Wunderlich “MadUSA”. Built from a BMW S1000RR

Wunderlich, which is the American distributor for German aftermarket parts, joined BMW Motorcycles of San Francisco to create this amazing beast. And why is it called "MadUSA" (pictured above)? Wunderlich first created the Mad Max (pictured below), which had Continental TKC 80, in Germany, but to sell it in the States they kept the Mad and added the USA for an obvious reason.

Basically this bike is a BMW S1000RR with about €12.500 ($17.000) of extras, not counting labor and painting. But for that price you get an Öhlins FRRT 811 fork, TTX shock, Sportego Bar Conversion Kit, Piranha Conversion Kit (bodywork), Remus exhaust system, among many other expensive parts.

Yet the engine is unmodified. It produces 173hp at around 13.000rpm and has a maximum torque value of 103Nm (76lb/ft) at 10.550rpm. This is good for a top speed of 285km/h or 177mph if you live in the U.S.A..

Source: cycleworld

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Hankook Tire: The Future of Tyre Design [Video]

Hankook Tire held a competition in the U.S.A. challenging the "brightest industrial design students" to display how they envision the future of tyres in several types of vehicles. and what we get is some cool looking designs that might actually workd in the real world, we will have to wait and see.



The winning entry by University of Cincinnati student Ben Zavala took the brief somewhat literally, with his Tiltread car tyre rolling into corners at an angle like a motorcycle tyre.

Zavala's breakthrough idea was to split the tyre into three parallel ring sections, each mounted on a corresponding split section of wheel.

As the wheel turns and leans, the three tyre sections are individually raised or lowered, allowing them all to maintain traction with the road surface.

Tiltread's wheels are hubless and contain an electric drive motor which varies power to each tyre section, allowing the sections to spin at different rates during cornering.

University of Cincinnati associate professor Ralph Zammit said the competition demonstrated just how great an impact improvement in tyre design could have upon the overall efficiency, ecology and economy of road transportation.

"Hankook proposed a very challenging assignment that provided the students with real-world insights as to how tyres are currently designed, manufactured and the performance issues they must address," said associate professor Zammit.

"Students were especially encouraged to consider sustainability needs such as reducing and reusing raw materials."

Second place in the competition was taken by Mark Hearn who imagined an off-road tyre called Motiv, which features numerous height-variable, non-pneumatic tread blocks that can adapt to extremely rough terrain without risk of blow-out.

Third-placed Miranda Steinhauser's proposal for an eco-friendly tyre also impressed the competition judges.

The Tessela tyre's easily removable tread components allow consumers to replace worn-out tread when required, rather than the whole tyre carcass, reducing tyre waste and landfill.

Models of the first, second and third placed tyres were displayed on the Hankook stand at the 2012 SEMA automotive show in Las Vegas.

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W Motors Lykan Hypersport had its premiere at the Qatar Motor Show.

W Motors, the company from Beirut, has revealed their new supercar at the Qatar Motor Show. The vehicle is equipped with a twin-turbocharged flat-six engine producing 750hp (552kW) and 998Nm (737lb/ft) of torque, allegedly supplied by German tuning company RUF.

The Lebanese car company describe the Lykan as the “most exclusive, luxurious and technologically advanced high-performance sports cars “. I don't know about that, but i know its fast, really fast. It will a top speed of 394km/h (245mph) and reach 100km/h (62mph) is just 2.8 seconds.

The price? Around 2.5 million euros (3.4 million dollars), but it comes with diamond-coated LED headlights, gold stitching for the lather seats and a Cyrus Klepcys watch worth €150.000 ($205.000). Only seven will be built, so hurry if you want one.

Source: autocar

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Kia will show a new concept at the 2013 Chicago Auto Show

In less than one week the 2013 Chicago Auto Show will open its doors for the media and KIA will reveal their concept, the Cross GT, that should not be confused with Volskwagens CrossBlue, specially because they might end up has competitors, since it will be bigger that the Sorento. All we know for now is that this concept is a hint at what will be the brands new design language.

Source: Kia

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Ferrari F150, Still doesn't have an official name, but will have 950hp!

Milano Artworks

In the last few days Ferrari has shown the Enzo replacement to some very special clients, and by special i mean full of money, and seems one of those clients revealed many of the cars technical details, including power, acceleration, top speed, presentation date and the price.

We already knew the supercar would have a V12 engine but we didn't the what power figures it would have, and now we know. The gasoline engine will develop 800hp and together with the 150hp from the KERS system, we have a cool 950hp. The engine redlines at 9.100rpm and has the maximum torque available from 1.000rpm, amazing. It will do 0 to 100km/h in 3 seconds, to 200km/h in 7 seconds and will have a top speed of 370km/h (230mph).

The low weight, 1270kg (2794lbs), is achieved through the use of carbon fiber in the construction of the chassis, protected with kevlar underneath the car. Only 499 will be built, and each one will cost around 1.2 million euros (1.63 million dollars). Official presentation will take place at the Geneva Motor Show next March, with deliveries starting in December 2013.

Source: teamspeed forums 

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Radion Design created the BMW M9, looks cool!

There are several design companies in the world and many more individuals doing they private sketches envisioning what a car should look like, but most of them are really bad and don't deserve much attention. This concept looks pretty good. It is different from what BMW is doing at the moment but you immediately recognize it as a BMW.

Source: radion design

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2014 Audi S3 convertible caught testing in the snow

Slowly the German brand introduces new variants of the A3, but before that each vehicle has to be tested in low and high temperatures. And that is what we have here, the Audi A3 convertible, but this time it isn't based on the hatchback but on the soon to be introduced sedan.

And this is also the fastest version, the S3, that will have a new 2.0liter turbocharged four-cylinder gasoline engine with 296hp and 380Nm (280lb/ft) of torque. This engine will be available with a manual or a dual-clutch transmission, possibly with the four-wheel drive quattro system.

One advantage of being based on the A3 sedan, which rides on a larger MQB platform, is the bigger space for luggage and rear passengers

Source: carpix via carscoop

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Top Gear USA returns tonight!

While the original Top Gear had the premiere in UK this Sunday, and the Huayra is now the fastest car at the Top Gear test track, we can't forget the also entertaining Top Gear USA premieres tonight at 9:00 PM EST on the History Channel. In this season Tanner Foust, Adam Ferrara and Rutledge Wood will try to find out what is the best police car, will have a road trip to Mexico, have a tractor challenge and in the process a lot of laughs. don't miss it.

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2014 Mercedes S-Class gets his interior reavealed!

Everyone knows carmakers like to tease their upcoming cars and this is one of those pretty obvious examples. The car was left in an exterior parking lot and someone let them take pictures of the car inside and outside. They even opened the doors for the photographer. Oh well, now you can see the interior and the all digital tachometer and speedometer.

The new S-Class will have many new safety features, including traffic sign recognition, cross-traffic brake assistance, drowsiness detection, a rib airbag, Distronic Plus adaptive cruise control with Steering Assist, lane keeping assistance, among several others safety systems.

Those two large LCD screens are a little dubious, we will to wait and see those in real person, but they do look weird. On the outside we don't get to see much more but that front grille is rather large, with the optics looking like those used in the A-Class and CLA.

Source: autospies

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2014 Chevrolet Corvette Stingray C7 convertible in the Geneva Motor Show

Seems like the convertible version of the new Chevrolet Corvette Stingray will have its public presentation at this years Geneva Motor Show starting from March 7. This means the convertible will go on sale later this year. And it isn't the first time Chevrolet introduced the convertible version of the Corvette in Europe. In 2004 the sixth-generation Corvette convertible had his premiere in Geneva.

Nothing is confirmed, but the engine is expected to be the same from the coupe, a new 6.2liter LT1 V8 engine with an estimated 450hp (335 kW) and 610Nm (450 lb/ft) of torque connected to a seven-speed manual transmission or a six-speed automatic. The new convertible should retain the fabric top. We should also find out the prices for Europe.

Source: autoweek
Pictures: theautoinsiderblog

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Audi wants an even faster RS6 Avant. Will be called "Plus"

Stephan Reil, boss of Audi's Quattro division recently told in a interview with CarMagazine that they will soon introduce a "Plus" version of the RS6 Avant with over 600hp. That will be an increase of almost 50hp! Reil also added that he wants to save Audi's high-performance naturally aspirated engines while also making future RS cars lighter.

In 2004 Audi created a RS6 Avant Plus with several improved parts, like the brakes and suspension, and more power, but it was a limited edition. Since then Audi introduced the TT RS Plus and the R8 V10 Plus which are full production models, so the new RS6 Avant Plus won't be a limited edition.

The future Plus models will have more modifications besides just more power. One of the main objectives is to reduce weight with the use of carbon fiber and in some cases aluminum.

Source: carmagazine

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Official: Kia Pro_Cee'd GT and Cee'd GT - New images!

Two days ago you saw here the first two images of the upcoming Pro_Cee'd GT and today Kia decided to reveal a little more about "the brand’s most performance-focused production car ever", including more images, a few technical details and the confirmation of the 3 and 5 door versions.

The car was designed in Europe under the direction of President and Chief Design Officer, Peter Schreyer, and will be manufactured at Kia’s Zilina plant in Slovakia starting from mid-May, with sales starting from June/July.

Strangely Kia has not revealed any images of the rear but confirmed the car has dual-exhaust pipes, besides the obvious larger 18 inch wheels, Recaro seats, four Daytime Running Lamps (DRL) LEDs in each side and red brake caliper.

The engine, like we reported earlier, is a new turbocharged 1.6liter GDI gasoline engine with 204hp and 265Nm (198lb/ft) connected to a manual six-speed transmission. Those figures are more than enough to accelerate the car from 0 to 100 km/h in 7.9 seconds.

Public presentation will happen at the 2013 Geneva Motor Show on 5 March.

Source: Kia

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Saab will continue to produce the 9-3

National Electric Vehicle Sweden (NEVS) saved Saab from bankruptcy last year and promised to debut an electric vehicle in about 18 months with the name Saab, but it can't use the griffin logo because it is also used by Scania and Saab Aerospace Group. Now plans have been changed. While the company still wants to build electric vehicles they will first resume the production of the "old" 9-3 to prepare the company, economically and industrially, for the new electric Saab.

Starting from mid-2013 you will be able to again buy a Saab 9-3 and later in the year a 9-3X, both produced in Throllhattan, Sweden. The new EV, also built in Throllhattan, will arrive in 2014, and when the production reaches the factory limit of 120.000 units/year a new factory will be constructed in China.

I don't know if building electric vehicles is the best option for a company recovering from a bankruptcy, specially if that is the main goal. In 2012 only 110.000 electric vehicles were sold in the world.

Source: es.autoblog

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The Road Warriors - Isle of Man TT, Southern 100 and Ulster GP [Video] Crazy!

You have to be really brave to drive a bike at almost 320km/h (200mph) in a country road with rain and several other guys trying to overtake you in almost every single place. See the videos below and admire those guys.

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Kia Pro_Cee'd GT revelead ahead of the Geneva Motor Show

That is right, what you have here are the first two images of the upcoming Kia Pro_Cee'd GT revealed well ahead of the Geneva Motor Show in a Russian website, and the car looks great with an aggressive front that i am sure will be a hard rival to the Golf GTI.

The new front bumper includes four Daytime Running Lamps (DRL) LEDs in each side giving it a more distinct aspect. It also has a honeycomb grille, larger 18inch wheels allowing the new and also bigger red brake calipers to be seen, a lowered suspension, and a small rear spoiler.

Nothing is confirmed but it is expected that the engine used in this GT version of the Pro_Cee'd is the same one used in the Veloster which is the 1.6liter turbo with direct injection and over 200hp mated to a manual six-speed gearbox.

Source: autowp1 and autowp2

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