Download: 7 Mar 2012

Wednesday, 7 March 2012

Euro Crises Hits Supercar Owners

According to reports in the Italian media owners of Lamborghinis, Ferraris and high powered SUVs are being targeted by the Guardia di Finanza, or financial police, for potential tax evasion.

Following a raid over Christmas at the chic Cortina d’Amprezzo ski report tax inspectors traced no less than 133 owners of Lambos, Ferraris and other high end cars and found that almost one-third had declared incomes under €22,000 (just over $29,000) while another 16 claimed to earn less than €50,000 ($66,600) a year.

These spot checks are now being carried out across Italy: a Florentine builder driving a brand new Merc was found not to have filed any tax returns and his wife was on welfare.

As a result high end cars are being sold in droves, many being snapped up by opportunistic entrepreneurs in Poland, the Ukraine, Moldova and the Czech Republic. Last year some 60 Porsches were exported from Italy each week – that figure has more than tripled to 200.

Italy’s new prime minister, ‘Super’ Mario Monti is clamping down on tax evasion in an effort to reduce Italy’s crippling financial state, and when tax evasion amounts to nearly $367 billion or 17.5% of GDP then everyone with a chic lifestyle and a luxury car is likely to be investigated.

Source : Google Reader

Koenigsegg Agera R Sets Guinness Record

Koenigsegg Agera R Sets Guinness Record:

A year ago Koenigsegg, the Swedish maker of hyper exotic supercars, unveiled the Agera R at the 2011 Geneva Auto Show. It was a modified version of the base Agera that upped the engine’s output from 910 bhp to 1,115 bhp and added $214,000, bringing the total cost to around $1 million. At the time, the company claimed the Agera R would be faster than a Bugatti Veyron.

It set out to prove this last September when a standard Koenigsegg Agera R, driven by Robert Serwanski, took several new production car world records at the Koenigsegg proving ground in Ängelholm, Sweden. According to Koenigsegg, all data was measured and collected by a third party with the officially accepted Racelogic VBox performance recorder.

The performance numbers recorded were:

0-300 km/h = 14.53 sec

0-200 mph = 17.68 sec

300-0 km/h = 6.66 sec

200-0 mph = 7.28 sec

0-300-0 km/h = 21.19 sec

0-200-0 mph = 24.96 sec

A few months later, after submission to the Guinness Book of World Records, it was granted the title for ‘The fastest time for a two-seater production car to travel from 0-300-0 km/h’, which it achieved in just 21.19 seconds.

Part of the secret to the Agera R’s high performance is the utilization of Umeco’s lightweight carbon fiber prepregs for the structure and bodywork. In case you’re wondering, a prepreg “consists of a reinforcement material pre-impregnated with a polymer or resin matrix in a controlled ratio”.

And if you’ve not heard of Umeco, it is a British company that supplies carbon-fiber components to companies around the world. If you fly on the double-decker Airbus A 380 or the Boeing 787 Dreamliner, they both use Umeco composites. Rolls-Royce, the jet-engine maker not the motor car company, is Umeco’s biggest customer. Umeco was originally founded in 1917 as the University Motor and Engineering Company, when it distributed cars in southern England.

Next week Koenigsegg will unveil the 2013 Agera R in Geneva, but there is no word on the company website as to what we can expect. Presumably it will be even faster and more expensive!

Source : Google Reader

Brabus Bullit Coupe 800 – 2012 Geneva Auto Show

Brabus Bullit Coupe 800 – 2012 Geneva Auto Show:

Brabus Bullit Coupe 800 – 2012 Geneva Auto Show

Brabus has reloaded its high performance arsenal with the new Bullit, an 800-bhp take on the Mercedes-Benz C-Class coupe. Of course, Brabus didn’t work its tuning magic on just any version of the C-Class; it chose the range-topping C63 AMG variant that comes with a snarling 6.3-liter V-8 engine. That motor is fine for us mere mortals, yet it was only getting in the way of what Brabus had in store for the car. Right now there is one very expensive AMG-tuned V-8 sitting in a dumpster in Germany, because Brabus has somehow managed to stuff a twin-turbocharged V-12 into the C63’s engine bay.

Brabus Bullit Coupe 800 – 2012 Geneva Auto Show

This mega powerplant produces 800 bhp and a mind-blowing 1047 lb.-ft. of torque. That’s good enough to endow the Bullit with a 230-mph top speed. The engine itself is a version of the Biturbo V-12 found in the Mercedes S600. For use in the Bullit Coupe, Brabus enlarged the engine from 5.5 to 6.3 liters. A custom exhaust was necessary to be able to fit the unit into the smaller dimensions of the C-Class coupe. The cost, like the performance, is astronomical. To put this matte-black beauty in your garage, expect to handover nearly $600,000.

Brabus Bullit Coupe 800 – 2012 Geneva Auto Show

More:

Full Coverage: 2012 Geneva Auto Show >>

Photos: 2012 Geneva Auto Show >>

Source : Google Reader

Rubens Barrichello to IndyCar

Rubens Barrichello to IndyCar:

Photo by Paul Gilham/Staff/Getty Images

Chalk this one up as Europe’s loss, our gain.

IndyCar racing got a well-earned boost as former Formula 1 driver Rubens Barrichello will join the KV Racing team for 2012. There he will be teamed with his old friend, Tony Kanaan, and EJ Viso.

The well-like Brazilian began his F1 with Jordan in 1993 and drove for the Stewart, Ferrari, Honda, Brawn and Williams teams, competing in 322 Grands Prix and taking 11 career wins.

Photo by Paul Gilham/Staff/Getty Images

With that background, the 39-year-old Barrichello will not be classified as a rookie in IndyCar, though he will run for those honors in the Indianapolis 500. As it happened, convincing his wife, Silvana, that he could go back on an earlier promise to not race on ovals was one problem Barrichello had to solve, but that was reportedly helped with encouragement from his two sons, Eduardo and Fernando.

Ovals can be a challenge, but Barrichello will be able to tap the vast IndyCar experience of not just Kanaan, but KV Racing’s co-owner and 1996 CART Indy Car World Series Champ, Jimmy Vasser. For 2012 the team will be powered by Chevrolet’s twin-turbo IndyCar V06.

Source : Google Reader

Mitsubishi Electric Race Car to Enter Pikes Peak

Mitsubishi Electric Race Car to Enter Pikes Peak:

At first, the thought of an electric race car competing in the Pikes Peak International Hill Climb seems strange. However, unlike a gasoline-powered engine, the power output of an electric car is not affected by altitude. If the battery can last long enough an electric car could be competitive.

With this in mind it’s perhaps not surprising to hear that Mitsubishi Motors Corporation (MMC) will enter an i-MiEV Prototype in the 2012 running of the legendary hillclimb on July 8.

The single seater i-MiEV Prototype is a prototype based on the all-electric i-MiEV model, which was the first modern 100% electric car to go into mass production. It will be piloted by Hiroshi Masuoka who raced in the Dakar Rally 21 times, winning it consecutively in 2002 and 2003, driving Mitsubishi Pajero and Pajero Evolution models (known as the Montero in the US) respectively.

According to Mitsubishi, the i-MiEV Prototype will use the same components as the current production i-MiEV. MMC says it will use the data obtained from the event to enhance the durability and reliability of pure EVs and plug-in hybrid EVs, which it will be bringing to market in the near future.

Source : Google Reader

Nissan Teases 2013 Altima – 2012 New York Auto Show

Nissan Teases 2013 Altima – 2012 New York Auto Show:

The battle for supremacy in the all-important midsize sedan segment will really heat up later this year once Nissan and Honda unveil their new 2013 models.

The all-new 2013 Altima sedan will have its world premiere at the 2012 New York Auto Show in April – six years after the current model was launched at the same show.

So far, spy shots have not revealed much. However today, Nissan has released a video clip and image showing a dark glimpse of the new design from directly overhead in a studio. Thanks to the lighting it looks more like a sleek computer mouse with door mirrors than an average midsize sedan – let’s hope it looks as good from a more natural angle.

The Altima is sold mainly in North America and is built at Nissan’s assembly plants in Smyrna, Tenn. and Canton, Miss. The engines for Altima are made at the company’s Decherd, Tenn. plant. Last year the Altima was the second best-selling car in the US, behind the all-new Toyota Camry, and it has held onto that position so far this year.

Source : Google Reader