Toyota at 2012 Goodwood Festival of Speed
Toyota is coming to this year’s Goodwood FoS with a bunch of very interesting cars. The highlight of the show for them is the Toyota GT86, which not only comes in its standard guise, it will also bring its racing version, the class-winning heroe of the 2012 Nurburgring 24 Hours, and a heavily tuned GRMN version made by GAZOO, with 315 horsepower. That’s something worth seeing.
This GRMN FR Concept, as it’s called, is a twin-charged car, which means it ha both a supercharger and a turbocharger fitted to its flat-four engine. The extra power is matched by revised suspension, bigger brakes and a full sports body kit. this car will be joined by its little brother, the GRMN supercharged iQ. This 130bhp iQ was unveiled at the Tokyo Auto Salon at the beginning of the year and will be going on sale in Japan this summer in strictly limited numbers.
Another attraction of Toyota’s stand is the the first UK appearance of Toyota Racing’s TS030 HYBRID sports car, following its international competition debut at the Le Mans 24 Hours. It didn’t do well at Le Mans, but it’s a big, hybrid LMP1 race car. You have got to go and see it in person.
Yes there’s also a couple of Lexus LFAs, including the Nurburgring race winner. The Dynojet Racing Toyota Avensis touring car will also be there for the fans of the BTCC. Completing Toyota’s official line-up of cars running on the hillclimb are a further GT86, carrying a full complement of TRD styling and performance accessories, and the Pikes Peak Tacoma pickup truck.
Incoming search terms:
- toyota fest 2012 pictures
BMW Group Reports Best May Sales Ever
BMW Group sales recorded solid growth once again in May. With 156,957 BMW, MINI and Rolls-Royce brand automobiles delivered worldwide (prev. yr. 147,565 / +6.4%), the BMW Group achieved its best-ever May sales result. A total of 728,029 (prev. yr. 667,523 / +9.1%) vehicles have been delivered to customers since the start of the year, exceeding the previous year’s first five months by more than 60,000 units.
Ian Robertson, Member of the Board of Management, Sales and Marketing BMW, said in Munich on Monday, “Our vehicle portfolio continues to be in strong demand and once again we achieved record sales in the month of May. Exceptional new products such as the BMW 6 Series Gran Coupé, which we launched on the 1st of June, as well as the new BMW 7 Series, will continue to drive momentum. We are well on our way to achieving a new all-time high for sales in the year 2012.”
The BMW Group made strong gains in Asia in the month under review with 41,289 vehicles delivered (prev. yr. 32,839 / +25.7%). Mainland China accounted for 27,815 deliveries, an increase of 31.5% over the same month last year (prev. yr. 21,150). Year-to-date, 135,026 BMW and MINI vehicles have been sold in Mainland China (prev. yr. 100,456/ +34.4%).
Gains were solid across America with 35,127 vehicles delivered in May (prev. yr. 33,266 / +5.6%). In the U.S., 28,321 vehicles were delivered last month, an increase of +7.1% over the same month last year (prev. yr. 26,452). Year-to-date, the BMW Group is up 12.2% on sales of 130,843 in the first five months of 2012 compared to 116,656 in the same period in 2011.
In Europe, sales remained at the previous year’s level, with 75,374 units sold (prev. yr. 76,668/ -1.7%). Several markets in northern and central Europe experienced robust growth in May, for example the U.K. (13,438/ +8.9%), the Netherlands (2,500/ +33.8%), and Austria (2,137/ +10.5%). In Germany, a total of 27,796 new BMW and MINI vehicles were registered in May. (prev. yr. 29,350/ -5.3%). The BMW brand accounted for 24,116 registrations (prev. yr. 24,768/ -2.6%) and MINI for 3,680 registrations (prev. yr. 4,582/ -19.7%). Year-to-date, 121, 202 BMW and MINI vehicles have been registered in Germany, an increase of +1.1% (prev. yr. 119,873).
Incoming search terms:
- bmw best cars ever
Ferrari designer heads to China’s BAIC
The man responsible for creating the Ferrari Daytona and 288 GTO has been hired to design the next generation of vehicles for China’s Beijing Automotive group (BAIC) to make the brand competitive in the global marketplace.
Former-Pininfarina designer Leonardo Fioravanti, 74, told Bloomberg that BAIC has an ambition to make world-class cars by the middle of next decade.
“Chinese manufacturers recognise that they have some problems that they have to improve, one of which is the lack of brand identity,” Fioravanti said.
“The first that achieves its own recognisable brand identity and styling language will be the winner.”
International brands like General Motors and Volkswagen continue to grow in China with their global vehicle designs while domestic car makers lose ground with traditional function-over-form offerings.
Tesla Model S Rated at 89 MPGe, Instruments Powered by NVIDIA
Photo: Jim Merithew/Wired
Beginning tomorrow, Tesla will begin delivering the first batch of Model S sedans to buyers that have pre-ordered the svelte EV, but before the first all-electric Model S rolls out of the automaker’s Fremont, CA factory, the EPA has released its official fuel economy ratings.
The new “miles per gallon equivalent” or MPGe of the Model S comes in at 88 MPGe in the city and 90 MPGe on the highway, for a combined rating of – you guessed it – 89 MPGe.
Just as importantly, the EPA is rating the sedan’s range at 265 miles, based on its new five-cycle testing procedure. That puts it at the top of the EV heap when it comes to range, dwarfing the Honda Fit EV’s combined 118 MPGe, the Mitsubishi i-MiEV’s 112 MPGe, the Ford Focus Electric’s 105 MPGe and the Nissan’s Leaf’s 99 MPGe – none of which are as large or as capacious as the Model S.
Incoming search terms:
- nvidia tesla dash
Lexus posts lowest problem rate in J.D. Powers quality study
J.D. Powers has established Lexus, at 73 Problems Per 100 vehicles (PP100), had the lowest problem rate of all car manufacturers. Jaguar and Porsche, which scored 75 PP100, stand second. MINI (139), Fiat and Smart (151 each) posted the three worst scores.
For the first time in 26 years of recorded history, car owners have reported more problems (24% increase) with audio, entertainment and navigation systems than with any other type of equipment; partially because of the rapid introduction of new technologies, such as speech recognition softwares. Furthermore, problems regarding hands-free devices have increased by over 137% in four years.
|
Source: J.D. Power and Associates
2012 Toyota Camry Vs 2012 Hyundai Sonata: Midsize Sedans Compared
Camrys have topped the passenger car sales charts since the dawn of time, but with the 2012 Hyundai Sonata on the market, it’s no longer a given that the Camry is the car to go for.
Both provide five seats, four doors and decent gas mileage, both are affordable, and both should provide many miles of trouble-free driving.
But if you can’t stretch to the even more efficient hybrid models of each car, what can you expect from the basic four-cylinder automatic variants of each?
Check out full reviews of the 2012 Toyota Camry and 2012 Hyundai Sonata.
Gas mileage
There’s a line of thought that you might actually prefer to spend a little more on the hybrid Camry and Sonata in the short term, in order to benefit from its long-term economy. This is particularly true if you intend to keep the car for a decent length of time.
Incoming search terms:
- Powered by Article Dashboard las vegas golf tournaments
Report: 508-hp Volvo S60 Polestar already sold for $300,000
Just yesterday we brought you news of a very powerful Volvo S60 created by Polestar. Power for the Volvo S60 Polestar comes from a tuned version of the T6 engine making 508-hp and a peak torque of 424 lb-ft. 0 to 62 mph comes in a very fast 3.9 seconds and it seems like that’s just as fast as this very special Volvo was spoken for.
According to a report by PistonHeads, the Volvo S60 Polestar has already be sold to an unnamed buyer for a whopping $ 300,000.
Of course, there are a lot of other great cars you can buy for $ 300,000 – but someone, somewhere out there fancies a Volvo just a little too much.