Lotus is back in IndyCar! Will be part of the 2010 season
Right after qualifying 20th and 21st during the qualifying session of the Bahrain Grand Prix in Sakhir, Lotus has officially announced its return to IndyCar. The company announced a partnership with Cosworth and a current IndyCar team called KV Racing Technology.
The new team will take part in this year’s series which kicks start in Sao Paolo, Brazil on March 14th. The Lotus-Cosworth IndyCar will be piloted by former Formula 1 driver Takumo Sato. Lotus also said that the race car will be treated to the company’s classic green and yellow colour scheme.
KV Racing Technology was established in 2003 and has competed in two IndyCar championships. The team has thus far won two races, first by Cristiano da Matta and second by Will Power. Pictured above is a rendering of the Lotus-Cosworth IndyCar machine.
Initial images of 2011 Kia Magentis / Optima revealed
Kia has officially unveiled the 2011 Magentis (or Optima in other markets) ahead of its world debut at the New York Auto Show this April. This new Magentis which looks really good if you ask me is expected to go on sale in the UK next year while US buyers can expect it this fall.
This new Magentis mid-sized sedan which should go head to head with Ford’s very impressive Mondeo sits on a platform that is being used on the new Hyundai Sonata. Kia claims that the new model is longer, wider and lower compared to the outgoing model.
Unfortunately the company has not revealed technical specifications but you can safely expect 2.0 liter engines from both the petrol and diesel families. A hybrid variant is expected as well. Continue reading to view the images above in high-res glory.
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All new BMW 5-Series Touring unveiled!
BMW has added a new variant to the all new F10 5-Series which we had a go in earlier. This is the new Touring which is codenamed the F11. As expected with such a wagon, the boot space is huge. With the rear backrests up the space is figured at 560 liters. This figure can go up to 1,670 liters just by folding down the 40:20:40 split rear seats. On top of that the rear seats are also individually inclinable by 11 degrees in 7 stages by the way, nice!
Features like the Electric Power Steering and the 8-speed automatic transmission have been carried over from the sedan variant. The Touring also comes with self-leveling rear air suspension. There are two petrol and two diesel engines two choose from. The diesel family is made up by a 520d model with a 181hp and 380Nm of torque 4-cylinder unit.
There is also the 530d that features a 6-cylinder units which can crank out 242hp and 540Nm of torque. A more powerful 535d version is expected to join the line-up later on as well. Petrol wise, there is the 523i that makes 201hp and 270Nm of torque while the top of the line spot is taken up by a 302hp force-inducted 535i that can also produce 400Nm of torque. These engines come standard with the a 6-speed manual transmission.
Optional equipment includes Dynamic Drive Control with Normal, Comfort, Sport and Sport+ modes, Integral Active Steering and more. The tail gate also opens up separately. With this who needs a 5-Series GT? As always more images can be found after the jump. There is also a video for your enjoyment.
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Red Bull’s Vettel clinches pole position in Bahrain
Sebastian Vettel of Red Bull will start tomorrow’s 49-lap Bahrain Grand Prix from pole position after the German set 1:54.101 which was just 0.1 seconds quicker than Felipe Massa. Massa’s teammate Fernando Alonso managed to secure third place. It looks as though both Red Bull and Ferrari are leading the front running pack which is also made up by Mercedes and McLaren.
McLaren’s Lewis Hamilton ended the session with his fourth place ahead of Mercedes’ Nico Rosberg and followed by Red Bull’s Mark Webber. Formula 1’s most successful driver with 7 championships under his belt, Michael Schumacher will start the Middle Eastern race from seventh place. It was revealed previously that Schumacher isn’t too happy with his car’s tendency to understeer.
McLaren’s other British and World Champion driver Jenson Button secured eight in front of Renault’s Robert Kubica. Adrian Sutil surprised everyone with his 10th place finish for Force India. As expected Formula 1’s latest entrants made up the final six grid positions. Virgin Racing’s Timo Glock was the quickest of all with his 19th place finish. Lotus Racing’s Jarno Trulli and Heikki Kovalainen settled for 20th and 21st while Virgin’s Di Grassi was 22nd.
Hispania Racing was the slowest of all as Bruno Senna and Karun Chandhok were about 4 seconds slower than the times set by Virgin’s and Lotus’ drivers. The extremely slow pace was also due to the fact that the team did not take part in any pre-season testing. Virgin and Lotus are still about 5 seconds slower than the leaders who can probably lap these slower cars after about 20 laps. Please click here to view the full results.
Maybach facelift’s design illustration leaked? To be revealed next month
The leaked design illustration you above is said to belong to the facelifted Maybach that is scheduled for a reveal in April. According to the source the Maybach’s facelift is just limited to visual upgrades and upgrading the engines to fit with Euro V standards. Power output will remain the same.
Visual upgrades are expected to be made up by a new front bumper, revised grille, redesigned hood and LED daytime running lights. The Maybach is expected to make its debut at the Beijing Auto Show happening next month. Continue reading to view two more images.
Source.
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VÄTH V58 – SLK 55 AMG with enlarged V8 and supercharger
Little known German tuner VÄTH has come up with this monster of a small roadster. Called the VÄTH V58, it’s based on the Mercedes-Benz SLK55 AMG but with its 355 bhp/510 Nm naturally aspirated V8 bored out to displace 5.8-litres. That, plus a supercharger results in 565 bhp and 770 Nm of torque.
New engine parts include sports pistons, sports distribution shafts, exhaust manifolds, high-grade steel catalysts, sports exhaust silencers, polished cylinder heads, a sports air filter and a long-stroke crankshaft. Combined with some ECU twaks, this mad SLK can reach 310 km/h. All the performance comes at a price though – 30,785 euros is not cheap. On the options list is a locking differential a “home-produced and patented” fuel cooler.
To harness all that extra grunt, VÄTH throws in a sports suspension which lowers the car from 20 mm to 65 mm (user adjustable), while brake upgrades introduce six-piston calipers with 378 mm discs to the mix. The V58 rides on 19-inch wheels wrapped with 235/35 front rubber and 275/30 rears.
The exterior mods don’t look too outrageous, although the missing three pointed star leaves a big empty round hole up front, while the LED strips look like they’re there just for the sake of it. Unsurprisingly, VÄTH has fed its SLK with a carbon rich diet – the lightweight stuff can be found around the car’s lower body and in the cabin in generous portions.
More pictures after the jump.
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Pagani Zonda R: Must-watch promo footage!
Pagani has released a 2 minute 6 second-long promotional footage of the track-ready Zonda R. It features two Zonda R’s being driven on the race track in both dry and wet conditions. The Zonda R is motivated by an AMG-sourced 6.0 liter M120 V12 that can crank out 740hp and 710Nm of torque which gives the €1,460,000 Zonda R a Formula 1 like engine note. Continue reading to check out the video.
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Geely secures financing worth US$ 2.1 billion for Volvo deal
Geely, the Chinese company which is set to take over struggling Volvo from Ford has secured financing for the purchase. The financing is said to be worth US$ 2.1 billion but the source of the sum was not disclosed. With this Geely is likely to seal the acquisition by end of this month.
Reports are also suggesting the Geely will maintain Volvo’s production hub in Sweden however some are saying the the Chinese company will shift production to China. If this happens about 16,000 workers in Sweden may lose their jobs. As for setting up production in China, a 300,000-unit production is expected annually. This number is almost double Volvo’s current output worldwide.
