Monthly Archives: February 2009

Bugatti Celebrates 100 Years of Success

Bugatti is celebrating its rich heritage of 100 years in the automobile business. Since 1909, the company is known for producing some of the best supercars across the globe. The journey was fondly started by Ettore Bugatti who was known as an eccentric genius in the area of car manufacturing.

Continuing its legend the company is now planning to bring in a new supercar that will be displayed in the 2009 Geneva Motor Show. Christened as Bugatti Centenaire, the proposed Bugatti’s car is to lighten the show with extraordinary style, glamour, and power.

There are speculations that it is a facelifted Veyron that is considered to be one of the fastest cars in the world. But no, it’s a completely new car with a new and heart rendering design and comprising a completely different set of technologies. There are rumours that the Centenaire will behold a beastly 8.0-litre, 16 cylinder (W16) quad-turbo Bugatti engine that will amazingly deliver a power output of 1350 hp. This incredible car will definitely put the Bugatti’s stall on fire at the Geneva Show this year.

Introducing a car like this is definitely one of the best ways to celebrate the golden anniversary of the ultra-luxury brand’s birthday.

    SocialTwist Tell-a-Friend     Add to Technorati Favorites                 Add New Post

Porsche’s RS Spyder to Breakthrough the Le Mans 24 Hour Race

New Porsche-RS Spyder Cars in IndiaNew Porsche-RS Spyder Cars in India

Porsche’s RS Spyder is ready to head into the next phase of Le Mans 24 Hours race. Le Mans 24 Hours race is a racing event that held annually in France. It is also known as the Grand Prix of Endurance and is structured by the ACO (Automobile Club de l’Ouest). The race is conducted on a track enclosed public roads.

The NAVI Team Goh from Japan and the Essex squad from Denmark are the two teams that will use the car for the race. Both the teams want to repeat the victory of LMP2 class last year with the car.

Maassen who piloted a RS Sypder last year will contest the event for the NAVI Team Goh comprising team members Seiji Ara and Keisuke Kunimoto. The team’s Porsche RS Spyder is the winning car from last year for the Van Merksteijn Motorsport. This year the car has undergone few changes due to new implemented regulations like a substantial downsizing of the air-restrictors, the 3.4-litre V8 engine now delivers 440 hp instead of 476. The rear wing and the underbody have been modified to conform to the new regulations. Both the teams will get the support of Porsche works drivers Sascha Maassen (Germany) and Emmanuel Collard (France) for campaign.

posted by admin @ Friday, February 27th, 2009 Comments Off links to this post
    SocialTwist Tell-a-Friend     Add to Technorati Favorites                 Add New Post

World’s First Sports Activity Coupé in India

New BMW X6 Cars in India

India has become the first country to witness the Sports activity coupé in the world with the introduction of BMW X6. After the launch of the new 3 series and the 7 series, BMW is back in news with its new dazzling X6. The company intelligently coupled the X6 launch with the inauguration of its new car showroom ’Infinity Cars’ to attract maximum consumers’ attention.

Both the car and the showroom synonymously reflect the true brand image of BMW. The car carries the agility, performance and athletic design of a coupe along with the versatility of a sports activity vehicle. It comes with the BMW Dynamic Performance Control and the newly developed Twin Turbo engine. The Dynamic Performance Control ensures unparallel driving dynamics and the Twin Turbo engine helps to generate outstanding power. Available in both petrol and diesel variants, it comes to India as a completely built unit with a price tag of Rs 65 Lakh to Rs 82 Lakh.

The appealing show room equally displays BMW’s vision to provide its customers the best in terms of both product quality and services. Spread over an area of 7000 sq ft, the new showroom provides an opportunity to the BMW fans to experience the international standard with respect to both service and retailing environment.

    SocialTwist Tell-a-Friend     Add to Technorati Favorites                 Add New Post

Time to Unwrap the Volvo S80 Facelift

Volvo S80 being the first Volvo car in Indian car market heralded a completely new beginning for the car manufacturer. Since then, the car has rejoiced a respectable niche in the market but has not been able to surpass the winning cars from BMW, Mercedes, and Audi.

To beat the rising competition and enjoy a higher sales figure, Volvo is soon going to roll out a facelifted version of its S80. The proposed car designed by Steve Mattin is to make its first international debut in the Geneva Auto Show that is just round the corner.

The car will have a completely new design complemented by stylish cues, a larger grille featuring a prominent Volvo logo, and chrome trimmed front air intakes. These significant modifications will give a lower, longer, and wider stance to the existing Volvo S80.

The interior of the car will reflect exclusivity and refinements with a host of luxurious features. The key highlights of the interior are soft leather seats, aluminum dials on the instrumentation, super-slim floating center stack, and decor trim with Silk Matte metal-effect finish.

Under the hood, the S80 facelift is speculated to be blessed with a twin-turbo five-cylinder 2.4-liter turbo-diesel engine that churns out 204 bhp.

Volvo is sure to beat the tough competition in the luxury car segment with its facelifted S80.

    SocialTwist Tell-a-Friend     Add to Technorati Favorites                 Add New Post

Sturdy and Powerful Xenon XT Stamps on Indian Road

New Tata Xenon XT Cars In India

Tata Xenon XT stamps on the Indian road with a complete blend of looks and performance. The new car by Tata is an all new take in the SUV segment with its stylish structure, refined interiors, excellent off-road capabilities, and impressive loading capacity.

In a world where Safaris and Scorpios are ruling the SUV market it’s hard to predict whether such a lifestyle pick up will proliferate. But the manufacturer addresses impressive features and technologies of the Xenon that may take over the leading SUVs of the country.

The new Xenon is truly a treat for eyes. The style is distinctive, aggressive, and striking and is dominated by the trademark ‘Tata’ grille. Complementing the frontal fascia of the car is the large wraparound clear lens headlamps and flared fenders. The side indicators on the outside rear view mirror and the roof rails add more style to the car’s exterior. But we don’t think that this is enough to win the hearts of off-road enthusiast. It may be an eye feast for those who adore sturdiness, aggressiveness, and exclusivity in a car.

The interior of the car is highlighted with power steering, power windows, electrically adjustable side rear view mirrors, central locking, AC, and height adjustable seat belts.

The beastly 2.2 VTT DICOR diesel engine churns out an awesome power of 138 bhp. Adding to the performance is the electrical shift-on-the-fly mechanism and a limited slip differential similar to that in the Tata Safari. Electrical shift-on-the-fly enables the car to shift from two-wheel drive to four-wheel drive while it is moving and the limited slip differential limits the difference of speed and torque between the wheels. Off-road capabilities of the car are further improved by a rugged ladder frame structure, a matching suspension, and alloy wheels. What’s most exciting is the massive load capacity of the car that can amazingly carry a payload capacity of 1,000 kg.

The car can be fondly customized with a load of accessories like bed-liners, fog lamps, canopy, boot lid, and rollover bars offered by the company. It is perfectly priced within the range of Rs 7.62 Lakh to Rs 8.58 Lakh.

Tata is confident that the new Xenon XT will win the hearts of SUV and off-road enthusiasts. Let’s see how well this new car is able to flourish in the Indian car market.

    SocialTwist Tell-a-Friend     Add to Technorati Favorites                 Add New Post

India’s Best Choice of Wheels

The NDTV Profit Car and Bike Awards 2009 was recently held in Mumbai to acclaim India’s best choice of wheels. The grand award show witnessed the presence of country’s top car manufacturers, auto professionals, corporate leaders from car industry, and famous Bollywood celebrities.

The event was organised to honour the best design, technology, style, and performance in the car industry as well as the best car of the year 2009. To choose from there were a number of cars that have succeeded in winning people’s heart with its brilliant styling and outstanding performance. But only few cars drove out with the winner’s award.

In the award function the New Honda City was adjudged as ‘Car of the Year 2009’. The City was flying high by grabbing two more awards in its credit. It also won the ‘Best Active Mid-Sized Car’ and the ‘CNB Viewer’s Choice Car’ awards.

Following the winning attributes of the City were the Chevrolet Captiva, Skoda Fabia, Volkswagen Jetta, Audi A4, and the Mercedes Benz SL 63 AMG. Chevrolet Captiva bagged the award of ‘SUV of the Year’, Skoda Fabia won the title of ‘Active Small Car of the Year’, Volkswagen Jetta won the ‘Executive Car of the Year’ award, Audi A4 for ‘Premium Car of the Year’, and Mercedes Benz SL 63 AMG carried the award for ‘Import Car of the Year’.

All these car manufacturers rejoiced their success but the special celebration is enjoyed by Hyundai who won the title of ‘Car Manufacturer of the Year 2009’.

    SocialTwist Tell-a-Friend     Add to Technorati Favorites                 Add New Post

Fabia Continues its Winning Extravaganza

Skoda Fabia has recently won various awards from leading car magazines for being the best car in its class. And with another award of “Active Small Car of the Year” given by NDTV Profit the Fabia continues its winning extravaganza.

Skoda Fabia offers all its customers an impressive combination of style, performance, technology, and safety. It believes to be a trendsetter by offering a capacious cabin that no other hatchback in Indian offers. Proudly known as India’s first superhatch, the Fabia has fulfilled customers’ desires with its extraordinary attributes.

The car experienced a strong competition with the recently introduced Maruti Suzuki A-Star to adjudge the award given by NDTV Profit. But the outstanding characteristics of the Fabia surpassed the excellent styling and technological precision of the A-Star. The Fabia scores high on brilliant styling, practical features, and roominess.

Skoda feels delighted with the fact that its hatchback has exceeded their highest expectations. The company is now confidant that it will compete and win against leading compact cars plying on Indian roads.

    SocialTwist Tell-a-Friend     Add to Technorati Favorites                 Add New Post

Suicide Door – An Age-old Innovation

Suicide doors were common in the traditional cars but are rarely found in modern cars. These are doors that are hinged to the trailing edge of the car, an edge closer to the rear of the vehicle. They are commonly called as “rear-hinged doors” “coach doors”, and “freestyle doors” by manufacturers instead of the name suicide door due its negative connotation.

You must be wondering then why the name suicide is even used? It’s nothing strange because the name clearly indicates the danger associated with the doors as there are chances of its falling if its remain unlatched. When driving at high speed the fast moving air surrounding the car creates a low pressure area around that acts as an outward force to open the door. And just imagine what will happen if the car’s door suddenly open out at high speed. The occupant will be thrown out of the car if not wearing a seatbelt.

The key advantage of the suicide doors is that they provide an easy entry and exist for the occupants. But passengers from both the front and rear cannot exit or enter the car simultaneously unless the car is too large in its structure. For such an insignificant advantage, no car manufacturer can put the passenger’s life on toll.

Today these doors are found in some of the cars but are placed in such a way that it cannot be opened unless regular front doors are opened. You’ll find a pack of suicide and regular front doors in a couple of modern cars including the imposing Rolls-Royce Phantom Drophead Coupe. They are also been used in some of the modern day concept cars.

    SocialTwist Tell-a-Friend     Add to Technorati Favorites                 Add New Post

Phenomenal A-Star Shines on Indian Roads

New Maruti Suzuki A-Star Cars in India

Maruti Suzuki A-Star designed with a high degree of vivacity, innovation, and passion shines on Indian roads bearing the winner’s tag. After receiving overwhelming responses from the consumers, the global car has registered its name for many prestigious awards from discerning auto magazines in the country.

The tags of ‘Car of the Year 2009’ by Zigwheels and ‘Best Car of the Year 2009’ by Topgear and Autocar are honoured to the car for being the best in its class. Adding to the worth of the winning car is the award of ‘Technology of the Year 2009 – KB 10 Engine’ given by Overdrive. These awards are a sure sign that the A-Star not only spells beauty and elegance with its artistically crafted structure but also boasts about its engineering excellence.

The latest state-of-art light weight petrol engine gives a fuel economy of 19.5 km/L making it a best-in-class fuel efficient car. The exterior with its modern yet ethnic adornments make an imposing presence on road. The elegance is carried from the exterior to the interior which is equally engaging and appealing.

This small luxury car perfectly tunes with its punch line ‘Stop @ Nothing’. With all the award labels, exhilarating beauty, and technological precision, every journey with the car becomes a thrilling driving experience.

    SocialTwist Tell-a-Friend     Add to Technorati Favorites                 Add New Post

Nano Frightening Used Car Dealers

The used car dealers are getting nightmares with the approaching Nano commercial launch.
Used car dealers being afraid of the market after the Nano launch have drastically reduced the rates of the pre-owned cars. Most of them are trying to reach the margin of Rs 1 Lakh to compete with the Nano.

Shockingly, prices of many mid-size cars have been slashed by over 25% and small cars by 2%. Four-to-five-year-old Ford Ikon, Maruti Esteem, Opel Corsa and Fiat Sienna are now available with a price tag of around Rs 1 Lakh.

Well the used car dealers have taken a right and smart step by lowering the prices. As it is quite obvious that when an AC mid-sized car with all necessary features is available at the same price of Nano, no customer will opt to buy a Nano base variant without AC.

It is also known that the prices of the A and B segment (small) cars will see a further revision after the launch of the Nano. So, Nano is not only a threat to the new existing small cars but also to the used cars.

    SocialTwist Tell-a-Friend     Add to Technorati Favorites                 Add New Post