Filed under: Coupe, Performance, Audi, Quick Spin, Racing
There is only one Audi TT RS in the entire United States right now. And here we are, hurling the black coupe down the front straight at Willow Springs Raceway at 132 mph. We’ve been invited out to the sunny California desert on a pristine day to flog the hottest-ever Audi TT back-to-back against its TTS sibling, along with a few stints in the all-new S4 and R8 V10 for good measure.
The TT RS isn’t simply another upgraded model in the automaker’s diversified lineup. The TTS (and the other standard performance models) come from the Audi AG Sport division, while the TT RS was incubated and hatched by Quattro GmbH – the team who brought us the nefarious R8, RS4 and RS6. And while we’ve seen the TT on our shores with four- and six-cylinder powerplants, the new five-cylinder engine marks a significant departure for the front-engine coupe and convertible (even as it pays homage to the original 1980s-era Audi Sport Quattro).
So what makes the TT RS special and how does it fit into the current TT lineup? More importantly, how does the enthusiast-tuned package work under demanding track conditions? We intend to find out while answering a very important question for Audi: Should it bring the TT RS to the States?
Gallery: Quick Spin: 2010 Audi TT RS
Photos by Drew Phillips / Copyright (C)2010 Weblogs, Inc.
Continue reading Quick Spin: 2010 Audi TT RS performs, assuming Audi AG decides to deliver
Quick Spin: 2010 Audi TT RS performs, assuming Audi AG decides to deliver originally appeared on Autoblog on Thu, 15 Apr 2010 11:57:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Filed under: Motorsports, Performance, BMW, Specialty, Racing
Formula DRIFT is recognized as the North American professional drifting championship series. Autoblog has been invited behind-the-scenes with GSR Autosport, and their driver Michael Essa, as the team builds, tests and campaigns an all-new V10-powered BMW 350R during the 2010 racing season. This is the fourth installment in our series (see Part I, Part II and Part III) as we follow the team throughout the development, testing and race season.
The wail of BMW’s V10 bouncing off the limiter at redline is deafening – especially coming out of two straight pipes – so it’s unlikely that anyone heard the steel lower control arm on the front right of the 350R shatter. Michael Essa, manning the M5-powered 3 Series, certainly didn’t. The run had been going well, just like the ones before it, when all of a sudden the BMW unexpectedly snapped off its line and careened directly into the tire barrier at speed. The incident would wreak havoc on our debut weekend at Formula Drift.
Gallery: GSR Autosport BMW 350R
GSR Autosport BMW 350R: Part IV – Our inaugural event begins with a drift, a snap and a shatter originally appeared on Autoblog on Mon, 12 Apr 2010 15:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Filed under: Motorsports, Performance, BMW, Specialty, Racing
Formula DRIFT is recognized as the North American professional drifting championship series. Autoblog has been invited behind-the-scenes with GSR Autosport, and their driver Michael Essa, as the team builds, tests and campaigns a V10-powered BMW 350R during the 2010 racing season. This is the third installment in our series (see Part I and Part II) as we follow the team throughout the creation, testing and race season.
The BMW V10 ripped from an M5 and transplanted into a 3 Series does turn over on the first try – but then it starts to backfire. The GSR Autosport team shuts it down promptly and dials Apex Speed Technology. The engine and its related electronics are the most sophisticated part of the 350R. Its digital ECU is tasked with controlling fuel, spark, four-cam VANOS, dual drive-by-wire, electronic oil pumps and a variable-speed electric cooling fan. Without delay, the experts diagnose the problem (exhaust cams) and download a few fixes to the S85B50’s ECU. Set straight, the BMW Motorsport engine growls without a hiccup.
Once the engine is warmed, Michael Essa does exactly what most of us would do – he takes the brand-new 350R for a celebratory spin around the block at the industrial complex and does screaming donuts in the middle of the empty street.
Gallery: GSR Autosport BMW 350R
Continue reading GSR Autosport BMW 350R: Part III – Testing, tuning and qualifying
GSR Autosport BMW 350R: Part III – Testing, tuning and qualifying originally appeared on Autoblog on Fri, 09 Apr 2010 11:58:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Filed under: Motorsports, Performance, BMW, Specialty
Formula DRIFT is recognized as the North American professional drifting championship series. Autoblog has been invited behind-the-scenes with GSR Autosport, and their driver Michael Essa, as the team builds, tests and campaigns a V10-powered BMW 350R during the 2010 racing season. This is the second installment in our series (see Part 1) as we follow the team throughout the creation, testing and race season.
Armed with a 2008 BMW 335i coupe, a shattered BMW M5 and boxes of components stacked around the shop, the team gets busy tearing the near-perfect 3 Series apart. The bumpers, doors, hood and trunk go first, followed by the glass sunroof and remaining sheet metal on the roof (hundreds of spot welds must be painstakingly drilled out). The stock twin-turbocharged 3.0-liter N54 is carefully removed and put aside. The interior is completely gutted and the heavy glass front, side and back windows are cut out. The chassis sits bare on the cold concrete shop floor.
Gallery: GSR Autosport BMW 350R
GSR Autosport BMW 350R: Part II – We decimate a 335i and a Formula Drift racecar materializes originally appeared on Autoblog on Wed, 07 Apr 2010 14:58:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Filed under: Motorsports, Coupe, Performance, BMW, Specialty, Racing
Formula DRIFT is recognized as the North American professional drifting championship series. As the first official drift series in North America, Formula DRIFT has taken competitive motorsports to the extreme, attracting fans and car enthusiasts from all walks of life. This high-skilled, high-powered motor sport has drivers intentionally maneuvering their cars into well executed, controlled sideways slides at high speeds through a marked course. Judging is based on execution and style-rather than who finishes the course in the fastest time. Autoblog has been invited behind-the-scenes with GSR Autosport, and their driver Michael Essa, as the team builds, tests and campaigns a V10-powered BMW 350R during the 2010 racing season. This is the first in a regular series as we follow the team throughout the build, testing and race season. With that out of the way…
The idea is mildly deranged, but everyone around the table is wildly grinning. Someone has just suggested mating a BMW 3 Series Coupe to a V10 engine ripped from a BMW M5 and then entering the beast into the 2010 Formula DRIFT series. A few nervous laughs. Then, a bunch of nodding heads. The plans are set.
Common folk – that would be most of us – think this sort of absurd talk is pure madness. To drifters, this type of deliriousness is simply considered being competitive.
Gallery: GSR Autosport BMW 350R
Continue reading GSR Autosport BMW 350R: Part I – We help build a Formula Drift racecar
GSR Autosport BMW 350R: Part I – We help build a Formula Drift racecar originally appeared on Autoblog on Mon, 05 Apr 2010 15:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Filed under: Motorsports, Performance, BMW
There was a time, not too long ago, when a BMW M-badged vehicle was feared. In the late 1990s, the E36 M3 Coupe was often regarded as the best-handling two-door on the planet and its sibling, the E36 M3 Sedan, was the fastest four-door in showrooms. The droptop M Roadster offered a viable alternative to a Porsche 911 Cabriolet, while the bad-to-the bone E39 M5 ran without peers thanks to its 400-horsepower V8 .
Today’s M models offer excellent performance, but the bar has been raised so high that cheaper upstarts like Mitsubishi and Subaru can give them a run for the money on tracks, not to mention surging premium competitors like Audi and arch rival, Mercedes-Benz and their AMG offerings. Kay Segler, the new chief of BMW’s performance-oriented M brand, has taken notice. However, instead of pushing the well-respected division to the head of the pack with even greater levels of performance, Segler says it is time to rethink what his division stands for – meaning BMW M may no longer offer the fastest or most powerful cars possible.
“The measurement of 0 to 100 (km/h) isn’t as much a thrill anymore,” Segler tells TheDetroitBureau.com. He goes on to explain that it’s how a car feels via the driver’s “butt-o-meter” matters more. Furthermore, he says the performance M brand needs to shift directions. “We want to make M young again.” Segler’s goal “is to go towards affordability and freshness.” Those are big changes considering the current M lineup represents the flagship of each model range – priced accordingly – along with gigantic SUVs like the 5,368-pound X5 M. Undeterred by the news, we are still holding our breath for a production version of the Concept 1 Series Tii.
Gallery: BMW Concept 1 Series tii
[Source: The Detroit Bureau]
BMW M looking to be more youthful, get more affordable? originally appeared on Autoblog on Wed, 31 Mar 2010 19:39:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Filed under: Government/Legal, Plants/Manufacturing, Earnings/Financials, Police/Emergency, Specialty
Carbon Motors Corp. plans to deliver its first police car in 2013 – assuming the company’s request for a $310 million loan from the U.S. Department of Energy is approved. As we mentioned nearly three years ago, Carbon is diving into the rarefied purpose-built vehicle segment with the goal of delivering thousands of its “E7″ police cars to municipalities across the country, powered by a BMW twin-turbo inline-six diesel engine.
Unlike the police cars typically put out by the Detroit 3, built on a modified civilian platform and returned to civilian duty at the end of its life cycle, the E7 will use an aluminum space frame covered in composite panels. Patrol-related hardware and flashing lights are already integrated, and since the body panels will be paint-free, graphics will be applied with vinyl decals. Sold directly to law enforcement agencies (not through a dealer network), the vehicles would be returned back to Carbon Motors at the end of their service life for reconditioning or dismantled for parts.
The automaker reportedly has the buyers lined up. “We have over 13,000 reservations from 350-plus law enforcement agencies in 48 states,” says CEO William Santana Li. While the company is funded by private investors, it needs the Obama administration’s loan approval to get rolling. The decision is expected over the summer. With the money in hand, Carbon Motors has scheduled deliveries to follow 36 months later.
Gallery: Carbon Motors E7 police car
[Source: Automotive News - sub. req.]
Report: Carbon Motors still awaiting Fed loan approval, hoping to have first patrols on streets in 2013 originally appeared on Autoblog on Mon, 29 Mar 2010 16:38:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Filed under: Truck, Plants/Manufacturing, Chrysler, Dodge
Chrysler is dropping more hints about an upcoming unibody pickup that would be positioned below the Dodge Dakota. You may recall that first word of the new small truck came back in November when Fred Diaz, CEO of Chrysler’s newly-created Ram brand, dropped tidbits about the company “considering” a Dakota replacement. We speculated that it could be built on a platform derived from the upcoming Jeep Grand Cherokee/Dodge Durango architecture.
Gallery: 2008 Dodge Dakota
[Source: Automotive News - sub. req.]
Report: Ram still considering small unibody pickup originally appeared on Autoblog on Mon, 22 Mar 2010 12:59:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Filed under: Sedan, Performance, Aston Martin, First Drive, Luxury
The world’s best-looking four-door sedan beckoned us from Miami. Enticed, we boarded a jet and paid the 2010 Aston Martin Rapide a visit. Our task was to shuttle Aston Martin’s first four-sedan up the coast to Palm Beach – someone had to do it. Of course, we took the circuitous route and spent the day blissfully putting her through the paces as we leisurely motored our way north.
Why did the British automaker design a sedan – and what is hiding under its skin? What is it like to drive? How are those rear-seat accommodations? Most importantly, how does the Rapide measure up to the Porsche Panamera and Maserati Quattroporte? The answers and more after the jump…
Photos by Michael Harley / Copyright (C)2010 Weblogs, Inc.
Continue reading First Drive: 2010 Aston Martin Rapide is always ready for its close-up
First Drive: 2010 Aston Martin Rapide is always ready for its close-up originally appeared on Autoblog on Thu, 18 Mar 2010 11:55:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Filed under: Etc., Marketing/Advertising, Buick, Cadillac, Ford, Hyundai, Jaguar, Lincoln, Porsche
This year’s VDS found that several brands that perform well in the firm’s dependability study are avoided due to public misperception about reliability. These brands include Cadillac, Ford, Hyundai, Lincoln and Mercury – all having the greatest lags between dependability performance and consumer perception. “Producing vehicles with world-class quality is just part of the battle for automakers; convincing consumers to believe in their quality is equally as important,” says a J.D. Power and Associates spokesperson.
The Vehicle Dependability Study is designed to accurately measure problems experienced by original owners of three-year-old (2007 model year) vehicles. This year’s study was based on responses from more than 52,000 vehicle owners surveys between October and December of 2009. Scores are based on the number of problems experienced per 100 vehicles (PP100), with lower scores reflecting higher vehicle quality. The complete J.D. Power press release and charts can be found after the jump and in the gallery below.
[Source: J.D. Power.com]
Continue reading Porsche and Lincoln climb to top of J.D. Power 2010 Vehicle Dependability Study
Porsche and Lincoln climb to top of J.D. Power 2010 Vehicle Dependability Study originally appeared on Autoblog on Thu, 18 Mar 2010 07:01:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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