LEAKED! - MINI Coupe Concept, aka Speedster, appears ahead of Frankfurt

MINI wants to celebrate its 50 years in great style. This is why it has created the MINI Coupe Concept, a car that rumours stated would be called Speedster. It could be a Speedster, it it had a drop top, but it seems it has not. Check the images.



So far, this is all we have got. As soon as info is released will give you more details on the car.





Source: Edmunds

OFFICIAL! - Ferrari presents the new 458 Italia

It's been a while since people have started talking about the replacement for Ferrari F430 Modena. There have even been some photographs of the car being tested, but now we have official information on the new car. It will be called 458 Italia.



The new car is the first Ferrari equipped with a direct fuel injection engine, something that will help the Italian automaker reduce consumption with no compromise to performance. The new engine used by Ferrari 458 Italia is an all-aluminium 4.5-litre (4,499 cm³) V8 that generates 570 bhp at 9,000 rpm and 540 Nm at 6,000 rpm. Also new is the seven-speed dual clutch transmission with automated gearshifts, a sort of gearbox that will soon be seen in all Fiat vehicles.

Ferrari 458 (displacement and number of cylinders) Italia is 4.53 m long, 1.94 m wide, 1.21 m tall and counts on a wheelbase of 2.65 m. Its dry weight is 1,380 kg, what gives the car a power-to-weight ration of 2.42 kg/bhp. Weight distribution is 42% at the front and 58% at the rear, for better traction, considering the car is rear wheel drive. Tyres are 235/35 ZR 20 in front and 295/35 ZR20 at the back. Top speed is 325 km/h and acceleration from 0 to 100 km/h is 3.4 s.

The new car also features its E-Diff and F1-Trac controlled by the same ECU, what improves longitudinal acceleration out of corners. As expected, the brakes are also much better than in F430. High performance ABS and a system that maximizes braking speed has lowered 100 km/h-0 stopping distance to 32.5 m.

The new car will be present at the Frankfurt Motor Show this year. There is no word on when sales will begin, but we believe they will happen soon after the car presentation.





Source: Ferrari

OFFICIAL! - Audi presents the first five-door coupe of the world, the new A5 Sportback

Audi will celebrate its centennial in 2009 and it is expected to present a lot of new products until the end of the year. R8 Roadster, A7 and, until these two machines decide to show up, the new A5 Sportback, the first five-door coupe of the world.



Although it looks like a coupe, it would be more accurate to call the A5 Sportback as a fastback, due to its rear door, but the fact is a fastback usually does not have such an elegant shape.

With prices that start at 33,650 euros, it has a 480 l luggage compartment and six engine options, three petrol units and three diesel powerplants. The petrol options are two 2-liter four-cylinder TFSI with 180 bhp (132 kW) and 211 bhp (155 kW) and a 3.2-liter V6 with 265 bhp (195 kW). As for the diesel units, there is a 2-litre four cylinder engine that generates 170 bhp (125 kW) and two V6 units, the first a 2.7-litre able to generate 190 bhp (140 kW) and the second a 3-litre that pumps out 240 bhp (176 kW).

The new A5 Sportback is 4.71 m long, 1.85 m wide and 1.39 m tall, with a wheelbase of 2.81 m. Tomorrow Audi will present another new car. We would bet on the R8 Roadster. Let's see if we are right.





















Source: Audi

VW Robust will have a new name: Amarok

There are almost no more misteries surrounding the next midsize pick-up truck from Volkswagen. We already have a good idea on what it will look like with the VW Pick-Up Concept presented in Hannover last year. Now we have the final name for it: Amarok. In inuit language, it means wolf, even though it does not sound nice in other languages.



Amarok will very likely keep the technical specs from Pick-Up Concept, or else, it will be 5.18 m long and will have a great variety of body options, as well as diesel, petrol and flex fuel engines. The pick-up truck will be sold in South Africa, Australia and most countries of South America, as well as in some European countries. Produced in Pacheco, Argentina, it will be officially presented at the 2009 Frankfurt Motor Show.











Source: Argentina Auto Blog

Peugeot presents its new midsize minivan, the 5008

Citroën wants to become a more upscale carmaker, but it offers products Peugeot does not have in its range. At least not for the time being, but the idea in PSA seems to include a change in that. This is probably the reason why Peugeot, after presenting its 3008 crossover (sort of), will also introduce the new 5008 minivan at this year's Frankfurt Motor Show. Even though the German event is only in September, Peugeot has already provided us with pictures that present the new minivan in full details.



The new 5008 will be a seven-seater (five, in really, because the third row is composed by very small seats, similar to the ones used by Opel Zafira). It is 4.53 m long, 1.84 m wide, 1.64 m tall and bears a wheelbase of 2.73 m. The car, just like Citroën C4 Grand Picasso, is built over the Citroën C4/Peugeot 308 platform. The lugagge compartment can hold up from 579 l to 679 l with third row seats folded down. This difference in space is due to the fact that the second row of seats slides in order to make more room in the lugagge compartment, if that is necessary.

Besides the Head-Up Display, which projects speed information, for example, in the windshield in order for the driver not to look any other way than the road, 5008 also features six airbags, standard ESP and other safety equipment in order to be one of the safest people movers around.

As for the engines, there will be six options, two petrol and four diesel units. At first, buyers will only have the 1.6-litre VTi petrol engine, with two different outputs: 120 bhp and 156 bhp. Later, they will be able to choose two 1.6-litre HDi diesel engines. Both produce 110 bhp, but one of them, the BMP6, is slightly more fuel efficient, what, apparently, does not make much sense. This is possibly due to the adoption of an automatic gearbox in the other one, the BVM6. The top diesel engines, both 2-litre HDi units, produce respectively 150 bhp and 163 bhp.

Considering Peugeot has never tried to sell anything in this market segment, let's see how the 5008 performs. If looking good has something to do with sales performance, Peugeot may have a great contender in its hands. Or should we say claws?