The hit BBC show Top Gear has recently aired a test drive and review of the upcoming Lexus supercar. The LFA is Lexus’ first foray into the supercar realm. The LFA is faster than a Ferrari 599, and only a few hundred thousand dollars more. The body will be made out of carbon fiber, as will the steering wheel. The Lexus LFA will also include a futuristic gauge cluster that digitally shows the tach due to the fact that the engine revs too fast for a standard analog tach. Check out the Top Gear clip below:
Mazda has announced a new vehicle that they plan to begin testing in the near future that includes a rotary engine that runs on both hydrogen and ordinary gas, paired with an electric motor that is powered by a lithium-ion battery. This bi-fuel hydrogen hybrid not only has the ability to run on electric power, but it can also use the wankel style rotary engine with hydrogen which produces only water vapor as exhaust, or regular pump gas like a normal combustion engine. The car will be known as the Mazda Premacy Hydrogen Rotary Engine Hybrid.
Apparently, pictures of the upcoming Chevy Volt have been leaked from GM. The leak of the pictures have been said to be unintentional, but could just be a pr stunt. The Chevy Volt is a future car that will be a plug-in hybrid electric vehicle that is slated for release as a 2010 model. The Volt will feature a gasoline engine that can power the car, but it does not turn the wheels directly. Instead, it turns a generator that creates power for the electric motor.
Bugatti has announced that they will sell a convertible version of the Veyron supercar, the Veyron 16.4 GrandSport. The hardtop version the 16 cylinder, quad turbo charged Veyron is known by many as the world ultimate road going vehicle. Now the roadster version will become the world’s fastest convertible. It will probably be the most expensive and rare as well, with about 150 to be produced for a retail price of about $2.2 million. With the top on, the top speed will be an amazing 253 MPH. With the top off, the increased drag will cause the Veyron to 229 MPH. But the top is too large to fit inside the vehicle, so there is an included fabric top that can be put on the car to protect the occupants from the elements, but the vehicle is supposed to be driven at 81 MPH or less. To increase stiffness, the roadster will receive roll bars around the air intakes and the A-pillars will be larger. The first 50 Bugatti Veyron 16.4 GrandSports to roll off production lines are reserved for current Bugatti owners. That leaves only 100 left, so be sure to get one while you can.
Road and Track has pictures of the new 2010 Porsche Cayenne. Apparently photographers have caught the new version of the Porsche SUV during testing. It is reported that the new Cayenne will be smaller than the current generation. In fact the test model has fake chrome accent strips that extend past the window to make it look larger than it really is. The spy photos also include pictures of the Cayenne with a Volkswagen Touareg, which the apparently had a wheel base that was about 2 inches longer than the current production model. This means that possibly the two vehicles will not share as many parts as they had for the previous generation. There is also a video that shows the Cayenne during testing at the famous Nürburgring track in Germany.
