Baby Italian Stallion

What is Italian for Mini? Well if you ask the folks at Alfa Romeo they would say “Mi.To.” That is the name of their BMW Mini Cooper killer. Looking to compete in the premium subcompact segment dominated by the Mini, Alfa designers took inspiration from their 8C Competizione beauty.

And if drop dead gorgeous looks were not enough, this bad boy Mi.To makes the Toyota Prius green(er) with envy over the little Italians estimated 49 MPG. Don’t look for the Mi.To on the streets of the U.S. anytime soon, but for the rest of the world…Mama Mia, that’s a spicy meatball!

source yankodesign

Lotus Clark Type 25 Elise SC Special Edition

Type 25 celebrates the life of Jim Clark: Jim Clark is considered by many as the finest and most naturally gifted racing driver of all time. He won the F1 World Championship twice for Team Lotus in 1963 and in 1965. In total, he won 25 Grand Prix races and was the first Briton to win the Indianapolis 500.

Clark won a third of all the F1 races he entered, as well as racing in other formulae such as F2, F3 and Touring Cars. Typically he would race in as many as three different categories per race meeting! How many of the current crop of F1 drivers would do that? In tribute to Jim Clark's achievements, Lotus, in association with Classic Team Lotus, is producing the Clark Type 25 Elise SC, with a donation for each of these special cars sold going to the Jim Clark memorial fund.

This Elise, limited to just 25 cars in the UK (25 being the Type number of his 1963 Lotus F1 car and his number of F1 wins) has been authorised by the Clark family and coincides with the 40th anniversary of Jim Clark's death at Hockenheim in 1968. The Clark Type 25 Elise SC will be launched at The Scottish Classic SpeedFair at Knockhill on the 8th of June 2008 and will form part of a weekend long tribute to Jim Clark.

The Club Lotus Jim Clark Remembrance Weekend will take place over the 7th and 8th of June and promises to be a fantastic celebration of the life of Jim Clark. Mike Kimberley, CEO of Group Lotus Plc comments, "It is fitting that the latest version of our award winning Elise, the Clark Type 25 Elise SC, should celebrate the life of Jim Clark. It is also an honour to be able to unveil the car at Knockhill this weekend. Each owner of the Clark Type 25 Elise SC will be joining an unrivalled heritage that recognises motorsport's greatest partnership, that of Lotus and Jim Clark.

" The Clark Type 25 Elise SC draws upon many styling cues from the Type 25 Formula 1 car that Jim Clark raced to win the World Championship in 1963. The car, with a removable hard top as standard, is finished in British Racing Green with a yellow stripe along the centre and features high performance Lotus Sport wheels, finished in an historic black and silver design. The interior is inspired by the Team Lotus Formula 1 cars of the era, with black leather sports seats, trimmed with red leather and all finished off with a fantastic retro wooden gear knob.

The Elise SC is the most powerful production Elise ever produced and offers stunning performance. Power comes from a 1.8 litre non-intercooled, supercharged engine and uses intelligent cam switching technology, enabling the engine to switch to the high performance cam anywhere between 4000 and 6200 rpm. This clever feature gives the engine two characters, allowing the car to be driven economically or giving maximum performance for spirited driving.

The Elise's light weight gives low CO2 emissions, great handling and affords phenomenal braking. Another benefit of the low weight is incredible acceleration, with the sprint to 60 mph taking just 4.3 seconds and with 100 km/h despatched in 4.6 seconds. The Elise SC accelerates on to a top speed of 148 mph, which is 238 km/h. All Lotus cars offer exceptional handling and the Elise is no exception. The chassis has a seriously light, stiff structure. Combining this technology with the fantastic Lotus ride and handling gives an inspiring driving experience and the mid-engined layout of the Lotus Elise offers fantastic balance and agility.

The Elise SC offers a few technological advances that Jim Clark may have found helpful in his Type 25. Coming as standard on the Elise is traction control, ABS and sequential shift lights, however all the driver aids are included to improve the driving experience and do not intervene unless really called upon.

The Clark Type 25 Elise SC is currently only available in the UK and Republic of Ireland and is on sale now. Price: £35,995 MSRP, and includes £5,750 worth of options for just £3,445. On the Road costs are £950 MSRP ENDS

source manualgear

Edo Competition Ferrari Enzo

After working on supercars such as the Ford GT, Porsche Carrera GT and Maserati MC12, there was not much more Edo Competition could do to establish itself as one of the greatest tuners in the industry but they found yet another challenge in the form of the Ferrari Enzo.

Specifications
Engine V12
Power est. 700 hp (514 kW) at 8200 rpm Max.
torque est. 715 Nm (527 ft-lb) at 5800 rpm

Performance
Top speed > 370 km/h (230 mph)
0 – 100 km/h (0 – 62 mph) est. 3.5s
0 – 200 km/h (0 – 124 mph) est. 9.5s
0 – 300 km/h (0 – 186 mph) est. 22.0s

Features
Power increased to about 700 hp thanks to new exhaust headers like on the Ferrari FXX, high-flow catalytic converter, performance muffler, modified intake with ram-air system, high-flow air filters and ECU recalibration Stainless steel muffler with adjustable remote-controlled butterfly-valve, new exhaust tips Exhaust sound level adjustable at the push of a button Wheels can be custom-painted on request

Tire pressure monitoring system displaying air pressure and tire temperature for each wheel Sport suspension for the road with adjustable compression and rebound damping like on the FIA GT MC12.

Nose lift functionality is retained. Special lightweight wheels with Michelin tiresgog Front: 10 x 19 with 265/35 ZR 19 Rear: 13 x 20 with 335/30 ZR 20 New high-performance clutch. Extremely lightweight.

Two different friction compounds selectable (strada/pista) New transmission control unit. Same shift times as on the Ferrari FXX Are we hitting automotive perfection here?
source manualgear.com

Lamborghini Spiga by Ugur Sahin

The name “Spiga” refers to the roof shape of the car which sticks out along the windshield giving it a spike-like shape which translates in Italian as Spiga. The main charachtesristic of the car is that the rear and the middle flows in an harmonic way which kind of reminds the human muscles stretching to the back, as the front is slightly different than the rear, it also gives a sense of speed and movement forward when viewed form the side angles. The air intakes near the side windows are designed integrated on the body whcih also shows strong Lamborghini aspects. source yankodesign.com

Italian Speed Racer

We realize this is the second auto post in as many days, but this story was too good to let go by unnoticed. It seems unbelievable, but what you are looking at is a concept design introduced by Italian auto dreamers SpadaConcept.

The unbelievable part is that it has just been announced this very non-traditional design is actually going into production. I wont bore you with such mind blowing performance details as a zero to 60 mph time of 2.7 seconds, or the fact that this dream machine will sell for around $400,000 US.

What I will ask you to notice is the set of balls these designers must posses. Check out the airplane inspired tail, the glass canopy and flush headlights. This thing makes Speed Racer look like a Honda Civic.
source yankodesign.com

New Audi A4 DTM Race Car review

To make a championship winning car even better – the Audi Sport engineers and technicians faced this delicate task when the job of developing the DTM race version of the new Audi A4 arose. From the visual aspect they certainly succeeded: The new A4 DTM, which was publicly unveiled for the first time at the Motor Show in Geneva, spontaneously appears even more dynamic than the successful predecessor model with which Mattias Ekström won the DTM title last year.

The fourth-generation Audi A4 DTM, which bears the project name "R14" internally at Audi Sport, is also futuristic from the technical aspect. With the help of state-of-the-art CFD calculations (Computational Fluid Dynamics) particular attention was paid to the air flow running around and through the car. "In doing so we completed what we had already started last year with the R13," explains Head of Audi Motorsport Dr Wolfgang Ullrich. "We are convinced that we have achieved the most logical optimisation of the aerodynamics allowed within the framework of the regulations."

During the twelve month development period, which started in March 2007, a predominantly new DTM car differing in many details to its predecessor was created in Ingolstadt and Neckarsulm. "Ground breaking technical innovations on a par with quattro, FSI or TDI are not possible owing to the restrictive nature of the regulations," says Dr Martin Mühlmeier, Head of Audi Sport Technology. "In the DTM it`s more a question of the logical interpretation and implementation of the technology allowed."

In the process it was possible to reduce the car`s centre of gravity height and to further reduce the dry weight, which in turn gives the race engineers more flexibility to set the car up to suit specific race tracks and the weight distribution.

The technicians even found development potential in the four-litre near 460 hp V8 engine used in the Audi A4 DTM. The internal friction was further reduced which in turn benefited the power produced and torque curve.

The basic principle of the vehicle, which is stipulated by the regulations, remains the same: The A4 DTM is a thoroughbred race car with the silhouette of the new Audi A4. The chassis has a hybrid concept. It consists of almost 31 metres of steel tube of the type also used in the aerospace industry. The driver sits in a carbon fibre safety cell that actually resembles a Formula 1 monocoque. This combination guarantees the highest torsional stiffness and safety.

The bodywork is made from carbon-fibre composite and is – in spite of all the aerodynamic gadgets – immediately identifiable at first glance as an Audi A4. The distinctive brand styling-elements like the Single Frame grille and the white LED daytime low-beam lights ensure that the face of the A4 DTM has the same unique look like the road going model.

The most important components of the new DTM were tested immediately after the end of the 2007 DTM season. The first R14 prototype completed its roll-out shortly before Christmas at Le Castellet (France). Before its race debut on 13 April at the Hockenheimring, the new Audi A4 DTM will have spooled off several thousand test kilometres – including endurance tests.

"The new road going A4 has already won many international awards in a very short period of time," says Dr Wolfgang Ullrich. "We aim to do these awards justice with the new DTM. We are convinced that the new Audi A4 is an excellent base for a successful DTM car."

Defending champion Mattias Ekström, who unveiled his new company car in Geneva together with his boss, prefers not to make any predictions at the moment: "If the new A4 DTM is as quick as it looks then I`ll be satisfied," says the Swede diplomatically.

The new Audi A4 DTM meets its future opponents for the first time at the official DTM test between 10 and 12 March in Mugello (Italy).
End of New Audi A4 DTM Race Car review.

source auto-power-girl.com