Street Life Auto Club

We’ve just seen the next Audi A8 revealed at the Fontainebleau hotel in Miami, and here it is. (Better photos coming soon, promise!) The new sedan is being shown as part of Audi’s “The Art of Progress” exhibit at Design Miami.

Due to arrive in the U.S. in about 12 months’ time for the 2011 model year, the A8 is completely redesigned, carrying many of the styling cues we’ve come to expect from recent Audis.

The high points:
- LED headlights that aim and focus based on navigation data
- Audi’s trademark aluminum spaceframe, a staple dating back to the original A8
- More powerful and more efficient engines (expect an improved 4.2 FSI V-8 for the U.S. market)
- A new MMI interface that includes a touchpad with handwriting recognition

Check back later for more on Audi’s revamped flagship.

Related posts:

1. 2010 Audi A8 / 2011 Audi S8 – Car News
2. 2011 Audi A8 – Spied
3. 2011 Audi RS5 – Spied

Original Post By Google News David Gluckman

+ We take our first drive in the bonkers 2010 Mercedes-Benz S63 AMG.  [Car and Driver]

+ Honda unveils the P-NUT Concept at L.A., and we try and wrap our heads around it.  [Car and Driver]

+ A fuel-saving device, or a covert way to ignite street races?  A stoplight designed by an inhabitant of Belgrade tells drivers how much time is left on the red light, allowing them to manually stop and re-start their engines to save fuel.  [Jalopnik]

+ After the sale of Saab to Sweedish supercar maker Koenigsegg fell through, two new bidders have stepped to the plate.  One company hails from China, while the other is based in Wyoming, and both are vying for the right to manufacture Saab vehicles.  [Autocar]

+ Plug-in hybrids are all the rage in automotive technology, but they have a problem: tuning out the harshness when the gas engine fires up. Capstone Turbine thinks that it has the answer, and it involves replacing the piston engine with a mini turbine running on diesel fuel.  [Motor Authority]

Related posts:

1. Daily Downshift: November 2, 2009
2. Daily Downshift: November 12, 2009
3. Daily Downshift: November 17, 2009

Original Post By Google News Car and Driver

There’s a reason that “S” comes before “AMG.”

Over at Mercedes-Benz, they take their flagship S-class very seriously. As the halo car for a brand represented by a star, the S had better shine pretty bright in its segment—a segment full of customers who are as diverse as they are discriminating. Thus, the S-class has to be all things to lots of very rich people, which explains why there are no fewer than six S-class models, two of which are warmed over by the wild bunch at the company’s AMG tuning division, which tends to turn everything it touches into a big fat pot of fast.

Case in point: the E63 AMG, an E-class sedan (or wagon, if you ask really nicely) blessed with a snap-to suspension and stuffed with a 518-hp version of AMG’s pride and joy, a mellifluous 6.2-liter V-8 with a truly satanic exhaust note. But whereas the E63 is as raucous as a rabid wolverine, the larger, costlier S63 AMG behaves more like a mildly irritated lioness chasing pesky hyenas off her territory. Of course, with the S63’s 518 hp and 465 lb-ft of torque shooting though fat 20-inch rear wheels, those hyenas don’t stand much of a chance. During our most recent test of the S63 AMG—which is virtually identical under the hood to the 2010 model—the big saloon pegged 60 mph in just 4.5 seconds, hit the quarter-mile in 13 flat at 110 mph, and stopped from 70 mph in 159 feet, which is pretty awesome for a 4900-pound cruiser.

Keep Reading: 2010 Mercedes-Benz S63 AMG – First Drive Review

Related posts:

1. 2010 Mercedes-Benz S63 AMG / S65 AMG Revealed – Car News
2. 2010 Mercedes-Benz E63 AMG – First Drive Review
3. 2009 Mercedes-Benz C-class / C300 / C350 / C63 AMG – Review

Original Post By Google News Steve Siler

While we’re still having trouble getting excited about the Accord Crosstour that Honda will have on display at the L.A. auto show this week, we’re far more anxious to learn about the P-NUT concept the Japanese automaker plans to unveil at the show.

Reportedly penned by Honda’s Pasadena, CA, design studio and standing for Personal Neo Urban Transport, the concept will “demonstrate a futuristic concept for an ultracompact, aggressively designed coupe.” Probably a hybrid of some sort and aimed at competing with rival Toyota’s iQ minicar, the P-NUT should be an interesting take on an urban runabout that would likely slot into the lineup below the Fit. And given how well that car manages to stuff large helpings of practicality and driving fun into its pint-sized proportions, we’re expecting much, er, less of the same from the P-NUT.

Honda hasn’t released any official info yet on the concept, but we expect more details closer to the company’s press conference on Wednesday, December 2. Check back for full coverage of the show and additional information on the P-NUT concept.

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Original Post By Google News Mike Sutton

Holy secretary’s car, Batman! Ford’s base muscle car ponies up to a stout 305 hp.

Wanna see a Ford guy wince? Call the Mustang V-6 a “secretary’s car.” This used to be a reliably fun way to annoy our hosts (or get a beer poured down our backs) at Mustang events, primarily because it was true: with its wheezy, old 4.0-liter V-6 putting out a wimpy-for-a-muscle-car 210 hp and 240 lb-ft of torque, the base ‘Stang couldn’t outrun a Honda Accord V-6. But it seems that our last jab has been made, now that Ford has announced that its 2011 Mustang V-6 will have its power juiced up by some 45 percent to 305 hp, with torque rising 40 lb-ft to 280.

Keep Reading: 2011 Ford Mustang V6 – Official Photos and Info

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Original Post By Google News Steve Siler

On Tuesday, we posted an audio recording of a mystery car’s exhaust note. To hear it again, click play above. Many of you properly identified the special guest—Happy Thanksgiving!—but only one was on the right track with the car. This week’s answer is: Porsche Cayman S.

Like it? Download the MP3 and quiz your friends, make your own ringtone, or just lull yourself to sleep with sweet, sweet vehicular ear candy.

Porsche Cayman S Exhaust MP3 (Right-click to Save As…)

Related posts:

1. Name That Exhaust Note, Episode 8: Audi S8
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3. Name That Exhaust Note, Episode 15: Ferrari F430

Original Post By Google News Car and Driver

+ We take a quick spin in a Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution MR Touring, which promises to be more posh and less in-your-face than the regular MR.  [Car and Driver]

+ We bid a fond farewell to our 2008 BMW X6 xDrive50i long-termer.  [Car and Driver]

+ We preview the 2011 Infiniti M37 and M56.  [Car and Driver]

+ Toyota will issue a recall for 3.8 million vehicles concerning their accelerator pedals and floor mats.  [Car and Driver]

+ The 2011 Buick Regal will be built in Canada after the initial German production run.  [Car and Driver]

+ The Dodge Viper ACR receives suspension and aero tweaks, allowing it to hustle around Laguna Seca in a record 1:33:944.  [Car and Driver]

+ While AMG insists the SLS is not a “retro” car, Gullwing America thinks otherwise, and is offering a full body kit that is reminiscent of the original 300SL.  [Car and Driver]

+ Watch the KTM X-Bow rip around Virginia International Raceway.  [Car and Driver]

+ Traditional traffic interchanges can cause bottlenecks, accidents, increase fuel consumption, and are expensive to build.  Missouri is experimenting with a new type of interchange in Springfield, dubbed the Diverging Diamond, an idea that was borrowed from the French.  [NPR]

Related posts:

1. Daily Downshift: November 2, 2009
2. Daily Downshift: November 12, 2009
3. Daily Downshift: November 16, 2009

Original Post By Google News Car and Driver

Motorcycle maker KTM creates a track-day car. Dirty fun ensues.

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Original Post By Google News Car and Driver

Gibberish has never been spoken so eloquently.

Our long-term test of the BMW X6 began with a more basic premise than most long-term tests. Usually, our objective is to find out what a car is like to live with for 40,000 miles, but, with the X6, our goal was simply to find out why a person would live with it for 40,000 miles. Its apparently random combination of skills and strengths seemed about as logical as cross-breeding your chocolate Labrador with a ham radio.

To further muddy the equation, we piled more than $16,000 worth of options onto our X6 xDrive50i’s sticker, raising the price from $63,825 to an as-tested $80,270. Some of those options—like the $400 rear-view camera—are absolute necessities. Most of the rest—like the $2000 Premium package that nets self-dimming mirrors and a universal garage-door opener that not one of us ever used—are not. And the $1700 rear-seat entertainment system’s poorly placed screen fostered such intense frustration that we would pay BMW for the privilege of jamming a pickaxe through it. For a full list of optional equipment, check out our long-term X6 introduction.

Keep Reading: 2008 BMW X6 xDrive50i – Long-Term Road Test Wrap-Up

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Original Post By Google News Jared Gall

By now regular readers know that the brand-new Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG is styled to recall the Mercedes 300SL Gullwing from the 1950s. But if the supercar’s looks aren’t retro enough for your tastes, allow us to introduce you to Gullwing America.

The Texas-based company now offers an aluminum-and-carbon-fiber body kit to make the SLS look even more like the old-school Gullwing. Called the SLS Panamericana, the conversion starts with a revised front fascia sporting a larger grille that deletes the SLS’s horizontal slat, oval headlights, and twin “power bulges” on the hood, like on the original Gullwing.

There are bigger side air intakes and fender extensions that sit over five-spoke wheels measuring 19 inches in front and 20 inches in the rear. The rump sports quad circular exhaust tips and a revised rear bumper. Inside are Alcantara seat treatments and brushed-aluminum door sills.

Does it look like the original? We think it’s pretty close, although we’re not quite sold on those fender brows. Prices for the conversion kit have yet to be announced, but remember that the donor SLS AMG will set you back close to $200,000.

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Original Post By Google News Jake Holmes