autos evolutions: July 2011

Battle of the Beasts: Tuned Dodge Viper ACR vs Koenigsegg CCXR

The Dodge Viper ACR is one of the fastest production cars around packing an 8.4-liter V10 with 600HP and 560 lb/ft (760 Nm) of torque that allows it to accelerate from 0-60 mph (96km/h) in less than 4.0 seconds. It has also proved its mettle by breaking lap records in famous and difficult tracks such as Laguna Seca and the Nürburgring.

But it's one thing going against a Corvette and totally different story when you're challenged by the likes of Koenigsegg and its CCXR that boasts a twin-supercharged V8 delivering close to 1,100-horsepower.

It seems like someone was bound to get a present this Sunday at the Formula 1 Hungarian Grand Prix. But it wasn’t meant to be Fernando Alonso, who yesterday turned 30 and also raced for the 30th time with Ferrari. Read more »

Speed, the Real Life Russian Edition: Crazy Bus Driver Simply Won't Stop

In the Academy Award-winning film "Speed" from 1994 starring Keanu Reeves as Police Officer Jack Traven and Sandra Bullock as accident-prone ditz Annie Porter, the bus had to go more than 50mph or else it would explode.

But that was only a Hollywood blockbuster whereas the incident you're about to see in the video after the break happened in real life, reportedly somewhere in Russia.

Joining our long list of cars of all sizes and sorts wearing the classic racing colors of Gulf Oil is this Audi R8 coupe, which was spotted at the Mediterranean town of Marbella in Spain.

While it's still no Porsche 917, the famed baby-blue and orange scheme looks much better on the Audi R8 than on some of the more recent Gulf Oil editions we've seen lately including the Mercedes-Benz CLK AMG DTM Edition.

For more photos of the Audi R8, follow the break to check out the gallery.

Back in June, Volkswagen revealed its Temporary Automated Pilot (TAP) system at the HAVEit (Highly Automated Vehicle for Intelligent Transport) event in the city of Boras in Sweden.

TAP can assume control of the car using all its active safety systems without any intervention of the driver, who simply monitors the situation.

Last time we wrote about the 2012 Honda CR-V, it concerned a prototype, a blogger and four-vehicle accident – not the best of news for the Japanese company. Now, thanks to the Honda-loving crew over at Temple of Vtec and scoopster Brenda Priddy, we have video footage of the next-generation CR-V crossover testing on the road.

The spied 2012 CR-Vs are wearing less camouflage than usual with only the front and parts of the rear end wrapped up in black plastic.

It's probably getting kind of old, but a Red Bul l has once again claimed pole position this year. This time Sebastian Vettel is the one who managed to break teammate Mark Webber's two previous pole positions, while also beating the two McLarens piloted by Lewis Hamilton and Jenson Button to start from the first row of the Hungaroring circuit on Sunday. Read more »

Quebec Bus Driver Caught on Film while Filing Paperwork on the Wheel!

"Sorry to interrupt your paperwork, but shouldn't you be doing something like, I don't know, perhaps keep your eyes on the road and your hands on the steering wheel?"

Try telling that to this bus driver from Gatineau, Quebec in Canada, who was taped by a passenger balancing a folder on his knees and filing out all sorts of paperwork while driving on the road.

Toyota is planning to launch a new small car designed specifically for China in 2013, according to a report from Reuters citing the Nikkei business daily newspaper.

The new small car will be a little larger than the low-cost Etios that is sold in India. A 1.5-liter gasoline engine will power it and prices are expected to begin from under 1 million yen (approximately US$12,853).

IED Turin graduate Samir Sadikhov took second place in the Ferrari World Design Contest with his Xezri concept, and now we have a full gallery of images as well as a video of the study.

Sadikhov explains that Xezri was named after, “a local wind which is in the western part of Caspian sea,” and that it exemplifies an innovative, high-technology solution to the needs of a lightweight car for both the road and track.

It is, he says, “a synthesis of its technological knowledge and its sporting experience,” that embodies, “the quintessence of Ferrari past and present and looks to the Ferrari of the future”.

For some automakers such as Porsche and BMW, a black edition version of one of their cars means everything is finished in black, for others including Mazda and Holden, it's more like a secondary trim color.

Honda's CR-Z "α Black Label" ("Alpha Black Label") can be classed in the second category as the Japanese market only edition of the hybrid sports coupe justifies its name only through the color choices inside and to a lesser extent, the darker shade of the alloy wheels.

The headline story on the automotive front today (that would be Friday, July 29) is no doubt the presentation of the first concept models of BMW's new division for alternative fuel vehicles that we will come to know as the "i" series.

We've already given you a first look at the i3 pure-electric hatchback as well as the sporty i8 gasoline-electric hybrid coupe concepts, but BMW has also released a series of films on both vehicles.

Joining a long list of unknown companies with no prior experience that wish to enter the supercar building industry is firm called Arrinera Automotive. from Poland.

Last month, Arrinera showed the first prototype of its newly created sports car during a local presentation. Now the Polish firm has released some fresh photos as well as video footage of the prototype model on the road, which you can check out in detail after the jump.

In its never ending to reach out to a hipper, younger audience, Scion joined forces with tuning shop Auto Werks of Northbrook and Chicago-based radio station B96, to trick out one of their listeners car during the B96 Pepsi Summerbash concert.

The winner of the Scion sweepstake was young lady named Becky who owns a tC coupe. Her two-door model was upgraded with lowering springs, blacked-out wheels, LED light kits, body kit, graphics, a high-end audio system, and more, with the entire process taking around 6 hours.

You can watch the Auto Werks team in action in the time lapse video after the break.

From Sydney ad firm Innocean Worldwide comes this neat little TV commercial for the 2011 Hyundai Elantra four-door sedan.

The ad features Hyundai’s C-segment offering sitting inside a non-descript brick building. Then, in a way that reminds the machine that Tony Stark uses to suit in and out of his Iron Man costume, a multitude of robot appendages unfold from the ceiling and begin removing pieces of the Elantra’s body to reveal a smaller car inside.

Tuning outfit Anderson Germany has a new proposal for current owners of the Maserati GranTurismo S. The German workshop has developed a line of performance and styling upgrades under the name Superior Black Edition.

Under the bonnet, the 4.7-liter V8 engine is boosted from 440-horses to 492HP via a software optimization program and a new custom exhaust system.

In February, during the Super Bowl, Chrysler aired its new advertising campaign for the 200 featuring the slogan “Imported from Detroit”. The commercial, which showed famous rapper Eminem driving around the Motor City under the sounds of his hit song “Lose Yourself”, won 5 awards at Cannes.

Three months later, Audi aired a TV ad in Germany about the 2012 A6 Avant. It featured a man driving around a German city -much like Eminem did- with a background music that sounded far too similar to the “Lose Yourself” hit.

A mayor from a small city located close to Green Bay, Wisconsin, made headlines earlier this month after he was arrested for driving under the influence of alcohol. Footage from a state patrol dash cam shows Marinette Mayor Robert M. Harbick clearly intoxicated and almost unable to stand up alone while also joking around with the police officers.

According to local media reports, police responded to a call concerning one-car accident after Harbick crashed his SUV into a light pole. The Marinette Mayor is said to have had a blood alcohol level more than three times the legal limit.

The bosses over at BMW's British division have released pricing on the second-generation 1-series hatchback before it goes on sale in the UK on September 17, 2011.

The redesigned five-door hatchback will launch with a choice of three diesel and two petrol engines, with on-the-road prices starting from £19,375 for a 116i ES rising to £24,720 for a 120d Urban or a 120d Sport.

Honda announced today that it will manufacture the new Civic hatchback and the next generation of the CR-V SUV at its Swindon plant in the UK

The five-door hatchback version of the new Honda Civic, which we previewed earlier today (see here), is designed exclusively for Europe and will only be built in Swindon. The Civic was first introduced in 1972, and is now in its ninth generation. It will be revealed at the Frankfurt Motor Show in September.

Less than a week after we told you about the first recorded BMW 1 Series M Coupe accident, we now have the second mishap regarding the Bavarian firm's turbocharged sports model.

This accident took place in Poland when the driver reportedly lost control of the 340HP rear-wheel drive BMW sending the small coupe to the side of the road and into the grass. Fortunately for the owner, no other car was involved in the incident and the exterior damages appear to be fairly limited.

Sergio Marchionne, the CEO of Fiat and Chrysler, has announced the unification of the two automakers’ management teams in one, smaller unit. As Fiat said in a statement, from September 1, the group will have four regional managers for both companies’ operations in Europe, Asia, North America and South America.

These regional chiefs, along with Marchionne himself, and other 17 managers will form a “group executive council". Not surprisingly, Fiat execs dominate the new consolidated management team, with 14 people sourced from the Italian-based carmaker and only five from Chrysler.

Earlier in July, Mercedes-Benz outline the shape and detailed the powertrain lineup for the new 2012 B-Class MPV. Now, the Stuttgart-based automaker is providing us with our first look at the tall compact model's inner works.

Looking at these photos, if there's one thing that stands out it’s that, unlike the exterior, which is an evolution of the current B-Class, the interior has been completely redesigned and features a more modern styling and premium feel than the sober cabin of today's model.

It's become something of spectator sport over in Europe and chiefly in London: people equipped with a handy cam waiting for a hot car to pass by to record it and upload the video on Youtube.

As with anything else in life, sometimes it pays off, sometimes it does not and our amateur producers are left with a bitter taste in the mouth.

A pair of Cygnet minis will be representing Aston Martin at the fifth annual Bridgestone Eco-Rally that takes place in London this weekend. This is the first time that the British marque participates at the event, which will pass from the heart of Oxford to central London. Read more »

BMW i8 Concept: Plug-in Hybrid Coupe with 1.5-liter Petrol Engine Delivers 349HP and 87MPG [63 Photos]

BMW's showdown continues with the presentation of its i8 Concept, a plug-in hybrid sports coupe that joins the i3 pure-electric hatchback to form the first models of the Bavarian firm's i sub-brand.

The i8 Concept is a further development of the 2009 Vision EfficientDynamics study and it opens the way for a production model, which is scheduled to arrive in showrooms in 2013.

The sportiest member of the i series models combines the modified electric drive system from the i3 Concept, but this time fitted over its front axle instead of the rear, with a high-performance, 1.5-liter turbocharged three-cylinder gasoline engine (in place of the Vision ED's diesel unit) developing 220HP (164kW) and 300 Nm (221 lb.ft) at the rear.

The ninth generation Civic hatchback for the European market will soon make its world premiere at the Frankfurt Motor Show in September but Honda has provided us with a sneak peak of the five-door model with photos of a camouflaged prototype and a video explaining the changes under the body.

The Civic hatchback has been designed exclusively for Europe and will continue to be a separate model from the North American four-door sedan and two-door coupe variants with which it shares the same name.

The car we originally came to know as the Megacity Vehicle was officially revealed today as the BMW i3 Concept ahead of its 2011 Frankfurt Motor Show debut and less than two years before it goes on sale in 2013.

The new i3 along with the i8 sports coupe concept (we'll have more on that in a bit) that was also shown today, are the first vehicles of BMW's new i sub-brand with which the Bavarian company plans to sell a range of environmental-friendly hybrids, pure-electric and range-extended cars.

The upcoming i3 will be BMW's first ever mass produced all-electric model. The five-door hatchback rides on a new dedicated architecture named "LifeDrive".

It may have been a while since we last showed you a "Made in China" doppelganger, but rest assured, the economic giant from Asia, never sleeps.

As if it weren't troublesome enough that China reaps all the benefits of free trade to sell its products everywhere while enforcing all kind of rules when it comes to imports (did you know, for example, that only 20 foreign films are allowed for release in China each year?) or opening a local business, the country has also established notoriously lax patent and copyright laws.

While not in significantly large numbers, many Chinese companies have targeted the automotive industry creating various knock offs of European and Japanese vehicles. Longtime Carscoop reader John F.T. from Norway* discovered yet another copy while browsing on a local online marketplace.

Over the years we've shown you plenty of tow truck-related fails but we think this one takes the cake.

The tow truck driver pulling the brown passenger car passes a security gate but obviously doesn't take into consideration the fact that there is a considerable distance between the two. As a result, the automated system sends a signal to extend the safety barriers right after the van goes through hoisting the car into the air.

We knew that Audi was working on a more spirited version of its "new luxury" A8 flagship sedan and now we have some fresh spy photos as the Germans put the final touches on the S8 before its official premiere later this year, possibly as early as the Frankfurt Motor Show in September.

The big news is that VW Group is hushing in a new generation of engines for its performance orientated models and the 2012 Audi S8 is no exception.

The new sporty limousine will drop the previous model's naturally aspirated 5.2-liter V10, which was shared with Lamborghini, in favor of a newly developed 4.0-liter turbocharged V8.

NBA basketball player and point guard for the Phoenix Suns Steve Nash doesn’t take himself very seriously. He has starred in a handful of TV ads - including a few for Vitamin Water - where he generally takes the piss out of himself and the typical over-the-top sporting personalities we see so very often.

Now he’s staring in a couple of TV commercials for the third generation Toyota Prius where he proves that you don’t have to be a planet-conscious all-around-good-guy to drive the Japanese brand’s popular hybrid hatch.

The second generation of the new MINI from the BMW Group has been with us since 2007 but the tuning industry has yet to let go of the Mk1 hatch and especially the Cooper S model with the R53 designation.

German tuning house CoverEFX has just launched a new package for the MINI Cooper S Mk1 that includes both cosmetic and performance modifications.

Car accidents, be they fender benders or more serious crashes can happen to anyone and anywhere, but what's special about this incident is that it involves a prototype of the upcoming 2012 Honda CR-V, which was recently previewed with a thinly disguised concept study.

We're not quite sure how it happened, but the collision that took place in California involved four vehicles amongst which the 2012 CR-V test mule, a Lexus RX and a Toyota Highlander.

Fiat says there's already more than 500,000 ways to modify the 500 city car between paint finishes, graphics, and seat colors, but for those that would like a few more customization options, the Chrysler Group's Mopar brand is adding more than 150 different accessories to the range.

The available parts range in price and style from a simple $21 locking gas cap to a spicy $1,400 body kit. In between options include custom key covers priced at $48, a $399 roof rack and $409 body-stripe graphics.

We're sure many of you have encountered the type of drivers that have no respect for their fellow motorists and who believe they own the road and can do as they please.

Only this time, the careless attitude of the person behind the steering wheel of what looks like an E46 BMW 3-Series caused a freaky accident when he or she decided to pass in between the car on which this video camera was mounted and what appears to be an older generation Opel Corsa.

The reckless driver of the BMW clipped the Corsa which then bumped onto the vehicle with the camera sending it tumbling away on the road. Watch the incident unfold in the video after the break.

Aside from the annual vehicle reliability study that determines which are statistically the most and least dependable cars on the market, J.D. Power & Associates’ also conducts an annual survey of the most appealing brands and vehicles in the States.

The APEAL study examines what consumers like and dislike about their vehicles and how gratifying they are to own and drive based on their evaluations of more than 80 different attributes. Some findings are expected but some may come as a surprise to you.

Beginning with the brand appeal, Porsche finished first followed by Jaguar, BMW, Land Rover (despite ranking close to last in J.D. Powers' reliability study), Audi and Mercedes-Benz.

The current generation Maserati Quattroporte measures 200 inches (5,080 mm) bumper to bumper. Why anyone would think such a car needed any more length, let alone 140 inches (3,556 mm) of it, is beyond me but here we are.

This Maserati Quattroporte Limo was found for sale on eBay and comes complete with Silver Pearl paint, seating for 10, three TV’s and...wait for it...illuminated champagne holders!

I haven’t been this excited about a limousine since that ~~airport limo~~ funeral car a few weeks back.

Even though we’re always on the lookout for rally-bred production cars from the 1980s and 1990s like the Lancia Delta Integrale, we must admit that this 1994 Toyota Celica GT-Four ST205 grabbed our attention mainly because it is the same car that was featured on an older episode of Top Gear. A young Jeremy Clarkson had then compared it against Ford's Escort RS Cosworth.

There's a new piece to the puzzle that is the 2013 Infiniti JX as today, the Japanese automaker published the most revealing -up until now, that is- teaser photo showing the front end of its new 7-seater luxury crossover.

Chevrolet is celebrating its 100th birthday on November 3, and parent company General Motors is planning several happenings to honor the occasion. To kick off the 100-day countdown to Chevy's centennial, GM launched a dedicated website at "Chevy100".

Visitors are encouraged to share stories and photos about the roles that Chevrolets played in their lives through social media channels like Facebook, as well as to cast their vote on their most favorite model using a list of 16 celebrated vehicles, starting with the 1912 Six and concluding with the 2011 Volt.

From time to time, we all have face some problems, but most of us (or at least that's what we'd like to believe) don't take it out on our fellow citizens.

We're not sure what kind of issues this middle-age woman from Russia was facing at the time this video was shot, but she sure went berserk and in a very dangerous manner.

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