Street Life Auto Club

Infiniti reboots its flagship using mollusk-like design.

Well behind most of its luxury competitors in sales, Infiniti is a brand that never stops reinventing itself. The latest thrust for the 2011 M37 and M56 flagship sedans takes styling in a highly organic, almost halibiotic direction, evoking various swimming and wiggling forms of ocean proteins. We’re not saying the new M is squid-like as though it’s a bad thing, for both models are in fact quite handsome and stand out far more than the previous, anonymous Mr. M. With massively upgraded interior materials and tweaking of the powertrains and suspension, the new Infiniti also moves in ways that any squid would find highly arousing.

Keep Reading: 2011 Infiniti M37 / M56 – First Drive Review

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Original Post By Google News Aaron Robinson

Just a few days prior to the 2010 Geneva auto show, images of Ferrari’s 599 hybrid have leaked courtesy of carspyshots.com. No further details have been released, but go ahead and feast your eyes on this green beast. We’ll bring you more information next week.

[View with PicLens]

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Original Post By Google News Jon Yanca

The production version of the LF-Ch concept will aim directly at BMW’s 1-series.

Lexus showed the LF-Ch concept at last fall’s Frankfurt motor show, and already the company is teasing the production version, to be called the CT200h. The model will make its world debut at the 2010 Geneva auto show.

Keep Reading: 2011 Lexus CT200h Hybrid – Auto Shows – Auto Shows

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Original Post By Google News Erik Johnson

In this age of high-speed, ubiquitous internet access, keeping a concept car under wraps seems harder than ever. Case number 34,917: We weren’t supposed to see the Koenigsegg Agera until next week’s Geneva auto show, but the intrepid bloggers at gtspirit.com managed to track down some leaked info on the upcoming Swedish supercar.

The Agera is a descendant of the CCX, and even measures the same proportions. Indeed, the body lines are really just a smoothed-over version of the CCX’s spunky styling. Not that that’s a bad thing.

The CCX’s 4.7-liter V-8 is carried over, too, although gtspirit.com claims we can now expect 910 hp and 811 lb-ft of torque, for 0–62 mph times of 3.1 seconds. It sounds feasible: when we tested a 2006 CCX, the old 806-hp engine felt wicked fast. Even with a slipping clutch, we pulled off a 4.1-second acceleration run in a Koenigsegg prototype.

As for the Agera, the spec sheet will undoubtedly include massive brakes, super-wide tires, and race-firm suspension tuning. The body will be rendered almost entirely in carbon fiber, and a flat underbody with rear diffuser reportedly creates up to 660 pounds of downforce. We also hear there will be four-point racing harnesses and a removable targa top.

We’re looking forward to official photos and info sometime next week. But for now, this internet leak is more than enough to whet our appetite.

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Original Post By Google News Jake Holmes

The Lower Forty concept dukes it out with one of the world’s best off-roaders. And this ain’t no donkey show.

Two thousand years ago, the Middle East was one major mess, just as it is today, and the roads—where roads existed—were also one major mess, just as they are today, riddled with boulders, child-swallowing potholes, washouts, and the occasional burning bush. This is why the off-road vehicle of choice in those days was the ­donkey—Equus africanus asinus.

Donkeys were reliable. They rarely overheated and never blew a fuse, although at night their headlights were extremely poor, and they were sometimes prone to longish periods of inexplicable meditative motionlessness.

Keep Reading: Jeep Lower Forty Concept vs. a Donkey – Feature

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Original Post By Google News John Phillips

Hyundai does its best Honda CR-V impression.

If imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, then Honda should be blushing at the sight of the new Hyundai Tucson. It’s not quite a bootleg copy of a Honda CR-V, the kind a Chinese carmaker might make, but the new Tucson is clearly modeled after, or inspired by, the bestselling CR-V.

Immediately apparent is a distinctly Honda-like responsiveness to the controls and the handling. The electrically assisted steering has a pleasing weight, and the ­Tucson’s firmly tuned ride is pure CR-V. Note that the sporty feel doesn’t sacrifice refinement—suspension crash is muted, and the structure doesn’t surrender so much as a quiver.

Keep Reading: 2010 Hyundai Tucson GLS AWD – Short Take Road Test

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Original Post By Google News Tony Quiroga

Most people look at a Ferrari and think, “Wow.” Others think, “It needs two more superchargers.” That was the case when Novitec Rosso saw the Ferrari 599GTB Fiorano.

At the Geneva auto show, the German tuning firm will debut the Race 848, a twin-supercharged version of the 599 that’s reportedly good for 848 hp and 621 lb-ft of torque. According to Novitec Rosso, that’s enough for 0–62 mph sprints of 3.4 seconds and a top speed of over 210 mph. The Race 848 treatment improves upon the NR-tweaked Ferrari we heard about nearly two years ago. A stock Ferrari 599 manages a sedate 611 hp and 448 lb-ft of torque.

Engine mods are comprised of the twin superchargers—limited to 7 psi of boost—a pair of intercoolers, a computer retune, high-flow fuel injectors, a new air filter, and a stainless-steel exhaust system.

Outside are a new front splitter, rear diffuser, and side skirts all aimed at smoothing the 599’s aerodynamics at high speeds; the skirts also channel cool air to the rear brakes. The entire car rides on a Novitec Rosso suspension and wheels measuring 20 inches front, 21 inches rear. Tires are Pirelli P Zeros, nine inches wide up front, 12.5 inches wide out back. Behind the wheels are Brembo 16-inch brake discs clamped by six-piston calipers.

The Race 848 sports a two-tone color scheme: matte white for the body, gray for the roof and hood. All the exterior lights are dark tinted, too. Inside you’ll find aluminum pedals, a leather and carbon fiber steering wheel, and elongated shift paddles made from carbon fiber (pictured below).

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Original Post By Google News Jake Holmes

We have a lot of extras on our long-term Mini John Cooper Works convertible—$11,294 in options and accessories, to be exact. Nearly all are for show, such as the leather-and-Alcantara-wrapped steering wheel, the sexy 18-inch wheels, and the aggressive JCW body kit. But few are as hard to ignore as the LED shift-indicator lights ($303.95) that sit atop the Mini’s steering column.

Starting the car brings them to life, at which point the super-bright, sequential green, amber, and red LEDs all flash in unison before turning off, save for the center green bulb, which always remains lit. The light panel stays this way until about 5000 rpm, when the first of the amber lights on both sides of the green LED illuminate. Additional amber lights follow as the revs climb, followed by the final red LEDs and the flashing of the entire panel, signaling that the engine’s redline is about to be reached and that it’s time to grab the next gear.

I think it’s a nice feature to have—most of the time—because I’m usually too busy scanning the road ahead and holding the wheel steady against 207 lb-ft of torque to glance at the tach. The bright flash of the LEDs is impossible to miss, even in direct sunlight—another playful element of an utterly fun car. My problem with the lights comes during nighttime; they don’t dim when the headlights are turned on, and the LEDs as bright enough to sear holes in my retinas. Sure, there’s a small button on the back of the panel that shuts them all off, but it’s difficult to find in the temporary blindness from the start-up sequence and difficult to operate with gloves on. The main thing, though, is that I don’t actually want to turn them off—they’re cool and they work. But given the choice between the distracting flash of a bunch of supernova-bright LEDs or the peace of no lights at all, I inevitably choose the latter and curse BMW for not wiring in a dimming function. Mini has built its reputation on quirkiness. Add another quirk to the list.

For more on the Mini, see the following resources:

• Other long-term logbook entries
• Our long-term update story
• Mini Cooper Buyer’s Guide

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Original Post By Google News Mike Sutton

Despite the cutesy name, Hyundai’s diesel-electric hybrid concept is pretty bad-ass.

Hyundai’s recently activated “fluidic sculpture” corporate design philosophy has resulted in some very handsome vehicles—witness the new Tucson and Sonata—but even in the principles at its very core, it is basically a copy of Mazda’s “Nagare” style. If there is one way for a copycat to silence critics, however, it is to best the original. With the i-flow concept debuting at the Geneva auto show, Hyundai may have done just that.

Keep Reading: Hyundai i-flow Concept – Auto Shows

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Original Post By Google News Jared Gall

For the 14th consecutive year, an AMG product will serve as Formula 1’s official pace car. This year, it’s a modified SLS AMG that will marshal cars at the F1 season’s 19 races.

The Benz is mechanically identical to the one you could buy in a showroom, but with carbon-fiber mirrors and a louder exhaust to exhilarate fans (AMG’s words, not ours.) On top, an aerodynamically-shaped LED lightbar performs signaling duties, with a 700-LED rear license plate that illuminates the words “Safety Car” at night or in inclement weather.

Inside are radios to allow the driver, former DTM racer Bernd Mayländer, to keep in touch with race officials. Two monitors allow him and his co-driver to keep tabs on the race status and a rearview camera offers a view of the Formula 1 cars impatiently hovering behind.

As was the case in last year’s season, a C63 AMG wagon will serve as the F1 medical car. It too is decked out in a plentitude of flashing lights and comes equipped with a full array of emergency-response gear.

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Original Post By Google News Jake Holmes