Official: 2010 Porsche Panamera Wallpapers

Hot of the presses for your viewing pleasure, here’s a large set of official Porsche Panamera photos. For those of you who haven’t had the pleasure, the Panamera is the 4-door luxury saloon car that Porsche will be releasing in 2010. It’s basically a squashed down version of the Cayenne available with up to 500HP and big enough to carry around your whole family, so I’m sure these puppies will sell like hot cakes. If you can’t afford to buy one (who can these days!), enjoy these wallpapers free of charge.

SNL Spoofs Detroit

Detroit is in bad shape.  How is it that all three American auto manufacturers are in financial holes so deep that they all need a loan from the federal government just to pay their monthly bills?  Detroit does need help, there’s no doubt about that, but how did all three American auto manufacturers dig themselves in such a deep hole at the same time?

Here is some much needed comedy from Saturday Night Live to lighten up the issue a bit.

How Not to Get Out of a Speeding Ticket

Nissan GT-R Loses Launch Control in 2010

The GT-R, the performance king in the bang-for-the-buck department, is losing it’s launch control in the 2010 model year, and likely all subsequent models after that.  The launch control is an important feature that helps the GT-R accelerate to 60MPH in 3.5 seconds, so what could the reasoning behind Nissan’s decision?

The Warranty.  Apparently Nissan thought they could make a 480HP super car, give it lots of fancy features from the factory like launch control and then not cover the transmission when it breaks due to using the factory installed features.  Unfortunately for the consumer, this has been a real issue for a number of people.

The procedure to activate the launch control requires that you temporarily turn off the VDC (Vehicle Dynamics Control).  Nissan snuck in a warranty disclaimer which states they are not covering parts that break if it can be proved that the problem was caused by the owner turning off the VDC.  The cost to repair a broken GT-R’s transmission is $20,000, so who would be that upset anyway…

“We just don’t want to deal with the warranty nightmare anymore. It’ll make the 2009 GT-R really special. It’ll be the only R35 with launch control” said a Nissan executive.  Brilliant statement: it’s the only GT-R to have a factory-installed mechanism that breaks itself.  Come Nissan, you’re better than that.

Source: Edmunds

Ninja Cat’s Battle for Fish, Getaway in Toyota Yaris

I get ninja cats, but I don’t fully understand what Toyota was thinking when they made this commercial for the Australian public. This is just episode 1, so maybe a sub-plot will develop. Maybe they Aussie’s just really like cats…

Maybe in the next couple of episodes, Toyota will pitch some high performance Yaris air filters to help improve the high-speed getaway from the other kitties.  Or maybe they’ll mention how Toyota Yaris cargo liners would have stopped the kitty’s fish from sliding around in the trunk when he did that reverse-180 degree turn.  Who knows where they’ll go from here, but stick around, I’ll post up the next commercial in the series when its uploaded to the net.

Video: Dodge EV versus Dodge Challenger

The Dodge Challenger is no slouch. With 425 horses on tap, the 6.1-liter V8 engine can get up to 60mph in less than 5 seconds and finishing the quarter-mile in around 13 seconds.

But EV vehicles get 100% of their torque from 0 RPM’s, which means it can accelerate hard and keep moving fast until redline.  Dodge has been working on an EV vehicle, which is currently shielded within a Lotus body.  In this clip, you’ll see their concept EV run against a Challenger in an 800-foot (1/8-mile) race.

GM Releases Facts and Fiction Video

Of Detroit’s big 3, General Motors is hurting the most right now. They have received some financial aid from the federal government already and they recently asked for another $25 billion dollars to invest in green technologies and to help pay their monthly bills.

The General just released this video on their website at GMFactsandFiction.com. It portrays what they believe will happen if the American auto industry collapses, and I must say, they make a lot of very valid points. If you are planning to buy a new car sometime soon, support your American manufacturers and buy domestic!

Who Will Make the Next Fastest Car in the World?

There are lots of fast cars in this world. McLaren set the world speed record for a production car back in the ’90s with the F1 model, topping out at 240MPH. It wasn’t until the early 2000’s that another manufacturer was able to step up and beat it. That was Bugatti with they’re EB Veyron 16/4, the quad-turbo 16 cylinder 1001 horsepower monster that could reach 253MPH. Saleen reworked the S7 in 2006 to include a twin turbo kit, boosting the sleek exotic up to 248MPH. It was close, but not fast enough. Koenigsegg claims that their CCX can top 254MPH, but this remains to be proven and verified at official speed record sessions.

On September 13, 2007, the Shelby Super Car Ultimate Aero Twin-Turbo averaged 255.83MPH on two separate top speed runs, beating the Veyron by 3.11MPH on its fastest recorded run of 257.11MPH. This was a big triumph for SSC and they’ve enjoyed the top spot for over a year now, but the real question is how much longer can they hold that podium position?

It’s only a matter of time before Koenigsegg puts up their bio-fuel powered CCXR which is even faster and more powerful than their CCX. It’s also been rumored that Bugatti will release a Super Veyron that will be 25% more powerful and able to hit 264MPH. Then there’s the Porsche 9ff GT9-R. It’s hardly a production car, more of a mad-tuner’s creation of a highly modified Porsche GT3. Pushing out 1,120 horsepower, there’s no doubt that the GT9-R will be able to top the (unofficial) 254MPH limit that the standard GT9 was able to achieve.

Who will be next to make the claim that they have the worlds fastest car? My money is on Bugatti, but there are a lot of wild cards out there. In the mean time, enjoy this gallery of super cars images.

Novitec Tweaks the Ferrari 599, Adds 188 HP & 159 TQ

Novitec Rosso is an exclusive Ferrari tuner. They take the extraordinary and try to make it even more incredible. Case in point is their latest work on the Ferrari 599 GTB Fiorano. The 599 already had a 6-liter V12 outputting 611 horsepower and 448 ft-lbs of torque. Ferrari stated it could leap to 60 mph in 3.7 seconds, but independent tests showed times as low as 3.2 seconds. Sprinting to 200kmh (124 mph) is done in 11 seconds flat.

So how could Novitec Rosso improve upon something that Ferrari already spent so much time perfecting.
Their first thought was to boost it with a supercharger. Their second thought was to boost it again with another supercharger. The effect was astonishing: 808 horsepower and 607 ft-lbs of torque!

Performance improvements seem to be nominal with a quoted 0-60 time of 3.5 seconds, but since independent tests have already proven the 599 to be faster than Ferrari had quoted, I have no doubt that the Novitec 599 will also be a sleeper.

Cost for Novitec to build a 599’s engine is 47,000 euros, or about $61,300. The tuner also has brake, wheel and aero upgrades available, hit the jump to read the complete press release.

Source: Novitec via AutoBlog

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Tesla Roadster is Fast and Safe?

We’ve learned just how fast the Tesla Roadster is, sprinting to 60mph in 3.9 seconds and running the quarter-mile in 12.7 seconds. Even though there are only a few of these EV’s on the road, there have already been three crashes. The first crash occurred when a technician was testing the vehicle and rear ended a truck. The second occurred in San Francisco when the driver failed to stop fast enough at a stop light and rear ended the car in front of them.

The third crash, which happened on October 29th, 2008 in southern France, was much more serious. The accident happened during a test drive where the sales director was demonstrating how sporty the suspension is… at 100 mph. The roads were wet and visibility was reportedly low.

Details are limited, but the accident happened during a high speed turn. The passenger (and potential customer) was ejected from the vehicle upon impact. Fortunately for both of them, their injuries were relatively minor. The driver suffered a broken hand and some bruises. The passengers injuries are unknown, but he has already been released from the hospital.

Check out the carnage below, do you think the Tesla Roadster can be classified as a safe car or were these two people just extremely lucky?

Source: WreckedExotics.com

How Fast is the Tesla Roadster?

Pretty fast. The Tesla Roadster is the hottest new EV on the market. The company has had some troubles lately, including executive turnovers and cash flow problems, but a recent procurement of capital should help keep the company afloat and those Tesla’s rolling out of the factory.

We already know that the latest drivetrain revision lets the EV Roadster go 0-60 in 3.9 seconds, but what about a quarter-mile run? One of the lucky few who already owns a Tesla Roadster recently ran the all electric vehicle at the Infineon raceway in California.

The verdict: even with an R/T of .764 the Roadster still ran the quarter-mile in 12.7 seconds. This is one quick EV! Hit the jump to see the time slip.

Source: AutoBlog

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F1 Season has Ended, Winner Decided in the Last Second of the Brazilian Grad Prix

Going into the Brazillian Grand Prix, the final race of the Formula One season, Lewis Hamilton (McLaren) was seven points ahead of the man in second place, Felipe Massa (Ferrari), for the drivers championship.  For Felipe to win the drivers title, he not only had to take 1st, but Hamilton had to place 6th or worse for Massa to close the points gap and take the championship.

Massa was driving hard and held a commanding lead for most of the race, only falling behind during a pit stop.  Hamilton started the race in 4th place, dropped to 7th, but was able to regain some of his lost ground by the last two laps.  It was raining out and the track was pretty wet.  Many drivers went to the pits to change into a set of rain tires, but Toyota’s rookie Timo Glock took the gamble and stayed on dry tires.  That gamble would prove to payoff, but not for Glock.

Entering the last couple of laps in 5th place, Hamilton had to maintain or improve his positioning to win the drivers race.  It was looking good until Sebastian Vettel was able to squeeze by Hamilton, knocking him down to 6th place.  If these positions held, Massa would take the championship.  Felipe crossed the finish line in 1st place and it looked as though the race was over, but then the unimaginable happened.  Glock couldn’t hold his position in 4th place during the last corner and both Vettel and Hamilton over took him. The whole thing happened so fast, even the camera’s missed it.  Massa, his crew and family were rejoicing over his win, only to find out that Hamilton had taken 5th.

It was as close as close can get and was an amazing finale for the season.  Hit the jump to get a list of the final standings for the Grand Prix and the Drivers Title.

Source: AutoBlog

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