Motortrend, October 2008

Mind Blowing: The Incredible Numbers — 200.5 MPH Top Speed Included — From the Most Powerful Production Car in GM History

courtesy of Motortrend

By Arthur St. Antoine Photography by Evan Klein

Prepare to be humiliated. If, that is, you’re a sports-car maker other than Chevrolet. Call it what you will — “Blue Devil,” “King of the Hill,” even “Steve” — the all-new 2009 Corvette ZR1 is a world-beater. We’ve just spent a breathless week with the supercharged beast, the most powerful GM production car ever, and we’ve got all the numbers — observed top speed included.

If you’re easily frightened, now would be a good time to tune to another channel.

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InformationWeek - October 9, 2008 04:00 AM

Check out our pictures of green, 25 mph lightweights, which cost pennies to operate, from upstart automakers Zap, Zenn, Dynasty IT, Miles Electric, and E-Ride.

courtesy of Motortrend.com

By Cora Nucci

It feels like we’ve been waiting for the electric car forever. Or at least since the 1830s, when the first battery-powered electric carriages were built.While we continue to wait for GM (NYSE: GM) and other major automakers to shake off their big oil hangovers and start delivering on their electric vehicle promises — the Chevy Volt is still about two years away — impatient drivers can choose from a handful of hybrids and a class of vehicle that has received much less attention: the neighborhood electric vehicle (NEV).

Zap’s tiny Xebra Xero is a three-wheeler intended for city use. It costs about $12,000.

Officially, NEVs (or LSVs — low-speed electric vehicles) as they are classified by the U.S. Department of Transportation, are four-wheeled motor vehicles that have a gross vehicle weight rating of less than 3,000 pounds and a top speed of between 20 to 25 mph. Each state has its own laws about low-speed electric vehicles.

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Motortrend - October 2008

By Mike Floyd Photography by Brian Vance

With its all-new A4, Audi has pulled off a rare hat trick — producing a car that’s bigger, faster, and more fuel efficient.

Powering the Brilliant Red 2009 Audi A4 2.0 T quattro Tiptronic through our battery of instrumented flogging was a heavily massaged version of Audi’s 2.0L mill that’s become a staple of the Volkswagen Group parts bin. The engine has undergone numerous incremental improvements, the biggest of which being the addition of Audi’s valvelift system.

Audi’s powertrain brains developed the valvelift system in order to allow for variable control of the exhaust valves, improving the engine’s charge cycle, according to the automaker.

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Businessweek - News & Features September 25, 2008, 4:37PM EST

SSC is developing the Ultimate Aero EV, a 500 bhp electric sports car that will come to market in late 2009

Last week saw the one year anniversary of SSC’s Ulimate Aero becoming the fastest production car in the world at 256.18 mph, pushing past marks set by Koenigsegg’s CCR and Bugatti’s Veyron. It’s the first time the top speed record has stood for a whole year since McLaren’s F1 held it for seven years with 386.4 kmh (240.1mph). Now comes news that an Ultimate Aero EV (Electric Vehicle) is in development. A 500 bhp EV is planned for late 2009 and a 1000 bhp 4WD EV is also under consideration. Now here’s the kicker—the press statement reads: “The drive train under development will feature a revolutionary power source allowing for extended time between charging intervals with the possibility of several years between charging.”

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Motortrend - Sept 2008

By Scott Evans

The Toyota Camry has been America’s best-selling car for years now and for 2009, Toyota apparently has invoked the if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it clause. After all, the Camry was redesigned for 2007 — and then beat the competition to become our 2007 Car of the Year — so its looks are still fresh and its technology is still relatively cutting-edge.

The biggest difference you’ll notice on the 2009 Camry is that the CE trim level has been dropped. The entry-level Camry is now simply the Camry, with the LE as a mid-level package, the SE in sport trim, and the XLE as the premium brew. Of course, there is also the Camry Solara for those who want two doors and a drop top (the Solara coupe has been discontinued for 2009) and the Camry Hybrid for those looking to be even more eco-friendly or just to save at the pump via its 33/34-mpg city/highway mileage rating.

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Motortrend - August 2008

By Arthur St. Antoine Photography by Arthur St. Antoine, the Manufacturer

Carroll Shelby has a Mustang of his own (a whole bunch of ‘em, in fact). Parnelli Jones has a Mustang of his own. And now another legendary racer, Dan Gurney, has a Mustang of his own, too. It’s a limited-edition Saleen; just 300 will be sold. And, yup, like the Mustangs of his rivals, it’s real fast.

Gurney hasn’t raced professionally since 1970, but he’s nearly as famous now as he was in the Sixties. His resume includes four wins in Formula 1 world-championship events (including one in his own Eagle F1 car), seven Indy Car victories, five NASCAR wins, and countless first-place finishes in sports-car events. He was also, as he learned from the father of Jim Clark at the Scotsman’s funeral in 1968, the only rival driver feared by the late, great two-time world champion. Since 1970, Gurney has been the sole owner of All American Racers, a team that has notched 78 race wins (including the Indy 500 and the 24 Hours of Daytona). The man knows a tad about fast cars.

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BUSINESSWEEK - Auto News August 18, 2008, 4:57PM EST

by Sam Livingstone

The Lexus IS-F is a significant new design for one core reason: it introduces a performance sub-brand parallel to that of the M-cars from BMW, AMG from Mercedes-Benz, and the S and RS sub-brands from Audi. This then is Lexus making a logical next step to further encroach on the established German premium brands.

BMW originated the premium brands’ performance sub-brand with the ‘M for Motorsport’ M3 of 1986 (the M1 supercar of 1978 preceded that, but was a singular model, not a performance derivative). Now they are on their fourth generation M3 and M5. Though the ‘M for Motorsport’ moniker is now perhaps more ‘M for marketing’, M-cars still have a focus on lightweight track-orientated performance.

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