Ferrari 458 Italia

Ferrari has made available a new customization program for customers who are setting the model 458 Italia 2011.

The big news is the new color Fire Red, Fuji and Triple White Yellow Strato. In addition, Italia Ferrari 458 can be configured in two-tone with the roof, the columns and the engine hood of the truck in a different color.

Are also part of the new customization program some external details in carbon fiber, such as air vents front and rear, side skirts, door sill and casing of the engine compartment, all produced in the same chamber used by Formula 1 team .

The interior of Italy 458 can be ordered with sports seats molded carbon fiber and covered in leather and Alcantara, with stitching in a contrasting shade. The dashboard and steering wheel can also be produced in carbon. Rounding out the equipment custom forged wheels rim 20 inch color Gray Metallic.

Italia Ferrari 458 has 4.5-liter V8 engine with 570 horsepower at 9,000 rpm, maximum torque of 540 Nm at 6,000 rpm and F1 gearbox and double clutch 7 speed gearbox.

Two features of your interior stand out: all the instrument panel and trip computer are displayed on two LCD screens, one on each side of the large tachometer. There is no longer the lever left turn signal and high beam, or the right lever for the windshield wiper. These commands are on the wheel, which also accommodates the Manettino - to select the mode of flying.

In Manettino, you can choose between the following modes:

LOW GRIP - this position ensures stability on wet or gravel roads. In it, the pilot can use the levers of the steering gear changes and the system sets up the suspension so comfortable.

SPORT - ideal way to dry and major highways without speed limit. The suspension is hard and the car focuses on performance and stability at high speeds. The traction and stability control (TSC) are still acting, giving the pilot greater freedom in the maneuvers.

RACE - This setting should only be used on the racetrack. The changes of speed and get faster CST reduces interference in driving.

CT - this position just off the traction control.

CST - is the stage that enables and disables the traction and stability controls. In position, the car's reactions are just under the command of the pilot, the only remaining active ABS and EBD - Electronic Brake Distribution.

Porsche 918 RSR

Porsche remains relentless in its pursuit of performance and high efficiency in vehicles with hybrid technology. The new Porsche 918 RSR is the epitome of success in 2010 in the development of hybrid super sports, the future of the category.

Presented today at the NAIAS - North American International Auto Show, better known as the Detroit auto show, the RSR 918 is a mobile laboratory, which combines hybrid technology model 911 GT3 R Hybrid model to the 918 Spyder concept. The new 918 RSR was presented in coupe version, with rigid roof, gullwing doors and a large rear spoiler.

The mechanical set of Porsche 918 RSR is composed of two types of engine: a V8 petrol engine 3.4 liters and 563 hp at 10,300 rpm, with 6-speed exchange managed by shift pads and rear wheel drive, plus two electric motors, one for each front wheel, with 102 hp each, bringing the total power to 767 hp. This power of 204 hp to the front wheels can be used for about 8 seconds, if the batteries are fully charged.

Like the model 911 GT3 R Hybrid, the electric energy that fuels the engines of the front wheels is generated during braking. This energy is stored and made available by the flywheel, which occupies space in the passenger seat. Moreover, the electric motors have the Torque Vectoring System Function, which distributes torque equally, increasing agility and steering response.

The model of the street is the 918 RSR Porsche 918 Spyder, which will be officially presented in the final version in the first half of 2011.

Green light for SLS AMG E-Cell

Revealed during the summer of 2010, the AMG Mercedes SLS in Alternative Power E-Cell has finally made its public appearance in an international exhibition. She arrived in Detroit a good news that its next production.

A few weeks before the Paris Motor Show, Mercedes unveiled pictures of a prototype electric sports car made on the basis of the SLS AMG. A presentation was accompanied by carefully specifying technical detail that changes from the heat engine model were minor. Since then, radio silence, no appearance at the Paris Salon, or Los Angeles, living yet very focused on electric vehicles.

 

The SLS AMG E-Cell has made its appearance with its yellow livery (electric of course) on the Mercedes stand at Detroit's Cobo Hall. The manufacturer took the opportunity to formalize the start of production of the machine, but gave no specific date. A choice that was to be expected with the arrival of the R8 at Audi electric or the standard version of the concept Vision Efficient Dynamics (i800?) BMW

After tasting the delights very different from the LF-A competition and two variants rather vivacious iQ, Toyota has always helped in its day Doki Waku inside the Fuji Speedway to take the wheel of a single prototype, Hybrid Sports Concept. This car has surprised everyone during his appearance at the Tokyo show just last year, but it has a long history. 

RM-S catalog disappeared in the summer of 2007 (when we had the chance to drive the final edition of the car). Latest incarnation of the lineage MR and rare mid-engine car at a reasonable price, it has had an honorable career but discreet, not meeting the success it deserves beyond a core fan connoisseurs. Toyota did not then see fit to replace it, but in the months that followed, fans spyshots remember, a MR-S draped in black on the wheelbase has been modified to run on the Nürburgring . Bits of information known as a hybrid engine, without elaborating, before the prototype can not be obliterated, Toyota has relegated the sport at the bottom of the list of priorities. The development had not stopped so far, Hiromu Naruse by his pet project and thus it resurfaced in 2010, having earned his stripes concept. The purpose of this exercise is to explore the possibility of a genuinely sporty car using the hybrid system HRT 2. Early MR-S laboratory has received for that engine of the Lexus RX400h, a whole 3.3 liter V6 and electric motor modified to provide a little more than 400 horses that pass through the ground wheel drive. The gearbox is a CVT with an experimental manual mode with paddle wheel. And Meister Naruse forces, the running gear and steering are adjusted to the small pile after thousands of miles on various test sites. 

The hybrid sport is a difficult concept to consider because it must satisfy two different audiences with two conflicting goals: economic and minimal environmental impact on one side, power, pleasure and pleasure driving on the other. The challenge is important, however: the final acceptance of hybrid technology will not only win the hearts of enthusiasts. The mixed reception reserved for the Honda CR-Z shows that ideal balance is not easy to find. Is this very special MR-S is the right answer? Toyota offered us to check by ourselves, and obviously we did not pray. Encamped on wide tracks and lowered the little MR-S impresses more than it attracted. Not really beautiful, with its large front bumper and diffuser equally massive, it attracts and promises as can a race car. The interior is typically designed for the show, with a console painted carbon made to shine the spotlight shows, but the cockpit is fully functional (except the paddle to look very fragile, Toyota man implored us also do not touch). Nevermind, the CVT automatic mode was sufficient for the proposed route: track pitch, not to tempt fate, but a rather long route via the service roads around the circuit, deserted, offered a playground while very interesting. The start is typical of a Toyota hybrid the ignition has no detectable consequence except for the illumination of the dashboard, but it starts to move when pressing accelerator. Immediately we understood that it is not in a Prius. Even a few km / h and without noise, the car, laid down on its wide track, retransmits the slightest changes in the coating and the steering is extremely direct. The more voluntary support on the right pedal at the start of the first long straight wakes the V6 and the car accelerates, accelerates, accelerating ... The CVT works like it should always be done by changing the thrust continues faithfully torque V6 / electric motor speed increasing, without delay, without the effect of throwing too typical of my experiences with this type of box. 

It works! Despite Toyota's claimed 4.5 sec from 0 to 100 km / h, however, did not experience the wildness of a GT-R supercar, Porsche Turbo or, in another genre, Caterham, because of therefore a weight (1270kg) and a less typical motor sport. The feelings are there, but when the road turns that the car is fully appreciated at best. Direction, precise, vivid, is sublime, the perfect cushioning and the car is very balanced, even if a little heavy for its size. We understand that Toyota wants to share experience. However, it is relative. This validates the concept car hybrid sports is undeniable. But it is difficult to see how it could be justified by the status report of cars like Porsche Cayman, Lotus Evora and others cut a central engine, even with better fuel economy. This would work on weight, engine and especially the price. The structure Gazoo Racing cars and experimental is not necessarily equipped to do a large scale, but has enough independence to continue to explore. A new version of the car will be presented this weekend at the Tokyo Auto Salon, more and more close to validation. For completeness, note that after the iQ and the Hybrid Sports Concept, Toyota has also made available to journalists invited a group of atypical products sold outside of Japan: FJ Cruiser, Scion xD, Hilux, Aygo (a discovery!) ... which we will on occasion. Still boring, Toyota, after this experience? We must first acknowledge the initiative itself, a sign that the manufacturer is aware of the problem and willing to address them. In terms of cars tested, it shows that the approach used with Gazoo Racing, a commando-like structure not having to obey the same rules as the rest of the huge industrial and bureaucratic machine that is the world's leading manufacturer, can lead to interesting results. It remains to be seen whether these cars, and more generally the spirit that led to their design, can diffuse into the rest of the company. Naruse wanted, Toyoda wishes. Hopefully the rest of the mastodon Nagoya now there will be significant.