Kobe Bryant & Smart Fortwo Brabus Save the Day

Ever wonder what would happen if you put Kobe Bryant in a Smart Fortwo? Well apparently they make a dynamic duo.

Smart is looking to up its sales in China so they came up with the odd combo marketing campaign. In the commercial, an art thief makes off with, um, art. A woman, presumably the owner or creator of said art chases him out into the street. It becomes painfully apparent that she’ll need some wheels to keep up. She then causes all traffic to stop and has a choice between a Chevy Corvette and a Smart Fortwo Brabus. Bucking the trend, she goes for…you guessed it, the Smart. Turns out, the driver is Kobe Bryant and she commands him to follow the thief. He does so, for some reason, and then we see a cool sort of chase throughout the streets of China. Presumably they used a stunt driver for most of these scenes. As you might have guessed, in the end, the thief was caught by Bryant in a way only he can do.

So I guess the point of this commercial is to bust the myth that Smarts are really small (inside anyway) since a major league basketball player can sit inside and that Smart cars are not boring city fuel misers.

Think it worked?

[Advertising @ Chinasmack]

A Half Hour of Awesomeness

I’ve been holding off blogging on the upcoming M5 for a while because I feel the M5 commands a certain respect that should be returned in showing it off in its official form. It deserves better than simple spy shots with weird camoflage and swirly paint jobs.

But this is too good to pass up. You might have seen the shorter version of this film which highlights the M5 cold weather testing and having a good time of it. Well now BMW has leaked the entire video which is about 30 minutes of  tail slides, revving V8 goodness and beautiful still shots.

Right now, all we know is that the V10 found in the previous generation M5 will be replaced by a V8 – although it’s not certain if it will be the 4.4 litre V8 found in the 550i, but if it is, you can be sure it will be tuned to over 550 horses at least.

Also confirmed is the availability of a manual transmission – at least for our market. There were rumours going around that it would be auto only which had BMW purists shouting blasphemy from the hills but BMW has indeed confirmed it for our market. They have yet to confirm it for other markets however.

The official reveal will happen in mid-April. Car Driven will have all the details!

[Youtube]

Porsche Pushing Daily Driver Capabilities

Porsche has just released a new commercial designed to crush stereotypes of sports cars being fairly useless for daily driving duties.

Firstly, I will admit, if any super car company could make an argument for making daily drivers it’s definitely Porsche. However, in looking at this commercial there are a few things that should be pointed out:

• Porsche claims the 911 is like a snowmobile. Not so much. An all-wheel drive version may be able to make its way through snow, but that really depends on how much snow is on the ground. The 911 has a fairly low ride height after all and in most parts of Canada it’s not uncommon to see 40 cms+ of snow. And if we’re talking a rear wheel drive version, you’ll have tons of fun doing donuts, but getting decent traction will be quite challenging if you’re not used to rear wheel drive in the snow. To be fair, Porsche did state that proper winter tires are needed and they’re right.
• Then they liken the Cayman to a pick-up truck. A man puts, what looks like pillows but are surely bags of soil, into the trunk of a Cayman. Um, that doesn’t really make the Cayman a pick-up truck. I’m pretty sure any vehicle is capable of carrying a few bags of soil. I’d like to see a Cayman take on a tow or pay load that F-150′s take on on a daily basis before I believe that one.
• The next claim is that the 911 makes a great getaway car and I don’t think anyone would argue that one. My only gripe is that they don’t actually show the 911 getting away from anything. Plus, unless you’re a criminal, no normal person would need to “get away” from anyone/anything on a daily basis.
• Then they claim a 911 is also like a school bus. Since those rear seats are only useful for children (no adult would be comfortable back there) I’ll let that one pass too, though I will say that they conveniently cut away when the kids were actually getting in the back seats. Probably because that would’ve taken 10 takes. It’s no minivan after all.

What did you think of Porsche’s new marketing strategy?

[Porsche]

Canada Not Getting Nissan Murano CrossCabriolet

Consider ourselves lucky!

The Globe & Mail is reporting that Nissan Canada has passed on the idea of selling the odd convertible. They probably realized that having a convertible version of the Murano makes as much sense as putting a tootoo on a bulldog.

If you were really looking forward to buying one for some reason, don’t lose all hope just yet. The Murano CrossCabriolet will still be available for sale in the States. And depending how well it does down there, we may very well get it up here in Canada eventually.

The Murano CrossCabriolet, according to Nissan, is designed to be an alternative to upscale convertibles and crossovers, specifically the BMW 3-series cabriolet and the Lexus RX 350 crossover. Um, good luck luring people away from those cars with this thing, Nissan.

[The Globe & Mail]

Auto Journalist Damages Brand New Ferrari FF!

Oh man, this is pretty much my worst nightmare.

If When I become credible enough to be on Ferrari’s press vehicle list, I’m definitely going to ensure that this never happens to me. Which is probably easier said than done.

A fellow auto journalist for CAR magazine was given the opportunity to review the new Ferrari FF. He had a camera set up inside the car so he could relay his impressions as they occurred. Unfortunately, the camera also caught his reactions when he drove the FF over a curb!

Needless to say, his reaction was understandable, if fairly restrained. My reaction would’ve been, shall we say, stronger. As in, I would turned into the hulk and beat myself up for doing such a stupid thing. I would imagine that the folks from Ferrari felt the same way when they found out what had happened.

Watch the cringe-worthy video above. I feel your pain, fellow auto journo. I feel your pain.

[Motor Authority]

Saab 9-3 to Get Its Hatch Back

Apparently, since Spyker took over Saab from GM, they’ve had to completely re-work the next generation 9-3 because what GM had planned was, well, let’s just say that there was a lot of work to be done to make it a true Saab.

One of those Saab characteristics was the 9-3′s hatchback back in the late 1990′s and early 2000′s. Well apparently the hatchback will be returning to the 9-3, in fact it’s the sedan that’s rumoured to get the axe this time. Apparently the 9-3 will be five door only (sorry to those who were hoping for a 3-door like the Viggen model pictured above, but maybe that will happen down the line).

The redesigned 9-3 will also take styling cues from the PhoeniX concept that Saab debuted at the Geneva Auto show earlier this year. Even though Saab wants to bring the 9-3 back to its roots, there’s some people that think the PhoeniX concept is lacking in Saab style.

Another big change will be the addition of a hybrid to the 9-3 model range. It will reportedly get the same 2.8 litre V6 found in the 9-5 and will power the front wheels. The electric motor will actually power the rear wheels, and it will be possible to drive the hybridized 9-3 on the electric motor alone up to a certain speed.

The next 9-3 is expected to debut next year.

[Autoblog]

You Can’t Fool Me, BMW!

You might have seen this picture floating around the internet – seemingly a BMW M3 prototype circling the ‘Ring that was caught by spy photographers. No, you’re eyes aren’t playing tricks on you, that is actually an M3 pick-up truck!

These photos were released last week but I held off blogging about it because something just wasn’t right about it. Why would BMW, a brand obsessed with performance, build a pick-up truck? It doesn’t make any sense.

Well it was confirmed today that this M3 pick-up truck is, as BMW puts it, “Aprilscherz”. If you’re German is a bit rusty, that loosely translates into ‘April fools joke’. Not to toot my own horn, but I’m so glad I didn’t fall for that one, while so many other sites did. Ha! You can’t fool me, BMW! I will admit, however, that there was a very small part of me that thought BMW might have been making a Holden SV6 Ute competitor, but that seemed very unlikely.

Anyway, even though I wasn’t fooled, it was actually pretty smart to get the April fool’s joke rolling early when people are unsuspecting of such things. Don’t think that BMW doesn’t have anything in store on April 1st, however. BMW, along with many other manufacturers love to pull pranks and I have no doubt they may have other tricks up their sleeve. Especially since they also announced that they will officially reveal the M5 concept that day along with other un-produced M3 prototypes. Consider me skeptical about that one.

In any event, it was a pretty funny prank. And just to be clear, BMW has no intention of building this M3 pick-up truck, but they do still have the test mule around which could allow them to enter the Australian V8 Ute racing series. BMW responded to that suggestion saying, “Well, we have the one unit available if they’d be interested, don’t we?”

Hmm, interesting!

[Autoblog]

2012 BMW 6-Series By Prior Design

Less than a week since the 2012 BMW 6-series was officially introduced to the world, tuning company Prior Design has already got its hands on making the 6-series look that much better.

The LED running lamps are now integrated into the air intakes, there’s a lower lip spoiler, a new bonnet with air vents, flared fenders, new side skirts, as well as carbon fiber exhaust tips and a small diffuser. Oh and those marvelous looking black rims which are estimated to be 20 inchers.

Don’t think this modded 6-series is just all show, however. Prior Design usually does some performance modding along with their cosmetic changes, however details are unreleased at the moment.

For now, I’m happy just staring at this thing. Looks fantastic!

[GTspirit.com]

Oh Hi: 2012 Chevrolet Colorado Concept

Ford has recently confimed that the current generation Ranger would be the last it would produce for North America. Apparently we no longer have a market for compact pick up trucks like, say, the rest of the world does because apparently we think we need the biggest truck possible to get groceries and tow a boat 2 days of the year. Yeah, don’t get me started.

Anyway, GM has had the Colorado compact pick-up on the market for a while now which, to be honest, is a bit underwhelming in terms of, well, everything. But that doens’t mean that GM isn’t prepared to invest in a next generation version which they just introduced today in concept form.

All we know for now is that the concept dons a 2.8 litre turbo diesel under the hood which should be good for both towing an efficiency.

Now, this concept is actually developed specifically for the market in Thailand. There’s no word yet if this verison will be the one that us Canadians get or even if we will see a Colorado. That said, this would leave the compact pick-up truck segment completely open to GM so they would have a clear advantage in bringing the next generation Colorado here.

Even if this isn’t the verison we will get, GM is rumoured to keep the Colorado alive in some form or another for North America, so don’t worry pick-up truck fans.

[Autoblog]

Update: Porsche 918 Spyder

Porsche has just released this image of the production version of the 918 Spyder. Looks tremendous!

It will officially be a plug-in hybrid and will get a 4.0 litre V8 along with two electric motors that produces a combined 218 horsepower. That’s a total of 718 horsepower in a car that supposedly gets 3L/100 kms! Very impressive!

The 918 still hasn’t been rated yet by U.S efficiency standards, but we should still expect fairly impressive numbers. On top of that, it will have a 0-100 time of 3.1 seconds with top speed being 320 km/h. What’s even more imrpessive than that is the 918 Spyder can apparently run on both electric motors up to 150 kph before the gas engine kicks in.

If this all sounds good to you, get on the phone to your local Porsche dealer ASAP because Porsche also said they will only build 918 for the entire world. Yeah, very limited production. Oh, and it will also cost you about $845,000.

Jaguar X-Type Successor to be Named ‘XS’

Seriously, it will.

Whether Jaguar intended it or not, XS not only signifies ‘extra small’ but it also is the new name of their smallest model. Cute, isn’t it?

Meant to take on the BMW 3-series and the Mercedes-Benz C-class, the XS will also spawn a coupe and convertible as well – at least that’s what the rumours are saying at this point. Myself, I’d wager they wouldn’t dive in that deep, at least not for the North American market.

What do you think of the new baby Jag’s name?

[Motor Authority]

Is There Still Hope For the EVO?

Mitsibishi recently shocked us all a few weeks ago when they revealed that the Lancer Evolution was not in the cards for their new product direction.

It doesn’t matter if you’re a Mitsubishi fan or not, you can’t deny the awesomeness that is the EVO. Hell, even muscle car purists give respect to the EVO, that’s why everyone was so socked when its apparent demise was announced. There’s even been a petition going around the internet to try to save the EVO.

Well it seems Mitsubishi has taken notice of all that, and they are now back tracking a bit saying that the EVO will now “evolve” (their words, not mine) into a slightly different direction.

Since Mitsubishi’s new product direction is investing in fuel efficient technologies, it’s safe to say that the rumour of the EVO going the performance hybrid route is probably now legit.

It’s an interesting idea and I’m sure EVO afficionados will still cry blasphemy, but hey it’s better than no EVO at all. It’s not like the EVO will turn into a Toyota Prius, auto manufacturers are finding ways to have both performance and efficiency these days – just look at the Porsche 918 or the BMW i8. Unlike those vehicles, a hybridized EVO is expected to take on a diesel engine and an electric motor.

Whatever it ends up being, I’m just glad Mitsubishi didn’t give up on the EVO all together because as one of my recent test drives proved, they don’t have much else going on in their current product portfolio.

[Mitsubishi]

Much Better: 2012 Mercedes-Benz C-Class Coupe AMG

Last month Mercedes-Benz officially released images of the new C-class coupe and, personally, I was left feeling fairly underwhelmed. While the design is not offensive, it does seem lazy – as if Mercedes-Benz just  took a C-class sedan, removed the rear doors and lowered the roof line. On top of that, no manual transmission or all-wheel drive options makes it non-competitive with the BMW 3-series and Audi A5 in my opinion.

But now Mercedes-Benz has released images of the C-Class Coupe AMG, which definitely seems like its saving grace. There’s really no surprises here too (it’s exactly the same as the sedan) but my goodness does it ever look good.

The C63 AMG coupe will get the famous 6.2 litre V8 making 451 horsepower (which gets bumped to 481 horses if you check off the AMG Development package) mated to a seven-speed automatic MCT Speedshift transmission.

Other improvements include a stiffer suspension, a wider track, sharpened steering and an upgraded tire and wheel package.

Pricing shouldn’t be too far off from its sedan counterpart’s price point of $63,900.

[Mercedes-Benz]

Audi Developing BMW X6 Fighter

When BMW debuted the X6 a few years back, they must’ve known something that the rest of us didn’t because everyone thought it was a bad idea and that it would fail miserably. It hasn’t. In fact, the X6 is selling surprisingly well.

Now it seems other manufacturers are taking notice of the X6′s success and are scrambling to build competitors. Acura  had a go at it, but the ZDX has been anything but sucessful so far since there are huge cash incentives to move them off the lot.

Audi is going to have a go now too, it seems. Dubbed the Q6, it is expected to be based on both the Volkswagen Touareg and the Porsche Cayenne. Engine choices would be the standard units in other models and there’s even word of an RS version in the cards to take on the X6 M,  and the ML AMG.

Which would you prefer? An X6, ZDX or Q6?

Here We Go Again…

A while back Hennessey decided to take a stock Cadillac CTS-V wagon and tuned it to make it even faster – nothing wrong with that at all. However I was unimpressed because they took it to a drag strip to take on a previous generation Porsche 911 Turbo. Again, nothing wrong with that, but there was a real sense of bragging and I didn’t understand why anyone would pit a tuned car against a previous generation stock car. What exactly does that prove?

Well apparently Hennessey didn’t read my rant because they went and did the same thing again. They pitted their hotted up Caddy wagon against a previous generation Nissan GT-R. That’s right, the 485 (give or take) horsepower version. Why didn’t they try to take on the 2012 GT-R which has 530 horsepower? Considering their CTS-V wagon churns out 650 horsepower, that would’ve seemed like a bit more of a fair fight.

But apparently that didn’t matter much since Hennessey only beat the previous gen GT-R by a hair. 0.1 seconds to be exact. And to me that’s more embarrassing. Their car can barely beat an older GT-R? Well done.

[Youtube]