car.kak.net

Vorsprung durch Technik will come to the fore yet again in 2010 as exciting new technological advances make their debut in the new Audi A8, not least of which being the option of Google information services channelled to the new luxury flagship via the internet. The state-of-the-art online services allow the new A8 to retrieve up-to-date information from the internet via an optional integrated GPRS/EDGE modem in the latest generation MMI navigation plus. The user can search online with Google for points-of-interest directly from within the MMI, the versatile search engine accepting such free text search queries as "delicatessen" or "shoe boutique". The results are then displayed on the onboard map or used as destinations for route calculation. A8 customers can also plan their navigation destinations in Google Maps or the Audi web portal at home or in the office and retrieve these on demand in the car.

Read the rest of this entry »

SEAT is getting straight to the ‘point’ with a cheeky new advertising campaign which appears online, on TV and across the printed media from 19 December. The dramatic new ads see SEAT put a typically irreverent spin on the classical legend of Cupid, with a winged archer flying above the stunning new SEAT Ibiza Cupra and targeting people as they see the car for the first time. The heart-shaped arrows he fires cause everyone who sees the car to fall in love with it ‘ a natural reaction, of course, that’s already happening in SEAT showrooms across the country.

Read the rest of this entry »

From next year, the Volkswagen Scirocco will be available to order with an efficient new entry-level engine.  From 4 January 2010, it will be possible to order the two-door compact coupé with the 1.4-litre TSI 122 PS engine, with prices starting at £18,860 RRP on the road. The 1.4-litre TSI 122 PS unit develops 147 lbs ft of torque channelled via a six-speed manual gearbox, through the front wheels.  Acceleration from 0 to 62 mph takes 9.7 seconds before reaching a top speed of 124 mph. Thanks in part to the engine’s small capacity, the Scirocco returns a healthy combined economy figure of 44.1 mpg and CO2 emissions of 146 g/km, making it the cleanest petrol model in the range.

Read the rest of this entry »

Drawing inspiration from the L1 Concept which made its debut at the Frankfurt Motor Show in September, Volkswagen has today unveiled the pioneering new Up! Lite concept, a vehicle which sets new standards in economy and efficiency. Packaged in a body with a coefficient of drag measuring just 0.237, the Up! Lite is capable of seating four adults in comfort yet thanks to its hybrid drivetrain it can travel 115.7 miles on a single gallon of fuel while emitting just 65 g/km of CO2. A combination of efficiency gains make these figures possible, but perhaps the most important is a total kerb weight of just 695 kg – that’s almost 30 per cent lighter than Volkswagen’s Fox city car.

Read the rest of this entry »

The last word in luxury and the height of efficiency converge in the all-new Audi A8, which makes its world public debut this week at the Design Miami exhibition in Florida, USA. Crafted entirely from lightweight aluminium like its forebears, and bristling with new technology that not only contributes to best-in-class economy and exemplary comfort but also to even greater dynamic accomplishment, the elegant new flagship of the Audi saloon range opens for UK order this month priced from £54,760 OTR. Packed inside the even lighter and 24 per cent more rigid evolution of the aluminium Audi Space Frame (ASF) which forms the ’skeleton’ of the new A8 are myriad new technological advances. These of course include fundamentals such as economy and emissions advantages for the three significantly reworked FSI and TDI engines that will be available from launch – the 3.0-litre V6 TDI with 250PS and 550Nm of torque (up from 233PS and 450Nm), the 4.2-litre V8 TDI with 350PS and 800Nm (up from 326PS and 650Nm) and the 4.2-litre V8 FSI with 372PS and 445Nm (up from 350PS and 440Nm).

Read the rest of this entry »

Volkswagen Commercial Vehicles has released the first official images and more details of its new pick-up, the Amarok. The Amarok, which will be available as a four-door double cab version from launch with a single cab model to follow in 2011, combines the robustness of a pick-up with innovative technology, high safety standards, excellent fuel economy and Volkswagen standards of comfort, quality and durability. Production of the Amarok is about to start at the Volkswagen factory in Buenos Aires, Argentina ahead of its worldwide launch starting in its native South America in early 2010 and in Europe next summer, with first models expected to be in UK Volkswagen Van Centres in September 2010.

Read the rest of this entry »

Bentley Motors today announced more details of its all-new flagship motorcar, the Mulsanne, following successful debuts at the Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance in August and Frankfurt’s IAA motor show in September. More than 1,000 private customer previews of Mulsanne have been held at the company’s factory in Crewe, England as well as a series of preview events held at dealerships across the UK, Continental Europe and the United States. To be priced at £220,000 in the United Kingdom, the Mulsanne has been designed and engineered without compromise by Bentley’s craftsmen and engineers to combine refined performance and unparalleled levels of luxury with the coach building elegance for which the marque has long been renowned.

Read the rest of this entry »

The new Skoda Superb Estate is set to become both the most luxurious and most practical car ever to wear the famous winged arrow badge. Trim levels and engine choices will mirror those of the Superb hatchback with S, SE and Elegance models available along with the same range of three petrol and three diesel engines. All engines, from 1.4 TSI to 3.6 V6 are equipped with direct fuel injection for optimum fuel efficiency, performance and low emissions. With a choice of manual or twin-clutch DSG gearboxes linked to either two- or four-wheel drive, there’s a Superb Estate to suit everyone’s needs.

Read the rest of this entry »

The first Skoda Superb Estate rolled off the production line today (Monday 9th November 2009) in Kvasiny, Czech Republic – an Elegance 2.0 TDI CR 170bhp DSG DPF in Satin Grey. The most luxurious estate car yet to wear the Skoda badge offers a class-leading load volume of up to 1,865 litres (633 litres with the rear seats up).  A choice of three petrol and three diesel engines will be available in the Superb Estate, plus manual and DSG transmissions – the same engine range as is available in the Superb hatch (launched September 2008).

Read the rest of this entry »

Audi is celebrating another phenomenally successful season in motorsport, an achievement which has even greater poignancy in this, the Centenary year for the Vorsprung durch Technik brand. Audi developed three race cars for the 2009 season: The €262,000 R8 LMS, the first dedicated Audi ‘customer’ sports car developed for international GT3 motorsport, the R15 TDI, notable as the first "second generation" diesel sports prototype and the R14 "plus" A4 DTM for the German Touring Car Masters (DTM). Affiliated with AUDI AG’s Technical Development (TE), Audi Sport has approximately 200 employees in Ingolstadt and Neckarsulm primarily responsible for race car development and testing.

Read the rest of this entry »