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Filed under: Etc. , Euro Automakers and car dealerships have used the old "Free Gas" promotion to good effect, so it's not surprising that companies outside the industry might try it, too. Electronic Arts gave it a go recently to promote its new Mercenaries 2 video game in the UK by taking over a gas station in North London and giving away £20,000 ($35,000) worth of free gas. The free fuel was pumped by actors wearing military garb (with bandoliers!) in £40 increments to any who drove up. While those receiving the priceless petrol were thrilled, area residents and motorists just trying to drive by called the PR stunt "irresponsible and dangerous". Locals had their driveways blocked for hours and were forced to listen to a symphony of horns from exasperated drivers trying to negotiate the giant queue of cars. Beginning at 6:30 in the morning, the promo was supposed to go on until all £20,000 worth of gas had been pumped, but authorities shut it down...
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Filed under: Economy , Hybrids/Alternative , Euro , Paris Motor Show , Hatchbacks , Nissan Click above for high-res gallery of Nissan's Paris Motor Show lineup Nissan is bringing a trio of vehicles to the city of lights for the 2009 Paris Motor Show : a new concept called the Nuvu, an all-new production car car called the Pixo and a revised Note. We don't have an image of the Nuvu yet, but Nissan says it's a compact all-electric city car with 2+1 seating. It takes its green theme seriously with solar panels shaped like tree leaves on the roof that channel the sun's power through a "tree trunk" conduit in the center of the vehicle. Next up is the Pixo, a new production car for the city with four-doors and a rear hatch that's powered by an eency-weency 1.0L three-cylinder engine. Built in collaboration with Suzuki, the new A-class car will obviously be geared towards fuel economy and low emissions when it goes on sale in Europe in the spring of 2009. Finally...
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Filed under: Economy , Euro , Toyota Click above for more high-res shots of the European Toyota iQ By naming its impending city car the iQ, Toyota makes no bones about who it's after. And with an extra set of seats fitted into its diminutive little runabout, the Japanese auto giant looks to one-up the smart fortwo with a vehicle that measures about the same size. Ahead of its European release, Toyota decided to release a few new shots of the production iQ, and we've gone ahead and assembled them into a high-res gallery for your viewing pleasure. After looking things over again, we like what we see. The look is obviously Toyota and we think that the flowing but angular lines translate a bit better in this small package than in some of the marque's larger vehicles. There are four seats inside, though Toyota considers the iQ a 3+1 seater, as the fourth seat is suitable only for wee children. Production will begin shortly and vehicles will begin showing up in Europe at the start...
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Filed under: Euro , Green , Paris Motor Show , Crossovers/CUVs , Hatchbacks , Subaru Click above for gallery of Subaru's newest diesel-powered models Subaru debuted its new 2.0L diesel boxer engine earlier this year in the Legacy and Outback, and soon it will also be offered in the Forester and Impreza, though only in Europe. These two latest models to feature the unique horizontally opposed oil-burning engines will debut at the Paris Motor Show next month. The Forester 2.0D will offer 147 horsepower and 258 lb-ft of torque while returning 44.8 combined mpg in the European cycle, which is class-leading for a small CUV over there, while the Impreza 2.0D offers 148 hp and 258 lb-ft (fuel economy for the Impreza 2.0D was not released for some reason). The diesel Forester will hit showrooms later this month while Euro shoppers will have to wait until January for the diesel Impreza. While we certainly hope Subaru is tweaking its 2.0L diesel boxer engine to meet emissions standards in all...
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Filed under: Euro , Green , Paris Motor Show , Crossovers/CUVs , Hatchbacks , Subaru Click above for gallery of Subaru's newest diesel-powered models Subaru debuted its new 2.0L diesel boxer engine earlier this year in the Legacy and Outback, and soon it will also be offered in the Forester and Impreza, though only in Europe. These two latest models to feature the unique horizontally opposed oil-burning engines will debut at the Paris Motor Show next month. The Forester 2.0D will offer 147 horsepower and 258 lb-ft of torque while returning 44.8 combined mpg in the European cycle, which is class-leading for a small CUV over there, while the Impreza 2.0D offers 148 hp and 258 lb-ft (fuel economy for the Impreza 2.0D was not released for some reason). The diesel Forester will hit showrooms later this month while Euro shoppers will have to wait until January for the diesel Impreza. While we certainly hope Subaru is tweaking its 2.0L diesel boxer engine to meet emissions standards in all...
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Filed under: Tuners , Sedans/Saloons , Sports/GTs , Euro , Mercedes-Benz , Brabus Click above for high-res gallery of the BRABUS C63 AMG BRABUS, the German tuner of all things Daimler, has laid its hands upon the C63 AMG and somehow teased out an additional 73 horsepower from the sedan's 6.2L V8. With a BRABUS badge on the back, the C63 AMG produces 530 hp and 479 lb-ft of torque, up from 457 and 442, respectively. Called the B63 S performance kit, the engine mods include free-flow high-performance metal catalysts, sport air filters and new programming for the ECU with custom mapping. With everything in place, the BRABUS C63 AMG can hit 62 mph in just 4.1 seconds and ultimately top out at 197 mph. Of course, the rest of the sedan has been beefed up to support the engine with components like a BRABUS performance brake system, 19-inch wheels and a height-adjustable BRABUS coil-over suspension. Finally, the German tuner has a whole catalogue of interior and exterior accessories to set...
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Filed under: Concept Cars , Sports/GTs , Euro , BMW , Rumormill Click on the image above for our high-res Concept CS gallery With their scopes aimed squarely at the upcoming Porsche Panamera and Mercedes-Benz CLS , BMW's M performance division is rumored to be working on their own four-door luxury GT for a 2010 launch. With its styling based heavily on the BMW Concept CS (pictured above), the platform for the new flagship will be shared with the new 7 Series. Under the hood, most expect to see a 6.0-liter V12 based on the current M5's V10, or a twin-turbocharged V8 like the one rumored for the next-gen M5. Even though both of those engines promise prodigious amounts of power, and the lightened chassis will be tuned for performance, BMW insists the new car will not be badged an M8. Regardless, we seem to recall that the lack of an M badge on the mid-90's BMW 850CSi didn't seem to deter enthusiasts. Gallery: BMW Concept CS [Source: Drive.com ] Permalink | Email this | Comments
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Filed under: Euro , Paris Motor Show , Hatchbacks , Ford Click above for high-res gallery of the 2009 Focus RS Though it first debuted the 2009 Focus RS at the London Motor Show in July, Ford of Europe will do it again at the Paris Motor Show next month and today has given us even more info about the fastest European car to ever wear the Blue Oval badge. The '09 Focus RS is powered by a turbocharged Duratec 2.5L five-cylinder producing about 300 horsepower and 325 ft-lbs of torque and can reach 62 mph in less than six seconds on its way to a top speed of 162 mph. The front-wheel-drive pocket rocket will channel all that energy to the ground through a Quaife Automatic Torque Biasing limited-slip diff and what Ford calls the 'RevoKnuckle' front suspension. We couldn't explain how it works, but Ford found the system so effective at reducing torque steer that a heavier all-wheel-drive was taken off the table during development. While we first saw the '09 Focus RS in July...
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Filed under: Coupes , Sedans/Saloons , Euro , Green , BMW , Rumormill Four-cylinder BMWs are commonplace in Europe, but here in the States you can't buy anything Bavarian with less than six pistons. Inside Line is reporting that the German automaker may change that by adding the direct-injected 2.0L four-pot from Europe to the 3-Series. The 170-hp engine powers the 320i and 120i across the pond. The models are well-received there, and for good reason, too. The ultra-efficient powerplant averages over 38 mpg in the European combined test cycle while still providing the razor-sharp handling that is BMW's trademark. BMW project director Oliver Friedmann said that a four-cylinder petrol Bimmer would have a "desirable effect" here in the U.S., but didn't commit any concrete plans for a U.S. four-banger. He did say that the U.S. probably isn't ready for a diesel four-cylinder, but we beg to differ. Our friends at AutoblogGreen had a blast in the twin-turbo 123d and managed...
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Filed under: Time Warp , Etc. , Euro Ah, the Trabant 601; endowed with a smoketacular two-stroke engine until its very last years and a body made of a toxic recycled plastic that's similar to what toilet seats are made of, though it's strangely edible. There's a lot of fondness surrounding East Germany's automotive leftovers, though maybe that's because you can't get rid of one unless you feed it to your goat. A Berlin stamp dealer has covered his Trabi with more than 3,000 pieces of postage, possibly adding a huge amount of value (i.e. some) to his hunk of Duroplast. The sticky-backed decorations have been presumably preserved with a clearcoat so that one good rainstorm doesn't wash it all away, and should Scharam Farahbakhsh ever want to travel with his car, he can ship it ahead of himself. [Source: Spluch via oobject ] Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments
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Filed under: Concept Cars , Economy , Euro , Paris Motor Show , Hatchbacks , Hyundai Click above to enlarge Hyundai will have a full display at this year's Paris Motor Show next month, and front and center will be a new subcompact to replace the Getz called the i20. With availability set for sometime early next year, the i20 features five doors and a longer wheelbase than the outgoing Getz, which means there's more space for passengers inside. Its styling was penned in Germany at Hyundai's European Design Centre, and that's a good thing as the i20 is one sharply dressed econo car. Unfortunately, the i20 was designed specifically for European tastes, and like the Getz, won't be making an appearance in the U.S. anytime soon. Accompanying the new i20 in Paris will be the i20 i-blue concept, a high-mpg concept version of the production car that can achieve 68 mpg on the Euro cycle, as well as a hybrid Sante Fe concept and new ix55 sport ute based on the Veracruz. We'll...
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Filed under: Euro , Government/Legal , Safety Click above to view video of the 2008 Smart fortwo crash test Anybody who watches Autoline on Detroit or reads our Autoline on Autoblog posts will know that John McElroy is a certifiably nice guy. Bob Lutz is known more as a brash talker who isn't afraid to make his views known, regardless of what others may think. Both of them, though, are very closely attuned to the auto industry. The head product-honcho at GM and our very own Mr. Nice Guy share the opinion that the Feds should suspend their ever-increasing crash-testing standards for a few years. If a car is safe enough for our European relatives, it should be safe enough for us, right? In reality, this is not the case, as the U.S. standards differ enough from those across the pond that a car sometimes needs to be designed specifically to pass one or the other. For this reason, the Chevy Beat won't be sold on U.S. soil. To complete the deal, McElroy also suggests doing the same for...
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Filed under: Sedans/Saloons , Euro , Acura , Honda Click above for high-res gallery of the 2009 Honda Legend Remember when Superman chose to relinquish his super powers for love in the Man of Steel's first sequel? Without that 'S' on his chest, Clark Kent quickly got the crap kicked out of him by a truck driver. If the 2009 Acura RL (right) with its giant shield grille is Superman, then the Euro-only 2009 Honda Legend is surely Clark Kent. So many people have decried the new shield grille that we thought it'd be interesting to gauge reaction to the new Legend, which is basically the same car as the RL without the Acura overtones. To our eyes the Legend's new face is as boring and uninteresting as Acura's new grille is obnoxious, which truly does it make it the Clark Kent of cars. Gallery: 2009 Honda Legend [Source: Autoblog Spanish ] Continue reading 2009 Honda Legend reveals de-shielded Acura RL Permalink | Email this | Comments
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Filed under: Economy , Euro , Hatchbacks , Renault Click above for high-res gallery of the Renault Megane III Images of the next-gen 2009 Renault Megane III have leaked out onto the interwebs today revealing a more mature design for the French hatchback. The cornucopia of press shots show a five-door hatchback, and while we were told the new Megane III would sport styling inspired by the Megane Coupe Concept that debuted at the Geneva Motor Show last March, we're not seeing much of a resemblance. These shots show a design with swoops, curves and ripples, while the Coupe Concept was much more creased. Regardless, we like the new look, which is saying a lot considering we aren't normally fond of the French school of automotive design. No other details are known, but you can expect an engine range that is more powerful, cleaner and fuel efficient than before. Gallery: Renault Megane III [Source: km77 via Jalopnik ] Permalink | Email this | Comments
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Filed under: Coupes , Sports/GTs , Euro , Alfa Romeo , Rendered Speculation We already know that Alfa Romeo intends to use the lauded design of the 8C Competizione as the new template for its range-wide styling language. The MiTo was the first to receive the treatment, with project 149 coming next and renderings of the 159 replacement showing the same. The next to follow in the 8C's footsteps could be the GT, but the rendering you see above doesn't come from the factory. It was done by an enthusiast forecasting what a revised GT could look like. We don't know yet if the GT will continue for another generation or if it will be replaced by something else entirely, but if the compact 2+2 (positioned above the new MiTo and below the current Brera) does see another incarnation, it could look something like this. [Source: Autoblog.it via CarScoop ] Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments
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