BMW M3 GT2

As Audi withdraw from the ALMS and Porsche take a sabbatical BMW increase their involvement! Having formed a partnership with Rahal Letterman Racing {link} in America BMW are preparing for their first full season of ALMS competition with the latest M3.
The project was launched at the Chicago Motorshow in February this year and has now completed over 1000 miles of testing at various circuits in America. The new M3s will face stiff opposition from European manufacturers Ferrari and Porsche plus various American manufacturers like Chevrolet, Dodge, Ford and Panoz.
The 2009 ALMS GT2 championship looks likely to be the most interesting and hotly contested for a while with BMW and Rahal Letterman Racing aiming to be in the mix right from the start.

The first round of the ALMS {link} is the Mobil Twelve Hours of Sebring {link} on March 21 2009.

Insignia by Steinmetz

Steinmetz {link} have debuted their tuning package for the new Opel (Vauxhall) Insignia and it looks stunning! Whilst offering nothing revolutionary the Steinmetz package certainly adds more style to the standard car.
By lowering the Insignia and fitting some highly attractive 20" wheels (available in either white or anthracite with polished spokes and rim) Steinmetz have made the Opel (or Vauxhall) look more purposeful and dramatic immediately. Add on the deep front spoiler and large black badgeless grille and the end result is most impressive.
Along the side of the Insignia Steinmetz have opted for subtle but effective styling touches, using pinstripes to great effect.
The rear of the Steimetz Insignia benefits from a new twin pipe (left and right) exhaust back box which offers better sound quality, a little extra performance and a far sportier appearance.
With the insignia being such a new car tuners have had little time to develop a complete package for the car and Steinmetz are exactly the same. Expect them to add new products for the Insignia for many months to come.

2008 DTM final standings

Driver Championship

1. Scheider 75

2. Di Resta 71

3. Ekström 56

4. Green 52

5. Spengler 38

6. Schneider 34

7. Tomczyk 32

8. Kristensen 27

9. Paffett 13

10. Prémat 10

Team Championship

1. Mercedes-Benz Bank AMG Mercedes 109

2. Audi Sport Team Abt 102

3. Audi Sport Team Abt Sportsline 88

4. Salzgitter/Original-Teile AMG Mercedes 86

5. Audi Sport Team Phoenix 15

Mini Crossman - a Mini for a proper mini adventure!

The Mini Crossman model is now undergoing road evaluation and testing. Having been displayed at a few recent motorshows the SUV version of the Mini Clubman is now entering the final stages of preproduction with its debut in dealerships due in 2010.
Offering extra ground clearance (somewhere between 6 and 8cm) the Mini Crossman will be a genuine four-weel-drive unlike many of the other small SUVs available in the current market.
It will also differentiate itself from every other mini {link} by having 4 passenger doors, an improvement on the 3 fitted to the current Clubman range, it will keep the twin opening rear doors that have proven to be so popular with Clubman buyers. In anither break from (new) Mini tradition this model range will not be produced in Oxfordshire, England rather it will have a production line at reknown off-road and four-wheel-drive builders Steyr in Austria.
There will be no new engines for the Crossman, it will use a selection of those already fitted to the current Mini range.

Porsche 911 & Boxster

The iconic Porsche 911 receives yet another makeover in 2011 with subtle modifications and refinements prevailing. For example the rear arches are slightly re-profiled, the door mirrors move from the window onto the actual doors themselves and the headlamps are slightly more sloped. As with every manufacturer Porsche {link} have improved emissions and reduced fuel consumption on the new 6 cylinder engines although there is nothing radically new to them nor to the PDK seven speed auto gearbox or manual six speed unit.
The turbo and GT versions of the new 911 will follow much later, as they always do _ more than likely late in 2012 for the Turbo with GT2/3 versions 8-10 months apart.

Once the Porsche showrooms have filled with the new 911 in 2012 the familiar (and recently updated) Boxster platform (Boxster and Cayman) receives an update. This time the update is more radical than that of the 911, although only in a mechanical sense as bodywork restyling remains subtle and minor. The new Boxster platform will see a small, turbocharged 4 cylinder engine make an appearance for the first time. Producing around 200-225PS the new engine will be fitted to entry level Boxsters in an attempt to improve their environmental status and impact. To aide the 4 cylinder Boxsters with performance weight saving measures are being developed, whether these will transfer over to the larger engined versions has yet to be seen.

Due before the 2012 update are two versions on the current platform; an RS performance orientated model and a 'top-chopped' Spyder model.

The new 4 cylinder entry level model on the Boxster platform could be seen as a move back towards the co-operation with Volkswagen on the 914 of the late 1960s and early 1970s. Wheter a cheaper version could be restyled to fit the Volkswagen brand a la Touareg/Cayenne remains to be seen.

Porsche RS Spyder

After a tremendous season in 2008 there will be fewer Porsche RS Spyders competing in 2009. The works Penske {link} Spyders that won the Drivers, Manufacturers and Team LMP2 championships in the ALMS in 2008 will not be racing in 2009. Penske will instead be racing in the Grand-Am Rolex Series {link} using Porsche engines - continuing a relationship between the American team and German manufacturer that started in 1972!
Porsche has yet to decide whether to step up to the LMP1 class, to continue developing the ultra successful Spyder or whether it is best to support customer teams in LMP2 and GT classes - especially now that Audi have drastically reduced their involvement in both the ALMS and LMS series.
A Porsche/Penske challenge on LMP2 at Le Mans has not been totally discounted, neither have any firm commitments been made. The organisers of Le Mans have offered Penske two starting places but that is all that is certain at present.

Audi R15

Audi will defend its Le Mans{link} title with a new endurance LMP1 diesel competition car. Head of Audi Motorsport Dr Wolfgang Ullrich commented "The step from R10 to R15 is significantly larger than it was from the R8 to the R10." Despite having a lighter, more compact TDI engine the R15 will, unfortunately, have a more limited campaign than either the R8 (petrol powered) or R10 (TDI).
Due to the global economic crisis/uncertainty Audi have withdrawn from both the ALMS {link} and LMS {link} series leaving the R15 to contest Sebring and Le Mans in 2009. Where that leaves the Champion team who ran the ALMS Audi effort is, at present, somewhat unclear.

The 2008 Formula 1 World Championship has been won by Lewis Hamilton in his Mercedes powered McLaren. The tile was decided on the last corner of the last race in a season that has seen exciting racing and its fair share of controversy.

Mercedes weren't the only German manufacturer to taste the champagne this season, BMW managed their first F1 win as a manufacturer.

Final championship positions (top 10)

1 Lewis Hamilton McLaren-Mercedes
2 Felipe Massa Ferrari
3 Kimi Raikkonen Ferrari
4 Robert Kubica BMW Sauber
5 Fernando Alonso Renault
6 Nick Heidfeld BMW Sauber
7 Heikki Kovalainen McLaren-Mercedes
8 Sebastian Vettel Toro Rosso-Ferrari
9 Jarno Trulli Toyota
10 Timo Glock Toyota

Audi S4

The latest 333PS incarnation of the Audi S4 is due into dealers from March 2009 onwards. Using a new forced induction 3 litre V6 petrol engine performance should be in the region of 0-62 in 5.2 seconds for the Estate and 5.1 seconds for the (lighter) Saloon. Consumption and emissions should be lower than the current model. Prices in the UK should be around £42,000.

Mercedes E Class

Geneva Motorshow 2009 will see the launch of the new Mercedes E Class (W212), the AMG saloon is due to follow closely on from the standard modle, the Estate will be another 10 or so months later.
As with every new Mercedes {link} model the new E Class will be larger, the wheel base is around 2cm longer, and better equipped. Knee airbags, traffic sign display and tiredness monitor are all available as are a range of new petrol and diesel engines. As Mercedes move away from superchargers back to turbochargers all the 4 cylinder engines petrol will be turbocharged whilst the range topping V6 & V8 engines will undergo minor enhancement ~ aimed at improving economy mainly. New to the E Class will be the 2.2 twin turbo diesel engine plus a V6 too.
With square front lamps and modified rear lamps the new E Class will immediately look different to the out going model, its styling is drawn from both the C and S Class.

DKR Porsche 997 TT

For those who want more from their 997 Turbo DKR are offering 2 stages of upgrade; 525PS and 540PS. Achieved through chip tuning, air filter and a 4 pipe exhaust system the DKR upgrades improve total performance, top speed and torque as well as power are all raised.
To compliment their power upgrades DKR {link} have also developed their own rear wing and front spoiler. They use H&R suspension and Cargraphic {link} wheels (8½x19” front & 11½x19” rear) to help control all the extra power.
Prices for the kits start at around £4600.

VW briefly becomes the world's biggest firm

Astounding German stock market {link} activity on Tuesday the 28th of October 2008 briefly made Volkswagen {link} the world's biggest company (by share value).
Traders who had short-sold VW shares were desperately trying to buy them back so they could close their deals and this, in conjunction with Porsche having bought shares, made Volkswagen worth a staggering $370 billion (shares peaked at €1,005 each). The largest firm in the world is (in reality) Exxon Mobil with a value of $343 billion.
Porsche {link} announced that it owned, or has options to buy, more than 74% of Volkswagen's shares whilst Lower Saxony controls 20% of the VW shares which left just over 5% available on the market. This scarcity was the factor that fuelled the huge increase in VW’s (paper) value. Traders who had short sold, betting that VW shares were going to fall in value were forced to buy shares at any price resulting in the massive hike in VW’s share price (their shares rose a stunning 146.6% on the 27th October 2008).
Volkswagen shares and company value have seen a return to normal, less astounding levels with shares now trading at around €650 instead of over €1000 as they were at points on Volkswagen’s Super Tuesday.

Audi 1 & 2 in season finale.

Marco Werner and Lucas Luhr lead home their Audi team mates Emanuele Pirro and Christijan Albers as the Bavarian manufacturer took victory and second overall in the American Le Mans Series race at Laguna Seca.

Excellent strategy and the sheer power of the R10 TDI away from restarts helped the Audis move into the lead after qualifying down on the 5th row of the grid. Once in the read they did not relinquish it.
Marco Werner and Lucas Luhr dominated the ALMS {link} championship, finishing on a total of 219 points (each) with fellow Audi driver Emanuele Pirro finishing second with a mere 156 points.

Irmscher Opel / Vauxhall Insignia

The Opel / Vauxhall Insignia has yet to reach dealer’s showrooms and yet reknown GM tuners Irmscher {link} are already offering a range of styling products for it!
Ranging from the traditionally styled Irmscher cross hatch front grille (either in black or stainless steel) to side skirts, front spoiler and rear spoiler. Also available are a range of alloy wheels in a variety of sizes (up to a maximum diameter of 20”) finishes and designs plus a suspension kit that should lower the Insignia approximately 20mm.
Also in the pipeline but not available at the launch of the Insignia are a rear diffuser and twin exit exhaust system.

Carlsson Mercedes CK63S

Carlsson’s CK63S is a refinement and optimisation of the AMG C63. With some careful extra tuning the C63’s V8 produces a maximum torque of 685Nm and 565PS.
Having added 100PS to the AMG C63 through mechanical and electrical alterations Carlsson {link} have also uprated the suspension, which is now fully height adjustable as well as fitting an adjustable rear differential to cope with the new found performance. Keeping the car in contact with the road are bigger, wider wheels ~ 8½ x 19” on the front and 10 x 19” on the rear.
Externally Carlsson offer a new front spoiler and spoiler lip as well as a rear boot spoiler ~ all available in carbon or plastic.
The AMG C63 is no slouch but after the Carlsson CK63S treatment 0-62mph takes a mere 3.8 seconds and (thanks to removal of the limiter) top speed is around 185mph; figures that are impressive for such a large car.