SuperTunes

The auto industry has had a lot of ‘what-ifs’ attached to it and if the pendulum would have swung the other way, you would think that the present make-up of the industry would be different.

One of these ‘what-ifs’ that we couldn’t escape asking concerns the legendary Lamborghini Miura and we’ve asked ourselves time and again,

“What if Lamborghini brought back the Miura in the present time? What kind of car would it be?”

Well, it may not have come straight from Lamborghini themselves, but at least one designer seems to have an idea as to what it should look like. His design concept, which he’s calling the “Lamborghini Miura Nuovo”, should give us an indication as to how one of history’s greatest cars should look when it’s reborn in 2010. Of course, this is nothing more than just a design rendering but given the original Miura’s mid-rear V12 engine, you would think that an engine like that, coupled with a timeless name like ‘Miura’, is sure to attract its fair share of attention.

Designer reveals new-look Lamborghini Miura Nuovo Concept originally appeared on topspeed.com on Wednesday, 10 March 2010 09:00 EST.

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The perks of being a Formula One race car driver is limitless and if you just happen to be a two-time World Champion driving for a team like Ferrari, well, you just have it good. Really good.

Fernando Alonso has yet to start a race for Ferrari and he’s already reaping the rewards of being with the Prancing Horse after being given his own personal Ferrari 458 Italia. The custom edition 458 Italia comes with a Bianco Fuji livery and black interior with Alonso’s own name and signature embroidered in the headrest of both seats. The photos, which was posted in Teamspeed, is the latest indication of how unbelievably lucky these Formula One drivers are.

We’re still waiting for the day when we can get our own Ferrari 458 Italia, and though we know that that day might never come, we’re still holding up hope that maybe these guys’ good fortune rubs off on us.

Fernando Alonso get his own custom Ferrari 458 Italia originally appeared on topspeed.com on Wednesday, 10 March 2010 08:14 EST.

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Bentley has a long-standing reputation for building some of the world’s most luxurious cars and that reputation has been carefully preserved by the company. After all, with the atmospheric prices of their cars, you would hope that they are doing all they can to justify the price tag.

Well if you’re curious to know the production process going on in Bentley, the company was kind enough to give us a glimpse of one of the stages behind the production of their latest flagship sedan, the Mulsanne. This video takes us on an unprecedented look at how a Bentley Mulsanne is transformed from a plain-looking white body to a glittering and fully-painted vehicle. Fascinating stuff.

The Mulsanne gets six different layers of paint - three for the top coat, and two coats of lacquer – and will be available in both Satin and two-tone versions will be possible.

Bentley also announced that prospective customers can choose from over 115 different colors, 28 of which were created just for the Mulsanne. We didn’t know that you could create new colors, but apparently you can.

Check out the video to see part of the process of how the Mulsanne is what it is – a luxury car of the highest order.

Press Release after the jump

Video: The 2011 Bentley Mulsanne's Art of Color originally appeared on topspeed.com on Wednesday, 10 March 2010 05:54 EST.

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When winter descends and the professional racers of the Nascar and IndyCar series put away their cars for the off-season, amateur racers of the northern regions get ready for winter's gift: ice racing.

When rumors began circulating about a Ferrari 599 Hybrid concept model was in the pipeline, you could say that it piqued the curiosity of a lot of people within the automotive circle.

After all, for a while it seemed that the words ‘Ferrari’ and Hybrid’ went along as much as peanut butter and carrots. But since everybody has been jumping the hybrid bandwagon in recent times, we were prepared to give Ferrari the benefit of the doubt and wait to see if they did have a hybrid in the works.

Turns out, they actually do, after the first photos of the prototype 599 Hybrid made its way to the Internet recently.

Continued after the jump.

Leaked photos of the Ferrari 599 Hybrid originally appeared on topspeed.com on Saturday, 27 February 2010 18:30 EST.

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If there’s one car that has been kept close to its vest by its manufacturer this close to the Geneva Motor Show, the I.D.E.A. Institute’s Sofia hybrid sports sedan takes the whole cake.

While most automakers have started supplying us with teasers and first official photos of their entries to Geneva, the I.D.E.A. Institute has given us three CGI images of the car. That’s about it. Then again, beggars can’t be choosers so we’ll take these photos over nothing.

In addition to these renderings, the I.D.E.A. Institute did give us something to work with, saying that the concept car will be instantly recognizable through its “Italian styling and beauty”. Like we said, it’s better than nothing.

In any case, this is the second year in a row that the I.D.E.A. Institute has booked a ticket to Geneva after a long sabbatical, and if last year’s concept car – the ERA roadster – is any indication, then we might be in for another pleasant surprise from these fellows.

I.D.E.A. Institute releases CGI renderings of 'Sophia' sports hybrid concept originally appeared on topspeed.com on Saturday, 27 February 2010 17:30 EST.

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As a country that’s not really synonymous with producing supercars, Denmark clearly stamped some notice unto itself after the Zenvo ST1 made its debut at the Dubai Motor Show last year.

The car ended up as such an attraction that the Stig was called in to do some runs of the car in the – what we can imagine – obscenely hot Dubai desert. Ok, it was the Dutch edition of Top Gear Magazine that did the piece but still, we’ll take as many videos of the ST1 as we can get, regardless of who’s shooting it.

In this particular video, which we think is one where they’re documenting the photo shoot for the ST1, the Danish supercar is seen cruising along a road with some pretty mesmerizing sand dunes in the back and a number of camels, most of which, upon closer inspection, probably had no idea that they were being used for a photo shoot of the ST1.

Here’s to hoping that the shoot ended well and no camels decided to, shall we say, go bonkers and step on the car. After all, only 15 of these cars will be made and it would be a pity if one of them got destroyed by a camel’s hoof.

Top Gear's Stig drives the Zenvo ST1 along the Dubai desert for a photo shoot originally appeared on topspeed.com on Saturday, 27 February 2010 16:30 EST.

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Even if the car is still less than three-months old, tuning houses are already scrambling in putting together performance packages for the Audi A8. Now, it looks like the first tuning house to have struck the proverbial hot iron is Hofele Design with a tuning package that it claims to improve not only the A8’s aesthetic design, but also - and more importantly - its overall performance.

Starting under the hood, the A8’s 4.2-liter V8 petrol engine has been tuned to deliver 400 horsepower - a significant spike from the base model’s 372 horsepower capability. As far as the luxury sedan’s 4.2-liter V8 TDI diesel is concerned, Hofele Design was able to bump the A8’s horsepower from 350 ponies to about 395 horsepower. In addition to that, the performance package was also able to shave off a tenth-of-a-second - 5.3 seconds to 5.2 seconds - from the car’s 0-60mph clocked time.

Hofele Design also went out of its way to provide a laundry list of aerodynamic modifications for the A8, not the least of which includes a new front bumper with big air intakes and air vents, air intakes / outtakes in the front fenders, discreet side skirts, rear apron as diffuser with openings for the stainless steel sports muffler with four tailpipes and flap control for sound optimization, a bigger trunk spoiler lip, and last but certainly not list a set of 20-inch or 22-inch alloy wheels.

Audi A8 by Hofele Design originally appeared on topspeed.com on Saturday, 27 February 2010 15:52 EST.

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The next time you find yourself driving a car in South Korea, you might want to think twice about breaking any speed limits unless you want these guys on your tail.

Needless to say, the South Korean patrol cars are not your everyday Kia Rios or Hyundai Getzs. By our tally, that’s a Ferrari 360, a Porsche 911, and a Lamborghini Gallardo all serving as patrol cars for South Korea’s police department.

If you’re picturing a car chase, you’re probably thinking that the scenario would be the other way around. Supercar gets jacked and standard patrol cars give chase. Well, in Korea, the shoe is in the proverbial other foot and trying to engage these cars in a good old police chase is as dumb an idea as drinking milk on Fat Tuesday.

South Korean police brings in Ferrari, Porsche and Lamborghini patrol cars originally appeared on topspeed.com on Saturday, 27 February 2010 15:25 EST.

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Audi revealed a new commercial for the A8 luxury sedan. Check it out!

Short reminder: for the US market Audi will only offer the 4,2 FSI engine with 372 hp (the European customers will also get a 4.2 TDI with350 hp and two 3,0 TDI versions with either 250 or 204 hp). The engine will be mated to an all new 8-speed tiptronic gearbox.

Video: Audi A8 commercial "The art of progress" originally appeared on topspeed.com on Friday, 26 February 2010 17:00 EST.

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After posting less-than stellar numbers last year, the 2011 Ford Mustang has been rejuvenated thanks in large part to stronger-than-expected sales numbers to start 2010. Two months into the year, Ford has already reported 11,000 Mustangs being ordered, about three times as many Mustangs ordered in the same span last year.

A big reason for the Mustang’s resurgence can be attributed to the two powertrain outfitted in the 2011 model. Powered by either a 305-horsepower V6 or a 5.0-liter 412-horsepower V8, the 2011 Mustang has become somewhat of a pony car darling for customers all over the country.

In fact, almost half of the 11,000 orders have been for the V6 variant with the Mustang GT California Special also drawing considerable interest from the public. As a result of this surprising amount of attention given to the 2011 Mustang regardless of what variant it comes in, Ford’s initial sales projection for 2010 has already tripled – and we’re still not done with February.

A year after it experienced some pretty stiff competition from the Chevrolet Camaro, 2010 is fast becoming a banner year for the Ford Mustang and if it keeps up this pace, then we might not see as close a competition for pony car supremacy like we did last year.

Press Release after the jump

Sales of 2011 Ford Mustang off to roaring start originally appeared on topspeed.com on Friday, 26 February 2010 16:00 EST.

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If you’re in the market for a car and you’re seeking an opinion of which model to buy, there’s no better person to ask than someone who’s been in one too many racing scraps and thus, probably knows what he’s talking about.

So if you’re talking of getting an Audi A1, today’s your lucky day because you’re going to get the opinion of one Markus Winkelhock, a veteran of the German Touring Car Championship, whom Audi invited to take the A1 out for a spin around the Neustadt race track.

Continued after the jump.

Video: GTCC driver Markus Winkelhock test drives the Audi A1 originally appeared on topspeed.com on Friday, 26 February 2010 15:00 EST.

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You might be familiar with Senner Tuning and their positively-received customization programs for models like the Audi R8 or the Audi A5. This time, though, they’re turning their attention on a completely different project, namely the Volkswagen Golf R32.

Thanks in large part to a BMC Carbon Airbox, as well as a stainless steel sport exhaust system, and some ECU tuning, the tuned-up Golf V R32 raised its engine output 24 horsepower to a hugely-impressive 270 ponies.

Apart from the bump up in engine power, Senner Tuning also included in their tuning package for the Golf V R32, among other things, a new sport suspension, 3-piece alloy 20" wheels, performance brake pads and a set of carbon fiber parts - front grill inserts, a roof spoiler, a rear diffuser and side-mirror housings.

Whoever said that Senner Tuning only knows their way around Audis is sadly mistaken; they seem to be completely adept in souping up a Volkswagen, too.

Volkswagen Golf V R32 by Senner Tuning originally appeared on topspeed.com on Friday, 26 February 2010 14:00 EST.

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We’ve been eulogizing a lot of cars lately and while it’s painful for us to look at these wrecked machines – let alone write about them – we just can’t help ourselves. A car crash, especially of the supercar variety, is about as big a news to us as space exploration is to NASA.

That being said, this latest car crash we’ve unearthed involves a mint green – and finely-tuned up - BMW E36 M3 that was the pride and joy of the owner (his name is Paul, so we’ve been told). In fact, Paul loved it so much that he spent nearly four years working on it and making it look like as attention-grabbing as any BMW E36 we’ve seen in recent times.

But as is the case with most car crashes, Paul’s BMW E36 ended up in the wrong place at the wrong time after a distracted driver lost control of his car and plowed into the back of the E36, leaving the car’s rear end in a total state of shambles.

We feel really bad for Paul. We really do. But if there’s any consolation, we really give you a ton of props for what you did with your car – that is until someone decided to give it a facelift it never needed.

Distracted driver crashes into souped-up BMW E36 M3 originally appeared on topspeed.com on Friday, 26 February 2010 12:30 EST.

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Toyota almost wishes that these kinds of days would come more often. OK, it’s not our place to continuously make fun of Toyota in light of the crisis they’re in these days so we figure that we’d – for once – commend them for this rather cutesy and upbeat ad for the 2010 Toyota Camry Hybrid, which was built in Australia.

Taking its cue from (500) Days of Summer – yes, we loved that movie! – this Toyota ad sees a man who, despite the rather monotonous nature of his work, still finds it to appreciate the niceties that life – and a Toyota Camry Hybrid – affords.

Heck, we even have a full slate of gymnasts, acrobats, and cannonballs to accentuate the jollies of driving a Camry Hybrid.

Video: Toyota's 'Everyday Amazing' ad is a breath of fresh air for the brand originally appeared on topspeed.com on Friday, 26 February 2010 10:00 EST.

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After the German tuners from TechArt revealed their plans for a fully customized Panamera, the luxury specialists at Lumma Design decided that they could do the new four door sports car one better with their own high performance design study based on Porsche’s latest grand tourer.

While the Porsche Panamera is already an attractive vehicle from the factory, the Lumma Design model is a much sleeker sports car thanks to the stretched front end, deep dish 22 inch rims and the oversized rear wing. The Lumma Panamera will also have enough grunt to back up the super car looks. The German design team are planning for the Panamera to have no fewer than 700 HP coming from a modified turbocharged Porsche V8 under the hood, hence the CLR 700 GT writing down the side like a classic Carrera.

TechArt maintained the majority of the factory’s bodylines, only accentuating the new muscular figure, however Lumma Design is going above an beyond with an aggressive wide body kit to transform the Panamera into a true GT race car. The redesigned aero package consists of bold fender flares, sleek side skirts, restyled bumpers with larger openings and a more pronounced down force inducing front lip. The hood is also another race car part, judging from the sketch it looks like it will be made out of carbon fiber and feature quite a few engine bay temperature reducing vents. While most owners should be content with their fast four door sport sedans but there will always be a few willing to take their rides to the next level, and this rendering from Lumma Design would make a perfect starting place.

Updated 26/02/2010: Lumma Design revealed new images and official details on the CLR 700 GT. The car will be presented at Geneva Motor Show.

Porsche Panamera CLR 700 GT by Lumma Design originally appeared on topspeed.com on Friday, 26 February 2010 09:30 EST.

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It’s not uncommon to see a Lamborghini Murcielago LP640 along the streets of Europe or in the Middle East and seeing one in those parts of the world isn’t enough to make us raise our eyebrows.

But this particular video did just that because it was shot cruising the streets of Angola. Yes, that Angola; the very same Angola that has seen countless civil protests and unrest since gaining independence from Portugal back in 1975. To be fair though, Angola has turned itself around in recent years thanks in large part to an economic boom that has seen it rise above its war-stricken neighbors to become the second largest oil producer in African and the biggest supplier in China.

Continued after the jump.

Lamborghini Murcielago LP640 spotted in Angola originally appeared on topspeed.com on Friday, 26 February 2010 08:30 EST.

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Straighten out your bank accounts, fellas. Lexus has officially announced the US pricing for the LF-A supercar. The magic number to bring home one of the most eagerly-anticipated supercars in recent memory is $375,000, and if you have that kind of money to spare for an LF-A, you also avail for yourself the privilege of choosing between 3 different configurations, 30 exterior colors, six brake caliper colors, and 12 interior colors.

The Lexus LFA is powered by a 4.8-liter V10 engine that generates 552 hp at 8,700 rpm and 354 lb.-ft. of peak torque at 6,800 rpm. The engine is mated to a unique six-speed Automated Sequential Gearbox (ASG) with paddle shifters that enables ultra-quick gear shifts (0.2 seconds) with four driving modes – AUTO, SPORT, NORMAL and WET for exceptional versatility.

The supercar accelerates from 0 to 60 in 3.6 seconds and achieves a top speed of 202 mph. Production is set to begin in December of this year so that should give all of you ample time to ring up your piggy banks and save as much money as you can because chances are, when you do buy an LF-A, you’re going to need as much of what’s left in your account for, you know, the rest of your life.

Press release after the jump.

Lexus LFA Supercar priced at $375,000 originally appeared on topspeed.com on Friday, 26 February 2010 02:30 EST.

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Ken Block’s Rally American season got off on a wrong foot after he failed to even make it to the finish line in the season’s inaugural race but if his past performances at the 100 Acre Woods Rally are any indication, you could say that Block will bounce back rather nicely in the next race.

The American rally car is aiming to bag his fifth victory at the event this weekend and this video of him dusting off his new Ford Fiesta Moster World Rally with navigator Alex Gelsmino - he’s a chatty fellow, isn’t he? - at a ranch near 100 Acre Woods shows that he‘s about as ready as ready can be to get down and dirty over muddy gravel this weekend.

Ken Block takes practice run for 100 Acre Woods Rally originally appeared on topspeed.com on Friday, 26 February 2010 02:27 EST.

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General Motors has apparently gotten used to the age old adage, “if there’s no drama, then it isn’t worth the price of admission”. We’re telling you this because, as it turns out, Hummer, which was on the brink of the guillotine after GM’s impending sale of the brand to Tengzhong fell through, may just have found new life.

According to the Wall Street Journal, two prior bidders for Hummer have stepped up to the plate in the hopes of saving the All-American SUV from the dust bin. The Wall Street Journal didn’t go on record as to say which two suitors have renewed their chase for Hummer, but it sure is worth pointing that this whole situation is eerily reminiscent of the whole General Motors-Saab-Spyker soap opera, which by the way, wasn’t made official until early this week.

Whether or not these two supposed ‘old’ suitors of Hummer have anything to offer to GM to make them consider selling it, it sure is going to be a very interesting few weeks for all the parties involved. But at the end of the day, Hummer has only two places to go. Either it follows Saab to salvation or it goes follows the bread crumbs left behind by the recently-deceased Saturn and Pontiac.

Keep it here and we’ll update you as soon as more information becomes available.

General Motors not yet ready to ax Hummer; takes a look at two previous bidders for the brand originally appeared on topspeed.com on Thursday, 25 February 2010 16:00 EST.

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