Infiniti has issued a pre-release image of its Q30 Concept hot-hatch, due to be unveiled at this year’s Frankfurt Motor Show (Sept. 12-22).
The Japanese performance luxury maker is positioning the Q30 as a fusion of coupe, hatch and SUV, aimed squarely at the youth market, part of what it says is, “An aggressive strategy to extend the Infiniti brand into new premium segments.”
The Q30 appears to be an evolved (closer to production?) version of the Etherea Concept, shown at the Geneva Motor Show in 2011.
Having slammed the opposition at this year’s Pikes Peak Hill Climb, courtesy of its radical 208 T16 racer (and ace wheel man Sebastien Loeb), Peugeot continues to wind up the performance wick, with a dramatic 308 R Concept set to debut at this year’s Frankfurt Motor Show (Sept. 12-22).
Wider, lower (by 26mm) and boasting 201kW/330Nm from its direct-injection 1.6-litre, four cylinder turbo engine (shared with the RCZ R), this muscular hatch is hopefully a taste of future production.
Carbonfibre doors, front wings, body sides, sills, bonnet and bumpers reduce weight and toughen up the car’s stance, with fat 19 inch rims shod with high-performance 235/35 rubber the finishing touch.
Drive goes to the front wheels via a six-speed manual gearbox, and a Torsen differential is in place to optimise drive and power down. Upgraded brakes (380mm f / 330mm r) complete the package.
Seven years after its initial design hit the drawing board, the Terrafugia (terra-FOO-gee-ah) Transition, a compact flying car, has made its public debut at the huge AirVenture show in Oshkosh, Wisconsin.
Part sedan, part private plane, the Transition is powered by a 75kW ‘flat’ four cylinder Rotax aero engine, which drives the rear wheels on the ground, and the single, rear-mounted propeller in the air.
Right on cue, the car drove to the runway apron at Oshkoch’s Wittman airfield before its automated, electro-mechanical folding wings extended to their flying position (in 60 seconds). The plane then made two faultless, 20-minute flight demonstrations.
The two seat Transition is capable of 112km/h on road and 185km/h in the air. Owners will have to have a pilot’s license, and complete 20 hours of flying time to be able to fly it.
Massachusetts-based Terrafugia is aiming for an on-sale in 2015, with a sticker price of US$300,000.
A sleeker, four-seat TF-X model is also in planning, using wing rotors to allow vertical take-off, and do away with the need for an airport runway.
There are plenty of design awards for cool cars, but what about the parking stations that house them? US website stressfreeairportparking.com and UK interior design magazine ‘FX’ have combined to compile a short list of the world’s coolest car parks, and The Eureka Tower in Melbourne has made the cut.
Utility normally trumps design flair when it comes to car parking, and the result is drab concrete surfaces and boring, functional layouts.
But the Top Ten list includes some truly stunning creations from all points of the globe, that enhance their surroundings, proving form and function can complement each other in even the most utilitarian settings.
The Eureka Tower was designed by Axel Peemoeller, and its underground parking area features large way-finding typography designed to ‘click’ into its correct perspective as users reach a point at which they need direction.
British car tuning guru Afzal Kahn claims he has turned down an offer of more than six million pounds ($10.4m) for his ‘F1’ registration plate.
Currently attached to Khan’s Bugatti Veyron supercar, the plate was purchased for a UK record price of 440,000 pounds ($762,000) in 2008. The 109-year-old registration was on a modest Volvo S80 at the time.
The fact specific personalised plates are not available in the UK has dialed up the plate’s value, and Khan, a high-profile plate collector, also owns, and is offering for sale, ‘4HRH’ and ‘NO1.’
Mr Khan had previously attached the F1 plate to his Mercedes SLR McLaren, and says he believes it is worth much more than the price offered.
A spokesman for Mr Khan’s company said, “We have received a significant multi-million pound offer for the F1 plate which we rejected out of hand.”
SUVs are fuel-guzzling, ozone layer-ripping, earth destroyers, right?
Well not if buy BMWs latest creation.
Seen here in concept form, this hybrid BMW X5 eDrive could be the future of guilt-free SUVs.
Revealed ahead of its debut at next month’s Frankfurt Motor Show, the eDrive boasts a fuel-consumption figure of just 3.8L/100km thanks to a combination of a 70kW electric motor, lithium-ion batteries and turbocharged four-cylinder petrol engine.
Such is its electric capacity, BMW claims the big SUV can travel 30km, with speeds up to 120km/h, solely on electric power.
And don’t think BMW has sacrificed performance for economy. The company claims the eDrive will hit 0-100km/h in just 7.0 seconds.
Not bad for a car that can be plugged into the same socket as your kettle.
Mexico … famous for tequila, tacos and Salma Hayek. But lightweight, track-focused sports cars haven’t featured on the list of high-profile Mexican icons … until now.
Unveiled at the Goodwood Festival of Speed in July, the Vuhl 05 has now gone on sale in an initial batch of 20 ‘Edition One’ versions.
The company was founded by Alberto Chapa and brothers Guillermo and Iker Echeverria. The Vuhl name is an acronym derived from “vehicles of light weight and high performance”, and the model 05 is named after the number Guillermo and Iker’s father used throughout his racing career.
The combination of a bonded aluminium monocoque, featuring honeycomb panels, plus alloy extrusions and reinforced plastic body panels results in a dry weight (no fluids) of just 695kg.
Powered by a 212kW/420Nm, mid-mounted, 2.0-litre Ford Ecoboost engine, mated to a six-speed manual gearbox (with drive going to the rear wheels), its makers claim the 05 sprints from 0-100km/h in 3.7sec, and on to a top speed of 245km/h.
Aimed at the current crop of road-registerable track fliers like the Ariel Atom and Lotus Elise, the car is priced at $104,000 (in Europe), with the initial run of Edition One cars weighing in at $120,000. Vuhl has the capacity to build 50 cars a year at its factory in Mexico City, and there’s no news at this stage on possible import to Australia.
The legendary Holden Monaro is back! Well…sort of.
Seen here in concept form, these VF Monaro sketches are the brainchild of design firm Dsine International, working in collaboration with Holden designers Simon Gow and Peter Hughes.
Created in secret, out of office hours, sadly this two-door coupe version of the new VF Commodore is simply a design exercise and is unlikely to ever reach production.
Revealed on its Facebook page, Dsine International said of the concept:
“If we could we would! This is a concept put together by Dsine International with the help from Simon Gow and Peter Hughes from GMA (Holden) design. It was done after hours and is just a representation of what a VF coupe could look like … We would all love a new Monaro!”
Everyone, meet the Vauxhall of the future – the Monza Concept.
Unveiled overnight before its official debut at next month’s Frankfurt Motor Show, it’s a high-tech concept inspired, and we’re not joking here, by ‘ocean waves lapping on the shore’ and ‘the lean physique and slim waste of a greyhound dog’.
Stupid design-analogies aside, what the Monza actually is, is a car built to preview Vauxhall’s future design language.
Penned by British designer Mark Adams, the high-tech coupe’s fluid surfaces could feature on Vauxhall’s next generation of models, as could its environmentally-focused, super-efficient drivetrain.
While no performance or efficiency numbers have been released, the hybrid Monza uses both an electric motor and range-extending 1.0-litre, three-cylinder turbocharged engine.
Inside, the Monza uses 18 LED projectors to convey information to its occupants – a world first according to Vauxhall – including everything from the satnav to the speedometer.
Australia’s fastest and most powerful car, the HSV GTS, has been thumped by Germany’s equivalent of the super-sedan – the Mercedes-Benz E63 S AMG.
At least in a straight line.
Pitted against each other in an exclusive Wheels comparison, the monstrous Benz thrashed Australia’s new 430kW/740Nm muscle car down the quarter mile by 0.6sec.
But while that result was somewhat predictable, the winner of our comparo is not.
Without giving too much away, pitting these two horsepower-crazed heavy hitters against each other returned a verdict we weren’t expecting.
Especially when you consider the price difference. At $249,545 (or $268,245 as tested) the big Merc is over $150K more than the $92,990 HSV.
But don’t just take out word for it. Australian touring car legend John Bowe – a man who makes a living belting cars around racing tracks – was on hand to thrash both cars at Winton Raceway and he could scarcely believe the performance of the HSV.
“I’m a great exponent of the Australian motor industry and, to be honest, I think for them to produce a car like this – this performance, this poise, this image – for less than a hundred grand really is pretty remarkable,” he said.
To see who wins, and to read the rest of our jam-packed September issue – which sees us belt the all-new AMG A45, Jaguar’s CX-75 still born hypercar and the phenomenal Ferrari 458 Spider – pick up it up at your local newsagent, or from the App Store, today.
