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RWD Pontiac G8 will be dead in five years

It looks like things will be getting a lot less exciting at Pontiac, as some reports indicate that the erstwhile performance brand will be losing its best performers. Despite the fact that the G8 sedan has seen nothing but positive press from the media, including your humble scribes here at Autoblog, the realities of fuel economy and the global economy appear set to kill off the rear-wheel drive performance sedan in the prime of its short life. GM will reportedly not renew the G8 after its Holden-sourced chassis architecture is redesigned following a planned five-year run. The Pontiac Solstice in both coupe and convertible forms is also unlikely to see a second generation. Unfortunately, the Solstice, Saturn Sky and their Opel spin-off don't generate enough sales to support another go-round, which could leave Pontiac with exactly zero vehicles with overtly sporting pretensions. While the G6 may be a decent car, it and a Cobalt derivative in the form of the G5 and a rebadged Aveo known as the G3 do not a BMW competitor make. What does this mean for the future of Pontiac as a brand? We'll see.
posted : 10/27/2008 @4:16:37 PM
SEMA Preview: Dodge Mopar Challenger Targa and Blacktop

While a V10-powered Challenger is devilishly delectable, our Mopar-loving hearts beat for something a bit more balanced with a healthy dose of motorsports cred. To that end, Dodge created the Challenger Targa to campaign in the Targa Newfoundland enduro earlier this year. Affectionately known as "Samantha," the Challenger began its existence as a Mopar Challenger drag race car, complete with a 392 HEMI V8 crate motor putting 540 hp and 490 lb.-ft. of torque to the rear wheels via a Tremec six-speed manual and a modified rear diff. The green hue of the Challenger Targa is pulled from the Viper, but the snake's influence doesn't stop at aesthetics. A KW race-ready suspension, six-piston calipers with 380mm Stop-Tech rotors (front) and 355mm, rear discs with four-pot calipers are all culled from the V10 'Ring-slayer. In addition to the Targa model, Dodge and Mopar will debut the Challenger Blacktop at SEMA, retaining the 5.7-liter V8 and six-speed manual gearbox. Most of the modifications focus on style, including the black-on-black racing stripe paint scheme, custom spoilers and front brow. A Mopar coilover kit drops the Blacktop over 22-inch Viper wheels created by Factory Reproductions and wrapped in 265/35/R22 (front) and 305/30/R22 (rear) Dunlop rubber. A Mopar cat-back exhaust and cold air intake remain the only modifications to the engine, and if the V8's sound isn't intoxicating enough, a Kicker audio system will keep the Blacktop's driver entertained while bombing along Highway 15 on their way to the SEMA festivities in Sin City.
posted : 10/16/2008 @4:44:20 PM
Porsche considering diesel and targa top for Panamera?

Regardless of what you think of Porsche's upcoming Panamera (we're currently on the fence), it is going to be an extremely important launch for the company. Despite the fact that purists panned the Cayenne, it has sold like hotcakes and has made an extremely tidy profit for the German automaker, now in the midst of a major takeover of Volkswagen, the most valuable automaker in the world. Obviously, Porsche is hoping for similar successes from its very expensive four door. As we've heard countless times, a hybrid option is currently in the works and a diesel engine is also on the drawing board. We're not entirely sure how the crazy German engineers will do it, but a targa-style top is also being developed. No matter, we'll have all the details soon enough as Porsche brings its production Panamera to the 2009 Geneva Motor Show in March.
posted : 10/15/2008 @7:39:44 PM
Lexus returning to Targa Newfoundland with GS 450h

At last year's Targa Newfoundland, driver Mark Lachapelle brought his Lexus GS 450h -- yeah, that's a hybrid -- home 18th overall, and sixth in his division. This year he'll return to the 2,200-kilometer race which runs over six days through the central and eastern part of the island. The 339 hp Lexus is the only one of last year's hybrid contestants to return, and is kitted for duty with just a safety cage, performance exhaust and upgraded shock absorbers. Slotted into the modern division, this year's race will pit the Japanese hybrid against big bore Americana: among other competitors, Ralph Gilles and Karen Wagner are scheduled to drive a Dodge Challenger SRT in the same class.
posted : 9/23/2008 @11:06:33 PM
Steven Millen and his Ford GT ready to run in Dunlop Targa Rally

A little over two years ago we had the chance to spend some time at the track with Steve Millen and his race-prepped Ford GT before the team embarked on its fifth excursion to New Zealand to run in the Targa Rally. Last year, the team wasn't able to compete due to health issues with a member of the Stillen consortium, but this year they're back and the orange GT is meaner than ever. For the 2006 campaign, Stillen built up the Ford GT in a few months, equipping the mid-engine supercar with a performance exhaust, catalytic converter delete pipes, AP Racing front brakes, Penske shocks, a full cage and MOMO racing seats and harnesses. This year, they've tweaked the suspension, upgraded the brakes front and rear, added a set of Nordskog gauges and a GPS speedometer, along with pulling a few more ponies out of the supercharged 5.4-liter V8 and sending the additional grunt through an AP Racing clutch and a lower final drive ratio. The Stillen Ford GT will battle it with everything from Evos to Porsches over 38 stages run on closed public roads, and according to Millen's navigator, they'll be providing updates throughout the race.
posted : 9/23/2008 @10:58:51 PM
VIDEO: Audi R8 puts angels in danger in Midnight Club: LA
Midnight Club: LA is on its way, and the developers at Rockstar Games just released a new video of an Audi R8 doing its thing through the concrete jungle. The name of the game: arcade. Or better names might be 'free-for-all' and 'pedestrians, watch out!' It's cut like an MTV video, so it's hard to get a feel for the flow of the action, but all you need to know is that there'll be plenty of it -- action, that is. And if nothing else, it does seem to accurately depict how actual R8 drivers tend to pilot their cars... Follow the jump for the video.
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posted : 9/13/2008 @5:23:38 AM
Super Veyron and eventual replacement coming around 2012

The big question for Bugatti is: What comes after the Veyron? Seriously, there isn't much that could top the 1,000-or-so horsepower, quad-turbo, 16-cylinder engine that's carried around in the back of the most gorgeous body ever with an equally exquisite interior. How about a revised model with 1,200-horsepower and 1,106 lb-ft of torque? Yeah, that'd do nicely. Rumors indicate that an über-Veyron could make an appearance at the very end of this current generation's production. Despite consistent rumors of the firm's eventual demise after that, head-honcho Dr Franz-Josef Paefgen says that another supercar and possibly an ultra-lux saloon (four-door to all you poor people) could be in the cards for 2012. In an effort to curb greenhouse gas emissions, alternative-fuel powerplants will also be on the drawing board. We know that parent-company VW has plenty of worthy powerplants in its parts bin, and the idea of giant torque funneled through an all-wheel drive system has us saving our millions already.
posted : 9/2/2008 @6:50:35 PM
VIDEO: Bugatti Veyron Grand Sport's umbrella roof in action

You can't go lopping the top off of a $1.5 million supercar without replacing it with something. Well, you could, but not if you're going to sell it for more than $2 million apiece. That's why when Bugatti unveiled the new Veyron 16.4 Grand Sport, the automaker made sure to demonstrate not one, but two removable roofs that will be included with the targa hypercar. The first is a transparent polycarbonate hard-top section that can be removed and stowed for open-air driving. But in case the obscenely wealthy driver finds himself caught in an unexpected torrential downpour (or just a drizzle, for that matter), Bugatti has also developed an umbrella-like soft-top that can be deployed in an emergency. Unfortunately, the fabric roof section can't withstand the 252 mph top speed that the polycarbonate solid roof can, limiting speeds to an embarrassing 80 mph.
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posted : 9/2/2008 @1:56:50 PM
Monterey 2008: Bugatti Veyron 16.4 Grand Sport

The wraps – and the roof – have come off the Bugatti Veyron 16.4 Grand Sport here in Monterey, finally answering a question few have asked and even fewer will sample.As you'd expect, Bugatti hasn't just hacked the roof off the Veyron and gone to the pub. The windshield is slightly higher, the daytime running lights have been tweaked and then there's the showpiece: a removable, transparent polycarbonate roof, which blends the A-pillars into two painted carbon fiber strips that lead into the massive air intakes feeding the 1001 hp, quad-turbocharged, W16.If you stow the roof at home for the world's fastest open-air, four-wheeled experience and the heavens decide to open, a folding roof stored in the luggage compartment can be – according to Bugatti – "opened like an umbrella." With the soft-top in place, speeds are limited to an incredibly low 130 km/h (81 mph), otherwise, the Grand Sport can hit 252 mph with the polycarbonate roof and 224 mph with the top removed.Bugatti made several structural enhancements to ensure the Grand Sport shares the same chassis rigidity and safety standards as its fixed roof counterpart. The monocoque has been reinforced around the side skirts and transmission tunnel, the doors feature new longitudinal beams, and the air intakes have been redesigned to include ten-centimeter-wide carbon fiber elements to protect occupants in the event of rollover.Only 150 examples will be made available, with the first 50 going to registered Bugatti customers. The first model will be auctioned off at the Gooding & Company auction tomorrow night, with all the profits over the 1.4 million euro ($2.05 million) sticker going to charity.
posted : 9/2/2008 @2:00:36 AM
First spy shots of Audi R8 Targa surfaceAfter more than a year of speculation, and even a leaked sketch, we finally have our first spy shots confirming that Audi is developing an open-air version of its R8 supercar. And just to sweeten the deal, the test mule spied is all but completely undisguised.While nomenclature has yet to be confirmed – possibly using the Targa, Convertible, Cabrio, Roadster or Spider tags – the shots confirm that the convertible supercar will employ a fabric roof. Power is expected to carry over from the 420-hp FSI V8 coupe, but the presence of wider tailpipes on this test mule indicate that the highly-anticipated V10 is likely to appear in the roadster, as well. The car is expected to make its debut next March at the Geneva Motor Show show in Switzerland.
posted : 8/30/2008 @4:41:54 PM
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