The Juke is gathering a lot of attention lately from Nissan as after the limited production Juke R the new Juke Nismo, the Japanese carmaker has presented another special model, appropriately called the Juke Box (get it?).
This one-off study was created to celebrate a new long-term brand partnership with Ministry of Sound (MoS), a business comprising record labels, nightclubs and bars, live events, consumer electronics and fashion.
With lots of help from Martin Audio, Nissan and MoS designed a ferocious 150 decibel, 18,900W sound system which is said to be louder than a jumbo jet in take-off.
The Juke Box will make its first public debut at this weekend's 24 Hours of Le Mans and then go on a summer tour across Europe.
A slightly tuned 2009 Mercedes-Benz C63 AMG with 475-horses completing the quarter mile in 11.7 seconds is nothing to get excited about, but seeing it done by a 60-something-year old woman with grandma-style glasses is something that's defiantly worth your attention. Meet drag racer extraordinaire Kathy Countiss who has been doing the sport since she was a teenager and does not intend to stop any time soon.
By now, you should know that the BMW Group is the official automotive sponsor of the upcoming London 2012 Olympic Games that kick off on July 27.
What you may not be aware of is that BMW is touring more than 60 towns in Britain with three of its Efficient Dynamic models, including a 1-Series hatchback, a 3-Series sedan and a 5-Series saloon, all of which are wrapped in a shiny golden foil wrap.
And why should you care? Well, if you don't live in Britain or don't plan on visiting the country in the summer, you probably shouldn't but if you do, you may want to keep an eye out for BMW's "Golden Fleet" as if you spot one of the cars and take a picture of it, you can win a pair of tickets for the London 2012 Olympic games.
BMW says that all you have to do is share the picture (evidently not the ones we're posting here…) via twitter (#GoldenBMW), facebook, email or the BMW website (www.bmw.co.uk/gold), with the Bavarian automaker offering each day a pair of tickets to a single winner.
The company added that it will also hold a separate competition with the "golden prize" being a BMW model that you can keep for a year.
Mercedes-Benz tends to accompany the launch of a new model with a short film to highlight its best qualities and the latest A-Class five-door hatchback is no exception.
Together with the release of European pricing today, the brand with star issued a four-minute long film of its premium compact model that will go head to head with the also new Audi A3 and BMW 1-Series hatchbacks once deliveries begin in September.
While Chrysler was teaming up with the creators of The Dark Knight Rises, Hyundai formed a partnership of its own with another comic book-related project, The Walking Dead.
The players may be different but the goal in both cases is the same and that is to market products to a younger crowd.
Hyundai's collaboration celebrates the 100th issue of The Walking Dead comic series with the two partners having worked on the creation of two unique Elantra models that will make a special appearance at the Comic-Con International, which takes place in San Diego from July 12 to 15.
The first is model is a customized Elantra Coupe designed by The Walking Dead creator Robert Kirkman and fabricated by Design Craft.
Named the Hyundai Zombie Survival Machine, the study is said to sport the following features:
"A front-end custom zombie plow cow catcher with spikes, slatted armored window coverings, a roof hatch to allow passengers to shoot at walkers, an electric rear trunk to house weapons, all‐terrain/rally type tires, weapons storage compartments, a CB radio/PA system and more."
The second Hyundai one is a much more mundane Elantra GT hatchback wrapped in the cover of The Walking Dead 100th issue by artist Charlie Adlard, which will be given away to one lucky winner through the "Hyundai Undead" sweepstakes.
"The Hyundai Undead program allows us to interact with hundreds of thousands of film, comic, TV and video game fans during this summer’s ultimate pop culture event," said Steve Shannon, vice president of Marketing, Hyundai Motor America. "We can’t wait to unveil our custom Elantra Coupe Zombie Survival Machine, the ultimate car for The Walking Dead fans and anyone who wants to survive a zombie apocalypse."
The second generation of the BMW Z4 roadster that swapped its predecessor's soft top for a retractable metal roof has been with us since 2009, meaning if the Germans stick to their usual product timeline, we should see a mid-life facelift within the next year. BMW's recent history tells us that these updates vary from barely noticeable styling tweaks like the 2013 7-Series F/L to somewhat more visible changes as was the case with 2009 E90 3-Series F/L.
At this point of time, only BMW chief designer Karim Habin and his team (probably) know what direction the facelift of the Z4 will take, but independent designer Ivan Borisov from the UK thought he would give it a try.
Borisov's photoshop brings the new 3-Series saloon's wider and more pronounced double kidney grilles and a sharper set of headlamps that wrap around the hood and the fenders.
Simple changes but in our book, at least, they seem to work nicely. Check out a larger version of the photo below and voice your thoughts in the comments.
The highly anticipated Volvo S60 Polestar performance concept made its world premiere on Saturday on the sidelines of the Gothenburg City Race in Sweden. The first thing you will need to know about the performance version of the S60 is that it is a one off model developed by Volvo Cars Official Motorsports and its racing and tuning partner Polestar for an as of yet unnamed client.
However, there's a ray of light for those that are gawking at this concept as the two brands stated that "a small series of Polestar modified S60s may be built pending market response". So in other words, if you like it, let the company know it. You can start by our comments section...
Now, to the juicier details of the S60 Polestar starting with the powertrain. While some sources believed that it may use the XC90's Yamaha-built V8, Polestar based the car on the S60 T6.
The regular model is motivated by a 3.0-liter turbocharged inline six delivering 300hp (304PS) to all-four wheels for a zero to 100km/h (62mph) sprint time of 6.1 seconds and a top speed of 250km/h (155mph).
The Swedes, however, made a whole lot of changes to the inline-six including modified cylinder head, combustion chambers, inlet manifold and air intake along with a larger Garret 3171 turbo, and as a result, the engine produces 508-horsepower at 6,500rpm and 575Nm (424 lb-ft) at 5,500rpm.
Polestar then lowered, widened and reinforced the chassis and also tuned the Haldex all-wheel drive system and Öhlins suspension and fitted the car with bigger Brembo brakes. Power is channeled to the wheels via a 6-speed manual gearbox.
The company quotes a 0 to 100km/h (62mph) sprint time of just 3.9 seconds and a top speed in excess of 300km/h (186+mph).
By comparison, the current Mercedes-Benz C63 AMG that is powered by a 451hp (457PS) 6.3-liter V8 hits 100km/h in 4.4 seconds and tops out at 250km/h (155mph - electronically limited).
On the outside, the S60's body was widened by 20mm on both ends and features a styling kit comprising flared wheel arches housing 19-inch rims in 265/30 R19 tires, a new front bumper with a splitter, side skirts, a discreet boot lid spoiler and a new rear bumper with a diffuser.
As for the interior, the performance S60 gets Polestar designed sport seats with increased support, Alcantara on all functional areas such as the steering wheel, gear knob, and seats plus a lowered center console lowered for improved gear-lever ergonomics.
Robert Dahlgren, Volvo Polestar racing driver, commented after taking the car for a spin:
"To me the Volvo S60 is a very well sorted car from start. In our concept car we have developed chassis, engine and transmission just like we want it, and the result is a huge leap forward in terms of handling and performance. It is, by far, the most impressive street Volvo I’ve ever driven. But I must also say that the genuine Volvo feeling is still there."
A cataclysmic thunderstorm that produced baseball-sized hailstones for over three hours hit Dallas, Texas, late Wednesday afternoon, leaving thousands of residents and drivers stunned and scared at the same time. State officials predict that the damages from the storm that include many broken car windows could well exceed $400 million.
Despite the fact that several drivers were caught off guard on the road when the hailstorm started to intensify, some were calm enough to film the apocalyptic scene on their cell phone cameras.
Other car owners shot some videos of the damages caused to their cars the following day. You can check out all the clips right past the jump.
For our third photo quiz, we picked out four models from the Ford brand and upped the difficulty level just a little bit since most of you were spot on with your answers last week.
Here are two clues to assist you on the Ford puzzle: a) there are two production vehicles and two concept studies seen in this collection and b) each car is from a different region.
If you think you can tell which Blue Oval models are depicted in these cropped photos, hop over to the comments area to leave your answers.
As for our previous "Identify This", here are the four production Audi models:
Identify This No2 Answers:
No1: 2009 Audi S5 Sportback No2: 1974 Audi 50 hatchback No3: 1989 Audi 200 quattro 20V No4: 1993 Audi S2 Sedan
We knew it was destined to happen sooner or later: the first reported crash of a Scion FR-S. The hapless driver is a member of the FT86 Club forums who goes by the nickname Neutral. The 24-year old FR-S owner posted two pictures and a rather remorseful account of the incident that occurred during a right turn when he lost control of the rear-wheel drive sports car at about 20mph (32km/h) and then ended up smashing it into a telephone pole.
He says that he was a previous owner of B16-swapped Honda CRX and that he had taken the same wide turn "a million times over the past 4 years".
So what happened on that fateful day? Well, like many other drivers, Neutral turned off the traction control. "I entered the turn at about 20mph, and halfway through it, I got on the gas and I honestly can't remember exactly what happened after that", said Neutral.
The young driver said that both airbags went off but neither he nor his coworker was hurt.
It's worth mentioning that Neutral noted that he is fully aware of his mistake and that he has learned his lesson.
"I want you guys to know that I truly feel awful about the whole thing," he said in a forum posting. "I am truly sorry for letting my fellow FR-S owners down, and through making a complete ass out of myself, I feel I've learned a valuable lesson, albeit a hard one."
Well Neutral, we know where you are coming from, as most drivers of rear-wheel drive sports car have been involved in at least one accident that in hindsight, could have been avoided.
Lorenzo Ramaciotti to lead design team that will establish a common design language for the two brand
What is the common denominator between Fiat Group and Chrysler LLC? So far it was only Sergio Marchionne, the architect of Fiat's takeover ofChrysler and who also serves as the CEO of both companies.There are also a few Lancia models based on Chrysler cars and Chrysler cars based on Lancia's. However Marchionne is not satisfied with that level of integration, that is only badge engineering.
Now he aims to create stronger links and more substantial integration between the two nameplates in order save costs and double sales.In order to achieve his goal he chose Lorenzo Ramaciotti, Fiat Group's chief of design since 2007 is to lead a design team that will develop cars for the two brands."We are trying to find an international language, which could have a place both here in Italy and in the U.S.," said Ramaciotti to Bloomberg.com. "If you put all the models into the showroom, they must fit together. It's a delicate problem."
Before joining Fiat, Ramaciotti had worked for Pininfarina, the Italian coachbuilder, for 32 years. He was involved in the design of Ferrari cars, among them the 612 Scaglietti. He headed Pinifarina Design for almost 20 years and under his watch the company created some 20 concept cars for various customers.However his latest mission, to combine the two worlds, that of European car design with that American car design is going to be his toughest task, as Marchionne's ambition is to sell 800,000 Lancia-Chryslercars by 2014, more than double the current sales volume.
