, currently the greatest displacement 911 engine ever, also capabilities the greatest per-liter output – 125 horsepower (hp) per liter – from a normally aspirated Porsche flat-six engine. The engine makes use of forged pistons, the connecting rods are fashioned from titanium, as well as the crankshaft continues to be lifted unchanged in the 911 GT3 RSR race vehicle. It achieves its greatest energy of 500 hp at eight,250 rpm. Optimum torque of 339 ft/lbs (460 Nm) is arrived at at 5provides genuinely extraordinary overall performance, lapping the famed Nürburgring-Nordschleife in seven minutes and 27 seconds. Out there solely with asixty mph in only 3.8 seconds (0-100 km/h in 3.nine s), and with its gearing developed to the race circuit it reaches the 124 mph (200 km/h) mark on the race track in below twelveexcellent driving dynamics arrive from quite a few, meticulously coordinated particulars.

Furthermore to making use of suspension components generally encountered in motor racing, weight reduction can also be of supreme significance. Equipped as regular with lightweight elements for instance light but powerful carbon fiber sport bucket seats, carbon fiber front fenders and baggage compartment lid, and weight-optimized carpets, the two-seater’s ready-for-action excess weight is just 2,998 lbs (one,360 kg) having a complete5.99 lbs/hp (368 hp/tonne).

This limited edition 911 is painted Carrara White as standard and emphasizes its proximity to motor racing by its dynamic look. Signature attributes will be the extensive track, the low vehicle placement, the huge rear wing with aspect plates, central twin tailpipe, as well as the aerodynamically optimized body. Air deflection vanes mounted on possibly aspect of the front bumper – referred to as ‘flics’ or dive planes – make their very first look on the manufacturing Porsche. They make increased downforce around the front axle, and together using the steeply inclined rear wing, offer aerodynamics on par with its overall performance abilities. Therefore, in the 193 mph (311 km/h) best track velocity, aerodynamic forces exert an further 426 lbs (190 kg) of downforce, thusstreet.

Having a manufacturer’s suggested retail cost starting at $185,000 (excluding destination), the brand newwithin the United states in late 2011.

2011 Holden VE Series II SS Ute

Holden VE Series II SS Ute complemented with 18-inch alloys, front fog lights and a lowered sports suspension. With its 6.0 L V8 the SS is certainly powerful, but it’s also safe with a maximum 5-star ANCAP rating thanks to its six airbags and electronic stability control.

The VE Ute is based on the same floorplan as the Commodore sedan and, as such, is quite a long vehicle. It’s not noticeable on the open road, but from the outside or when parking it becomes increasingly apparent, especially if you’re used to driving subcompacts. On the plus side, there’s plenty of storage space in the tray area and front leg room is more than ample.

Interior, The pews are supportive without being restrictive and even a big bloke like me had no trouble getting in and out. The steering wheel is big and meaty and, in SS guise, leather-wrapped to boot. The centre console is logically laid out with Holden’s multifunction touch screen iQ system at the top and the climate controls at the bottom. The SS comes with dual-zone climate control and everything about the system is intuitive and easy to use.

The interior is made of high quality materials and is very well put together and there’s the usual package of trip computer, cruise control and steering wheel controls. The driver’s seat is partly electrically adjustable (straight up and down and tilt), though still requires you to manually slide it forward and adjust the backrest.

Interior of Holden VE Series II SS Ute also gets Bluetooth and iPod integration, which is nice. One thing I found disappointing was the sound system, which is very tinny and not at all fitting with the SS’s character. In a car that can cost upwards of AU$45,000, I had expected a bit more in this department.

The SS Ute was not the uncouth, brutish leviathan I expected it to be. Acceleration is smooth and consistent, the ride is (mostly) smooth and the V8 is – dare I say it – refined. I went in with a lot of preconceptions about this car, but came out with a new found appreciation for this motoring sexagenarian.

The Holden VE Series II SS Ute is a highly capable, comfortable cruiser. Though lacking in some areas – the sound system and seat controls, for instance – it is well equipped and pleasant on the road. And at AU$52,161 in 6sp automatic SS guise, its good value for money to boot. With the exception of Ford’s XR8 Falcon – which we are yet to test – the SS Ute has no other real competitors on the Australian market and as such remains highly desired among both tradespeople and enthusiasts alike.