No that’s not a typo in the headline.
This matte black Lamborghini Aventador really is called the Batventador.
The V12 monster is owned by American enthusiast Debbie D who, in a stroke of genius or insanity, has stuck a bunch of Batman logos on it.
More impressive, though, is the Lambo;s custom exhaust, which acts as a flamethrower when Debbie’s right foot gets heavy.
Which is quite often.
On the whole, we’re pretty lucky here in Australia.
We’ve got one of the most competitive and varied car markets in the world.
But still, there’s a handful of cars we’d like to see Down Under.
Sure, safety and emissions regulations and left/right hand drive conversions limit many of these models now, but in a perfect world these are the 10 cars we’d like to see on Aussie roads.
Don’t agree? Head to our Facebook page to join the debate.
It’s not even on sale yet, but Alfa’s sexy new 4C is already in the crosshairs of the world’s best tuners.
The Italian sportscar’s first tune comes from German outfit Pogea Racing which plans to take the already very fast 4C and turn everything up to 11.
Power has been upped from 175kW to 309kW, while torque jumps from 350Nm to 450Nm thanks mostly to new twin turbos, a revised fuel system and a bespoke tubular exhaust.
They’re impressive numbers in a car that weighs 895kg (dry), and ones that could propel the 4C into the performance realm of Porsches and Lamborghinis.
Remember, the stock 4C already out accelerates the Porsche Cayman S from 0-100km/h.
Visually Pogea will offer new 19 and 20 inch wheels, a carbonfibre bodykit and an overhauled interior.
What do you think? Tuning at its best or a step too far?
Head to our Facebook page to join the debate.
Soccer fever has gripped the nation once again, with Australia hoping to secure a place at the 2014 World Cup with a win over Iraq in Sydney tonight.
But while tonight’s result is hugely important, the renaming of Sydney’s Cahill Expressway as the Tim Cahill Expressway got us thinking – what do Australia’s soccer stars drive on the road?
Sadly, unlike their European counterparts, many of the Socceroos don’t have millions to spend on exotic supercars.
But two do.
Tim Cahill and Harry Kewell both have huge garages – click through the gallery to see how they compare to the rest of the world’s soccer stars.
What’s the most stressful way of driving a car? At 300km/h through burning rings of fire, probably.
But on everyday roads, at everyday speeds, I doubt there’s a more draining, stressful, or complicated way of steering a car than driving…economically.
How do I know this? Because Wheels just spent an entire day driving Volkswagen’s as thriftily as possible.
And weirdly, it turns out we’re pretty good at it.
The day was all part of VW’s Think Blue. Challenge – an initiative designed to showcase the brand’s new range of Bluemotion technologies as well as pit a bunch of journalists, and Aussie rally champ and official VW coach Ed Ordynski, against each other to see who can use the least petrol.
The challenge was simple: drive two petrol VWs (Up! and Golf) and two diesels (Passat and Caddy) with a range of transmissions (manual and DSG) on an urban loop.
The driver with the lowest average fuel consumption across all four cars wins.
Not only is the challenge simple, but relevant. With rising fuel costs and the need to appear environmentally conscious, saving money at the pump is good for both your hip pocket and the birds and bees.
So how to drive economically? VW has eight rules to drink less fuel:
• Drive the modern way and think ahead
• Drive in the highest gear possible
• Use overrun fuel cutoff
• Use auxiliary equipment in moderation
• Check your tyre pressure
• Avoid short trips
• Cut aerodynamic drag
• Avoid unnecessary weight
Very wise advice, but it was Ordynski’s tips that I found most useful.
• Don’t let a turbo car get on boost
• Think of a diesel’s accelerator as being connected directly to the fuel pump (more throttle = more fuel)
• In a naturally aspirated petrol throttle use controls injection of petrol and air. Keeping the throttle wide open up a hill in a higher gear then, injects air and little petrol.
All these rules proved to work, with Wheels winning the day and even thrashing Ordynski’s numbers.
The rally champ, who says he studied driving economically for 30 years to use less petrol on rally transit stages, could only manage 4.9l/100km across the range.
Yet with very limited throttle use, particularly in the diesels, Wheels scored 4.4l/100km.
A win then, but a bloody stressful one.
He’s one of Australia’s richest men, wants to be our new PM and is building an exact replica of the Titanic and a modern day Jurassic Park, but not many people know Clive Palmer is also a massive petrol head.
The avid car enthusiast, who today has made headlines after telling Wheels the government should abandon the NBN and instead give Aussie motorists electric cars, has one of the nation’s biggest, and most expensive, car collections.
Palmer owns ‘over 150’ cars worth more than $20 million, with his collection boasting 11 Rolls-Royces, rare Bugatti’s, Ferraris and even a 1965 ‘Newcastle Rambler.’
Click through the gallery see Palmer’s extensive garage and pick up the latest edition of Wheels, on sale now, for Clive’s exclusive interview.
While Italy and Germany make the world’s most beautiful fast cars, the US is where the baddest beasts are built. Check out this SRT Viper GT3-R. It’s America’s big, loud answer to the Porsches and Ferraris it will go up against in the GT3 racing class.
Loaded with a V10 the GT3-R makes 500kW of power and 868Nm torque and will cost about $460,000 when it goes on sale to race teams around the world late this year.
Is your Bugatti Veyron just not turning enough heads anymore? Well US rapper Flo Rida seems to have exactly the same dilemma. Solution? Cover your insanely fast car in a gold-chrome vinyl wrap, like he did.
As if that isn’t enough the Veyron sits on 24-inch 24 carat gold Forgiato wheels. What we want to know is will the vinyl stay on at the Veyron’s top speed of 408km/h or start unpeeling itself like a giant gold banana?
Australia’s cheapest cars to own and run have been named in a recent survey.
Topping the list, which takes into account factors like purchase price, depreciation, fuel use and service costs, is the Suzuki Alto.
The 1.0-litre petrol powered city car took the title of Australia’s Cheapest Car for a second consecutive year, beating 109 other models – including diesels, LPGs, hybrids and even electric vehicles.
The biggest loser, and hence Australia’s most expensive car to own and run, is the recently-released V8 petrol powered Nissan Patrol which costs $402.21 per week, or $20,914.98 a year, to run.
Conversely, the Alto costs just $113.83 a week, or $5918.50 a year – based on an average annual mileage of 15,000km.
Meet Monaco’s newest supercar – the Monte Carlo Automobile Rascasse.
Built by Monaco’s first car market, Monte Carlo Automobile, the Rascasse has been designed to celebrate the boutique brand’s 30th anniversary.
Named after a corner on the famous Monte Carlo street circuit, the Rascasse uses a mid-mounted, BMW-sourced 5.4-litre V12 – the same unit used in the 1998 Rolls-Royce Silver Seraph.
Producing 373kW the Rascasse is able to run on both petrol and LPG, thanks to some tinkering from Italian LPG specialist BRC.
But if that doesn’t sound like enough grunt, don’t worry. The company is planning an even more powerful, supercharged version with all-wheel-drive.
So what about cost? Well the base Rascasse, of which only 15 will be built, is tipped to retail at around $700,000.
