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Mustang 302 vs Corvette GS

Mustangs and Corvettes have been pitted against each other almost since the beginning – at least the beginning of the Mustang’s existence. The four-seat pony car is the closest competitor the blue oval has consistently had against arch-rival Chevrolet’s two-seat Corvette. Both cars have a strong following and passionate fans who believe “their” car is the best.
Forum member Fastlane1 recently watched Motor Trend’s video of the BOSS 302 lapping Laguna Seca and was much impressed that the BOSS was able to beat not only the nose-heavy Shelby GT500 and BMW M3, but the mighty Audi R8 as well. Now he wonders how well the Mustang BOSS 302 stacks up against the Corvette Grand Sport and he wants your input. Who do you think will win this round of Ford vs. Chevy?

Read more: http://wot.motortrend.com/thread-day-mustang-boss-302-stack-against-corvette-gs-87631.html#ixzz1Pv86Uqui

Spy Shot Shelby GT 500

Autoblog’s army of spy photographers managed to snap a few photos of a Ford Shelby GT500 strutting a new intercooler. If you take a close look, you can see piping through the upper and lower grille as well as the vehicle’s mocked-up fog light openings. Chances are the new equipment is merely part of a scheme to make the vehicle’s supercharger a little more efficient, though it’s entirely possible that the big bad snake is rocking something exciting under its hood. Something like a twin turbocharged V8.
@funkmasterflex

Though we’ve been more than a little skeptical about notions of a forced-induction V6 or four-cylinder Ford Mustang model, we wouldn’t be surprised to see the GT500 grow a turbo or two. There’s no telling exactly what the engineers at Dearborn could come up with if they scrapped the old supercharger in place of a pair of turbos. Modern variable vane units have all but eliminated lag, and ditching the blower would simultaneously do away with heaps of parasitic drag on the engine. We’ll keep our ears to the ground for more on this one.

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mbz m class new design

Mercedes M-Class (2011) first official pictures

First Official Pictures

This is the new Mercedes M-class. Evolutionary styling hides a range of new engines, including a four-cylinder diesel as Mercedes tries to give its American-made SUV a dose of increased efficiency.

Mercedes M-class: design and interior

Mercedes wasn't tempted to radically reshape the M-class for 2011. The new car retains the traditional two-box SUV design with wrap-around rear window which has been a feature of the M-class since it first appeared in 1997. Up front you'll notice LED daytime running lights, a bolder interpretation of the M-class grille, sharper headlights and a chrome-effect undertray in the front bumper. LEDs find their way into the tail-lights too, and the overall result is a slightly sharper, somewhat sleeker M-class.
Inside there's more interior width (35mm in front, 24mm in the rear) and a new dashboard with a more prominent location for the COMAND multimedia system screen. But only seating for five. Compared with the current M-class, the new interior gains a much larger decorative trim element stretching across the front of the dashboard and wrapping into the doors. Owners can specify four different wood veneer finishes, or aluminium. MB-Tex fans may be consoled by the fact that the M-class can be ordered with 'Artico Man-made Leather' in addition to a variety of leather and cloth trim combinations.

Mercedes M-class: engines and technology

Mainstay engine of the new Mercedes M-class in the UK will be the 350CDI BlueTec, a twin-turbodiesel V6 offering 254bhp and 457 lb ft of torque. Mercedes claims 0-62 in 7.4 seconds and a top speed of 139mph for the ML350. The UK will also get that friend of the petrol pump, the ML63 AMG, which receives the downsized 5.5-litre twin-turbo V8.
But the headline powertrain at launch is fitted to the ML250, which hosts a 2.1-litre four-cylinder turbodiesel under the bonnet. 201bhp and 369 lb ft of torque provide a 9.0 second cruise to 62mph, but compensate with a claimed 47mpg and 158g/km of CO2. All models come with four wheel drive and a seven-speed automatic transmission.

On the options list are adaptive dampers, active rollbars, a dedicated off-road driving package, 93 litre long-range fuel tank and Mercedes' range of driver aids including radar cruise control, night vision and brake assist.
The new Mercedes M-class will go on sale in the UK in spring 2012.

Remember Me: Aston Martin V12 Vantage Carbon Black

A couple of weeks ago, Aston Martin was kind enough to get me behind the wheel of a V8 Vantage S. A beautiful car, no doubt. So good looking in fact that you can call the Henrik Fisker penned coupe a modern day classic and get very little argument. Even from serious car guys that like little more than to sit around and argue. Fast, too, with 10 more horsepower (for a total of 430 hp) and 15 extra pound-feet of torque (361 lb-ft) than normal, all stuffed into 3600 pound sexified package. And the automated-manual transmission is so clunky that I’d almost forgotten I’d driven the poor Vantage S. In fact, when the PR lady at Aston wrote and asked how I enjoyed the car, I never wrote her back. I had nothing nice to say! Which is why yesterday, when I climbed into the 2012 V12 Vantage Carbon Black parked behind our office, I did so with low expectations.
And I gotta tell you: the window switches work backwards and there’s no auto up. The air conditioning barely works at all. The nav screen would have been worst in class a decade ago. Today, I can’t figure out if it’s pitiful or comical, though I supposed tragedy plus time does equal yucks. My wife described the interior as, “Like sitting inside an athletic shoe,” and the shift knob looks like a clubfoot. The seats are both highly uncomfortable and totally unsupportive. The gauges not only look cheap, but they don’t work very well. Why is there no indicated redline? And how about an oil pressure gauge? I’m not even entirely convinced that the fuel gauge works. Either way, the big-motored Vantage gets atrocious mileage. And costs about $200,000.

That said, if I were a savvy collector, if I were a man with the bankroll and foresight to make a move, I’d grab one of these with low miles just off lease and warehouse it somewhere for the next couple decades. Because the Aston Martin V12 Vantage is absolutely incredible and will only age well. Serious, it’s glorious. A borderline-inconceivable if not preposterous if not absurd notion of a car, yet an oh-so-classic concept all the same. We’re going to stuff a real humdinger of a motor into a small car and give it three pedals. Yes please!
Here’s all you really need to know: The V12 Vantage has a big, 6.0-liter V12 located about a foot from your chest, a six-speed manual transmission, rear-wheel drive and an exhaust note that could open up for Slayer. Let’s stick with the sound for a second. While the V12’s engine note is superb, it’s the back-burble of the exhaust that lights your chest hair on fire. Under wide-open throttle the quad-pipes sound like Zeus sharpening his chainsaw on a cinderblock; let off the gas and he’s now gargling lava.
Then of course there’s the speed with which this little beast closes gaps. Think about how often you come upon a Camry hogging the fast lane in whatever it is you drive. Now multiply that by the speed of profanity, sweat and a mechanical sledgehammer. The result is that every single car on the road becomes an obstacle, a rolling chicane, before you can downshift. But that’s fine because should you decide to go around them, the V12 Vantage features laser-guided, homing pigeon style handling. Feel like slowing down? The squeaky yet ginormous carbon ceramic cymbal-sized brakes are more than up for the task. And remember, once you let off the throttle, the father of the gods starts gargling once more.
This car comes from another time and place. It comes from… the 80s. A time when supercars had faults and flaws, some actual personality and character, and were the better for it. Since when did you want your Lamborghini to behave like an Audi? Supercars used to be temperamental sons of bitches that dared you to love them. They smelled funny, they hurt your back, they rarely ran and you couldn’t see what you just blew past. Amen! The V12 Vantage is cut from that same tattered but eternally fetching cloth. This car is a warts and all type of monster. Instead of Carbon Black, Aston should have branded this one the Lemmy Kilmister edition (thanks Phil).

I liked the V12 Vantage so much that I started calling people I hadn’t talked to in years just because they had to know. We’re talking real and serious car guys, who even though we hadn’t said boo to one another in 18 months, had no problem carrying on a 30 minute conversation because that’s how special this big-motored Vantage is. Remember, since the demise of the Murcielago, Aston Martin is the only company left on earth attaching manual transmissions to V12s, and the Vantage is the smallest car they make. Meaning that I’m driving the lightest three-pedal V12 automobile you can buy. I had to let everyone capable of grokking that fact’s significance know all about it. Maybe most telling, is that the V12 Vantage made me think of my father, the man who drilled into me the inherent superiority of all things automotive and British, and why you most look past all their imperfections to spot the perfections. He would have absolutely loved this top rung Vantage; I wish there’s someway I could give him a ride.

Read more: http://blogs.motortrend.com/remember-aston-martin-v12-vantage-carbon-black-15737.html#ixzz1Puqi5esR

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