2011 Vauxhall Antara Facelift Prices Start Under �20k in the UK

Following the reveal of its Opel counterpart in mainland Europe, Vauxhall has released pricing and specifications on the UK market Antara facelift, which boasts a barely noticeable makeover and a refreshed engine lineup. Prices for the updated SUV now start from �19,995 for the 2.2 CDTi (163PS) Exclusiv front-wheel drive model, which according to Vauxhall, represents a saving of �2,835 over the outgoing base version.

On the outside, styling changes for the 2011 Antara include the updated front grille with the new Griffin logo, enhanced by fog lights finished with chrome bezels on SE models, new 19-inch alloy wheels and modified rear lights.

Inside, the new Antara's cabin features a revised centre console with extra storage and higher-quality materials, in addition to improved instrument graphics and better interior lighting.

The 2011 model's revised Euro-5 compliant engine line-up includes a newly-developed 2.2-liter CDTI turbodiesel in two states of tune with 163HP or 184HP. The 163HP version is available in front-wheel drive with a six-speed manual transmission only or all-wheel drive hooked up to either a manual or six-speed auto gearbox. The more potent 184HP variant also offers a choice of manual or automatic transmissions, and comes with all-wheel drive as standard. All transmissions have been revised to improve efficiency.

The Vauxhall Antara will not be offered in the UK with the revised 170HP 2.4-liter gasoline engine of its Opel sibling.

GM Europe's engineers have also re-worked the SUV's chassis with revised spring and damper settings.

Finally, Vauxhall has improved safety and comfort features with the addition of an electric parking brake, a Hill Assist System as well as a "shift-up" fuel economy indicator on all models.

"At less than �20k, the new Antara is set to be highly competitive in today's SUV market," said Peter Hope, Vauxhall's Marketing Director. "Its lower emissions, higher output diesel engines and refreshed design will offer renewed appeal to both retail and fleet customers."

Bentley Continental GT Supersports

Yes a Bentley.

The Bentley Continental GT Supersports is the first Bentley that can run on gasoline and ethanol.
And the performance is staggering.
This luxury car has a 6.0L W12 twin-turbocharged engine rated at 621 horsepower and it puts out 590 foot pounds of torque.
The GT can pull 0 to 60 in just 3.7 seconds, 0 to 100 in 8.9 seconds and has a top speed of 204 mph.
The power comes at a price in more ways than one.
MPG in the city is 11.5 and highway is 24.4.
I don't know if that's cruising at 200 mph plus or not.

So Go Green!
Save the Earth!
Turn 0 to 60 times in 3.7 seconds and cruise at 200 plus mph!
And you only have to pay $267,000 (base price) to do it!

Ferrari Testarossa F512 M

The Ferrari Testarossa F512 M is a 12-cylinder mid-engine sports car manufactured by Ferrari.
The F512 M was powered by a 4.9 litre (302 cubic inches) Ferrari Colombo Flat-12 engine.
BTW, the name Testarossa means "red head" in Italian and the car was named that because the cam covers were painted red.
Of course it has a double meaning because Ferrari regularly uses terms related to a female's body when describing the style of their automobiles.
You have to love the Italians!
Anyway, the Flat-12 engine puts out 440 horsepower and 406 foot pounds of torque.
That allows the F512 M go from 0-60 in 4.8 seconds, 0-100 in 10.2 seconds and cover the quarter mile in 12.7 seconds at 112 mph.
The maximum speed of the F512 M is 196 mph.
In 1995, the F512 M retailed for $220,000.

Aston Martin V12 Vanquish

I did a write up on the Aston Martin V12 Vanquish back in 2007 in relation to the James Bond movie "Die Another Day"
But here is the real world Vanquish.

In 1998, a GT concept car, the Project Vantage, debuted at the North American International Auto Show.
The Vanquish was based on that car.
But the Vanquish S is the real barnstormer.
The Vanquish is powered by a a 5.9 liter 48-valve 60� V12 engine, which puts out 514 horsepower and 425 ft�lbs of torque.
That gave the Vanquish a 0 to 60 time of about 4 seconds and a top speed in the 190-204 mph range.
The base price was around $250,000.

And if that's not enough, Top Speed is reporting the new 2010 Vanquish S may be putting out 550 mph.

Concept Car : Scion Hako Coupe

There are many hot opinions floating around at the moment about the Scion Hako concept car and must say I am going to squash those who thinks it is ugly, come on people you have got to be on another planet because this car is class. Ok I need not bang on about the Scion Hako concept car because it will never go into production now will it.

Are you one of those people who thinks the Scion Hako concept car is aesthetically appealing or aesthetically a balls-up? In the automobile world we love our car, it is part of our lives and yes we do care about the looks, the design, features, gizmos etc and this one has it all. This car is in a class of its own, and you have to admit you have not seen any other car like this one. This car does not sit on either side of the good looking fence nor the ugly fence, you either love it or hate it and it is as simple as that in my eyes, and my eyes say it is stunning. The Scion Hako concept car was released at the New York Auto Show back in March 2008 and there are two noticeable things that stand out, and that is the design and the in your face color which is bright orange.

I have an idea where this car can become so famous, can you imagine seeing this car in a Disney Pixar movie, like the movie �Cars�. It is also called the Hako Coupe because of its coupe design, by the way. The windows on this car give you a 360 angle view on the car when you are on the inside, well this is what it looks like from the outside, and the Scion Hako�s headlights are in stunning LED which is a big plus for driving at night. LED lights provide great virtually natural light that is better for seeing than the conventional and standard headlights that have an ugly yellow tint to it. The Hako�s headlights seem to be very wide which makes it even better than most standard cars. My judgement on the Scion Hako concept car is that it looks futuristic but yet modern and I would indeed purchase one because I really do like the look of them, plus I would get one just to annoy the hell out of those that hate it.

SCION HAKO COUPE CONCEPT VEHICLE
PRELIMINARY SPECIFICATIONS

DIMENSIONS (inches)
Overall Length: 145.7
Overall Width: 68.1 without side mirrors
74.0 including side mirrors
Overall Height: 57.5
Wheelbase: 94.5
Ground clearance: 4.0
Wheels: 18-inch alloy wheels
Tire Size: 225/45 R18
Seating Capacity: 4

Porsche Turbo X50

The Porsche Turbo X50 is a $17,000 option available for the Porsche 996.
The Porsche 996 was a water-cooled version of the famous air-cooled Porsche 911 sports car.
The X50 package boosted the 996 turbo up to 450 horsepower and 457 pounds of torque.
That allowed the X50 to cover the quarter mile in 11.86 seconds at 119.91 mph, and gave it a 0�60 mph time of about 3.6 seconds.
There were also a few modeling changes in the 996, like wider rear wings and different front lights and bumpers from the Porsche Carrera.
The 996 also had large vents on the front bumper, that were used on the Carrera 4S and Cayenne Turbo.

PS:
We're getting rid of our 1988 Jaguar XJ6 Vanden Plas.
Dont have the time to do restoration on it.
If you wanna take a look, her's the link.....
http://greensboro.craigslist.org/cto/1036831907.html

Mercedes-Benz CL65 AMG

Comfort, style and speed.
The Mercedes-Benz CL65 AMG is powered by a 6.0 litre V12 BiTurbo engine that puts out 612 horsepower and 737 foot pounds of torque.
That allows this beauty to go from 0 to 60 in 4.2 seconds.
This also gives the CL65 an 11.8 second quarter mile time at 120.9 mph.
It's estimated top speed is 186 mph.
The downside of this car is that the CL65 AMG is made to order in very small numbers.
And for the mundane stuff, the MPG is 11 in the city, and 17 on the highway.
The base price is around $203,700.

Really weird car with welded add-ons

This seems to be a very odd car to say the least and I would have loved to really get a picture of this from the front view but even without one like that, it would be hard not to call it the �Armadillo Car� for the sheer metal work on its back as it reminds me quite a bit of the Armadillo. It also reminds me of the �Holiday Armadillo� episode of Friends where he dresses himself up as one for the sake of his son Ben. Despite how much I really like that whole episode this car is just not to my liking.
While the makers of this car are really proud of the whole welding work put on it and I would not really disagree with them on that as there must have been plenty of painstaking work put on it, it still does not feel an iota like a car that you would really want to parade around in. By the looks of things I am pretty certain that the front of the car would have a giant metal bird beak on it and even that only makes it all the more un-cool.
Unless you are looking for a welder who would really dish out some horrible looking automobiles, it is hard to understand why anyone would want to put this up as their best work. Not a car to really die for!

The Mosler MT900S

Okay this is not a widely produced car.
As a matter of fact, unless you are George Lucas (he took delivery of the first street legal one in December 2006), you may not have ever heard of it.
The MT900s is built by Mosler Automotive.
It's powered by a Corvette LS6 V8 with an Eaton supercharger, with a maximum boost pressure of 6.0 psi.
This gives the 346 inch engine 600 bhp and 557 foot pounds of torque.
In real time that allows the MT900S to get from 0 to 60 in about 3.1 seconds, 0 to 100 in 6.5 seconds and 0 to 150 in 13.8 seconds.
And it also enables the MT900S to blast through the traps at 135 mph in 11 seconds.
Base price is about $189,000.
Or you can add around $50,000 and opt for the MT900S Photon, which is 220 pounds lighter than the MT900s and has a few extra goodies.
And you know, the MT900 gets 15 mpg in the city and 22 mpg on the highway.
Thats really not too shabby for a 600 horsepower car.
A Lamborghini Murcielago only gets 8 mpg city and 13 highway.

Bugatti Veyron, the World's Fastest Bugatti?

The Bugatti Veyron may not only be the world's fastest Bugatti, it may be right up there as the world's fastest production car period.
This Bugatti Automobiles SAS produced land rocket has some pretty impressive figures.
It's powered by a W-16 engine that basically looks like two V-8s stuck together. As clumsy looking as that may sound, this configuration gives the Veyron 987 horsepower!
Yes that's right, 987. But get this, some people think that figure is low, and that the Veyron actually puts out over 1000!
What does that translate to on the pavement?
Try 0-60 in about 2.46 seconds!
(Yes I know I'm using a lot of exclamation points)
Top Gear and Car and Driver have both verified a top speed of around 253 mph.
And when Road & Track tested it, the Veyron turned the quarter mile in 10.2 seconds at 142.9 mph.
But now for the brutal truth.....
Mileage?
Ummmm.....7 miles to the gallon city, 10 miles to the gallon highway.
Price?
Sit down.
The Veyron lists for $1,600,000.

In the Cosmic scheme of things there is a balance though.
The over a million dollar Bugatti Veyron pulls a 10.2 second quarter mile at 142 mph.
But the 1968 Plymouth S/S Barracuda with a 426 Hemi V8 pulls a 10.5 at 130.
Now if you can just find a 68 Plymouth S/S Barracuda for under a million......

The Worlds Fastest Lamborghini ?

The worlds fastest Lamborghini may be a toss up.
In one corner we have the Lamborghini Murci�lago LP640.
The Murci�lago is powered by a 6.5-litre Lamborghini V12 engine.
The Murcielago LP640 can 0 to 60 in 3.5 seconds, 0 to 100 in 8.1 seconds and turn the quarter mile in 11.8 seconds at 126 mph.
It has a top speed of around 219 mph.



It's rival is the Lamborghini Revent�n.
The Revent�n is powered by the same 6.5-litre Lamborghini V12 engine.
It's 0 to 60 time is the same as the Lamborghini Murci�lago LP640 that it's based on.
But with a 1.4 million dollar price tag on the Revent�n compared to the $318,800 for the LP640, I'm gonna have to go with the Murci�lago.
Not to sound cheap, but shelling out the extra money for the same performance?

The 2000 BMW Z8, the fastest BMW?

Not counting concept cars like the Nazca, the 2000 BMW Z8 may be the fastest BMW ever produced.
Powered by a 4941 cc(4.9 L)V-8 engine producing 394 bhp, this BMW could cover the quarter mile in 12.6 sec at 112 mph.
It's zero to 60 was 4.2 seconds, and going into hyper drive, it could run 0 to 100 in 10.2 seconds.
The top speed is listed at 155 mph, but I'm guessing it's a tad higher, barring any electronic governors.
The price for blasting around the country side at warp speed?
Around $128,000.
That, of course, is not counting how high your automobile insurance would go up!
The car was featured in the James Bond movie The World Is Not Enough in 1999.

The Dodge Challenger Targa

Auburn Hills, Mich., 2008 The Dodge Challenger Targa is a full-blown competition car that raced and completed the infamous Targa Newfoundland race this year. �Samantha� started life as a Mopar Challenger drag race package car. Many features were borrowed from the Dodge Viper, but the most noticeable is the snakeskin green paint. To keep the front end down, a Mopar chin spoiler "Splats� developed in a full scale wind tunnel, was added to the front of the car. Mopar gauges keep a close eye on the vital signs. The Mopar hood is equipped with a scoop to make room for the 540-horsepower, 490 lb. ft. of torque, 392 HEMI� V-8 Mopar crate motor. Mated to a Tremec six-speed manual gearbox, the engine blasts power to the rear wheels through a production 2009 modified gear ratio in the rear end. An abundance of fade resistant stopping power comes from Stop-Tech brakes. Up front, the six-piston calipers clamp 380-millimetre rotors, while in the rear, four-pot calipers work with 355-mm rotors. Developed by KW, the race suspension and brake upgrades came from a proven hero � the Dodge Viper ACR, which just broke the production car lap record at the world-renown Nurburgring in Germany. With only a few exceptions, the Dodge Challenger Targa was built using parts available through Mopar.

Chevrolet Camaro GS Racecar Concept

Chevrolet Camaro GS Racecar Concept


One of the most iconic cars of the legendary Trans Am road racing series was the distinctive blue-and-yellow Camaro of Mark Donohue. He was a dominant racer in the series and drove his #6 1969 model to the series championship that year.

With the assistance of GM�s High Performance Vehicle Operations, North Carolina-based Riley Technologies re-created the look and feel of that standout racecar with a tribute that looks, sounds and drives like it�s ready to do battle with its contemporary pony car competitors. In fact, the heritage-inspired racer is more than concept. It is an early prototype for the Grand Am Koni Challenge GS racing class. Racecars like the GS Concept are offered and manufactured by Riley Technologies for the 2009 Grand-Am season.

The GS Concept features the race-ready suspension, reinforced chassis and drivetrain conform to the specifications required of racecars certified for the series. In fact, this racecar has already logged many hours on the racetrack as Riley team members worked to dial-in the chassis and powertrain. Additional features include:

-- Seam-welded production Camaro body-in-white
-- Carbon fiber hood, trunk lid, doors and fenders
-- Production LS3 V-8 engine (used with solid engine mounts)
-- Tremec 6060 six-speed manual transmission with close-ratio gearing
-- Three-inch exhaust system with Coast Fab mufflers
-- C&R racing aluminum radiator
-- Upgraded engine oil cooler
-- Transmission and differential coolers

The GS Racecar Concept is shown at SEMA just as it was last driven off the track, with the grime, brake dust and body imperfections commensurate with a day�s worth of racing. Indeed, it isn�t a car that spent hundreds of hours in a body shop in a quest of sheet metal perfection. It displays the bruises of competition and wears them as badges of honor.

Like Donohue�s �69 Camaro racecar, the GS Racecar Concept wears a deep blue paint scheme that is accented with yellow graphics, a yellow-painted interior and yellow racing wheels.

The BMW E63 M6

Possibly the fastest BMW ever made is the E63 M6.
This " Velvet Hammer"can hit 0 to 60 in about 4.6 seconds.
This land rocket has a speed limiter that keeps it at 155 mph.
BUT, with the limiter removed, the M6 can hit around 205 mph.
With the cool little "power button" the BMW jumps from 399 hp to a full 500 hp!

The Jaguar XF

The Jaguar XF was launched in the UK in 2008.
It is a mid-size luxury car / sports sedan made by Jaguar, designed to replace the S-Type.
The Jaguar XF won the What Car? (a long-running UK monthly automobile magazine and website) Car of the Year award and the Car of the Year 2008 from What Diesel? magazine.

The base model of the Jaguar XF carries the 3-litre V6 (adapted from the Ford Duratec V6). It also comes with the Jaguar AJ-V8 4.2-litre engine.The standard version produces 300 hp but the supercharged SV8 model produces a very respectable 420 bhp!

The Jaguar Mark 2

The Jaguar Mark 2, also known as Mk2, Mk 2 or MkII, is a medium sized saloon (sedan) car built during the 1950s and 1960s by Jaguar.
Rated at over over 200 bhp and with a top speed of about 125 mph, these sedans were often used as police patrol cars. But on the flip side, they were often used as getaway cars by bank robbers.
The Mark 2 was eventually replaced by the XJ6.

The Jaguar Mark 1

The Jaguar Mark 1 was a saloon car (sedan) produced by Jaguar between the years 1955 and 1959.

Originally known as the 2.4 and 3.4 'Compact' saloons, they have come to be called "Mark 1" to fit with their more famous successor, the Mark 2. They were the company's first "small" saloon since the demise of its 1� Litre cars in 1949 and were an immediate success, easily outselling the larger Jaguar saloons.

A 2.4 litre saloon with overdrive was tested by the British magazine The Motor in 1956. It was found to have a top speed of 101.5 mph and could accelerate from 0-60 mph (97 km/h) in 14.4 seconds. Not exactly burning up the road compared to other Jags. A fuel consumption of 18.25 miles per imperial gallon (15.20 mpg US) was recorded. The test car cost �1532 including taxes.

They went on to test a 3.4 litre automatic saloon in 1957. This car had a top speed of 119.8 mph (192.8 km/h), acceleration from 0-60 mph (97 km/h) in 11.2 seconds and a fuel consumption of 21.1 miles per imperial gallon (17.6 mpg US) was recorded. The test car cost �1864 including taxes of �622.


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Live Out Loud teams up with Jaguar

Live Out Loud teams up with Jaguar

Live Out Loud magazine has done it again! Pairing up with one of the most respected classic cars, Jaguar, Live Out Loud burst onto the scene this past Sunday and took over the Nelson Mandela Square in Sandton.
Curiosity of passers-by was more than piqued with the impressive sight of 50 vintage cars that were on display, thanks to The Jaguar Club. The club was there to give people a chance to look under the hood and get up-close-and-personal with some of the most beautiful classic cars in the world. Live Out Loud staff were there to explain more about the brand and hold one of our biggest subscriber drives to date. Over 2 000 people stopped to find out more about Live Out Loud and to check out the Jags.
http://www.bizcommunity.com/Article/196/39/28178.html

The Jaguar Mark IV

The Jaguar Mark IV, pronounced mark four, was a saloon (sedan) car built by Jaguar from 1945 to 1949.
It was a relaunch of a pre World War II model made by SS Cars Ltd from 1936.

Before World War 2 the name Jaguar was the model name given to the complete range of cars built by SS Cars Ltd. The saloons were titled SS Jaguar 1� litre, 2� litre or 3� litre. The two seater sports car was titled the SS Jaguar 100 2� litre or 3� litre.

After the war the company name was changed to Jaguar Cars Ltd. While the post war saloons were officially the Jaguar 1� litre, 2� litre and the 3� Litre, the term 'Mark IV' was applied by the trade simply to seperate them from the officially named Mark V.

http://www.saloondata.com/ is an online site that keeps track of all the Classic Jaguar Saloon's still around.

You can also get a ton of info on the early Jags here:
http://www.jag-lovers.org/firstcats/mkiv.php3