Futuristic Japanese Cars
Check here for cool car designs and bizarre concept cars that were staged at Japan's motor show, including Honda's 'organic' car skin and a rotating Nissan.
Dhiaa Al-Essa's super car collection worth £3.5m
When we were 21, we would be happy to ditch the fake ID and score cheaper insurance rates. Life's a little different for Dhiaa Al-Essa. He owns a fleet of exotic cars that would turn the average enthusiast's knees into Jell-O.
His 30-car garage includes Italians, Brits and Germans to re-enact World War II. He has four Ferraris, five Porsches, three Lamborghinis, two Rolls-Royces and a Mercedes-Benz SLR McLaren. Among these Mercedes-Benz SLR McLaren is his personal favorite. Young Dhiaa spent this summer around the globe and created own driving tours with his friends in cities such as London, Montreal, Las Vegas and New York.
How is a young man like Mr. Al-Essa able to afford such amazing machinery? Well, he can't. His father just happens to be a billionaire who enjoys spending money on a cost-is-no-object basis for his son. To prove this point, Dihaa's father plans to hand him the keys to two more otherworldly vehicles. On his 22nd birthday, Dihaa will become the proud owner of a Koenigsegg Agera, which comes with a golden key. It's like the Willy Wonka of supercars. After the Agera, a Bugatti Veyron will join the family. The price for both cars? Around one Corvette Z06 under $5 million.
Sadly, Al-Essa's new Ferrari 458 Italia was recently lost to fire while housed at Heathrow Airport. Is he crying about it? Nope. He reportedly plans to replace it with one of the Ferrari 599 Roadster models rumored to have been shown at Pebble Beach last month.
Source: http://www.autoblog.com
Toyota plans budget sports car line
Akio Toyoda would like to bring the driving excitement back to Toyota, but they have two major hurdles to overcome: First is the brands's limited enthusiast base and another one is that Japan's youth have very little interest on cars.
To overcome both these hurdles, Toyota plans to launch budget-oriented vehicles that offer a modicum of sport. But so far, things don't look too promising.
Despite debuting an FT-86-based concept at this year's Tokyo Auto Salon, Toyota's G Sports line of products have mainly focused on the Voxy and Noah minivans, while a "sports" version of the Prius is apparently in the works.
More interestingly, the Mainichi Daily News reports that a version of the GRMN sports car concept has been given the greenlight, meaning a mid-engined hybrid successor to the MR2 is in the works.
All these developments came after the establishment of a sports vehicle management division which now has a hand in the brand's overall product planning.
Source: http://www.autoblog.com/
Izaro Motors GT-E Electric Sports Car
Izaro Motors is a new name in the world of sports cars. Their GT-E model is an electric sports car in the same league as the Tesla Roadster.
This car will be available at a price of approx. 55,000 euro. Izaro Motors GT-E will be offered with two types of propulsion: a hybrid version, which will provide a total power of 416 HP and a range of up to 429 miles, and one full hybrid, it will display no more than 495 HP, but a range much lower, only 155 miles.
Due to the intensive use of aluminum and magnesium in chassis construction, the vehicle’s weight will be around 1,000 kg. Depending on customer demand, the interior will be wrapped in carbon, wood, Alcantara, aluminum, or leather.
Ford Explorer vs. 2011 Dodge Durango?
The 2011 Dodge Durango and Ford Explorer are big departures from the models that they replace. Apart from the usual styling and differences, the biggest changes are their unibody constructions. Though their companies continue to brand them as being traditional sport-utes, these once-SUVs are now CUVs.
Both these models offer seating for seven but that's where their similarities start to taper off. Each vehicle offers a choice of two different powertrains, but while Dodge has opted to go a more traditional route with by fielding the Durango with both 3.6-liter V6 and 5.7-liter V8 engines, Ford has gone in the opposite direction by equipping the Explorer with a 2.0-liter EcoBoost inline-four and a 3.5-liter V6. There are pros and cons for each – the Explorer may prove to be more fuel-efficient, but the Durango ought to tow more.
Source: http://www.autoblog.com
Next Defender expected in 2014
Land Rover seems to have trouble to figure about the successor to the Defender. The company knows what the vehicle should have, but doesn't know how to engineer using its existing components. Its said that Land Rover had planned to use its T5 steel platform for Project Icon. Though according to the report, the company now thinks that the chassis would be too heavy to be a viable option.
So how the next-generation Defender will look like? All we know for sure is that the vehicle will still wear the Defender name.
Source: http://www.autoblog.com
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