BMW X3 M in the Works?

Remember when the X5 M and X6 M first debuted and everyone was like, “huh?”

The notion of putting the M badge, a sacrid nomenclature reserved only for the best performance laden cars at BMW, on two SUV’s was upsetting for some, confusing for others and blasphemy for M purists. But BMW shut us all up by essentially making the M SUV’s perform as if they were performance cars. It’s quite mind boggling, but BMW was able to do it.

Now it seems BMW would like to test their luck once again by introducing an M version of the newly redesigned X3. Currently, only an M package is available which is mostly stlying and suspension tweaks but the X3 M is expected to boost power output. Displacement is expect to go from 3.0 to 3.2 with a triturbo to go along with that inline six. Yes, you read that right, three turbos. There will be two exhaust driven units and one electric turbocharger. As a result horsepower is said to be in the 450 to 500 range.

Given the brilliantness of the X3′s bigger brothers that are  injected with M blood, I think it’s safe to say that the new X3 M will not fail to deliver. No pricing has been announced yet, but expect a starting price of around $80K

[Car Magazine via Auto 123]

Canadian Fashion Designers Present “Red Mudder” Mini Cooper S

This is apparently what you get when you have two Canadian fashion designers and tell them to make something of a Mini Cooper S. Dan and Dean Caten apparently envisioned an offroading Mini – one obviously more capable than the Countryman. As such this fashionable Mini, dubbed “Red Mudder” is the first Cooper to get Mini’s All4 all-wheel drive system. This may even plant the idea in Mini’s proverbial head to bring the system over to the Cooper family down the road. In addition to All4, the Red Mudder gets a raised suspension, bush guards, rally lights, tinted windows, off-road capable tires (with a hatch mounted spare) and an aluminum plated interior. Since the Catens are apparently quite patriotic, they also put their signature maple leaf on the door and on the headrests of the Red Mudder.

The Catens, who also go by Dsquared, had the opportunity to put their fashion talents to work as a part of Mini’s 11 year sponsorship of the Life Ball initiative which is essentially a European AIDS/HIV fundraiser. Other designers to have the honours over the years include Versace, Kenneth Cole, Diesel and Calven Klein.

The Red Mudder will be auctioned off with proceeds going towards the cause.

Congrats guys, looks awesome!

[Autoblog]

Test Drive: 2011 Volvo C30 T5

By Kevin Harrison

Have you ever seen a flock of seagulls fight each other for a piece of bread crumb? Or if you don’t live on a coast, have you ever seen a flock of any-birds fight for a piece of bread crumb? There’s always that one lone bird that fights his way in there only to come up short. And then you end up feeling a bit bad for him because he worked so hard to get a measly morsel of someone else’s discarded lunch but the other seagulls were just more aggressive and driven to get that food.

Volvo is a bit like that bird that tried to get in but didn’t quite make it. It’s not as if they’re not trying, every single model in their lineup is now quite attractive, offers exceptional performance, plus boat loads of safety and luxury. Yet their sales numbers have not seen a whole lot of improvement. Volvo doesn’t usually get mentioned in the same sentence as BMW, Audi or Mercedes-Benz – the big seagulls that always get the bread crumbs.

The C30 is meant to help lure people into the brand and is marketed as a sporty alternative to the BMW 1-series, Audi A3 and Lexus CT200h. Has it got what it takes to grab a piece of the proverbial bread crumb?

Read the rest of this entry »

Kanye West Drives $1.7 Million Mercedes-Benz Stirling Moss

Okay so generally I don’t really become enthralled or jealous of celebrities, but this is something I pretty am jealous of.

Kanye West was invited to attend a charity fundraiser put on by Elton John in Cannes, France this week. And his choice of ride was the Mercedes-McLaren Stirling Moss Edition while wearing a classic black and white tux with sunglasses. I have a serious boyhood dream of wanting to actually be James Bond and there’s no doubt that Kanye is purposely trying to channel Mr. Bond in the photo pictured above. And who could really blame him. I know, I know, Bond usually drives Astons, but work with me here.

Anyway, the car itself, as you probably are aware, is extremely rare. It was the last car built by the Mercedes-McLaren partnership back in 2009. Only 75 examples were ever made  The Stirling Moss was actually Korean designed and inspired by 300 SLR speedster. It was powered by a supercharged V8 and was rated at 640 horsepower with a top speed of 350 km/h. It took only 3.5 seconds to reach 100 km/h from not and it had incredible handling capabilities.

It’s not clear whether Mr. Bond West is just lucky enough to know a Stirling Moss owner who let him borrow it, or if Kanye owns the vehicle himself. The latter is entirely possible since the Stirling Moss was only sold to SLR owners and Kanye West is indeed an SLR owner. His vehicle collection includes said SLR, an Aston Martin DB9, a Range Rover SuperSport and a Porsche Panamera. Oh wait, the Panamera was totaled in Hawaii a while back. Still, not a bad lineup to have in your garage.

Hit the jump to see more pics of the amazing Stirling Moss.

[The Daily Mail]

Read the rest of this entry »

Oh Hi: Supercharged Honda CR-Z Mugen

Say hello to the hottest version of the CR-Z.

Making a hot version of the CR-Z isn’t too hard in the first place since the current CR-Z is a hybrid is wolf’s clothing, but the folks at Mugen have been planning to add some go to the CR-Z’s show for quite some time now in the form of a supercharger. That’s right, the CR-Z Mugen will keep the electric motor, but power will be tweaked from both motors.

The CR-Z Mugen has yet to get any official numbers, but they are predicting their version of the 1.5 litre four cylinder plus electric motor will generate a healthy 197 horsepower and 181 pound feet of torque. Add some 110 pounds of weight loss and you’ve got yourself something that’s as close as you can get to a Honda CRX successor.

Now for the bad news. It’s just a concept. But if there is enough positive response, Mugen will considering making some for sale. But the fact is, they really shouldn’t have to do this in the first place. Honda should be making a hotter CR-Z a priority. If they had just made the CR-Z like this from the get-go, they wouldn’t have to worry about the CR-Z’s slumping sales numbers.

Anyway, good to see a somewhat return of cheap performance oriented Hondas.

[Honda]

Audi Uses Supply Woes to Jab Its Competition

If you haven’t heard, Audi is taken a bit of heat for not being able to build and supply vehicles to meet demand. Basically customers are asked to wait anywhere from six to eight months if they choose to order rather than buy an Audi off the lot. With that said, Audi is fully aware of the problem and has even gone to some pretty generous lengths to keep customers satisfied and from canceling orders.

However, Audi being Audi, they couldn’t resist taking the opportunity to use their slight misfortune to playfully jab the competition. In a new commercial we see an owner of a BMW 3-series spot a truck full of brand spanking new Audis. Seemingly, said owner has already ordered an Audi and was patiently waiting for it arrive for months until he saw the truck and decided to take things into his own hands.

In addition, Audi then ends the commercial stating that more and more BMW, Mercedes-Benz and Lexus drivers are jumping to Audi than ever before.

This commercial is just the latest in a long lasting friendly feud between Audi and BMW, and to a lesser extent Mercedes-Benz and Lexus. Click here to check it out.

What do you think of Audi’s commercial?

[You Tube]

Top Gear is Back June 26th

Top Gear will be back to creating awesomness on June 26th, according to finalgear.com. There isn’t much info as to what we can expect other than an adventure with May, Clarkson, the Nissan LEAF and Peugot iOn (that’s Mitsubishi i-Miev in Canadian speak).

I would imagine that the bloakes will take a few shots at Tesla for filing a lawsuit against them, May and Hammond will take a few shots at Clarkson for an alleged affair and a falling out with some locals and everyone will take shots at Hammond for being short. Also expect lots of crazy challenges, reviews of your favourite exotic supercars and of course stars in the reasonably priced car.

The only rumour right now is that the McLaren MP4-12C may have taken the top spot on the leader board for the fastest lap around the Top Gear track.

Can’t wait!

[Final Gear, photo credit: Daily Mail]

Cadillac ATS Learns How It’s Done From BMW 3-Series

If imitation is one of the most sincerest forms of flattery then GM is sending a pretty big tip of the hat to BMW and the 3-series.

The newest member of the Cadillac family, the ATS, is apparently going to be a very familiar driving experience to the 3-series as Cadillac has supposedly bought various iterations of the 3-series and has stripped them down to the chasis to learn about how BMW makes the 3-series the benchmark in the sport sedan segment. Cadillac will then study, mimick and incorporate what they learned into the ATS. Sounds like they’re pretty serious about making a legitimate condender.

With that said, even if ATS succeeds at offering the driving experience of  a 3-series, it will be outdated from the get-go. BMW is very close to completing the next generation 3-series which will undoubtedly set the bar even higher. The new 3-series is expected to debut late this year. Same goes for the ATS.

I’m curious as to what Cadillac’s slogan will be for the ATS. Something like “Just as good as an older 3-series” just doesn’t seem to work that well, does it. In any event, even if the ATS is based on a previous generation 3-series, that still means it should perform very well. And with Cadillac’s typical pricing advantage over the Germans, it will position as a tasty alternative to 3-series, A4 and G37 loyalists.

[Autoblog]

FAIL: Wannabe Lamborghini Reventon Camaro

Good God!

What you (unfortunately) see before you is actually a 1994 Chevrolet Camaro with roughly 230,000 kms on it that was poorly transformed into a Lamborghini. Not just any Lambo, but the much coveted and stupidly limited Reventon. And the worst part is, it’s for sale. Here’s the actual ad on eBay:

This incredible Rev Angel 300HP V-8 Exotic Replica Supercar was meticulously designed and handcrafted (light strong metal, not heavy fiberglass!) to resemble million dollar exotic supercars, without the costs, maintenance, repairs, insurance, etc.!!! It has a V-8 (300 HP- with the included intake plenum similar to the one pictured) LT-1 Chevy Engine with only 36,000 original miles which was replaced 95 miles ago!!! Also replaced recently (within the year) was the alternator, starter, and battery. It has a current safety inspection and emissions sticker and the title is free and clear.

This car will peal and smoke the tires from a stand still. It will virtually beat any tuner car, fiero replica, older corvette’s or so called muscle cars. The rear wheel track has been widened by 4 inches with wheel spacers to accomodate the widebody styling. The interior is a sporty stock Camaro Z-28. Side windows have been tinted with removable 20% VIS. The dash is cracked (easily fixed by a $35 dash cover) and the driver side seat bolster is torn (but can easily be fixed by some seat covers). The lights and electrical work and the A/C blows, but it needs a recharge (the heater works great).

If you want Supercar looks (attention and compliments galore!!!) in a daily driver that you can have at a tiny fraction of the cost, this is the car for you! This is the time to do it, since financial situation warrants letting it go for very much less than desired! NO RESERVE!!! The winner will take this home!

Thank you for looking and God Bless You abundantly!

Assuming you’re done laughing, one thing he…. no? You’re not done laughing? Okay, go ahead, let’ it all out.

Good now? Okay, what I was about to say was one thing he forgot to do was take the ugly Chevrolet steering wheel off. So even if he was somehow able to fool someone into thinking this was an actually Lamborghini, when they inevitably peer through the window to see its interior all they will see is the best thing GM could come up with circa 1994.

I sincerely hope this guy loses a bunch of money on this thing. It’s the only way he’ll learn.

[AutoGuide via Cardomain]

Top Gear Tries Electric Cars Again, Fails

I must say, Top Gear might very well be the best show ever made. Seriously. No car show has ever received the viewership or fanbase that they have and no car show has ever been able to lure people otherwise uninterested in cars before. With that said, a good chunk of the reason why Top Gear is able to attract such a wide variety of viewers is because of the dynamic between hosts Jeremy Clarkson, James May and Richard Hammond, but also because it’s wildly entertaining.

The latter should be considered when watching the above clip. Clarkson and May decide to have a go at the Peugot iOn and the Nissan LEAF – both full on electric vehicles. However, to ensure that it’s still entertaining they decided to see if they could trek across the country is said vehicles. Since most electric vehicles are designed to be city dwellers, this is obviously an attempt at entertainment. And knowing them, they succeeded.

May and Clarkson found themselves at the University of Lincoln as they stopped to ask where they could charge their cars. Inevitibly no one could point them to a charging station because there weren’t any. So then the duo decided to just drive around looking for a charging station until the cars ran out of juice and had to be towed.

This really seems like more of a middle finger to Tesla, who has filed a lawsuit against Top Gear and the BBC for allegedly rigging the test of their roadster which gave the impression that the car is useless because you have to charge it too often. Even though Tesla wasn’t involved in this video, it’s clear that Top Gear are not fans of the electric car industry in general. However, James May has actually written a column saying that electric cars aren’t all that bad and can work in certain instances. Obviously in this instance, they aren’t ideal.

[The Lincolnite]

Saab Partner Deal Crumbles

Saab celebrated 25 years of drop top motoring yesterday, but today there isn’t much to celebrate as the Detroit news is reporting that talks to partner with Hawtai Motors has crumbled. The Chinese automaker wasn’t able to secure stakeholder concent to get a 29.9 percent stake in Saab in exchange for $172 million.

This is not good news, however it doesn’t necessarily spell the end of the long and dramatic saga of Saab. Hawtai and Saab are reportedly still trying to resurrect the deal and on top of that, Saab is supposedly in talks with the European Investment Bank for a $41 million loan drawdown. It already has a $48 million loan to sell new cars in the short term, but Saab is still looking for some long term security. Apparently they’re ven willing to strike a deal with shady Russian businessman and former Spyker Chairman Vladamir Antonov. In fact, Antonov was reportedly the reason why the original Saab-Spyker deal was stalled for so long last year.

 In any event, should the Hawtai deal fail completely it seems like Saab has some plan B’s and even some plan C’s in order, so don’t worry too much Saab fans – yet. Besides, with Saab currently developing a new 9-3 and a Audi A1 fighter, it’s unlikely they would continue working on new product when the brand may not exist in the near future.

[Detroit News]

Fiat 500 vs. Mini Cooper Canadian Sales Numbers Are In

The Fiat 500, a relative newcomer and arguably the only true competitor to the Mini Cooper, has been for sale on our shores now for the past few months. It is also Fiat’s first model for sale in North America in decades and it takes aim squarely at the offering from Britain Germany. The Mini Cooper has been for sale in Canada for close to a decade now and has been doing well since its introduction. It’s no secret that Canadians love hatchbacks and we love micro hatchbacks even more. So the question is, who is the sales leader so far?

Well the Fiat 500 has sold 889 units. The Mini Cooper’s sales over the same period were 475. Looks like the 500 has taken an early lead. This is likely due to the hype surrounding the return of Fiat, its low starting price and the strong marketing campaigns. In fact, it’s reported that the 500′s success in North America is so important that it’s delaying (possibly indefinitely) Lancia badged Chryslers from crossing the pond.

Chrysler is heavily relying on our market specifically for the 500′s success and it looks like it’s paying off as the 500 even beat U.S 500 sales by 7 units. That doesn’t seem like all that much, but it’s extraordinarily rare that any model from any brand outsells the U.S sales.

Things are looking good so far. Will Chrysler be able to maintain those sales once the hype dies down? I’ll have to get a review of the 500 up quite soon. Getting one to drive seems to be easier said than done, however. Stay tooned.

[BMW Canada, Chrysler Canada]

Saab’s Been Going Topless for 25 Years

Despite unwillingly flirting with death due to being full-on ignored from former parent company GM, Saab’s lack of sales in the past decade haven’t stopped the Swedish auto maker from continuing on in a niche market: the luxury cabriolet market.

In fact, Saab has had quite a bit of success with its topless offerings dating all the way back to 1986 when the 900 convertible first flew onto the scene (flew, because Saabs are born from jets, don’t ya know). It was a risky move back then as most Saabs were considered to be a good sturdy ride for adverse weather conditions and not much else. But Saab quickly shut critics up with a 12 month waiting list for the original 900 convertible. The second generation, which spanned incredibly from 1994 to 2002, sold a respectable 149,000 units. The next generation from 2003 until today has sold 100,000 units giving a total of around 300,000 units of Saab convertibles sold in 25 years. Not too shabby at all, in fact that gives Saab a bit of a stranglehold on the premium convertible segment.

Saab is now celebrating 25 years of topless driving (get your mind out of the gutter). With this success and news that Saab was saved, once again, by the Chinese, it seems as though we can expect convertible variant of the 2013 9-3, which is expect to debut in a years time.

[Saab]

Ultimate Comparo: Nissan 370Z vs Mexican Chicken

Ah, where would we be without marketing? Probably way better off, but every now and then those marketing kids come up with something entertaining and funny. Case in point, Nissan decided to pit its 370Z against a Mexican chicken.

Random? Yes. Funny? Yes. Should you try to race a chicken too? No. I know that probably goes without saying but considering I saw a guy on the highway attempting to secure the canoe on his roof using his, wait for it…. arm, I suppose human beings think almost anything is a good idea.

Check out the chicken take on a 3.7 litre V6 in the video above.

Shots Fired: GM Takes Aim at Nissan LEAF

The race for the best selling electric vehicle is starting to get a bit messy as GM is throwing a few shots Nissan’s way.

Mark Reuss recently spoke out on his opinions of the Nissan LEAF.  Says Ruess:

“[The Leaf] has a finite range and requires infrastructure and charging to run it, where the Volt is really an extended-range electric vehicle. The Volt can really be the only car you own. You better be living within a certain range for the Leaf. … It’s a lot different market, a lot different car and a completely different driver.”

Not too bad, right? A well thought out, logical answer. But Reuss unfortunately didn’t stop there when maybe he should have. He continued:

“I’m not sure if I’d put the Leaf in the hands of my three kids. Say, what if they can’t charge it? What if they get to school and can’t charge it? The Leaf is a single-purpose car”.

Not good enough for his family? Ouch. Reuss’ comments come on the heels of the recent sales release stating that the LEAF outsold the Volt in the month of April. Coincidence or carefully timed remarks?

This isn’t the first time GM has stacked the Volt up against another fuel miser. Their CEO recently said he “wouldn’t be caught dead” in a Toyota Prius and that it was a “geek-mobile”.

Sticks and stones, or will this turn people to GM showrooms?

[Nashville Business Journal]