Mugen Honda Civic Type-R

Those living in europe & has £38,599 to spare can get their hands on Mugen's Honda Civic Type-R. For such astronomical price you get to customize your very own unit as you will be in touch with the engineers that are responsible for your Civic. Under the bonnet you will find the 2.0 liter i-VTEC engine forged by Mugen using expertise gained from their involvement in F1 & GT racing. The powerplant is capable of churning out 237 horsepower along with a 10-percent torque improvement across the rev range. This feat is achieved by changing the pistons to improve the compression ratio, having a stainless steel exhaust pipes & a good tweak of the ECU. Forged alloy wheels capping four-piston mono-block racing brake calipers offer better breaking power to complement the increase in number of ponnies. If you are interested you ought to hurry up as only 20-units will be built.



Source : Honda

Nissan GT-R gets better

Nissan's best sports machine to date receives some update & among them are a revised navigation system, recalibrated suspension settings and an improved-flow via hexagonal meshed catalyst cells that reduce ventilation/airflow resistance. The new Nissan GT-R also get a new HDD-based CARWINGS navigation system which support the 'must have' i-pod.

Being a real driver's car Nissan has upgraded the suspension to offer better ride comfort without sacrificing the GT-R road hugging capabilities. According to Nissan, the front shock absorbers and springs has been increased and the stiffness of rear suspension radius rod bushings has been strengthened. Rear diffusers with cooling ducts, previously available only on the GT-R SpecV, have been expanded to non-SpecV models thus improving cooling performance around the rear floor area.

What the Spec V GTR has over its less expensive siblings are the Dunlop tires. Prices in Japan starts at 8,610,000 yen & making its way up tov15,750,000 yen for the flag
ship variant. The GT-R will be available on December 7th 2009 in all Japanese Showrooms.













Source : Nissan

Mini SLS AMG Roadster renderings by Theophilus

A short post here. Theophilus Chin the photoshop Guru has whipped up his magic again to show us how he thinks the future Mini SLS AMG Roadster might look like. The renderings will see the miniature version loosing the trademark gullwing for a conventional door.





















If you have not read anything about the Mercedes SLS AMG Roadster, I present to you a quick overview of the Sports Car which is powered by a front/mid mounted 6.3-liter V8 engine with 571 horsepower linked to a 7-speed double clutch transmission in a transaxle configuration that launches the car from standstill to 100km/h (62mph) in 3.8 seconds and on to an electronically limited top speed of 317km/h or 197 mph.



Source : Theophilus Chin

Chinese - Themed Ferrari 599

Well it doesn't take a genius to know that China's economic boom will give birth to a wealthy group of elites yearning for a set of wheels to flaunt their status .Knowing that Ferrari the prancing horse pays tribute to the dragon of the middle kingdom with the Ferrari 599 GTB Fiorano HGTE China Limited in a hope of seeing more Ferraris gracing the China's tarmac. This Ferrari was co-developed with chinese artist Lu Hao. Among the Chinese elements incorporated into the Car is the rev counter which has medieval Chinese characters replacing the usual roman numbers. The Red Ferrari 599 you see above gets my vote over the Ming Dynasty Vase inspired version you find in the subsequent pictures. In the Chinese culture, red symbolizes prosperity and it so happens that Ferraris are made to look good in red from the start. The "Glaze cracking porcelain" version would be much better off being a luxury cruiser for Abe Sapien from hellboy.

Source

AutoAlert : Ferrari F458 debuts

The Successor of the F430 is now available in UK with a price tag no less then £175,000. It is the fastest and obviously most powerful Ferrari ever made with 0-60mph sprint of less than 3.5 seconds & going all the way to 203mph. The 4.5 liter V8 pumps out a mind blowing 570bhp at 9,000rpm while mated to a seven speed dual clutch gear box. According to insiders, this Ferrari was built to fend off fierce competition from the likes of Lamborghini & Audi that have seem to catch up on the prancing horse company in this exclusive segment.

Among the technological highlights that this machine carries includes specially design front air scoop to channel wind to the car's flat under tray that incorporates series of aerodynamic venturi tunnels. Ferrari's "e-diff" limited slip differential and adjustable F1-Trac traction control system together with the downforce those venturi tunnels generate at high speed ensures the car sticks to the tarmac like a Gecko. To enhance the design 'wow' factor, Pininfarina decided include LED technology into the headlamp while minimizing gaps on the body through cutting edge technology. This is truly an italian masterpiece at its best.



Source : AutoExpress

AutoAlert : Minuscule Aston Martin the Cygnet

Always wanted an Aston Martin in your garage but can't afford it? The outcome from the joint venture between Toyota & Aston Martin might very well be the solution for the masses to own a piece of this premium performance vehicle with the exception that the vehicle being only slightly bigger than the smart for two.

Based on Toyota's city car the IQ, the Cygnet will also share the identical 3-cylinder engine and unique seating layout of the IQ. Customers are expected to see & feel the significant difference once they enter the luxurious cabin blessed with high end leather and the latest in creature comfort technology. Now the biggest catch is that only existing customers of Aston Martin are eligible to purchase one for themselves :( hence the dream to own one a piece of the 90 year old engineering legacy remains a distant dream for most of us. Of course unless the CEO decides not to restrict sales to their customers when it goes into production before end of next year.

News have it that Dr Ulrich Bez, Aston Martin chief executive discovered that 30% of the their customers also own a city car like the Smart for two or MINI meant for commuting around urban areas. So I supposed he felt that the company should be the one offering them the supermini instead of sourcing from other makers to complement the whole experience of owning an Aston Martin. Dr Ulrich further added that “The offering of a ‘Cygnet’ with a DBS, DB9 or Vantage is a unique combination of opposites and a novel transport solution allowing intelligent and sensitive mobility on an exclusive and innovative level,”. In a nutshell this premium commuter will still remain as a concept for now & I personally feel that the Aston's front Grille matches the front silhouette of the IQ. What do you think?