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]

Mini Cooper Coupe Closer to Production

About a month ago the Mini Cooper Roadster was caught out and a bout and now its hard topped brother has been caught doing this same. This can only mean that we are ever closer to seeing a production version of the two concepts, which were technically close to production ready in the first place. Autoblog’s stealth photog was able to snap this shot that confirms the production version won’t stray far from the concept.

The rumoured engine for the coupe is the same 1.6 litre turbo four cylinder that can be found under the hood of the current John Cooper Works Edition Mini Cooper, meaning it produces 211 horsepower and 192 pound feet of torque. The rumour also indicated that the roadster’s engine would be tamed somewhat to 175 horses and 177 pound foot torque. Given that the current Cooper S generates 181 horsepower, I’d wager that’s no longer true.

The coupe will also get, according to the photos, a retractable spoiler which is great for when it’s not needed i.e it’s a functional spoiler unlike 90% of spoilers out there today.

The coupe and roadster are expected to be revealed quite soon with the coupe going into production this fall ahead of the roadster.

[Autoblog]

BMW’s i3 Spied

Fresh of the heels of it’s relative the, i8, was caught (pic in the post below) the i3 has also been spotted doing cold weather testing. The i3 is going to be much less performance oriented than the i8, but will likely be more efficient as a result.

This is the first time the i3 has been spotted in the flesh and the design is definitely unusual for BMW. The bump on the nose and unusual back end make it an odd design for sure. The headlights and tail lights are likely not production, but expect those skinny low rolling resistence tires to make it to the final product.

Also expect the entire body to be made from carbon fiber. Making the i3 as light as possible is key for the best efficiency, however carbon fiber is quite expensive so that may drive up the initial cost. There may be a slight performance advantage as well but with an expected 0-100 time in the 10 second range, we shouldn’t be expecting a rocket. No word on whether it will be a plug in hybrid or a full EV yet.

[Autoblog]

Spied: BMW i8 Winter Testing

Well looky here.

Looks like BMW’s new supercar is making the rounds to see if it is well suited for Canadian climates! Even though anyone who owns a supercar in Canada parks it in the garage for six months of the year, it’s good to know that BMW plans on making it somewhat winter capable.

This new supercar is not expected to wear the BMW rounel, however. Even though the famous Bavarian automaker will build it, it will slot into a new combrand calle ‘i’.  This is going to be the name of BMW’s efficieny division. And colour me satisfied that BMW has shown its commitment to the environment by creating a dedicated brand rather than just killing off its performance models like some other manufacturers.

But just because the i8 will be under an environmentally conscious brand, don’t think for a second that performance is lacking. It is made by BMW, after all. The i8 is expected to make the 0-100 sprint in 4.8 seconds all while acheiving 3.7 L/100 kms. That’s Toyota Prius levels of efficiency. It is able to acheive those numbers through a poweful electric motor and another method of propulsion which has yet to be determined. Rumours originally had a diesel pegged under the hood, but now it’s looking as though a turbocharged 4 cylinder will get the nod.

In any event, no matter how you slice it, it’s going to be an impressive piece of machinery attempting to answer the age old question: can you have your cake and eat it too?

[Autoblog]

Mini Cooper Roadster Closer to Production

Autoblog has caught a very close to production Mini Roadster (rumoured to be called the Speedster) out and about.

It clearly has a low slung shape along with an added active spoiler. It’s not much of a looker with the top up, but it will likely look pretty good with it down. Expect power to come from the Cooper S’s 1.6 litre engine which produces 181 horsepower along with a JCW version with 208 horsepower.

A coupe version is also coming  that’s expected to have the same power and is actually supposed to be lighter than the already light Cooper. It should look way better than the convertible too.

The coupe is actually expected to be available in the fall ahead of the convertible.

[Autoblog]

Ferrari 612 Scaglietti Successor Spied

The folks from Autoblog were recently lucky enough to find Ferrari out and about testing its 612 Scaglietti successor. Naturally, they took a few snaps.

There have been rumours circulating for a while now that this new Italian stallion would actually be a shooting brake. Given the camouflage in the back, this rumour could very well turn out to be true.

However the other rumour was that it would be a 2+2 seater, in which case the camouflage in the back could be hiding those extra seats. And the longer wheelbase could be to accomodate extra leg room.

Whatever the case, it’s clear Ferrari is looking to enter into a niche market – more so than all its models are already in.

One thing is for sure, this 612 Scaglietti successor will not be a sedan. Ferrari has made that crystal clear.

[Autoblog]

Oh Hi: 2012 Chrysler 300C

Well overdue for a face lift, Chrysler has finally (albeit unofficially) taken the wraps off the 2012 300C as these pics were caught of the brand’s flagship filming for a commercial.

This is clearly just a face lift and yup, you guessed it. Chrome everywhere. There’s chrome the entire length of the back bumper and even chrome splitting the rear tail lights. When are American manufacturers going to learn that chrome = tacky & classless?

Up front the 300C will get LED daytime running lights just like Audi and Mercedes-Benz have been doing lately. A reworked front facia with a new grille complete the look.

The 300C is expected to get the same 3.6 litre V6 and 5.7 litre V8 that the Charger gets. More details will follow after the official reveal a few months from now.

Let’s just hope that Chrysler did something about interior quality and reliability. Oh, and hopefully they made it able to take corners too since the current one definitely can’t as Jeremy Clarkson will demonstrate if you hit the jump.

More spy pics here.

[Autoblog]

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Oh Hi: 2012 Honda Civic

So I almost didn’t bother writing a blog post about this because as you can see from the video above, there really isn’t much to talk about here in terms of design. It’s more of an intense face lift rather than a full out re-design.

But since the Honda Civic is the number one selling car in Canada, I felt as though I should say something. And also because for some reason Honda didn’t feel it necessary to camouflage the newest iteration of its best selling car ever.

So here it is, the 2012 model year in the Middle East most likely doing hot weather testing. As you can see, the most significant update is the the rear with a completely new tail light design (is every car on the road gonna use LED’s now?) and a much higher rear deck that reminds me of the rear of a Nissan Sentra. Which isn’t exactly a good thing. The front facia is more familiar to the current version with the grille being more upright.

No word yet on power plants. Hopefully the Si sticks around but if it does, Honda better give it more power. The current version is quite the snooze fest. And hopefully they’ll be able to make it look good. Not like how the Nissan Sentra SE-R looks terribly awkward.

Expect official pics quite soon in light of this new video.

[Car Magazine]

Sneak Peak: Saab 9-4X

Set to officially debut at the Los Angeles Motor Show in November, a Saab nut over at Saabs United was actually able to snag a pic of the production version.

Now under the ownership of Spyker, it seemsthings are chugging along quite nicely for Saab after being dangerously close to death. Spyker seems to be respecting the overall Saab design philosophy that makes Saab such quirky loveable cars.

Since this Saab was planned and developped under General Motors, it actually shares the same platform as the Cadillac SRX. It is expected to get possibly the same 2.8 litre turbocharged V6, however the 2.0 litre turbocarged inline four found in the 2010 9-5 is also a possibility, what with efficiency being on the mind of everyone. As the ‘X’ in the name suggests, AWD will be standard.

[Saabs United]

2012 BMW M5 Takes on the ‘Ring Again

The 2012 BMW M5 is back in the Nurburgring again after a rather embarrassing show last time. BMW has apparently fixed whatever problem knocked it out of commission the last time and we now have some great video spy shots!

The M5 can be seen in the vid taking the apexes with ease and looking damn good in the process. No word on the lap time yet.

Can’t wait to see official pics and specs!

[Youtube]

Oops! Next Gen BMW M5 Gets By With a Little Help From Its Friend

Being the successor to any generation BMW M5 is a tall order. Each variation has been been bigger and better and the next generation M5 is no exception.

There are few details coming out about the next gen M5 other than it is expected to retain the big German V8 found in the X5 M and X6 M with little or no tweaking to the engine. As a result 555 horsepower will be the order of the day. Nothing to sneeze at. That’s 55 horses more than the outgoing model.

As you’d expect, the next generation M5 is going to be faster than the outgoing model as well. Most manufacturers tend to use the infamous Nurburgring as their base for a vehicle’s performance and the next gen M5 was caught doing a few laps. Unfortunately, the next gen M5 isn’t quite ready for any photo ops yet as maxing it out on the ‘Ring recently proved to be too much to ask. It actually broke down on the ‘Ring and had to be towed by a family member back to base to nurse it back to health. The previous generation X5 was happy to help, but embarrassingly enough, the whole mishap was caught by sneaky photographers.

Clearly the next generation M5 isn’t ready for production, but when it is, you can be sure that it will set yet another benchmark in the sport sedan world.

Sidebar, those rims on the M5 are absolutely sick!

[Autoblog]

Drool: BMW Releases Video of 1-Series M Coupe

Even though it is still fully camouflaged, BMW has released an official video of the upcoming 1-Series M. In the video, they do not give it an official name, but BMW has said that it will not be called the M1. That name is reserved for the original M1 and for a possible successor down the road.

Rumours of power have been all over the map, but the most consistant seems to be in the 320 horsepower range, about 20 more than a regular 135i. The 1-series M will also add two more air intakes, two additional ducts, wider fenders, a more pronounced ducktail shaped trunk spoiler, and of course drilled rotors are large brakes. Oh, and those sweet looking wheels will indeed make it to production as well.

No word yet on pricing, but BMW did say that the 1-Series M will only be available in limited numbers.

Oh Hi: 2011 Dodge Charger

Really? That’s it?

Way back since the inception of this blog we saw spy shots of the 2011 wearing a full camouflage suit. It wasn’t terribly interesting but it gave the impression that a fairly substantial redesign was in the works.

Well some fool over at Dodge left the front end of the 2011 Charger completely uncovered for prying eyes to see and it looks as though there isn’t much going on besides an evolutionary face lift. Yawn..  Then again leaving the Charger unmasked could be something done on purpose in order to hype up the car. It’s going to need all the help it can get.

We see that the new Charger is going to have a more douchy looking angrier face with more angular headlamp clusters while the grille has been redesigned to look taller and come with real fake chrome. Since Charger owners only care about raw power and nothing else (such as styling, handling, quality, fuel consumption etc) you can be assured that the new Charger will have plenty of power and that the HEMI engine will stick around.

God, I can’t wait until Fiat/Alfa Romeo gives Chrysler back its credibility.

Very Very Minor Mini Face Lift For 2011

Quick, name the differences between the current 2010 Mini Cooper and the face lifted 2011 Mini Cooper you see above!

Times up. Come up with anything?  They are so similar that hiding the Mini badge really wasn’t needed. In fact, there’s no mistaking it for anything by a Mini.

The first thing I noticed right away was the chrome lining on the intakes up front. The rear snap reveals more chrome lined intakes in the back. And uh, yeah that’s pretty much it. The light clusters are slightly refreshed as well. The rear tail lamp refresh is more obvious with a more pronounced circular theme all while keeping the classic Cooper shape.

The interior is expected to get an equally minor refresh as well. Some new rim styles would be nice.

Check out the rear snap after the jump.

[AutoExpress]

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Smart Move: Hyundai Sonata Wagon Spied

All the luxury automakers have their wits about them as most are offering or are about to offer more wagon variants for us to choose from.

Unfortunately for normal folk, the non-luxury mid-size wagon market is quite dry. There used to be lots to choose from such as the Ford Taurus wagon, Mazda6 wagon, the Camry Wagon and the Dodge Magnum. But all of those have bitten the dust and as a result the mid-size wagon segment has been mostly abandoned. If you want a mid-sized wagon these days without spending north of 30 grand, you are pretty much limited to the Subaru Outback or the Volkswagen Jetta Wagon.

Hyundai is apparently seeing the huge gap in the market, and thus lots of potential. Its newly redesigned Sonata is receiving high praise of late, so they figured they could pull off a similar trick with a wagon version. I’m willing to bet that they will. People won’t be forced into buying an SUV if they need versatility, but it will also serve as a good solution for many businesses and would take up the company car role nicely.

Expect the Sonata wagon to receive a 2012 release date.

[Autoblog]