2010 IFMAR 10th & 12th EP Worlds moved to Germany
News coming out of the EFRA AGM that is taking place this weekend in Brussels, is that the 2010 IFMAR World Championships for 1/10th and 1/12th scale, that was originally planned to be in South Africa will now be held in Germany. The MAC Burgdorf club won the vote to hold the event and will [...]
Cadillac CTS-V dominates Cadillac CTS-V Challenge; Lutz finishes seventh overall
As expected, the Cadillac CTS-V dominated the challenge that bears its own name after seven of the top 12 fastest laps recorded came from the CTS-V.
Guess that means GM boss Bob Lutz will have to eat crow at another day.
The CTS-V’s dominance was apparent from start to finish. Six of the top seven cars were CTS-Vs, with the notable exception being a BMW M3 Sedan owned by one Michael Cooper, which placed fourth in the overall standings. Bagging the top spot was former GM Performance Division Executive, John Henricy after posting a lap time of 2m and 46.56s.
As for Bob Lutz, his lap time earned him a seventh place finish with a fastest lap time of 2m and 56.231 seconds, although it’s worth mentioning that out of all the CTVs that finished in the top 12, his finished second to last, beating the CTS-V driven by Chris Fairman (10th overall) with a fastest lap time of 3m 14.292s
Cadillac CTS-V dominates Cadillac CTS-V Challenge; Lutz finishes seventh overall originally appeared on topspeed.com on Saturday, 31 October 2009 14:30 EST.
Talladega brings challenges and the Jr. Nation gets upset
We go from last week’s race at one of the shortest tracks on the circuit in Martinsville to one of the longest and fastest tracks in Talladega this week.
We all remember what happened last time the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series went to Talladega, right?
W…
Lazareth fine tunes Renault Twingo with Range Rover engine
Putting a Range Rover engine on a Renault Twingo isn’t exactly an everyday occurrence, yet custom tuners Lazareth decided to have some fun and do just that.
While you’ll never mistake the French compact car for a luxury SUV, it does make for some awesome thrills to have the miniscule front-mounted engine the Twingo used to come in for a more powerful variety. As a result, the Twingo has been updated with a 3.5-liter V8 180 horsepower mid-mounted engine that conveys its power to the Twingo’s rear wheels through a five-speed manual transmission.
It took a lot of work, especially since a Twingo doesn’t exactly fall in the same line as that of a Range Rover. To fit the luxury SUVs engine on the hatchback, Lazareth modified the Twingo’s chassis by adding a rear tubular subframe, brand new suspensions, modified brakes, to name a few.
The result, as you can expect, is a hatchback that packs more power than Twingo could have ever had with a standard configuration. If the upgraded engine wasn’t enough, Lazareth also gave the Twingo’s interior a plush racing upgrade with MOMO bucket seats, a sports steering wheel, and new digital gauges.
With a new engine and an overall upgraded look, the Lazareth-tuned Twingo, which they’ve come to call as the Twingo Trophy V8, sells for around €70,000, or in the language of US dollars, around $105,000.
Lazareth fine tunes Renault Twingo with Range Rover engine originally appeared on topspeed.com on Saturday, 31 October 2009 14:00 EST.
Team Solar 4mm Kyosho V-One RRR chassis
Team Solar have been in contact to tell us about their new special 4mm chassis plate for the Kyosho V-One RRR 1/10th scale car. Made from US 4mm 7075-T6 aluminium it has been strategically CNC machined to lower the centre of gravity while retaining stiffness in the appropriate areas and then hard anodized for extra [...]
Xray News Round-up
Here we have this weeks round up of product releases and race reports from our site sponsors Xray. Our summary includes everything published by the Slovakian manufacturer on their own website in the past week, so if you didn’t find the time to visit, be sure to read on.
Race Reports
T3 Wins the Rug Racers R1
Sunday [...]
Video: BMW’s ‘hairdo test’ with model Sylvie van der Vaart
It’s an unlikely combination, to say the least.
Then again, BMW has been known to adhere to the mantra of ‘thinking outside the box’ and their latest campaign sure sounds like it came straight out of left field.
For this photo shoot, BMW decided to bring in model Sylvie van der Vaart for a photo shoot to see how her hairdo can stand up to the fierce winds generated by the wind tunnel. We told you the idea was out there.
In this behind the scenes video, van der Vaart – an absolute bombshell, if there was one – begins the shoot behind the wheel of a 1987 3 Series Convertible where – thanks to the powerful wind tunnel – her hair begins flying off everywhere. But later on, van der Vaart props into a 2009 3 Series Convertible and with the same wind blowing in their direction, her hair remains inexplicably intact.
Is it a product of a more powerful hairspray or just the fact that the aerodynamics and air turbulence difference between the ‘87 3-Series and its 2009 counterpart is beyond obvious? Judging from the fact that we know who BMW is, then we’re inclined to believe it’s the latter.
Even van der Vaart was impressed with the striking difference. “What a difference from the older model! I couldn’t feel the wind at all in the new model,” she said. “I even had to check to see if they’d even turned it on.”
Press release after the jump.
Video: BMW’s ‘hairdo test’ with model Sylvie van der Vaart originally appeared on topspeed.com on Saturday, 31 October 2009 12:30 EST.
Hertz announces pricing for rental Lotus Elise and Exige models
Remember when Hertz announced that it was adding the Lotus Elise and the Lotus Exige to their fleet of rental cars? Well, now we know just how much it’s going to cost us to sit behind one of these bad boys for a day.
The rental car agency announced that the two Lotus models can be rented out for the princely sum of €458.54 per day in Italy and around $600 per day in the US. Unfortunately, that price doesn’t include insurance packages, which you’ll probably need if you do rent out one an Elise or an Exige.
It’s a lot more expensive than any of us previously thought, but then again, the thinking goes that if you can afford to pay that amount for a chance to blast off into the sunset with an Elise or an Exige, then it should be well worth every penny.
In addition to announcing the rental price for the two Lotuses, Hertz also announced that they are now offering a rental BMW Z4 sDrive 23i and a Fiat 500 Barbie edition. The Z4 will be available in selected dealerships in Spain with prices starting at €121 per day, while the Fiat 500 Roso will be available in The Netherlands for just €35 a day.
Hertz announces pricing for rental Lotus Elise and Exige models originally appeared on topspeed.com on Saturday, 31 October 2009 12:00 EST.
2010 Camaro SS to sell in Australia for over $120K
The 2010 Camaro SS has made its way to Australia, although if you’re thinking of getting yourself one, you might want to check your bank statements first.
Performax International, a Queensland-based importer of US vehicles, recently announced the upcoming launch of an RHD Camaro in the Australian market. But before our Aussie friends can rejoice over the prospect of driving a Camaro, they should be informed that the going price for the 6.2-liter V8 Camaro SS comes at around $139,000 AUD – that’s $128,000 USD.
If you must know, the exact same model of the Camaro SS sells in the US at just $33,745 USD, which, if you’re astute in math, is one-fourth of the selling price in Australia. We don’t exactly know as to why Performax is selling their Camaro’s at such an inflated price – actually, inflated seems to be an understatement – but according to them, orders have been coming in droves already.
In an effort to justify their position, Nicholas Vandenberg, Performax’s GM said, “For something that will be an absolute standout on Australian roads – and drive as good as it looks – it’s great value for money.”
While he does have a point about the Camaro standing out in Australia, we still can’t fathom why they’re selling the car at such an exaggerated price, especially when you consider that the HSV Clubsport R8, a high-performance version of the Holden Commodore that compares to the Camaro in terms of performance sells for half the price tag – $65,990 AUD – of the American muscle car.
2010 Camaro SS to sell in Australia for over $120K originally appeared on topspeed.com on Saturday, 31 October 2009 10:00 EST.
Chery Fulwin officially launched
The previous Chery Fulwin was Chery’s first car they ever produced. Based on a legally bought Seat Toldeo platform, which was essentially second hand goods from VW, Chery envisioned their car building future would be bright and set about looking for an engine for their new Toldeo. They settled on the outgoing Ford Escort engine from Ford UK, as Ford UK were then gearing up to produce the Mk1 Focus, that engine line was suddenly surplus to requirements, Chery snapped it and moved the whole lot to Wuhu.
Fast forward a …