Sport Cars Lotus Elise and New Lotus Sports Cars Exige S240 Review

2011 Lotus Elise SC

By ensuring that the Elise stuck rigidly to Lotus’ core values of performance through light weight, the Elise was able to produce supercar performance with city car economy.Making its debut at the 80th International Geneva Motorshow, the 2011 model year Lotus Elise introduces a number of changes and improvements to maintain its class leading position.

For the 2011 model year, the Elise range will consist of the following variants:
* Lotus Elise – 136 PS, less than 155 g of CO2 /km – new 1.6 litre engine
*Lotus Elise R – 192 PS, 196 g of CO2 /km – 1.8 litre engine
*Lotus Elise SC – 220 PS, 199 g of CO2 /km – 1.8 litre supercharged engine

Year Elise range: New evolution body design incorporating new front clamshell, rear bumper and engine cover. New all in one integrated headlights including LED day light running lights and LED direction indicators.Improved aerodynamics with a reduction in Cd by 4%, resulting in better fuel economy.New cast and forged wheels and vehicle warranty increased from 2 years to 3 years and 36, 000 miles.Key changes and improvements to the whole of the 2011 model.

Additional changes for the 2011 model year entry level Lotus Elise: New high technology 1ZR-FAE 1.6 litre engine with Valvematic and Dual VVT-I technology to optimise the performance and efficiency of the engine.Less than 155 g of CO2 per km (an improvement of over 13% compared to the 2010 Elise S).Combined fuel consumption 6.14 litres / 100 km (46 mpg).New 6 speed close ratio gearbox and cruise control available as part of the Touring pack.

New Lotus Sports Cars Exige S240

British performance sports car manufacturer Lotus has officially unveiled their 2010 Lotus Exige S240. While Lotus fans will recognize this as a very subtle update, the grille and rear wing facelift is a step forward for the mark. The exciting new 2010 Lotus Exige S240 enters the United States and Canadian markets in the fall of 2009 with new front styling, a new rear wing and the same rare combination of exceptional performance and high efficiency.

New Lotus Sports Cars Exige S240

The Lotus Exige S240 features a roof integrated air intake scoop feeds air through the air-to-air intercooled and supercharged 1.8 liter Lotus-tuned and Toyota-sourced 2ZZ-GE engine with Intelligent Variable Valve Timing (VVT-i) to provide 240hp at 8,000 rpm and 170 ft.-lbs. of torque at 5,500.

The 2010 Lotus Exige S240 sprints to 60 mph in a blistering 4.1 seconds and the 100 mph barrier sails by in approximately 10 seconds with top speed is 150 mph. The Lotus Exige S240 is equipped with a 6-speed transaxle synchromesh transmission, traction control and launch control. New for 2010, the optional Track Package will include adjustable Ohlins dampers with threaded spring perches and remote oil reservoirs front and rear.

The Lotus Exige is a renowned high performance coupe that has a well earned reputation as the choice for drivers who demand uncompromised performance, both on the road and on the track. The 2010 Exige S240 introduces a few key enhancements to update the appearance and improve aerodynamic performance. A restyled front end and new larger, low drag rear wing, not only reduces drag, but also gives a more muscular stance enhancing the lightweight shrink-wrapped look of the whole car.

Passing along lessons learned on the track with the Exige GT3 racing program, Lotus Sport Cars has contributed another important technology – variable launch control combined with variable traction control. The launch control allows the driver to determine the number of revs they wish to use during a standing start. Having programmed that limit, the driver then holds their foot down fully on the throttle pedal and sidesteps the clutch pedal for a very quick departure from the line. The clutch damper cushions the severity of the clutch to transmission engagement to minimize the stresses to the drivetrain. The launch control also keeps wheel-spin at bay until 6 mph, after which the traction control assumes its duties.

Like all Lotus cars, the functional components of the car are also beautifully designed as Russell Carr, Chief of Lotus Design, explains, "For 2010 we have taken the already visually extreme Exige and given it even more visual drama. The changes we have integrated to the front and rear of the Exige signal an even clearer and purposeful intent. The functional rear wing is race-inspired, the new angular air intakes and full width splitter give a more hard-edged and aggressive look. Overall, the Exige appears more planted and gives the illusion that both the front and rear of the car are wider than they really are, yet without losing its agile and sleek character."

The new 2010 Lotus Exige S240 is scheduled to launch in the US and Canada in the Fall of 2009. This new 2010 Lotus Exige S240 goes on sale this fall with a starting price of $65,690 and will be available in an upgraded track package with added performance benefits. The 2010 Lotus Exige S240 will hit U.S. and Canadian markets this Autumn.

2011 Volkswagen Jetta First Drive Review

2011 Volkswagen Jetta - First Drive

VW has lowered the price of its legendary compact sedan, but had to give up some of the car's 'German-ness' to do so.

After years of trying to get its compact sedan to dress the part, Volkswagen has finally managed to naturalize the Jetta. The German 4-door now wears a suit that's bound to strike a chord with the notoriously conservative American masses, and carries a price tag that car buyers will find much more appealing, thanks to a slew of cost-saving tricks. But those changes come with a price all their own.

Volkswagen has ditched the old flashy chrome grille in favor of a more subdued front fascia. The look ties the car to the sportier and handsomer Golf while making the Jetta appear more mature.

2011 Volkswagen Jetta Pictures

2011 Volkswagen Engine Jetta Pictures

2011 Volkswagen Jetta Pictures

2011 Interior Volkswagen Jetta Pictures

Model Lineup
Volkswagen is offering the 2011 Jetta in four trim levels, from bare-bones to dressed-to-the-nines. Eventually a fifth model, the performance-oriented GLI, will join them on showroom floors. Things get started at S trim, featuring 15-inch wheels and not much else; cloth seats and soul-crushing hard plastic dominate the cabin. Fortunately, stepping up to SE trim takes care of a few of those issues. Stylish 16-inch rollers take the place of the smaller 15-inch wheels, and leatherette seating surfaces show up inside. The interior also receives a small dress-up package in the form of chrome accents around the climate-control knobs.

You can also adorn your Jetta SE with a convenience package that throws in amenities such as a leather-wrapped steering wheel and a more civilized 6-speaker sound system, though we would be just as likely to opt for the SEL trim. This next step up throws in all of the goodies found in the SE convenience package, but adds hardware such as a fog lights, 17-inch wheels, keyless entry and a navigation system.

At the top of the lineup is the TDI. It's basically a Jetta SE with disc brakes on all four corners and an uberefficient diesel engine.

2011 Volkswagen Jetta Pictures

2011 Volkswagen Jetta Pictures

2011 Volkswagen Jetta Pictures

2011 Volkswagen Jetta Pictures

2011 Volkswagen Jetta Pictures

2011 Volkswagen Jetta Pictures

2011 Volkswagen Jetta Pictures

2011 Volkswagen Jetta Pictures

2011 Volkswagen Jetta Pictures

2011 Interior Volkswagen Jetta Pictures

2011 Volkswagen Jetta Pictures

2011 Volkswagen Jetta Pictures

2011 Volkswagen Jetta Pictures

Under the Hood
Volkswagen has added a new engine to the Jetta lineup for next year. Starting in 2011, you can get your sedan with a 2.0-liter 115-horsepower 4-cylinder engine that produces around 125 lb-ft of torque. The new engine is part of the company's plan to lower the price tag, and it comes bolted to either a 5-speed manual transmission or a 6-speed automatic. While the Environmental Protection Agency hasn't issued fuel-economy figures for the new engine yet, Volkswagen promises somewhere around 24 mpg city/34 mpg highway.

If the little 2.0-liter doesn't serve up quite enough punch for you, Volkswagen is also offering the same 2.5-liter 5-cylinder engine found in the previous generation. For next year, buyers will have the choice of the same two gearboxes offered with the 4-cylinder engine. Either way, they can expect the 2.5-liter to churn out a more respectable 170 horsepower and 177 lb-ft of torque, all while returning just 1 mpg worse on the highway.

The company's endearing 2.0-liter turbocharged 4-cylinder diesel engine will also make a return for 2011. It produces 140 horsepower and a ridiculous 236 lb-ft of torque, making it feel significantly larger than its diminutive displacement would suggest. Expect to see around 30 mpg city/42 mpg highway when equipped with either the 6-speed manual or 6-speed direct-shift gearbox.

2012 Latest Lexus Cars Review

Lexus unveils 'world's most advanced' driving simulator

At the Lexus research campus in Higashifuji, Japan, the automotive company has created what it claims is the most advanced driving simulator ever built. It consists of a domed pod, 15 feet high by 20 feet wide (4.57 x 6.1 m), which moves on a series of interlocking motion tracks within a hangar the size of a football stadium. Inside the pod, a full-size Lexus car is mounted on a turntable, and surrounded by an interactive 360-degree high-definition audio-visual simulation of real world driving environments. By allowing test drivers to safely experience various sketchy driving scenarios, the company hopes to learn more about driver behaviors and reaction times before accidents, then incorporate those findings into new active safety features in their cars.

After assessing existing simulators in various research institutions, the designers from Lexus decided that theirs would need to be larger, and offer a wider range of motion.

That range is made possible by a three-axis six-strut hexapod mounting system for the pod, which lets it tilt in all directions. The pod also moves fore and aft and side-to-side, on the tracks that run across the floor. Altogether, the system can simulate speeds of up to 186 mph (299 km/h) and turn angles of up to 330 degrees.

The simulator not only presents different traffic scenarios, but can add in factors such as talking navigation systems, text message displays, and other electronic distractions. It can also simulate poor driving visibility.

Other simulators that have been hailed by some as the world’s most advanced, within the past year or two, have included Ferrari’s F1 system, and the University of Iowa’s NADS-1 (National Advanced Driving Simulator).

Ultimately, Lexus hopes that its simulator “will help move us toward a future where there are no accidents.” Definitely a lofty goal, but one that’s well worth shooting for.

2012  Lexus LFA Cars Special Edition

2012  Lexus LFA Cars Special Edition

2012  Lexus LFA Cars Special Edition

2012  Lexus LFA Cars Special Edition

2012  Lexus LFA Cars Special Edition

 2012 Interior Lexus LFA Cars
 
 2012 Interior Lexus LFA Cars
 
 2012 Interior Lexus LFA Cars
 

2012 Engine Lexus LFA Cars

2012 Interior Lexus LFA Cars

2012 Lexus LFA Cars Wallpapers

2012 Lexus LFA Cars Wallpapers

2012 Lexus LFA Cars Wallpapers

2012 Lexus LFA Cars Wallpapers

2012 Lexus LFA Retractable Rear Wing

2012 Lexus LFA Cars Wallpapers

Lexus Car Information

The LFA marks a watershed point for Lexus – its global debut marks the spectacular arrival of a new flagship for the F portfolio of Lexus performance models. A Lexus that single-handedly makes new boundaries to redefine the supercar for the 21st Century.

 “From the very beginning of automobile history, supercars have represented dreams, hopes and aspirations,” clarified Haruhiko Tanahashi, chief engineer of the LFA’s development program. “For Lexus, a brand that aims to provide customers enlightened moments and memorable experiences, the development of a world-class supercar was an indispensable next step”.

That indispensable next step centered on the creation of a supercar that would deliver the supreme driving experience. To achieve this uncompromising goal, Tanahashi and his team made the LFA from scratch – a right clean-sheet design. And in a radical departure from standard Lexus development practice, they approached the LFA from a non-traditional angle, pushing their technological, material and engineering boundaries at every step.

The 2013 BMW 8-Series could resemble the BMW Concept Gran Coupé,

The 2013 BMW 8-Series could resemble the BMW Concept Gran Coupé

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

BMW is poised to add a big but slinky "4-door coupe" to answer the Mercedes-Benz CLS-Class and Audi's upcoming A7. It may not be badged 8-Series, but it should be the new flagship car for the world's top-selling premium-vehicle brand.

What We Know About the 2013 BMW 8-Series

It seems BMW will offer a "4-door coupe" after all, patterned on the Gran Coupé Concept revealed during the April 2010 Beijing Auto Show. The swanky long-wheelbase sedan should be the new flagship of a BMW car fleet that keeps adding new members like a college fraternity. It's also a belated reply to the strong-selling Mercedes-Benz CLS-Class, which is being redesigned for 2012, and targets Audi's similar A7, which is expected in the U.S. that same model year.

Significantly, the Munich-based powerhouse all but confirmed a production Gran Coupé at the Beijing show, issuing a press release citing "the aspiration of the BMW brand to build 4-door high-performance models with the sportiest proportions and the most elegant design." Though the name is apparently still to be decided, some think BMW will revive the 8-Series moniker from the burly 2-door coupes that replaced its 6-Series models in the 1990s. Others believe the production Gran Coupé will be a new body style in the redesigned third-generation 6-Series that's due for 2012 in 2-door coupe and convertible form.

New-Car Reviews

    * 2010 BMW 5-Series
    * 2010 BMW 5-Series Gran Turismo
    * 2010 BMW 6-Series
    * 2010 BMW 7-Series

If all this sounds familiar, it should. Remember the Concept CS from the 2007 Shanghai Auto Show? That exercise set tongues to wagging, with many predicting a little-changed production version to be named Gran Turismo. But nothing came of it, and now we know why. As BMW design chief Adrian van Hooydonk told Britain's Autocar magazine in Beijing, "We all liked the idea of a more dynamic flagship 4-door then, but we put the [CS] 'on ice' to work on Project i, which has been a bigger priority." The designer refers to what BMW now calls its "Megacity" program, which is expected to spawn several pure-electric small vehicles to be marketed as a separate brand. It's part of a larger "Sustainable Mobility" effort that also involves developing hybrid powertrains and battery-powered versions of existing products like the Mini E at BMW's British brand. Apparently, the company feels its eco-vehicle efforts are far enough along that it can resume work on the kind of sleek, fast, "aspirational" products that have made BMW the world's top-selling premium-vehicle brand.

In short, the putative 2013 BMW 8-Series picks up where the Concept CS left off. Indeed, van Hooydonk told Autocar that the Gran Coupé concept amounts to an updated CS. "Our intention was to create a car with a distinct character. I'm hoping you can tell that it's not a 7-Series replacement. The Gran Coupé is much lower and a little wider than a 7, and has a much more fluid roofline."

Though it won't replace the 7, the 2013 BMW 8-Series will follow the Gran Coupé by using the basic platform of the latest 7-Series, which bowed in the U.S. for 2009. Dimensions will be juggled some, with probable 2-inch cuts in wheelbase and overall length, an extra inch or so in width, and--the big change--a dramatic 3.2-inch trim in overall height. Styling embodies themes first seen on the Concept CS and since picked by the 7-Series, 5-Series, and 5-Series Gran Turismo hatchback. These include a forward-canted "shark nose" (here with a newly curved "twin-kidney" grille), sweptback LED headlamp clusters, concave and convex body-side surfacing, muscular haunches, and a "bustle" rear with L-shaped LED tail lamps. The 8-Series will look rather sportier, however, with a longer hood and a marked "cab rearward" stance complementing the lower roofline and its frame-less door glass, the latter a first for a non-convertible Bimmer. This styling will take a toll on interior space versus the 7-Series, especially in back, but planners evidently think it won't be an issue for most 8-Series buyers, as the cabin will likely be configured for only 4 passengers anyway.