Pininfarina will take 2-seater spider concept to Geneva

Pininfarina has just released the first official image of its next concept, a 2-seater spider built over an Alfa Romeo platform in order to celebrate the studio's 80th anniversary.



We still do not have any technical specs on the vehicle, but its rendering already leaves us mouthwatering for a production version of the car. It may help save the Cuore Sportivo, who knows?

Source: Pininfarina

LEAKED! - 2011 Kia Sportage appears ahead of Geneva

These images from the 2011 Kia Sportage have leaked from the European patent office and they present the car in full details. They would only be better if the interior of the vehicle had also been revealed, but the images already allow us to know what to expect from the new crossover when it is officially released at the Geneva Motor Show, which will take place in March.



Based on the Hyundai ix35, also named Tucson in some markets, such as the USA, the new Sportage is ahead of its sibling due to the visual identity Peter Schreyer has given Kia (and Hyundai still did not manage to present). We can see the high waistline as a promise for a crossover that has a good handling, but this is something we will only be sure about when we drive it.

Considering ix35 and Sportage have so much in common, we can try to guess its final technical specifications: 4.41 m long, 1.82 m wide, 1.66 m tall and a wheelbase of 2.64 m. Engines will probably be a petrol 2-litre four-cylinder able to generate 123 kW (165 bhp) and a turbodiesel 2-litre four-cylinder that produces 135 kW (180 bhp), both managed by a 6-speed automatic transmission.

If the new-generation Sportage is not presented at the Geneva Motor Show (what is not very likely, considering these images have leaked from the European patent office), it will make its world premiere in April, back in its homeland, South Korea.







Source: Autoblog.bnl

LEAKED! - First picture of new Fiat Uno emerges

Emerging countries (and possibly Europe) have been hearing rumours of a new Fiat Uno to come up in the next few months. Well, the rumours are true, as these pictures, obtained by Novidades Automotivas in a Brazilian registry office, INPI, have confirmed. Check it below:



The picture confirms the renderings our friend Marlos Ney Vidal, from the blog Autos Segredos, has already presented about a month ago, but also presents a few important differences, such as the hood fold that goes from the front to the windshield of the car following the forms of Fiat shield. The three air scoops between the headlamps (by the right side of the car, when looking at it from the front) are also bigger and more aligned to Fiat's logo. Below these air scoops there is the main air entrance, trespassed by a bar in which the front plate will be placed. It will be black, not in the body colour, what makes it look like a big mouth.

Another sensible difference is in the rear mirrors, similar to the ones once used by Fiat Punto. Although there are differences, the renderings, which you can see below, give us quite a good idea of what the car will be like when it goes on sale, next March, in Brazil.



The image above presents us the back lights of the car. The central part will be for the brake lights, while the upper part will be dedicated to turning lights. The lower niche will be reserved for rear lights and possibly for a fog lamp in one of the sides of the car, something we would not like to see. If the car is to have a fog lamp, we hope it to be somewhere else.

There will be two flexible fuel engine options: a 1-litre able to generate 75 bhp on ethanol and a new 1.4-litre engine, which will be called Evo, based on the current 1.4-litre Fire. The luggage compartment will not be exactly big, with 200 l, but the fuel tank will hold 48 l, something important due to the smaller range of ethanol.

The new Uno will be sold in other South American countries and may be produced in other BRIC countries, such as India, China and Russia.




Source: Novidades Automotivas via Autos Segredos

Peugeot wants to change, but is the SR1 the right path?

Peugeot wants to take a big step forward. In fact, three, as it aims to become the seventh biggest automaker in the world (it is currently the tenth). Besides changing its badge for the one you can see at the end of gallery below, it has announced 14 new cars from up to 2012. Will it work? If the new design directions it takes are well received by the public, perhaps. And the SR1 Concept gives us a hint on what this new design direction will be.



Some have called this car stunning, but it really does not look that striking or revolutionary for us. It's nice, to say the most. Anyway, the car presents other qualities that may help it sell well, if it manages to reach the production lines.

The SR1 is 4.83 m long, 1.92 m wide, 1.25 m tall and bears a wheelbase of only 2.60 m (not enough for a car this big). It points out one of Peugeot's main problems lately: big overhangs. They may help the car look beautiful (discussable), but are a pain in the neck for handling.

In a straight line, anyway, the SR1 is able to go from 0 to 100 km/h in 4.7 s, a respectable mark. This is due to the total 230 kW (313 bhp) the car has available. Follower of the HYbrid4 concept (preached by Peugeot for a long time, but still not accomplished), it uses a 1.6-litre turbocharged THP engine, good for 160 kW (218 bhp), for the front wheels, and an electric powerplant, able to generate 70 kW (95 bhp) for the rear wheels. All that with only 119 g/km of carbon dioxide.

The transmission is a six-speed automated manual gearbox. No double-clutch mentioned, a sign Peugeot should be concerned about other things rather than design. Double-clutch automated transmissions are considered to be the best units of the world and should become predominant in the years to come.

Peugeot also says the car is a unique 2+1 vehicle (as if it was something to be proud about; Toyota iQ, that tiny little thing, is a 3+1) and will present the car at the Geneva Motor Show, in March, with shiny 20" alloy wheels. We still ask: will that be enough to reach the seventh biggest automaker goal? Car buyers will decide.


















Source: Peugeot

LEAKED! - New generation Chevrolet Aveo appears ahead of Detroit Auto Show

Here are the first images of the new Chevrolet Aveo, a relief for all the ones that were expecting the new car to be anything like the South American Agile.



No info has been released so far, but expect the new car to be equipped, in its top version, with the same engine that powers the Cruze, a turbocharged 1.4-litre four cylinder engine able to pump out 140 bhp. More news and images to emerge very soon. Stay with us!




Source: Auto.Blog.RS via Autoblog