Automobile Blog

AstraVXR hits Golf GTI underbelly

Vauxhall has confirmed that its 237bhp Astra VXR will cost £18,995, £1000 less than the 197bhp Volkswagen Golf GTI.

Order books are now open on the latest salvo in the hot-hatch power war, and deliveries to the first buyers are expected this September.

The VXR outpaces the GTI by reaching 60mph in 6.2sec and powering on to a top speed of 152mph. (more…)

Hot hatchet from Mazda

Mazda will have Britain’s most powerful hot hatch when the 3 MPS hits the streets.

Using the same 2.3-litre engine as its big brother, the family car-sized 6 MPS, the new hot hatch is likely to appear at the Frankfurt Motor Show in September. This suggests an on-sale date late this year or early in 2006.

If its power output matches that of the 256bhp 6, the 3 MPS (short for Mazda Performance Series) will be the most brawny hot hatch on sale, easily eclipsing the197bhp VW Golf GTI. The new 237bhp Vauxhall Astra VXR, expected in showrooms in September, would also be put in the shade.

Although no official performance figures are available, a sprint to 60mph in less than 7.0sec is likely, as is a top speed of around 150mph. (more…)

Audi V10-engined A6 revealed

This is Audi’s long-rumoured V10-engined A6, according to our spies in Germany. Expected to wear the RS6 tag and caught testing at the Nürburgring circuit, this new model will offer a raft of new technology aimed at making it one of the best-handling Audis yet produced.

Audi has long been hampered by its transmission layout, with the engine mounted ahead of the front axle. In order to minimise the nose-heavy characteristics inherent in this layout (something amplified by the lengthy V10 engine) Audi engineers have developed two new ideas for the car.

First, the quattro four-wheel-drive system will send more torque to the back wheels. Also under development are ‘Magna-Ride’ dampers which are filled with a fluid that instantly changes its properties when under an electric charge.

Fiat 4×4 revolution

Fiat is betting on all-wheel drive to give its flagging fortunes a serious boost. The cars caught here will quickly expand the Italian maker’s all-wheel-drive portfolio over the next 12 months.

The first will be a tougher-looking brother for the Panda 4×4 – the Simba. Based on the concept car of the same name, mechanically this will be almost identical to the current Panda off-roader, which means a viscous 4×4 system and 1.2-litre petrol and 1.3-litre diesel engines to choose from when it arrives early next year.

From a styling perspective, the Simba will really stand out. Buried underneath a layer of disguise in our picture, its chunky look will provide a more glance-grabbing, rugged flavour than any other Panda.

Larger than both Simba and Panda 4×4, and due for a spring 2006 UK introduction, is the 4×4 that Fiat has been developing with Suzuki. For the Japanese maker, it will be the replacement for the Grand Vitara. For Fiat, it will create an unprecedented model designed to seize an early slice of one of Europe’s fastest growing segments.

Similar models from Renault, Peugeot and Citroën (with the help of Mitsubishi) and Nissan (in the shape of the Qashqai) are at varying stages of development. Fiat’s entry should be the first to market though, featuring switchable four-wheel drive.

Ferrari 550 Maranello slips below £50,000

You can now buy one of Ferrari’s once range-topping 550 Maranello supercars for less than the price of a new Porsche 911. Right-hand-drive 550s, once £143,000 cars, are now available second hand for under £50,000, so you can own one of the prancing horse’s twelve-cylinder GTs for less than half the price of a new V8 F430.

We found an eight-year-old 550 Maranello on an R-registration currently on sale at Alan Macdonald Sports Cars, near Edinburgh. Having covered 32,000 miles and been through two owners, it is the cheapest right-hand-drive 550 that our search turned up anywhere in the country. The car has also recently been serviced and has a manual gearbox and Azzuro Californian blue paintwork.

A specialist from Joe Macari Performance Cars in London advised Autocar that buying a 550 so cheaply can cost more money that it’s worth. ‘Any V12 Ferrari can provide frightening bills,’ he told us. ‘I’ve spent between £9k and £12k getting 550s into saleable condition – and that’s in my own workshop.’ (more…)

China all set to emerges World Leading Auto Exporter

Industrial heartlands from the Great Lakes region to Germany, look out – here comes the Chinese auto industry.

A senior DaimlerChrysler executive, Ruediger Grube, startled a roomful of journalists and his own aides at the Shanghai Auto Show on Thursday by disclosing that the company intended to export small cars from China to the United States. Daimler is already in talks with one of its Chinese joint-venture partners to build a factory for the exports, he said, and would like to work out the details and make a final decision on the project in the second half of the year.

But any cars from such a venture would be only part of what now seems to be shaping up as a broad assault on global automotive markets by Chinese companies and the Chinese divisions of multinational companies.

China’s auto parts exports of everything from Delphi parking-brake components to Johnson Controls seat covers are already increasing to countries around the world. Sizable exports of fully assembled cars by Chinese-owned automakers like Hafei and Chery have already begun to developing nations in South America, Africa and the Middle East. (more…)

Ford Posts 38% Decline in Profits, Citing Falling Car Sales

Citing rising gasoline prices and falling car prices, the Ford Motor Company said today that its profits fell 38 percent in the first quarter, to $1.21 billion.

The company said it would step up its production cuts and break even at best in the second quarter. Ford executives also said the company was considering sale of its Hertz rental car division or other “strategic options” related to the business to shore up its cash reserves.

The company forecast that its second-quarter results would range from breaking even to a loss of 15 cents a share. And Ford executives said they would move to increase production cuts to offset falling sales, with the company now planning to produce 5 percent fewer cars and trucks in both Europe and North America. (more…)