Automotive Car New Designs: July 2011

Sunday 31 July 2011

TOYOTA TOPS AT SUN CITY RALLY

Former national off road champion Duncan Vos and co-driver Rob Howie, driving a Super Production class Castrol Team Toyota Hilux, this afternoon won the Sun City 400 in North West Province. Second, 4,48 minutes in arrears, was the BMW X3 of former champion Hannes Grobler and Hennie ter Stege, with Malcolm Kock and Johan Burger third in a privateer Toyota Hilux a further 4 min 48 sec behind.

It was Vos and Howie’s second victory in the first five rounds of the Absa South African Off Road Car Championship (they also won the Atlas Copco Battlefields 400 in KwaZulu-Natal in round three in May) and they now lead the championship with 67 points from Thomas Rundle/Juan Mohr (61,5) and Terence Marsh/George Smalberger (56).

Castrol Toyota team-mates Anthony Taylor and Chris Birkin in the second factory Toyota Hilux overcame considerable odds to be among the 17 finishers, completing the course in hot and dusty conditions in 12th place after losing over an hour on the second loop when they were forced to stop and replace a broken front drive shaft while lying sixth.

Toyota, with four Hilux bakkies and two Land Cruisers in the top 10, won the manufacturers’ challenge for the event and consolidated its lead in the prestigious overall manufacturers’ championship.

Saturday’s 340-km route, over two identical loops with a compulsory service stop at the halfway point, was a very tough combination of tight, rocky tracks and fast grassland sections dotted with trees that took its toll of the strong field of production vehicles, with two championship front-runners among the 12 that failed to finish.

Vos and Howie had started the day in second place, a single second behind the privateer Toyota Hilux of Friday’s Donaldson Prologue winners Gary Bertholdt and Andre Vermeulen. Vos took an early lead after out-dragging Bertholdt off the start line, but dropped back to fifth place after 93 km when he had to stop to change a flat wheel.

By the time the field reached the compulsory service stop at the halfway stage, Vos had recovered to third behind the privateer Toyota Hilux bakkies of Pikkie Labuschagne/Rickus Erasmus and brothers Hugo and Jaap de Bruyn. Soon after the start of the second 170-km loop they were second, 1 min 30 sec behind Labuschagne, and they regained a lead they were not to lose again at around the 85 km mark.

“We’re right back in the championship,” said the four-times previous champion and twice before a winner of this event. “Apart from our puncture, we had a trouble-free run and the Hilux didn’t miss a beat. It was a tough event and we had to push hard to make up for the lost time. The dust was a big problem.”

Taylor’s weekend started off badly when he punctured both right-hand side tyres after hitting a rock in long grass at speed on Friday’s 55-km prologue that determines the start order for Saturday’s race. He lost more than eight minutes and finished 17th.

He started Saturday’s race 8 min 21 sec behind leader Bertholdt and, after a storming drive that’s saw him record the fastest time for the opening loop, he arrived at the halfway service stop in sixth place and just 3 min 38 sec behind the leading Hilux of Labuschagne. It was a typically tigerish performance by the former track racing star, who passed 11 bakkies in the heavy dust and remarkably made up nearly five minutes on the leaders.

He was challenging Grobler in the BMW at around the 20-km mark on the second and final loop when the drive shaft broke. “We battled to get the new shaft in and lost a lot more time than we should have,” reported Taylor, whose oil-stained racing overalls bore testimony to his and co-driver Birkin’s roadside repair job.

“It was tough break. I reckon we could have finished second today, but we’re happy to have scored some valuable championship points and are only 16 behind the leaders with three rounds remaining. There are a total of 75 points still to be fought for and we’re still in with a good chance,” he added.

Team principal Glyn Hall commented, “Both drivers did a superb job today. The two Castrol Toyota Hilux bakkies are now setting the pace and improving with every outing. We need to maintain the pressure and push hard in the remaining three events for a championship victory.”

The next round of the Absa Off Road Car Championship is the Carnival City 400 in Gauteng on September 10.

STORY BY TOYOTA

UNVEILED: BMW I8 CONCEPT AMAZES, HEADS TO JOZI

The BMW i8 Concept car was officially launched last Friday at a glitzy ceremony where the company and its bosses unveiled the upcoming hybrid sports car to the world. The 2+2 seater (2 front , 2 at the back) will be the second of BMW’s new i cars, following the smaller i3.

i8’s measurements are as follows: length is 4.6 metres, height 1.3m, width 1.95m and wheelbase is 2.8m. That makes it overall more or less the same size as the current 3 Series Coupe (E90). Of course it will be notably lighter than that, coming in at about 1500kg, thanks to advanced construction and weight-saving methods. Full LED lights will be standard, complimented by taut surfaces, precise edges and sweeping lines.

Sharing power provision duties will be a petrol engine and an electric motor, unlike the first Vision EfficientDynamics Concept car which used a turbo diesel engine instead. Total system output is expected to be 260kW and 550Nm, of which the petrol engine will provide 164kW and 300Nm respectively.

BMW sees the i8 running from standstill to 100km/h in just 4.6 seconds, with top whack limited to 250km/h. For a car of this nature, average fuel consumption of 2.7 litres per 100km is nothing short of incredible, if it can be replicated in real life. Even if it can’t, real life driving could possibly return 4 to 5 litres per 100km at worst, still bloody amazing given what the car’s performance.

Advanced navigation will be one of the car’s big attractions. The two navigation modes "Last Mile Navigation" and "Intermodal Route Planning" are designed particularly with urban environments in mind. Last Mile Navigation continues to navigate the driver even after he gets out of the vehicle, by sending instructions to his smartphone which will direct him quickly and reliably on the "last lap", for example from the car park to the museum entrance. And when the driver is ready to head back, he can quickly locate his parked vehicle using the CarFinder function.

An example of the BMW i8 is expected to appear at the 2011 Johannesburg International Motor Show in October, alongside its smaller i3 sibling and the new M5, among others.

MASERATI GRANCABRIO SPORT BREAKS COVER

Maserati has introduced the new GranCabrio Sport to customers in Europe. The drop-top Maser was first unveiled at the 2011 Geneva International Motor Show and features, among others, a new black colour, red accents on the Maserati Trident and new headlights with white reflectors.

The new wheels are 20-inch types shod with 245/35 ZR20 front and 285/35 ZR20 rear tyres. It’s those tyres that have the unenviable task of handle the car’s 331kW and 510Nm of torque, all pumped out by the naturally aspirated 4.7-litre V8 that’s mated to a 6-speed automatic gearbox. The ‘box itself has something called MC Auto Shift mode which provides fast gearshift times, an automatic blip on downshifts and launch control.

As such Maserati claims a 0 – 100km/h time of 5.2 seconds and top speed of 285km/h for the car. Average fuel consumption is said to be 9.8 litres per 100km, matched by C02 emissions of 337 g/km. expect to see the sexy but undoubtedly overpriced GC Sport at the 2011 JIMS in Nasrec this October.

F1: Hungarian Grand Prix Qualifying Report

It's probably getting kind of old, but a Red Bull has once again claimed pole position this year. This time Sebastian Vettel is the one who managed to break teammate Mark Webber's two previous pole positions, while also beating the two McLarens piloted by Lewis Hamilton and Jenson Button to start from the first row of the Hungaroring circuit on Sunday.

The two main contenders for the pole position seemed to be Vettel and Hamilton, and that’s the way the fight ended, with Button and the two Ferraris behind them. However, it’s Felipe Massa who will start from the second row relegating Fernando Alonso, who celebrated both his 30th birthday and 30th race with the Scuderia team, to fifth place.

Mark Webber in the second Red Bull couldn’t match the pace of the front runners, ending up more than half a second slower than Vettel in sixth place.

Mercedes GP put in a solid performance with Nico Rosberg in seventh and Michael Schumacher in ninth place on the grid. It’s just that the 7-times World Champion and the man who has broken almost every record in Formula 1 was beaten (by 0.8 seconds) by his team-mate, but also by a Force India, that of Adrian Sutil.

Juno Temple Stars in Abe Sylvia's Film 'Dirty Girl'

"Danielle, nobody likes a dirty girl." Today's indie trailer via Apple is for something a little dirty, the indie Dirty Girl starring Juno Temple as, well, a dirty girl. It's actually a roadtrip coming-of-age movie, but it doesn't really seem like it, at least not really an interesting one. Despite starring the rather talented Juno Temple, as well as Milla Jovovich, William H. Macy, Mary Steenburgen, Dwight Yoakam and Jeremy Dozier, this doesn't look good at all. It received dismal reviews at TIFF last year, but it might interest or connect with a few of you, and I wanted to feature it anyway. Check it out if you think Juno Temple will impress you.

Watch the Weinstein Company's official trailer for Abe Sylvia's Dirty Girl:

You can also download the Dirty Girl trailer in High Definition on Apple

It's 1987 and Danielle (Juno Temple), the 'dirty girl' of Norman High School in Oklahoma, is running away. With her is chubby gay Clarke, a bag of flour called Joan and a Walkman full of glorious 80's tunes.
Dirty Girl is both written and directed by American filmmaker Abe Sylvia, a graduate of UCLA making his feature directing debut after the shorts My Mother's Hairdo and Feltch Sanders, and commercials work for Svedka. The film premiered at the Toronto Film Fest last year, where it was picked up by The Weinstein Company for distribution. Dirty Girl is now set to arrive in limited theaters October 7th this fall. Curious?

Audi R8 Tries Out Gulf Oil Livery

Joining our long list of cars of all sizes and sorts wearing the classic racing colors of Gulf Oil is this Audi R8 coupe, which was spotted at the Mediterranean town of Marbella in Spain.
While it's still no Porsche 917, the famed baby-blue and orange scheme looks much better on the Audi R8 than on some of the more recent Gulf Oil editions we've seen lately including the Mercedes-Benz CLK AMG DTM Edition.
For more photos of the Audi R8, follow the break to check out the gallery.

Suzuki Kizashi Concepts

Suzuki's long-awaited 2010 Suzuki Kizashi sedan is just starting to make its way to Suzuki dealerships, but that hasn't stopped the tuners from scoring a few Kizashis to dress up for the 2009 SEMA show. Here's a look at four customized Kizashis that will be on the floor at SEMA.
Road Race Motorsports Suzuki Kizashi
Road Race Motorsports Platinum Edition Suzuki Kizashi Front Three Quar
Road Race Motorsports has been making race cars out of Suzukis for a long time, so it's no surprise they got their hands on the Kizashi as fast as they could in order to create their Platinum Edition Kizashi. Digging in, they added a custom intake system, engine management system, Zeitronix data logging system and a custom dual exhaust. They then stiffened up the chassis and added Progress Technology springs and sway bars to take care of the handling and Rotora 13-in. brakes up front to handle stopping duties and complement their own Road Race 10.2-in. rear brakes.
Performance work done, Road Race turned their attention to the Kizashi's appearance, which they upgraded with their Sport Body kit. The kit includes Carbontrix custom front and rear fascias and a rear diffuser, to which they also added a custom grille, vented hood, and blacked-out roof. "Platinum Edition" graphics finish the package and let everyone know this is no ordinary Kizashi.
Delta Tech Engineering Suzuki Kizashi
Delta Tech Engineering Suzuki Kizashi Front Three Quarter View
Also quick to snap up a Kizashi was Delta Tech Engineering, which also had its sights set on performance. They started by stripping the car and lightening it as much as possible. Under the hood, they fitted a cold air intake and custom exhaust to up performance while Koni provided new coilover shocks and springs to upgrade the handling. RK Sport, meanwhile, came up with a new body kit for the car while Katzkin took care of new seats and Kenwood supplied a new stereo system. Delta Tech finished off the car with custom HID and LED lighting it developed in-house for this project.
Import Tuner Suzuki Kizashi
Import Tuner Suzuki Kizashi Front Three Quarters View Driver
Click to view Gallery
If any automotive magazine were to answer Suzuki's call for tuner Kizashi builds, which better to answer it than Import Tuner? The customizers of all things import went to work under the hood, on the suspension, and on the body work to create a custom Kizashi an import tuner could be proud to call its own.
Import Tuner Suzuki Kizashi Front Three Quarters View Passenger
Import Tuner Suzuki Kizashi Front View
Import Tuner Suzuki Kizashi Rear Three Quarters View Driver
Import Tuner Suzuki Kizashi Rear View
Import Tuner Suzuki Kizashi Side View
Westside Auto Group Suzuki Kizashi
Westside Auto Group Suzuki Kizashi Front Three Quarter View
Click to view Gallery
Fusing East and West, Westside Auto Group drew inspiration from both the Suzuki Hayabusa motorcycle and vintage European style for its Kizashi Soleil (Soleil is French for "masculine sun," a nod to the Kizashi's Japanese heritage). Up front, Westside created a new fascia, grille and air intakes, then moved around the side and shaved the door handles. Reaching the rear of the car, they added a custom rear fascia housing a custom Yoshimura exhaust and a GT Super Car spoiler. R-Worx seven-spoke wheels wrapped in early-release Bridgestone Potenza tires and two-tone Napa Merlot/Bronzed Amber paint complete the package.

Suzuki Kizashi Concepts

Suzuki Kizashi Concepts

Suzuki Kizashi Concepts

Suzuki Kizashi Concepts

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Suzuki Kizashi Concepts

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Suzuki Equator

Fresh off the heels of our joint Tokyo to LA - The Hard Way adventure, Suzuki is setting its sights on Las Vegas' SEMA Show. The unofficial "biggest little car company" will bring three models to showcase the brand's aftermarket potential.
2010 Suzuki Kizashi Bonneville Front
ASMC 2010 Suzuki Kizashi Bonneville SpecialThis ain't your run-of-the-mill family sedan. Designed and crafted by Advanced Product Engineering, the fully built and modified Kizashi recently ran a record-breaking 203.301 mph at this year's Bonneville Speed Week. To accomplish this feat, engineers boosted power to well over 500 horsepower with help of a massive Turbonetics turbocharger bolted onto a highly reworked engine (with upgraded internals, cooling, fuel, and lubrication systems). Of course, safety is a priority when travelling this fast, so the team installed a rollcage, aluminum rear bulkhead, racing seat, harness, window net, and fire suppression system.
2010 Suzuki Kizashi Delta Tech Rear
Delta Tech Engineering Kizashi
From a company best known for its lighting products comes this stylish four-door. Modifications include an RKSport body kit, lowered Koni coilover suspension, intake and exhaust systems, and Katzkin leather. Of course, there's also a full LED and high intensity discharge light conversion.
2010 Suzuki Equator Icon Front Three Quarters
Icon Vehicle Dynamics Equator
As we know from our intercontinental journey, the Equator is one tough rig, particularly off-road on unpredictable terrain. But to Icon, the truck is a perfect starting point for a SEMA build, and as such, this rugged ride sports freer flowing headers and exhaust, Icon coilovers, Total Chaos upper control arms, Goodyear Wrangler MT/R tires, beadlock wheels, fender flares, and a bed extender.

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Oakley Design Ferrari 458 Italia

It appears Stasis' tuned Audi R8 won't be the only European supercar to grace the Specialty Equipment Market Association show. Oakley Design, a firm noted mainly for tuning Porsches, revealed today it plans on bringing a customized Ferrari 458 Italia to next week's trade show.
Although Oakley has previously been tied to various Porsche projects, the company recently expanded its offerings to the new 458. In stock form, the Italia's 4.5-liter V-8 cranks out an impressive 570 horsepower and 398 pound-feet of torque, but Oakley's team believed they could improve upon Maranello's design. With a new intake system and a remapped engine computer, Oakley claims it was able to coax another 48 ponies and 20 pound-feet from the engine, bringing output to 618 horsepower and 418 pound-feet.
According to the tuner, the extra power helps thrust the 458 from 0-60 mph in a scant 3.0 seconds -- four-tenths of a second quicker than a stock Italia -- and to a top speed above the 205 mph mark. To help the driver retain control of the car at such speeds, Oakley's custom front and rear spoilers create an extra 99 and 55 pounds of downforce, respectively.
Oakley Design Ferrari 458 Italia Rear
To help set apart its 458 from stock cars, Oakley scrapped the standard five-spoke wheel in favor of giant HRE forged rims, which are both lighter and wider than the original hardware. Additionally, Oakley's blacked out portions of the A-pillar, roof, and decklid, allowing the 458's curved roofline to resemble a fighter jet's bubble canopy.
Oakley plans on building five 458s itself, one of which will be at SEMA next week. For those who already own a 458 but desire some of Oakley's touches, fear not -- the tuning shop insists it will offer these performance and cosmetic upgrades a la carte.

Oakley Design Ferrari 458 Italia

Oakley Design Ferrari 458 Italia

Oakley Design Ferrari 458 Italia

Oakley Design Ferrari 458 Italia

Oakley Design Ferrari 458 Italia

Oakley Design Ferrari 458 Italia

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mazda 3

Mazda has turned to its motorsports arm for its official 2009 SEMA Show factory efforts, creating a special edition Mazdaspeed3 and a 2.5L Mazda3, both of which take cues from the Mazda3 World Challenge racecar. Both 3s wear Crystal White Pearl, grey graphics, and details painted in black. Mazda says the design is a rework of the livery on the infamous 787B that took Le Mans in 1991.
Tri-Point Engineering, which races its own pair of Mazdas in the World Challenge series, upgraded the powertrain on the 2.5L Mazda3. With a Garrett GT2871R turbocharger pumping 10 psi, Mazda claims the mill sends 250-hp to the front wheels, and that the tune isn't finished yet. The Mazdaspeed3 gets only an AEM intake, but it's good for a claimed 20-hp boost.
2010 Mazdaspeed3 SEMA Side View
The Speed3 lends its front brakes to the 2.5L 3. In return, it gets four-piston Stoptech calipers and floating two-piece rotors. Suspension upgrades consist of KW Suspension coilovers with modified top mounts on the front struts to increase camber.
The 2.5L 3, with the Speed3's brakes up front and Mazda5 brakes out back, gets a Tri-Point rear stabilizer bar and adjustable KW coilovers. Both cars sit on 19-in. wheels with Bridgestone Potenza RE050A rubber from the RX-8 R3.