Kia will unveil the 2009 SOUL on October 2nd, at the Paris Auto Show, and sales should begin in the U.S. by April 2009. The U.S. market will get a choice of the 1.6 or 2.0-liter gasoline engines, while Europe will also receive a 1.6-liter diesel option.
The front-wheel drive Soul is the replacement for the little-loved Spectra5. The Soul will be available as a five-door hatchback only and will have relatively small dimensions. It has an overall length of 161 inches (riding on a 100 inch wheelbase.)
The Megane R26.R made its official debut just two days ago at the British Motor Show. Now can watch the race-inspired car in action at the Nürburgring race track where the R26.R established a new record with a lap time of 8m 17s.
Megane R26.R is powered by the same 2.0 Turbo engine as Megane F1 Team R26 which is mated to a manual six-speed gearbox with a shorter linkage for even quicker gearshifts. The engine boasts peak power of 230hp and torque of 310Nm.
The second model revealed by Subaru in London is the Impreza WRX-S, a model that will be priced at £22,495.
The Impreza WRX S is powered by 2.5 litre ’boxer’ engine that now delivers 255 PS at 5,400 rpm (up from 230 PS at 5,200 rpm) while the torque improvement is even greater, growing from 236 lb.ft at 2,800 rpm to 287.6 at 3,000 rpm – a staggering 51 lb. ft more.
Maximum speed remains at 130 mph but the 0-60 mph time drops from 6.1 seconds to 5.5 seconds. Naturally, in-gear flexibility is greatly enhanced.
The Impreza WRX-S features 18x7.5 ins anthracite GT1 alloy wheels with 225/40 tyres, an STI front grille, STI front lip spoiler and STI rear wing and body-colour tailgate moulding.
Also standard is a MOMO ’Air-Race’ gearknob while the colour choice is between San Remo Red, WR Blue Mica, Obsidian Black Pearl and Satin White Pearl.
Standard equipment includes front and rear spoilers, side skirts, a rear diffuser, leather-covered steering wheel, all-wheel drive, a rear limited-slip differential with Subaru Vehicle Dynamics Control, 10-speaker, six-disc radio/CD player and xenon headlamps.
Subaru unveiled at the British Motor Show a trio of vehicles, one of them being the Impreza WRX STI 330S, a model that will go on sale in September at a price of £30,000.
The new Impreza WRX STI 330S benefits from a Prodrive Performance pack with modified ECU and exhaust system – this time with paired twin 90 mm diameter stainless steel exhaust pipes to bring back the burble so loved by ’scooby’ fans.
Power goes up to 330 PS at only 5,400 rpm compared to the 300.5 PS at 6,000 rpm of the standard model. Torque is boosted from 300.2 lb ft at 4,000 rpm to 346.6 lb ft at a lower 3,400 rpm making for an even swifter, effortless driving experience.
Top speed is the same 155.3 mph but the 0-60 mph time drops from an already swift 4.8 seconds to only 4.4 seconds.
The car features: Recaro front seats, satellite navigation, Smart-entry and push-button start, five-spoke 18x8.5 ins alloy wheels wearing 245/40 R18 tyres.
Standard equipment includes: a six-speed gearbox, Si-Drive giving three different engine response modes, a Multi-mode Driver Control Centre Differential, Subaru Vehicle Dynamics Control and – of course – symmetrical all-wheel drive with front and rear limited-slip differentials.
Ford revealed at the British Motor Show the new 76.3mpg Fiesta ECOnetic – Britain’s greenest family car with CO2 emissions of 98g/km. The car will go on sale at the end of the year at a price of £11,845 for the three-door version and £12,445 for the five-door version.
The Fiesta ECOnetic becomes the most fuel efficient new five-seater family car in the UK. With CO2 emissions at under 100g/km, Ford Fiesta ECOnetic is zero rated both for road tax (Vehicle Excise Duty) and for the ’showroom tax’ element of VED introduced for the first year of ownership in this year’s Budget.
The car features: aerodynamic rear air deflectors, lowered suspension, optimised rolling resistance tyres (175/65R14) and low friction oil, green shift indicator light, modified engine calibration, transmission final drive ratio changed from 3.37 to 3.05.
Renault unveiled at the British Motor Show the R26.R, a model based on Mégane F1 Team R26 that uses the same engine, gearbox and limited slip differential, but has been lightened by 123kg and features specific suspension calibration. It will be limited to only 450 units and will go on sale in October.
Megane R26.R is powered by the same 2.0 Turbo engine as Megane F1 Team R26 which is mated to a manual six-speed gearbox with a shorter linkage for even quicker gearshifts.
This engine boasts peak power of 230hp and torque of 310Nm. Indeed, one of this powerplant’s key features is the availability of the latter across an extremely broad rev range, with 90 per cent of maximum torque being available between 2,000 and 6,000rpm.
Megane R26.R accelerates from standstill to 60 mph in 6.0 seconds and covers the standing start kilometre in a mere 25.9s. Its homologated combined cycle fuel consumption is 8.5 litres/100km, equivalent to 199g of CO2/km.
Hyundai announced a range of Blue vehicles that will offer emissions below the crucial 120g/km barrier. First to be revealed is the i30 Blue that will go on sale in September at a price of £13,155.
The i30 hatchback is powered by the familiar and acclaimed 1.6-litre CRDi engine and offers better value than low emission rivals, including the offerings from Ford and Volkswagen.
In addition the i-Blue badge will also be used on all i10 models which produce less than 120g/km. The introduction of the new 1.2-litre Kappa petrol engine, available from September, means this will apply to every i10 with a manual transmission.
A little while ago there was a remarkably strange and one-off Beetle, that was pieced together using metal stands, which you can see for yourself here just in case you have missed it. But now I’ve across something even better. This utterly crazy and insane Beetle has one mission: dare present-day supercars’ performance numbers.
Up front, things look normal and casual. But the action and adrenaline come into play as you glance at its back. A 1,450 hp GE T58-8F chopper turboshaft engine staged at the rear.
The really entertaining bit is Ron Patrick, the architect, hasn’t got rid of the Beetle’s factory-fitted engine. He utilizes it to drive in the city. But when there is an open stretch, you understand what he’ll do, won’t you? Totally strange and totally cool. Rejoice by viewing the video.
Volvo will enter the WTCC (World Touring Car Championship) with an ethanol powered Volvo C30 racer.
The car, which is in its first year on track, races in the Swedish Touring Car Championship (STCC) as the only ethanol E85 powered car in that series. In STCC, the car has so far secured three out of seven pole positions and has lead close to half of all laps driven.
The car will be operated by Volvo official motorsport partner Polestar Racing AB, who is also both developing and running the same car in STCC. Volvo will race with Ethanol E85 in the tank and will not be eligible to race for points.
BMW today unveiled the 2009 1-Series, a model that comes with four body variations (5-door, 3-door, Coupe and Convertible), the widest range of engines in the segment, uncompromising premium quality and even more innovations.
For the 2009MY BMW offers two new 4-cylinder diesel engines for the BMW 1 Series Convertible. The power ranges from 122 bhp in the BMW 116i to 306 bhp in the BMW 135i.
The 2.0 litre, 1143 bhp 4-cylinder diesel engine of the model which was voted “World Green Car of the Year” in 2008 is now also available for the BMW 1 Series Convertible. The new BMW 118d Convertible accelerates in 9.5 seconds from zero to 100 km/h and sets new standards for open-top four-seater vehicles with its average fuel consumption of 4.9 litres per 100 kilometres in the EU test cycle and a CO2 emissions level of 129 grams per kilometre.
The BMW 123d Convertible accelerates in just 7.5 seconds from zero to 100 km/h. Its average fuel consumption in the EU test cycle is 5.4 litres per 100 kilometres, and its CO2 level is 144 grams per kilometre.
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