After nearly a decade in production, the Lamborghini Murcielago is swiftly reaching the end of the road. These new spy photos, revealing the Murcielago successor prototype for the first time, show that development of the next hero Lambo is well underway.

Previous reports suggested the as-yet unnamed Murcielago successor would utilise the ultra-light – and smaller – aluminium spaceframe underpinning the Audi R8. These new photos add credence to those reports, the body of the prototype appearing more compact and lithe than the outgoing Murcie’s proportions.

Other early reports claimed the new Lambo would ride on a wheelbase close in length to that of the current model, but with shorter overhangs front and rear.

Although difficult to discern, the spied prototype appears to utilise a slightly shorter wheelbase than expected – keeping it more in line with the R8 wheelbase – while its rear overhang appears every bit as long as the outgoing model, if not longer. If the prototype Murcielago successor is shorter, nose to rear, than the outgoing model, speculation that it will sit on a wider track appears vindicated here.

While the prototype is still decked in significant camouflage, it’s clear that the sharply-cut rear end bears a stylistic connection to the recent Estoque concept. Along the doors, deep intake gouges feature, oddly reminiscent of the Ferrari Testarossa – although some of that can be attributed to the deliberately diversionary strakes running along the inside of the intakes.

It’s too soon to be speculating about engines and performance details, but, as with the Ferrari 458 Italia, the new Lamborghini’s output should comfortably match that of its most potent forebears: in this case, the 500 kW Murcielago LP 670-4 SV.

 

Via TheMotorReport

Every now and then we drive a car that leaves a lasting impression on us. Our 2009 list includes the fabulous Audi R8 5.2 FSI – its supercar performance, looks and useability make it such an accomplished car. Nissan’s GT-R is also on our list of memorable motors, not for the same reasons as the Audi, but because it stands out as a masterstroke of engineering by the brand known locally for Sentra’s, Tiida’s, X-Trails and, oh yeah, their 370Z. But another car stood out for us, not for its blinding performance, howling engine or head turning looks. Instead it makes its presence felt in entirely the opposite manner.

The BMW 730d is a luxury saloon that serenaded its way into our hearts in 2009 – a position from which it may be difficult to unseat.

The BMW 730d is dripping with technology and for us to mention every element would take more vocabulary than we’d care to think. Instead we’ll tell you of the elements that make the new 7 such a superb motorcar.

Interior
Stepping inside the new BMW 7 Series, one’s immediate impressions are of space, eloquent design and of course luxury. Interior leg, shoulder and headroom are more than ample and makes us wonder whether the extra room offered by the 750Li’s 140 mm extended wheelbase is necessary. Coupled with this generous personal space are a host of storage compartments for one’s personal items and an enormous 500-litre boot that will accommodate executive luggage with ease.

Once settled inside, your attention is drawn to the elegant and modern interior design. The driver’s controls and functions are clearly arranged and accessible, thanks to the hallmark BMW driver oriented layout. Apart from the seats, leather is used extensively throughout, including the door trim, armrests and on the dashboard as an option. The exposed seams and stitching along instrument panel, doorsills and air vents provide a hand stitched feel to the interior upholstery. As standard, the dash is finished in a newly developed soft skin material almost identical in look and feel to high-quality leather. The various lines, blends of trim such as leather, chrome, gloss black and aluminium accents work together to create an interior with an air of sophistication.

The luxurious appeal of the 7 Series is accomplished through the interior design and finish but also the convenience provided by its technological wizardry. From the driver’s perspective, a few functions stand out. BMW’s Active Cruise Control for example, works to maintain the 7’s speed regardless of whether you’re in traffic or cruising on the highway. The system automatically reduces your speed up to a standstill if a slower vehicle appears in the lane ahead. If you’re stopped for more than three seconds, the touch of a button alerts the car to pull off again. The system also maintains the following distance set by the driver. In this way, the car practically drives itself except for your steering inputs.

Another technological convenience are the Adaptive Headlights and Night Vision infra-red camera. The thermal imaging camera is displayed on the 10.1-inch full colour LCD monitor in the dashboard, which incidentally also receives a TV signal, and offers increased visibility at night. This system works incredibly well and supplements the already excellent xenon headlights to make driving at night far safer. In addition, BMW has achieved a world first by incorporating the detection and recognition of individual persons and their behaviour. This is done by a control unit analysing the video data and using intelligent algorithms to look specifically for pedestrians, which are highlighted in yellow on the LCD display. Should the system detect any danger to individual persons, the driver receives a warning via the display, or via the optional Head-Up Display if fitted to the car. Other features include cameras mounted on either end of the front bumper to aid in manoeuvering in tight spots, or to provide visibility when creeping out of a side road to join the main traffic flow.

The iDrive system controls access to all function and vehicle settings via the LCD display, an 80GB hard drive is standard on all models and ensures enough space for storing around 100 music CD’s. The satellite navigation is easy to use and has the latest maps, which impressed us when navigating recently developed areas of the city. Also impressive is the Integrated Owners Manual, which offers information on all the car’s functions and equipment through video and slide-shows. This makes it quick and easy to get to terms with all the features of the new 7 Series. Rear passengers also have access to all multimedia functions via their own iDrive controller. Individual 9.1-inch LCD screens integrated into the front seat backrests, stereo jacks for headsets and AUX-In plugs for a personal music or DVD player. In addition, all audio and video sources are accessible from the rear seats.

Exterior
Although the styling has undoubtedly improved over the previous generation, the latest 7 Series is still not overly attractive in our opinion. It’s mainly the front portion of the car that we dislike. The short overhang preceding the front wheels gives the impression of the car having a squashed nose. Moreover, the traditional kidney grilles dominate and preside over a rather insipid looking lower air intake that also houses the front fog lights. Thankfully the rear end has more muscle, with a set of haunches that stretch to accommodate the 245/50/18 sized tyres. The chiseled shoulder line that runs the length of the 7 Series, and incorporates the door handles, adds definition and connects the front and rear of the 5 metre limousine.

At 1,9 metres wide and 5 metre’s long, the 7 Series is a big car to park, which means you sometimes need to look for a spot where other drivers haven’t parked on the limits of their bay. Even with the park distance control and various cameras, you still need to be awake when manoeuvring in close quarters.

One thing the 7 does have is presence. On the road it fills its lane and subconsciously coaxes slower drivers to keep left for the luxury barge approaching.

The Drive
The 730d is a superb car to drive. Actually you don’t really drive this car, as that would imply effort on your part. The 730d transports you with the light and velvety appeal of an expensive chocolate mousse. Cosseted in the multi-way electronically adjustable leather seats, cooled by vents feeding cool air into the seat and backrest surface, you are transported in complete comfort. Sound insulation is good, with noise levels from the road, engine or wind being negligible and offers a cabin that shields occupants from the hustle and bustle of the outside world. Progress from the powerful diesel engine is effortless but propels the 730d with vigour when the occasion arises. Travelling in the 730d is so good it borders on being therapeutic, in fact, to some extent we’d say that it is, as the car coerces you into a slower pace of life in contrast to the rush of modern day living.

All this doesn’t mean to say the 730d is a lazy car for retired statesmen or execs, far from it, the 7 Series features the best chassis, drivetrain and engine technology BMW has to offer. Said another way, the 730d can eat up the kilometers very quickly if it has to. Despite its weight, 1 940 kgs, the car handles very well and corners with minimal bodyroll. The impressive handling is due in part to the Dynamic Damping Control that allows you to choose from a combination of suspension settings from comfort, sport or sport+ depending on the road surface and your desired driving pace.

Another technological feat is the Integral Active Steering. This system can control the steering angle by way of the additional Active Steering transmission on the front axle and, for the first time, changing the steering angle of the rear wheels by up to 3° through spindle drive and a concentrically arranged motor – meaning four wheel steering. Using data from wheel rotation speed, steering wheel movement, the yaw rate and lateral acceleration of the body provided by sensors, the 7 Series adjusts the steering angle for optimum control at all times. What this means in reality is that less steering input is required to turn the car at higher speeds and therefore less lateral force is at play during cornering, which means passengers won’t feel the speed as much when compared with a conventional steering system.

Performance
If you’d asked us what words come to mind when thinking of the 730d BMW, ‘performance’ would not have been one of them. Tipping the scales at almost two tonnes and being powered by a diesel sounds like a recipe for going nowhere slowly. However, we should know better when thinking of BMW, because the manufacturer has always managed to extract surprising amounts of power and torque from their engines over the years and the 730d’s 3,0-litre 24-valve straight-six is no exception.

Producing 180 kW at 4 000 rpm and a mountain of torque – 540 N.m from 1 750 rpm – the 730d reaches 100 km/h from rest in 7.2 seconds. To put it in perspective, that’s not far off the 6.9 seconds required by the new VW Golf GTI to do the same. Flat out, the 730d will achieve a top speed of 245 km/h. But it’s not about sprint times or top speeds, the diesel engine is silky smooth and propels the luxury sedan with ease. Mated to an equally smooth 6-speed automatic transmission, the combination works almost seamlessly to produce an uninterrupted flow of power to the rear wheels. Although the drive-by-wire gear selector offers a sequential mode, we didn’t find much use for it because the automatic tends to respond well to throttle inputs in its conventional mode. When needing quicker gear and throttle response, selecting ’sport’ mode for the dynamic chassis control proved adequate, while at the same time firming up the steering and suspension to match the driving pace.

Just as surprising as the power and efficient delivery thereof, is the fuel consumption achieved by the engine. BMW claim 7.2 l/100km on the combined cycle and although we achieved a figure of 9.9 l/100km during our test period, the figure is still impressive considering we covered a myriad of road conditions from heavy stop/start traffic to brisk open road cruising and everything in between.

Overall, the BMW 730d offers a refined and luxurious motoring experience, combined with dependable composure when utilising the power and torque from the diesel engine.

What we like…

• The plethora of useful features such as night vision, pedestrian detection, adaptive cruise control and more.
• Excellent sound system with hard drive storage capacity, iPod and bluetooth connectivity.
• Silky smooth diesel engine and automatic transmission.
• Dynamic Chassis Control that transforms the car from boulevard cruiser to highway bruiser.

What we would like…

• An audible warning together with the visual ones for the pedestrian detection system.
• Stronger brakes. It stops well but could do with the 375 mm discs from the 740i as opposed to its 348 mm ones.
• More ‘intelligence’ for the auto headlights – it only worked well when approaching one car at a time, otherwise it switched to hi-beam between each successive car in the oncoming lane, causing them to flash you back.

 

This past weekend saw close to 50 competitors taking part in the inaugural Knysna Hillclimb. Unlike traditional motorsport events, a hillclimb pits man and machine against the stopwatch. The event took place on a challenging 1.85 km climb up to the acclaimed Simola Estate and Golf Course, and set on a picturesque hill overlooking the renowned Knysna Estuary and Heads.

A variety of vehicles battled it out over the two day event, from road cars such as VW Golf’s, a pair of Fiat Uno Turbo’s, C55 and CLS 63 AMG Merc’s to thoroughbred race cars such as the trio of V8 Ford Mustang’s from the Owen Ashley V8 Masters Series, to an Oval Track racer and even 125 and 250cc karts.

Practice and qualifying runs took place on the Saturday, with drivers quickly getting to terms with the steep and twisty road. Suspension, tyre pressures and camber were all tweaked in search of the fastest time, but in an uphill battle against gravity there is no substitute for horsepower. By the end of the day it was clear who the top contenders would be in Sunday’s final, with the fastest qualifying run of the day, 43.272 seconds, being set by Anton Cronje in his wide-body Subaru Impreza WRX, followed by the V8 powered Ford Mustang of Sarel van der Merwe.

Sunday’s action took place in cooler, over-cast conditions with dark clouds gathering over head. Three more qualifying runs took place before the final title chase. 21 Drivers made it through the elimination rounds to do battle for top honours. But the battle for outright victory was fought between motorsport legend Sarel van der Merwe in an immaculately turned out V8 Masters Ford Mustang and a highly modified Subaru WRX superbly driven by Anton Cronje. The two were separated by fractions of a second throughout the qualifying runs, with Cronje marginally ahead throughout Saturday and Sunday qualifying.

In the final, however, ‘Supervan’ displayed his immense talent and experience to produce his best run, pipping Cronje by just over half a second to claim the first Knysna King of the Hill title. He covered the course in 43.0 sec, reaching a top speed of over 230 km/h.

Cronje’s Subaru was disadvantaged with a cracked exhaust manifold, but despite losing the overall fastest time up the hill to Supervan, he still won his class.

Third fastest overall went to Capetonian Fanie Theron in the Owen Ashley built V8 Master Mustang, with Cronje’s class rival Thouca Mechanicos fourth in his Mercedes C55 AMG.

Proving that dynamite does indeed come in small packages, John Amm was a crowd favourite aboard the fifth placed PVP Rotax 250cc Superkart – not bad for a projectile that could almost fit in the boot of the winning car! Former rally champion Enzo Kuun rounded off the top six in his Audi R8 V8, which attracted attention wherever it was parked. Both won their respective classes.

The 2009 Knysna hillclimb proved to be a roaring success. Organisers expected to host around 2 000 motorsport enthusiasts over the weekend, but in fact that number turned out to be over 6 000, and from where we were standing it was easy to see why.

The Simola Estate is a beautiful setting in itself, but coupled with the backdrop of the Knysna Lagoon, the Knysna Heads and surrounding mountains, the event was picturesque to say the least. The 1.85 km course offered excellent and safe viewing of the cars, as all spectators were located on the inside of the corners and sitting above the road. Despite the popularity of the event, traffic to and from the venue was never an issue and various food and drink was available along the length of the course to keep spectators satisfied.

The organisers have told us to expect bigger and better things next year and we will definitely return to support the event, take in the action and who knows, maybe even have a go at racing up the hill ourselves.

Special thanks must go to Amanda and Ryk Cloete from Point Lodge for hosting us for the weekend. Their comfy B&B is situated right on the Knysna lagoon and is less than 5 minutes from Simola and Knysna’s Restaurants and Pubs.

Top ten results:

RPM TV will be showing highlights from the 2009 Knysna Hillclimb on DSTV channel SS6 next Wednesday at 20:45.

 

Audi of America President, Johan de Nysschen, says an electric vehicle based on the high-performance e-tron concept will debut in the United States in two to three years.

The sleek two-seat sports car was unveiled at the Frankfurt Motor Show last month, but at the time Audi would not confirm plans to produce it. Now de Nysschen says the car is on its way.

“I expect we will see running examples in the next 24 months,” he says.

The e-tron concept is powered by four electric motors, one on each axle. Audi says the car has a range of 246 kilometers using a lithium ion battery positioned behind the passenger cabin.

The show car is 4 2 67 mm – about midway between Audi’s TT and R8 sports cars – and 1 905 mm wide.

The e-tron uses a space frame wrapped in fibre-reinforced plastic body panels, ensuring the e-tron’s relatively low weight of 1 600 kg’s – 470 kg of which is the lithium-ion battery.

Audi are also busy developing hybrid vehicles. Reportedly, the first on the U.S. market will be the Q5 crossover, scheduled to debut in the 2011 model year.

Take a look at the images from this years IAA motor show in Frankfurt.

 

Adapted from AutoWeek

The Audi R8 is on a diet! Spies have caught a second R8 V10 Sport mule lapping the Nurburgring in Germany, this time finished in stealth-like matte black paint.

Set to be the fourth model in the R8 line up, following V8 and V10 versions of the Coupe and the Spyder variant revealed at Frankfurt last week, the Sport will be the most focused incarnation of the supercar so far. With its wild rear wing, enlarged rear diffuser and more prominent bodykit, you’ll certainly see it coming.

Taking its lead from hardcore models such as the Lamborghini LP550-2 Valentino Balboni and the Ferrari 430 Scuderia, the Clubsport will feature a stripped-out cabin and ditch an all-wheel drive transmission in favour of a lighter and more dynamic rear-wheel drive setup.

The 386 kW 5,2-litre V10 from the coupe will receive a mild boost in power, while around 50 kg will be shed from the kerbweight, meaning performance should be mind-blowing. Expect the 0-100 km/h sprint to be dispatched in the region of 3.5 seconds and a top speed approaching 320 km/h

Our sources have revealed that an unveil at the Essen Motor Show in Germany in November is likely, with the car actually going on sale in the first quarter of 2010.

 

Adapted from AutoExpress

Audi has boosted its green credentials at the Frankfurt Motor Show by unveiling an electric-only version of its iconic R8 supercar. Dubbed the e-tron, this futuristic coupe looks set to give its petrol-powered grandfather a run for its money, and bring real innovation to the world of electric cars. The e-tron is battling for the limelight with BMW’s hybrid Vision EfficientDynamics concept at Frankfurt – and proves that whatever the blue propeller can do, Audi can, too.

Under the reskinned body lie four electric motors – two on each axle. Together, these give an output of 230 kW, as well as an incredible 4 500 N.m of torque. The result is a four-wheel-drive performance car capable of zero to 100 km/h in 4.8 seconds and a limited top speed of 200 km/h – with zero tailpipe emissions.

The e-tron’s low-slung proportions are immediately recognisable. Yet the R8 styling cues get a futuristic slant, with a smoother grille, cut-out LED lights and aerodynamic wheels. Inside, Audi’s usual layout has made way for space-age minimalism. In front of the driver is a clean, uncluttered dash, which extends into the door panels. As there’s no need for a transmission tunnel, the designers have created a slim and compact centre console. Mounted on this is a dial that controls all the cabin’s major functions, through a large screen in front of the driver.

Under the skin, a blend of an aluminium spaceframe and plastic body panels ensures the e-tron is relatively light, at 1 600 kg’s. By placing the 470 kg lithium-ion battery pack where the petrol engine would usually be, Audi has managed to provide the new model with the handling of a mid-engined supercar. Plus, in corners, extra power can be sent to the wheel that needs it most. The weight is distributed 42/58, front to rear, and the 4WD is biased to the back – so the e-tron should be every bit as agile as the regular R8.

It’s even aware of its surroundings. The on-board computer can receive data about upcoming corners and gradients, and can sense traffic light sequences, so it sets the car up to maximise efficiency. Once the battery runs out of charge, though, owners will be able to plug their model into a domestic electrical socket.

While the e-tron isn’t likely to appear in showrooms for some time, expect parts of its technology will grace Audi cars in the next few years.

 

Adapted from AutoExpress