Mercedes GLE gets a treatment from LUMMA Design

When you think you can’t make a Mercedes car look any better, a car tuner comes up with an idea to make it look as monstrous, as aggressive, as possible. It is the turn to LUMMA Design to play with one this time. The kit applied is the LUMMA CLR G 800 The toy is the GLE and The result is staggering.

It is the GLE first time to get a widebody kit on the exterior. All the car used to have is a fine Mercedes Benz style, it was good looking, until LUMMA decided to mess things up. The first thing to be noticed, is the reduction in height. LUMMA lowered the suspensions, to acquire higher performance from the car. The tuning program features large air intakes on the front wings, a new front bumper, new side skirts and wider wheelarches. It also features a carbon hood, new rear bumper and diffuser and a rear spoiler. Not only that, but the car has in addition a Carbon-fiber hood. Knowing how heavy Mercedes-AMG cars can get, some weight reduction in the addition program just dictates itself. Carbon fiber was used in making the hood, the side skirts, the air vents, the rear air diffuser, and both of the bumpers. The car sits on 24-inch wheels from the dutch manufacturer Vredestein.

There is a power increase. The 5.5L biturbo V8 has been enhanced to produce 640 bhp, around 70 bhp more compared to the stock GLE 63 AMG coupe. This, along with the aero package, and the height reduction, should improve the top speed and the acceleration. Not that, the SUV from AMG does 0 to 100 kph in 4.2 seconds.

Modifications inside include a lightweight materials usage for some of the cars. Customers can choose between premium leather or wood variations to get the luxury they need.

The official release would be in the Frankfurt Auto Show this September, but with the teaser images, we are sure drooling about it.

Spyshots to the new Ferrari F12

Earlier, Ferrari announced it is working on a more track-focused version of the Ferrari F12. And they said that the new model won’t be a replacement, but will be sold alongside the actual F12. People call it the Speciale, others prefer to use the GTO. So far Ferrari hasn’t said a word about the name. Now, thanks to Motor Authority there are some available spyshots of the testing mule.

As you can see, the new model has two front wings, a large three parts air intakes. On the hood, there are two air intakes, which is a new thing. That should work on cooling the engine, and giving a higher down force. The rear spoiler has been reworked. There is a separate part, maybe for a retractable rear wing. The car has a new rear diffuser. A carbon-fiber side skirt. The new aerodynamic package contributes to a higher downforce, but will reduce the top speed a little. Power is slightly increased, to 760 bhp, from the same 6,2L V12 engine. And there is a huge weight reduction, of 440 pounds (around 200 kg). Main enemy in visor is the Lamborghini Aventador LP-750 4 Superveloce. So far, Ferrari announces a 10 bhp more, and 100 kg less in weight. This should keep things going in competition between the two Italians.

Source : Motorauthority

Icona Vulcano debuts at Pebble Beach

Like every year, at The Pebble Beach Concours d’Élégance, car constructors race each other to bring the best models, with unique style, and of course, a lot of power.  This time, it is the turn to the Italian Icona, to bring a new model to the Supercars world. It is the Vulcano, and it is Titanium, and it is nothing less than exquisite to see.

The Icona Vulcano was originally designed in Italia, in Icona, a house of design in Torino. But the car itself, is not one bit Italian. Its chassis is the same one found in the C6 ZR1 Corvette. The engine is American made. The supercharged pushrod V8 is a 1957 Chevy Belair engine remake model. Origins of the car, may vary, the design is said to be Italian, some parts are done in Icona USA, and some parts are made in China, with all the care it deserves.

The Icona Vulcano was revealed two years ago, in the Pebble Beach, it was a non drivable concept then, with body made of aluminum alloy, red painted with accents of carbon fiber. The big evolution now, is that the body panel that were aluminum made are titanium made. This guarantees weight saving, and working at higher performance. There were no welding, no heat applied to the body, it was all hand-hammered. 8 people worked for 7 months, 1,000 hours to guarantee a perfectly hand-made 0.5mm thick titanium sheets. The result of using Titanium and Carbon-fiber to the body is a curb weight of 3,516 pounds.

The car is powered by supercharged 6.2-liter LS9 V-8 Chevrolet ZR1 engine, that produces 670 bhp and 850 Nm of torques. And it is said to launch the car from stop to 100 kph in less than 3 seconds, some may say it is 2.8. It take it just 8.8 seconds to reach 200 kph. Top Speed will be around 335 kph. Samuael Chuffart, director of design at Icona, said that they thought about having the car powered by a Ferrari V12, eventually they let that option go. In the unveiling ceremony, at the 2013 Peeble Beach, power was announced to be around 950 bhp, but with further investigation, it has been lowered to 670, because, according to Chuffart : “people wanted practicality and driveability”. Lombardi, ex Ferrari team manager, helped design the engine. He also came up with the double-clutch paddle-shifted 6-speed gearbox. The engine is not the only feature from the ZR1, Lombardi brought suspension from its Chevrolet debuts, and modified it, to suit the car style.

There is no actual price tag on the car, but seeing the materials it is made of and the performance figure, we guess it will surpass the 1 million $.

BMW M4 GTS Concept

BMW haven’t been quite active when it comes to beauty concours, except for the 3.0 CSL homage. In this year’s Peeble Beach Concours d’Élégance, BMW came with two models, a race version of the 3.0 CSL Homage, and a GTS Concept of the M4 model. It is a concept per say, there is an actual prototype for it, but many features will come later with the production model.

The M4 GTS Concept, is a more track focused version of the M4, launched a year ago. It features the same water injection system introduced in the M4 MotoGP Safety car. It has a lightweight carbon-fiber rear wing, a manually adjustable front splitter, and larger front air intake.

“While the BMW M4 Coupe embodies the ideal combination of motor sport genes and unrestricted everyday usability, the BMW Concept M4 GTS previews an emotionally powerful and exclusive special model conceived with an eye for trailblazing technology and a keen focus on the race track,”
“Despite its outstanding track ability, it is still fully road-legal. This is racing technology for the road in the truest sense.”Frank van Meel, BMW M president.

Despite being a race model, it is still road-legal. And because it is exceptional, the GTS owners will be remarkable through grey body paint and orange wheels. There is no date for production yet, and once more, competition amongst German constructors is fierce.

Lamborghini Aventador LP-750 4 Superveloce Review

The Lamborghini Aventador, most epic Lamborghini ever built. It has a refined style, but did not lose touch with the old Lamborghinis, it had that fearsome look, that monster way of dealing with things, no curves, but hard shaped lines instead. At the time, its main rival, was another monster, from the Italian Ferrari, The F12 Berlinetta, which has beaten the Aventador in all fields so far. That is why, Lamborghini presented to the world, not long ago The Aventador LP750-4 Superveloce.

As the previous Lamborghini cars that carried the Superveloce : SV name, it is a responsibility towards it. There are quite some standards. The Murcielago SV was quite a hard car to handle, and it had character of its own. Furious on the road, fast on tracks, it was something. Before that, the Diablo SV, the heritage of SV, and the essence of power. Now it is the turn of the Aventador to show its muscles.

Under the bonnet, it has the same engine as the stock Aventador, a 6.5L V12, developing now 740 bhp @8400 Rpms, that is 40 more than the stock version. Not only that, the SV now, races from to stop to 100 kph in just 2.8 seconds, instead of 3.0. Torque though remains the same, 690 Nm but the engine revs higher, @8500 Rpms. The SV has a 50 kg weight loss compared to the regular Aventador, now it only weighs 1525 kg. Top speed is said to be more than 217 mph (350 kph).  The power is channeled to the four wheels through a 7-speed double-clutch transmission, the rear wheels do have an automatic lock differential, for letting the car play with its own tail.

The performance above is achieved via a weight loss program and a new aerodynamic package. The the engine cover, the rear wing and wing panels, some of the interior, and the air intakes are now made in carbon fiber. The sound system is optional. The rear wing is the main contributor to aerodynamic efficiency and higher downforce, along with larger air intakes at the front and a larger rear diffuser, a side skirt, and two front wings. All that, without increasing drag, which gives it one of the lowest drag coefficient in the supercars world.

Lamborghini says that, same as the Aventador, it has many technological advance features. They focused on 3 main items in the car :
1st item     : power to weight ratio, which for the Lamborghini Aventador SV is 485bhp per tonne.
2nd Item   : aerodynamics. The new aerodynamic package not only gives the car a more aggressive look, but also, helps achieve higher performance.
3rd Item    : the drivability of the car. For Lamborghini cars, it’s known that, too fast too furious, but with tech elements such as magneto-rheological pushrod suspension and Lamborghini Dynamic Steering, how would the SV react?

All this technology, and high performance, isn’t for free, the SV has a really expensive price tag put on, at 400,000$ only 600 persons will be lucky enough to have it. Lamborghini says their car has no competitor, however, on a side note, The Ferrari is preparing a track focused version of its F12, which will make thing more interesting.