Friday, February 25, 2011

EDS Creates a 360HP Monster out of the Opel Astra Turbo


With the OPC version of the new Astra still in the works, German tuners are doing their best to offer Opel buyers several alternatives to quench their thirst for power. EDS, a relatively unknown tuner from Marl, Germany, has launched an impressive package for the most powerful version of the Astra with the 180HP 1.6-liter turbocharged engine.

The comprehensive engine tune includes a variety of modifications such as a new Garret GT28 turbocharger, ECU optimization, sports exhaust system, a new manifold, and other goodies that double the 1.6-liter unit's output to a whopping 360-horses and 480 Nm or 354 lb-ft of peak torque.

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Infiniti Dealer in Germany Presents Tuning Package for M30d


Given that Infiniti is making its first steps in Europe, very few tuners in the market have touched the Japanese brand's products. Having said that, it shouldn't come as a surprise that an Infiniti dealer has stepped in to fill the void. In particular, Infiniti Centre Hamburg in Germany has released two tuning packages for the recently launched diesel-powered M30d.

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Thursday, February 24, 2011

Saab Releases First Video of New 9-5 SportCombi


If you're tired of looking at the same batch of pictures of the Geneva motor show-bound 2012 9-5 SportCombi, you'll be happy to know that Saab has published the first video of its flagship station wagon model, and furthermore, the car seen here is finished in a shiny black hue.

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Bertone’s Baby Jaguar Sports Sedan: Not My Cup of Tea


In all honestly, I really struggle to see how the Bertone B99 fits into Jaguar’s past and current design lineage and line-up. The new generation of Jags – the XF and the XJ – are sleek, risqué and look like nothing else on the market. On the other hand, the B99 could just as easily be badged as a Lincoln, a Rolls-Royce or a Maserati. If you squint at the pictures you’ll see my point. It’s anonymously styled, as if Bertone used a book called, “Luxury Concept Cars 101” as a template. And that grille! It just screams, “Dodge Caliber!”
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Geneva Preshow: AC Schnitzer Turns the BMW 550i into the 540HP ACS5 Sport S Saloon


AC Schnitzer has prepared two production ready concept cars for this year's edition of the Geneva motor show. We've already told you about the first car, the diesel-powered 99d that is based on the BMW Z4 roadster, so here's the tuning firm's second proposal. The ACS5 Sport S Saloon is based on the latest BMW 550i sedan and is said to feature numerous performance and styling upgrades, though AC Schnitzer is keeping mum about most of the details.

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Spyker to Sell its Sportscar Business in Order to Focus on SAAB


Spyker Cars N.V., the Dutch owner of Saab, announced today that is has started negotiations to sell its sports car brand in order to focus on the development of premium car maker Saab, which it acquired one year ago from General Motors.

The Dutch company said it will sell the assets of its Spyker sportscar business to the UK-based CPP Global Holdings Limited, owned by Russian millionaire Vladimir Antonov. The terms of the deal include an initial purchase price of EUR15 million, plus a further EUR17 million to be paid from future earnings over a six-year period. The money will be used by Spyker Cars N.V. to reduce its debt.

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Lambo Bull [Insert 'S' Word Here] Continues with Full Release of Photos


The farce of the "leaked" Lamborghini Aventador LP700-4 photos continues to play on. Following the appearance of a scanned image from the Croatian edition of Evo Magazine on Wednesday, earlier today Jalopnik released a single photo only to be snarked back by Autoblog that posted a higher resolution version claiming that it knew where the photo came from but was sworn to obsessively cover the auto industry secrecy until Monday.

In the third -but certainly not final- act of the Lamborghini Aventador LP700-4 play, Jalopnik has published two more pictures, luckily for our browsers, on its Facebook page. You can check the trio of photos by clicking this link that will forward you directly to the Facebook gallery.

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