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German Car Blog, Performance, Tuning, Motorsport, and Modification News
Published on 12-23-2012 04:17 PM
Those who live in winter climates know that in heavy snow or harsh winter conditions getting traction with tires certainly can be a big problem. Volkswagen decided to do an interesting take on a vehicle to tackle the winter elements with their Snowareg based on the Touareg of course. VW replaced the tires with a rubber track based system purchased from a company based in Minnesota named Mattracks. ...Published on 12-23-2012 04:02 PM
There are several body kit options on the market for the R230 Mercedes-Benz SL. Very few from Japan though and likely for a good reason as the Japanese tend to overdo their body kits. This kit by Abflug tends to go down that way overdone route. These pictures are just renderings but the real thing will be revealed next month at the Tokyo Auto Salon. This "Platinum" kit consists of a new front bumper, fenders, side skirts, hood, and rear diffuser. ...Published on 12-23-2012 02:50 AM
Earlier this month VWBoost reported that Volkswagen killed off the Routan. It would appear the Routan's death was greatly exagerrated and that although Volkswagen does plan to end the model it will be produced for 2013 and still built by Chrysler in Canada with no changes for 2013. When it was revealed VW stopped production everyone just assumed they came to their senses and killed the model off. ...Published on 12-23-2012 02:32 AM
The Audi Q5 will ditch its naturally aspirated V6 for the 3.0 TFSI motor starting with late 2013 model year cars. This makes for a major upgrade under the hood providing 272 horsepower and 295 pound-feet of torque despite only 2 more horses on paper than the previous 3.2 V6. The motor is significantly detuned from the B8 S4 which has 333 horsepower and the 272 rating is even 38 horses less than the A6 featuring the same motor. On the bright side, it is likely that all one needs to get all that power back and then some is some aftermarket software tuning. 400+ horsepower Q5 anyone? ...Published on 12-22-2012 09:28 PM
Mercedes-Benz recently revealed the facelifted W212 E-Class for the 2014 model year and naturally the C207 coupe will be receiving similar treatment. The renderings below give an idea of what the coupe will look like which is obviously very similar to the facelifted sedan. The coupe seemingly looking better with the facelift however. Changes to the E-Class coupe will likely mostly be cosmetic although it may also get the diesel hybrid powertrain. ...Published on 12-22-2012 09:01 PM
We know the F22 2-Series coupe is coming as evidenced by recent spyphotos. We know BMW is considering an entry level M car which would likely be based on the F22 or F20 platform. An M2 would be necessary to compete against the Mercedes-Benz CLA45 AMG and Audi RS3 Sedan. Audi is already preparing to boost output of their 2.5 TFSI due to competition from Mercedes-Benz with their powerful 2.0 liter M133 turbo four-cylinder putting out 354 horses. ...Published on 12-21-2012 04:06 PM
With the Eos getting the axe it is only natural for the Golf Cabrio to fill the void. And the Golf R model does exactly that in great style. The Golf R convertible was revealed early in a video before its official debut at the Geneva auto show and the car looks great. Similar body work to the hatchback Golf R except a much sleeker look losing the high roof from the hatch. With a dual clutch transmission, all wheel drive, and a turbo motor this car will be a hit. ...Published on 12-21-2012 03:02 PM
The sad reality of the tuning game is that others will lie, cheat, and steal your hard work if it benefits them. Any tuner on this network will tell you IP (intellectual property) theft is the single biggest problem facing tuners. A tuner can work for months, even years, on a software solution only for others to download, decompile, and copy it. Proving someone has done this is incredibly difficult and current laws do not protect tuners from software theft. Recently Kleemann sent out a holiday e-mail announcing their M156 supercharger which raised some eyebrows and prompted further research. It certainly appears that Kleemann has decided to (blatantly) betray their agreement with Weistec. ...Published on 12-21-2012 02:57 PM
The S65 V8 responds very well to tuning and a quality custom dyno tune can extract quite a bit of power. Eurocharged was able to take an E92 M3 from a baseline of 339 rear wheel horsepower to 375 wheel horsepower with just tuning for a total gain of 36 rear wheel horsepower. This dyno tune done on a Dyno Dynamics in Houston. The Eurocharged name should be familiar from their Mercedes tuning but many likely don't realize they are able to do a custom dyno tune for just about anything. ...Published on 12-20-2012 11:06 PM
A lot can change in a week. Just a little while ago VWBoost posted an article on these two same cars racing and the Volkswagen appeared to be the slightly stronger of the two. The Volksagen GTI is an APR Stage IV built motor car with a GT28 turbo, fairly quick. The Evo made changes to its setup since the earlier runs namely being on the correct boost setting for 93 octane gas. And what a difference that setting makes, with the Evo pulling several car lengths. ...Published on 12-20-2012 09:31 PM
Mercedes-Benz may have unintentionally pushed Audi to outgun them by making their 2.0 liter AMG four-cylinder have such a high output of 354 horsepower. Audi now feels pressured to update their 2.5 TFSI which sees duty in the RS3 and TT-RS. Head of Quattro development Stephan Reil stated, “The five-cylinder engine will have a big future with us. But the numbers I see from AMG’s engine are enormous from a 2.0-litre four-cylinder." ...Published on 12-20-2012 05:43 PM
With Mercedes giving their entry level four cylinder models a turbo powerplant tuning is naturally going to occur. The 1.8 liter turbo M271 under the hood of the 2011 C250 is not exactly a powerhouse in stock form rated at 201 horsepower but stock rear wheel output of 187 wheel horsepower on 91 octane shows the vehicle is slightly underrated. BMS is able to boost peak horsepower to 194 at the rear wheels but the area under the curve gets large gains up to 23 wheel horsepower and 43 wheel torque, impressive. ...Published on 12-20-2012 05:00 PM
So the VW and Porsche saga gets yet another chapter. As you may remember, Porsche tried to take over Volkswagen but in their attempt spread themselves a bit too thin. This allowed VW to swallow up Porsche and not the other way around. There were also accusations of manipulating stock prices and investor's funds which were used in the takeover bid. This is something that stood in the way of the VW acquiring Porsche earlier this year as investor's who lost their money were quite angry with Porsche preparing a lawsuit seeing $3.2 billion. ...Published on 12-20-2012 04:48 PM
Just a little over a week ago the F23 2-Series Convertible was spotted testing and now we get to see the coupe. The F22 coupe and F23 convertible will be the spiritual successors to the 1-Series in the USA. Expect the drivetrain choices to mirror the currently available (in Europe) F20 1-Series with 28i and 35i models featuring turbocharged four and six cylinder direct injected motors. ...Published on 12-19-2012 08:50 PM
We all know the 3.0 TFSI 3.0 liter supercharged V6 from Audi is pretty strong by now, right? Continuous engine of the year awards, great architecture, and an ability to gain a lot of power through tuning are all great reasons to love this motor. APR appears to be set to take it to the next level on the 3.0 TFSI platform announcing they will be doing what they are referring to as a Stage III upgrade. ...Published on 12-19-2012 08:30 PM
APR's Stage III upgrade makes for a very nice boost to MKVI Golf R vehicles. The 6-Speed manual Volkswagen Golf R is capable of 11's in the 1/4 mile with the APR Stage III kit. The upgraded Garrett GTX2867R clearly makes a considerable difference and on dynos with 93 octane pump gas has been shown to boost power to 420 wheel horsepower from the stock 273 wheel horsepower. ...Published on 12-19-2012 06:30 PM
The new R172 SLK55 AMG is a pretty quick little car. Unfortunately, Mercedes-Benz would not give it the M157 Twin Turbo V8 (if they did this car would annihilate) everything else in the lineup) but the naturally aspirated M152 5.5 liter V8 is proving to be quite potent in the fairly lightweight Benz. Independent numbers from an SLK55 at the Dallas Raceway drag strip show a result of 12.5@112.14 in the 1/4 mile with density altitude of just about 0. ...Published on 12-19-2012 06:03 PM
Very interesting race here that shows the strength of even a stock DCT M3 from a roll. The 335 is definitely make more power and torque by virtue of its Vishnu Procede tune upgrade as well as a methanol injection. The 335 also had a dual cone intake and it is a 6-speed manual car. Unfortunately only one camera angle is available but it is still easy to see that the M3 holds off the 335 very well from the start of the race until the 335 eventually is able to pull after quite a bit. ...Published on 12-18-2012 11:54 AM
The new N20 four-cylinder 2.0 liter turbocharged and direct injected motor continues to impress. Under the hood of the E84 X1 it propels the lightweight all wheel drive SUV/Crossover to 60 miles per hour in 6.2 seconds and through the 1/4 mile in 14.9@93. Not blazing fast numbers but quicker than several V8 powered crossovers and SUV's. With the light curb weight the X1 offers pretty good performance. Not too long ago V8 X5's were offering similar acceleration before the V8 got turbos. ...Published on 12-18-2012 11:25 AM
Currently Aston Martin engines are manufactured by Ford. This is a relic that remains from when the Ford Motor Company owned Aston Martin. Apparently, Aston is seeking new technology and their supplier apparently will be Mercedes-Benz. Aston and Mercedes attempted to partner last year namely for design purposes that would benefit future Mercedes-Benz models but that deal fell through. However, It appears the partnership will be resurrected with Aston being supplied Mercedes AMG V12 motors. ...
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