Viknesh Vijayenthiran, Editor
Articles
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Jaguar finally changed hands this week with Indian carmaker Tata paying $2.3 billion for both the luxury brand and Land Rover. Although this seems like good value for Tata, Jaguar’s performance... -
Spyker loses €72 million in 2007Dutch supercar company Spyker has had a tumultuous past year. After buying a F1 team and joining the backmarkers on the grid, it ran into financial trouble and was forced to refinance the company. The F1 team was eventually sold to an Indian businessman and Spyker was forced to drop plans for a...
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Update: 2009 Mercedes-Benz A-Class official detailsEarlier this month Mercedes-Benz took the covers off its facelited B-Class range and now we have first details about the 2009 model year update for the smaller A-Class. Due for release in the second half of the year, the new A-Class gets a slightly revised look, a revamped interior and a cleaner...
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GM powering its cars with Chinese enginesThe fledgling Chinese auto industry has been embroiled in scandals of stealing designs and producing poor quality cars but despite this one major carmaker has already been selling vehicles in the U.S. with engines sourced from China. The truth of the matter is Americans may already have a Chinese...
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BMW M1 Supercar Turns 30BMW, a brand that prides itself on building the ultimate driving machine, doesn’t have a genuine supercar in its lineup. But this was not always the case because back in 1978 BMW launched its very own supercar. It was the mid-engined M1 homologation special, a car that made its debut 30 years...
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Qatar to upgrade MotoGP circuit for F1Qatar is reportedly the latest country that could soon be scrambling to join F1's ever-dynamic race calendar. We reported one year ago that the Middle Eastern state was planning to follow in the footsteps of neighbours Bahrain and Abu Dhabi in bidding to become a grand prix host. On Wednesday, the...
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Ford has confirmed plans to launch a high performance RS version of the European Focus hatch sometime next year, but according to latest reports the Blue Oval may also launch an RS version of the new...
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HSV Commodore Range Gets 6.2-Liter LS3 PowerplantWith the reveal last week of the LS3-powered Pontiac G8 GXP performance sedan at the New York Auto Show, it was only a matter of time until Holden announced plans for its own version of the car for sale in Australia. Today, Holden’s official in-house tuner HSV revealed changes to its 2008...
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Nissan GT-R mods hit the marketDespite fears Nissan’s new GT-R wouldn’t tolerate anyone tinkering around with its innards, Japan’s industrious tuning firms have managed to develop a number of aftermarket parts claimed to boost performance of the supercar. Initial testing showed that even simple mods such as...
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Mercedes-Benz design chief to retire after 40 yearsAfter a 40 year stint at Mercedes-Benz, 30 years as its official design chief, automotive engineer and designer Peter Pfeiffer is set to retire. Pfeiffer, who turns 65 this year, first joined the carmaker back in 1968 and was promoted to head of design just ten years later. Mercedes is yet to name...
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World’s tallest man gets custom carAt 2.58m (8ft 5in) tall, Ukrainian born Leonid Stadnyk, the world’s tallest man, will find it tough getting behind the wheel of almost any vehicle. That’s why the Ukrainian government, at the request of its President Viktor Yushchenko, has delivered to Stadnyk a custom Chevrolet minivan...
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Bentley rules out diesel for nowWith almost one out of every two cars sold in Europe powered by a diesel and demand steadily growing in North America, carmakers that previously would have never been associated with the oil-burners are now examining the possibility of adding the frugal powertrains to their lineups. Bentley is a...
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The current M998 High Mobility Multipurpose Wheeled Vehicle (Humvee for short), the truck that spawned the Hummer H1, has been in use by the military for more than 20 years, but a successor could be... -
F1 night race concept to go to China, KoreaBernie Ecclestone is now hoping to install night races in China and South Korea, after revealing on Sunday that Malaysia has finally agreed to floodlighting the Sepang circuit from 2009. "We'll speak to the people in China, see what we can do there," the 77-year-old F1 chief executive is quoted as...
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Lamborghini lends its name to Bluetooth headsetThere’s usually nothing worth mentioning about a Bluetooth headset but here’s one that will get the attention of most performance enthusiasts. The device is the ‘Tonino Lamborghini Bello’ and apart from Lamborghini’s shield emblem on the outer casing there’s not...
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Hyundai confirms Avante hybrid for 2009Hyundai has announced that it will begin to mass produce hybrid cars next year in a move certain to please an environmentally conscious market and which is likely to cement its position as a top five automaker. The new Hyundai hybrid vehicle will be called the ‘Avante’ and it will...
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Most expensive states for car ownershipThere’s nothing surprising about the fact that the actual cost of owning car, basic taxes and insurance costs that everybody has to pay, can vary across all 50 U.S. states. What comes as a bit surprise is that this variance can top roughly $10,000 between some states over a five year period...
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Jenson Button Takes The Civic Type R Around The ‘Ring: VideoHonda F1 star Jenson Button takes a Civic Type R around the famed German widow-maker, the Nurburgring, and just to make things a bit more interesting he does it while its raining and answering questions from an interviewer. Even for a man used to the fast pace of F1, the ride around the 'ring is...
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The low U.S. dollar has caused a number of carmakers to readjust their strategies, including canceling models and moving production. The latest vehicle to fall victim to the falling dollar is ... -
Update: Rusting Mazdas to be scrappedUpdate: Almost two years after the Cougar Ace carrier tipped over off the coast of Alaska, damaging 4,703 brand new Mazdas, management have finally decided to scrap all the cars. The Associated Press reports that officials were planning to salvage as many vehicles as they could but rust caused by...
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370HP Golf R32 by ABT SportslineThe Golf R32 is by no means slow but the sheer number of tuning kits available for the torquey hot-hatch reveals there are a lot of people out there who disagree. The latest kit is from Germany’s ABT Sportsline, and although it’s not as nearly as potent as HGP’s 640 twin-turbo...
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Perrin-powered Subaru Impreza WRXWith cars like the new GT-R and IS-F getting all the attention, Japan’s other performance thoroughbreds, the Impreza WRX and Evo X, have quickly fallen out of the limelight. However, American tuner Perrin Performance hasn’t forgotten about the potential of one of the world’s most...
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Chrysler expects to be profitable within 3 yearsWith Chrysler’s new owners Cerberus Capital Management making the hard and fast decisions, the carmaker is now on track to return to profitability. Even with the worsening U.S. economy and fluctuating exchange rates and commodity prices, CEO Bob Nardelli is confident Chrysler will be...
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Scion planning to double lineupAfter a bright start six years ago Scion’s sales have tanked and unless action is taken things are set to get worse. The Toyota budget brand sold just 130,000 cars last year, down 25% on the previous year, and officials are predicting volumes to remain unchanged this year. Most of the blame...
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