Click To Enlarge

As we told you earlier, Maruti Suzuki India Limited have launched the new Grand Vitara 2.4 in the Indian market.

The new Grand Vitara comes with a bigger 2.4 Litre VVT (Variable Valve Timing) engine developing a maximum power of 163.5 bhp @ 6000 rpm and a maximum torque of 225 nm @ 4000 rpm.

The changes arent restricted to just engine alone. On the outside the front gets a new bumper along with a new Honeycomb grille and bigger 17 inch alloy wheels.

The interiors now features a new MID (Multi Information Display) which provides useful information like cruising range, average speed and instantaneous fuel consumption besides a low fuel warning,  a 6 CD changer with a centre speaker to give the passengers a complete surround sound effect. A sliding center-console arm rest completes the changes to the insides.

Rest of the Grand Vitara virtues remains like the all time 4 mode 4 wheel drive and low ratio gearbox for some hard core offroading.

Speaking on the occasion, Mr. Mayank Pareek, Executive Officer (M&S) Maruti Suzuki India Limited said, “The new version of Grand Vitara takes the three decades of Suzuki SUV heritage to the next level. Highly popular the world over, the Grand Vitara is one of the global strategic models in Suzuki Range. For all those customers, who are increasingly looking at SUVs, the Grand Vitara 2.4 offers more power and the best in class 4X4 drive at a highly competitive price.”

The Grand Vitara comes in two version, Manual with a 5 speed transmission and a 4-Speed automatic transmission and is priced as under:

Grand Vitara 2.4 Manual  —-  Rs 16.67 Lakhs (Ex-Showroom, Delhi)

Grand Vitara 2.4 Automatic  —-  Rs 17.97 Lakhs (Ex-Showroom, Delhi)

Jump over for the Press Release.

Read the rest of this entry »

click to enlarge

Although the current BMW 3 Series is still one of the best driving machines in its class, it hasnt stopped BMW working on the next generation which will debut in the year 2012.

This is the latest rendering of the BMW 3 Series published in a German Automagazine. BMW had an intense internal design competition for the new 3 and according to sources one of the design team has been selected! This rendering may or may not be the 3 series but it definitely gives you an idea of where the BMW design is heading.

Firstly the car will grow in size, a common ‘ next generation’ trend which is seen across all the manufacturers. Talking about the redering, the typical BMW glass house remains with a new iteration of hoffmeister kick featured on the new 7 series and the recently launched X1.

Source: bmwblog

Read the rest of this entry »

Are you the one who thinks Lamborghini Gallardo drives two wheels too many? Worry not! Lamborghini has officially unveiled the details of their newest Gallardo LP 550-2 Valentino Balboni which is rear wheel drive only.

550 PS, 2 wheel drive rear only but who’s Valentino Balboni? Well the car has been named after the famous(?) Lamborghini test driver Valentino Balboni who has helped in shaping numerous Lambo’s in the past starting from the Miura to the recent Murcielago. VB has now retired after giving 40 year of service to Lamborghini.

VB refers this new Lambo as “the precision of a race car with reliability of a good friend” and its not a regular Gallardo with the all wheel drive system removed.

With the all wheel drive system removed, the car now weighs 1380 kgs which combined with the naturally aspirated 5.2 Litre V10 500 bhp engine power the car from 0-100 kph in a mere 3.9 seconds on to a top speed of 320 kmph.

Lamborghini have also added new go faster bits like unique springs, dampers, stabilizers and new tyres. Other updates include a revised e-gear transmission ( 6-speed manual comes standard), upgraded rear axle with a 45%  limited slip rear differential and  modified ESP (Electronic Stability Program) which enables more drifts in the CORSA (race in other words) mode.

The new Lamborghini Gallaro LP 550-2 VB will have a production run of just 250 units and will come with upgraded front and rear bunpers, a more aggressive rear diffuser and white strips that run across the car from the hood to rear spoiler to differenciate it from the regular Gallardo.

On the insides the Gallardo LP550-2 VB will sport black leather upholstery contrasted by white strip on the seats and central console in polar white leather. Other features exclusive to the car are Valentino Balboni’s signatured badge, transparent engine cover and a standard GPS navigation system with Bluetooth connectivity.

The new special edition Lamborghini Gallardo LP 550-2 VB has been priced at €162,000 for Europe, £137,900 pounds for UK and $219,800 in the US.

Jump over for the detailed Press Release and more images.

Read the rest of this entry »

After the year end production slowdown from December 22 to January 9 due to flagging sales, Porsche is now contemplating more production cuts as demand continues to be slow.

The company is now cosidering stopping the production for 7 non consecutive days at its Zuffenhausen factory, where the 911 is built.

“We have to think about this if car sales continue to develop like this and do not recover again,” an inside source revealed to Reuters

Source: MotorAuthority

Read the rest of this entry »

The government has increased the prices of Petrol by a hefty Rs 4 and diesel by Rs 2 but has spared kerosene and LPG. The hike would come into effect from midnight today.

The decision was taken by the centre at a meeting of the Congress Core Commitee which among others was also attended by Prime Minister, Dr. Manmohan Singh. The hike follows the international oil rates which have crossed $70 per barrel.

Petroleum Minister Murli Deora had said on Tuesday that the rising international oil rates were a matter of “grave concern”.

Read the rest of this entry »

The competition is the two wheeler segment is intense these days. With Bajaj upping the ante with the new Pulsar 220 DTSi which not only is faster but considerably cheaper, upgraded Pulsar 180 and 150 and TVS’s new Apache RTR 180, Hero Honda is feeling the heat in the premium motorcycle segment.

Auto Bild July edition has published a spy pic of what is believed to be the test mule of the new Hero Honda Karizma which should be out in the market soon. Thanks ‘Rahul’ for the tip!

Jump over for more details and ‘whats new’ on the Karizma!

Read the rest of this entry »

Toyota will supply a minicar based on the iQ model for Aston Martin, a deal which would be Japanese maker’s only original equipment manufacturing deal with an outside brand.

The Aston Martin version of the car would be called the Cygnet and will be sold across Europe. The Cygnet will have its own distinct styling to differenciate it with the short and stubby iQ, which Toyota says is the world’s smallest four seater car at less than 3 meters long!

The launch date, price and production volumes have not been decided said a Toyota Spokesperson.

Aston Martin CEO Ulrich Bez said: “Much work is still required, but I am confident that this project could become reality in the not-too-distant future.”  

Toyota also announced that it would launch a sporty limited edition variant of the iQ customized under Gazoo racing, a racing team under the Toyota operated marketting website www.gazoo.com

Jump over for the Press Release from Toyota and Aston Martin.

Read the rest of this entry »

Hyundai i20 CRDi

Hyundai will launch the CRDi diesel version of the hot selling i20 hatchback in India very soon.

While the market was already abuzz with runours of a July first week launch, this spy pic from geeash@team-bhp.com of an i20 with temporary registration plates confirms that the launch is very near.

The i20 CRDi will come with a 1.4 Litre CRDi engine which comes in two states of tune 75 bhp and 90 bhp. Its still not clear which version will Hyundai launch in India but the rumours say its the more powerful 90 bhp unit which can only be a good news for the prospective buyers.

Source: team-bhp.com

Read the rest of this entry »

Jaguar and Land Rover have announced their official entry into the fast growing Indian market by opening up their flagship showroom at Ceejay House in Mumbai by Mr. Ratan Tata, Chairman of Tata Sons and Tata Motors.

Jaguar is known around the world as one of the leading maker of fast beautifully styled cars which are high on technology while Land Rover is synonymous with luxury and off-road capability. The exciting new range of luxury vehicles for the Indian market will include the Jaguar XF, XFR and XK, Land Rover Discovery 3, Range Rover Sport and Range Rover.

The Indian websites for both the brands are up, for Jaguar Click here!

For Land Rover, Click Here!

The Land Rover range has been priced from Rs 63 Lakhs for the Discovery 3 going upto Rs 89 Lakhs for the top of the line Range Rover, all prices Ex-Mumbai.

The Jaguar range starts from Rs 63 Lakhs for the 5.0 Litre V8 XF going upto Rs 92 Lakhs for the supercar fast XF-R, all prices Ex-Mumbai.

Pricing details for the Jaguar is awaited.

Jump over for the Press Release.

Read the rest of this entry »

Honda has managed 1000 bookings for the recently launched Jazz hatchback in the first week of its launch.

Honda Jazz is the most expensive hatchback in the country with a starting price of Rs 6.98 Lakhs for the base variant, going up to Rs. 7.33 Lakhs for the top end sports variant. Jazz will be manufactured at Honda’s Greater Noida plant and sports a localization level of 77% from day one and comes with a 1.2 Litre i-VTEC engine generating 90 bhp. The Jazz has also been certified to give 16.1 KMPL tested by ARAI.

Read the rest of this entry »