Audi A8: Official Details and Photos (updated)

Posted by Bradley Wint on November 30th, 2009 at 9:23 pm

Audi has successfully unveiled their new model A8 at the launch of the Art Basel Miami Beach Gallery in Miami, Florida. The new A8 takes design cues from its more recently upgraded brothers and sisters such as the A4 and A5. With the newly style LED front and rear lights, as well as its slick looks, it was presented as the car to compete with the BMW 7 series and Mercedes S-Class.

Some of the major features of the new car include the:

• an aluminum Space Frame
• LED headlights that adjust according to navigation data
• 4.2-liter FSI V8 (372bhp)
• New Multimedia GUI with handwriting recognition technology
• a number of driver assist features

Only the standard wheelbase model was presented at the show. Audi says that they will present the rest of the line in 2011.

We have the full and very detailed press release below giving some much needed info. Official photos below.

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Canadian Gran Prix back in the F1 line up

Posted by Bradley Wint on November 30th, 2009 at 2:00 pm

After missing one year in the F1 Championship, the Canadian Gran Prix is once again in the line-up for the 2010 event.

This comes a year after the Canadian local authorities and F1 Boss, Bernie Ecclestone were unable to reach an agreement after Ecclestone demanded they pay $165 million to keep the event running.

Currently the government has finally decided to cough up the cash over the 2010-2014 period in which the new agreement is based upon. Funds will be donated from different sources including the Federal Government, tourist board, Municipal and Province boards.

F1 generates heavy tourism for Canada, with as much as 25% of the visitors being non-province citizens.

[Via: AP | Image]

Gas Fumes may be linked to Road Rage

Posted by Bradley Wint on November 30th, 2009 at 12:10 pm

It turns out that some of that road rage drivers dish out on a daily basis may be linked to inhalation of gasoline fumes when filling up at the pump.

According to a study published on BMC Physiology’s website, researcher Amal Kinawy exposed lab rats to doses of unleaded and leaded gasoline to see how they reacted to it. He focused on the rat’s cerebral cortex, hippocampus, cerebellum and hypothalamus, analyzing the effects the gasoline had on them.

The results proved that the rats were significantly impaired and the ones that inhaled the unleaded gas in particular showed higher levels of aggression.

The present results revealed that gasoline inhalation induced significant fluctuations in the levels of the monoamine neurotransmitters in the studied brain regions. This was concomitant with a decrease in Na+, K+-ATPase activity and total protein content. Moreover, the group exposed to the unleaded gasoline exhibited an increase in lipid peroxidation and a decrease in AChE and superoxide dismutase activities. These physiological impairments were accompanied with a higher tendency towards aggressive behaviour as a consequence to gasoline inhalation.

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Audi A8 launches today, LED teaser shots for now

Posted by Bradley Wint on November 30th, 2009 at 10:00 am

Audi will be launching their new A8 saloon today in Miami, Florida. They released an image of the covered A8 showing the silhouette of the front grill as well as the redesigned row of LED park lights. They released an image last weekend where the car was totally covered in white with a big red line painted across it (seen below).

Stay tuned for more photos when the launch happens.

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Mercedes AMG Diesels in the future?

Posted by Bradley Wint on November 30th, 2009 at 8:00 am

With rising economic costs, diesel has been quite a desired alternative fuel source to the regular petrol our V8s and V12s guzzle up. Racing teams are using it now with great success. In the Le Mans Endurance series, Audi has been raking up victories with their R10 TDi and SEAT it taking home victories in WTCC with their Leon TDi. These are just the few teams that are making diesel work for them.

Mercedes’ AMG line may now be considering diesel technology to power their souped-up sports cars. According a report posted by Whatcar, AMG’s C-Class, E-Class, SLK and SL-Class Product Manager Oliver Wiech did not exclude the possibilities of diesel-powered engines in their future models.

“We are taking an open view and looking at lots of options, but if you look at our announcement on the electric SLS, you can see what is in the future.” – Oliver Wiech

Diesel seems to be a possibility and electric power is a definite in the future for AMG.

[Via: WCF | Image: Daimler Press]

Brabus SV12 R Information

Posted by Ilia Lou on November 28th, 2009 at 8:00 pm

The numbers the Brabus SV12 R can achieve are completely jaw dropping. However, before we get into that, let’s remember what Brabus is known for. This company takes fast Mercedes Benzes, and then gives them new engines with more power, Brabus also toughens the suspension, and adds some body changes as well. As a result, Brabus cars are always apocalyptically powerful and fast. So, what have they done to the Mercedes-Benz S600?

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Cell phone maker to use Nissan’s self-healing “Scratch Shield” Paint

Posted by Bradley Wint on November 27th, 2009 at 2:37 pm

Cell phone maker NTT DoCoMo has been granted a license to use Nissan’s “Scratch Shield” paint. The paint was developed in collaboration with University of Tokyo and Advanced Softmaterials Inc. It is a very special product because it can actually heal itself if it is lightly scratched. The healing process takes place between 12 hours to about 1 week.

Since we all know that cell phones usually take quite the beating when they rest in our pockets or bags, this would be quite a great feature to keep your mobile looking in top order. NTT DoCoMo has included the paint as an added bonus to their phone purchase. With the paint being able to heal itself on most occasions, it also has an added level of durability, basically giving twice the protection versus conventional paint.

Read more in the press release below.

Sauber buys back BMW Sauber

Posted by Bradley Wint on November 27th, 2009 at 12:01 pm

The future of the Sauber team has finally be solidified after an agreement was reached between the Board of Management at BMW and Peter Sauber yesterday (Thursday).

This came after negotiations between the company and Qadbak Investment ltd. fell through due to a bit of hoodwinking.

Both parties are very happy with the deal, especially Peter Sauber, due to the fact that they don’t have to relocate.

“I am very relieved that we have found this solution. It means we can keep the Hinwil location and the majority of workplaces. I am convinced that the new team has a very good future in Formula One, whose current transformation with new framework conditions will benefit the private teams. Our staff here are highly competent and motivated, and I look forward to taking on this new challenge together with them. I would like to thank BMW for four shared years that have in the main been very successful.” – Peter Sauber

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iOpener signs world renowned driver for Real Time Racing game

Posted by Bradley Wint on November 27th, 2009 at 12:50 am

If you are a hardcore sim racing fan, then you should have heard about the iOpener/SimBin project called Real Time Racing. The basic idea of the concept is that the game allows you to race against real life racers. Folks on the sim end can either “race” against them during live events or from events stored on file. Obviously there are a lot of complications such as the reaction of the real cars vs. the sim cars… but SimBin has worked out all those aspects.

With that in mind, the iOpener team recently announced that they signed a world renowned driver to participate in their program as a real life driver.

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Need For Speed: SHIFT – DLC Car Pack Preview

Posted by Bradley Wint on November 26th, 2009 at 10:31 pm

EA has published pics of the 5 new cars which are expected to be published in a free DLC package for Need For Speed: SHIFT. It will be available for the PS3, Xbox 360 and PC and include the following cars:

• 1967 Chevrolet Corvette Stingray
• 1967 Shelby GT 500
• 1969 Dodge Charger R/T
• 1971 Dodge Challenger
• 1998 Toyota Supra

Check out more screens below.

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