Turning Powerful Passion into Supreme Performance: The New BMW M3

ambience tailored to their specific needs and wishes. This applies particularly to the driver, with all controls and instruments relating directly to the active driving experience in the car adapted to the supreme performance of the BMW M3 and re-designed from the ground up wherever appropriate.

Double circular instruments with white illumination and red needles, the M leather steering wheel and the newly designed centre console all characterize the cockpit of the new BMW M3. The door cutout trim embellished by the characteristic M logo, the support for the driver’s left foot made of brushed metal, the special design and color of the inner door panels, as well as the trim strip made of high-quality, sophisticated materials exclusive to BMW M such as leather in carbon design or aluminum, all serve to underline the supreme and truly unique position of the new BMW M3.

MDrive Button for the Ambitious Driving Enthusiast

Enjoying the qualities of the new BMW M3, the driver is able to configure several driving parameters individually according to his particular requirements, thus adjusting the car’s behavior and performance to his personal preferences. One option, for example, is to completely deactivate the Dynamic Stability Control (DSC) via the car’s set-up. Electronic Damper Control (EDC), in turn, which optimizes both vertical vibration behavior as well as the car’s dive and roll in bends and when applying the brakes and accelerating by adjusting damper forces, comes with three different settings – Normal, Comfort, and Sports – the driver is able to pre-select at the touch of a button.

Three control maps are also available for precise, on-demand management of the engine. These management functions operate not only on the position of the throttle butterflies in the intake manifold, but also on further factors and parameters significantly changing the behavior and response of the engine.

The optionally available MDrive configuration enables the driver to pre-select the response of the Servotronic power steering. In the process, MDrive is able to follow two control maps varying steering forces between the Normal and Sports setting as a function of road speed.
Base Price: 2009 BMW M3 Coupe - $57,275

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Audi Reveals the R8: Le Mans Racer for the Street

The Audi R8, into which Audi has incorporated the name and the genes of the five-time Le Mans winner, is a spectacular sports car. Three years after the unveiling of the Audi Le Mans quattro concept car, the production version will be making its debut at the Paris Motor Show in the guise of the new Audi R8 mid-engined sports model. It is a fascinating driving machine and the sporty pinnacle of the Audi brand. The mid-mounted 420 bhp V8 FSI engine, quattro permanent four-wheel drive and Audi Space Frame aluminum body form the basis for truly outstanding driving dynamics. The Audi R8 will be available to order from 28 September 2006; first deliveries will be made in the first half of 2007.





As the first Audi mid-engined sports car, the Audi R8 combines Audi's experience gained from numerous motorsport triumphs with groundbreaking design and the acknowledged technological expertise of the brand. This expertise has led to the slogan 'Vorsprung durch Technik' becoming a byword for leading-edge technology both on the race track and on the road.

Audi R8's Exterior

Even at first glance, the caliber of the Audi R8 is plain to see. The car sits broad and squat on the road, the strongly accentuated rear end appearing to flex its muscles like a sprinter ready for the off.

The characteristic proportions of the vehicle are dictated by the location of the engine behind the cockpit. This layout is a typical feature of race cars. One of the most striking examples of this design – and as such one of the legitimate antecedents of the Audi R8 – was, and still is, the Auto Union Type C Grand Prix car. The central position of the engine is above all a boon to driving dynamics, as it allows for a weight distribution, as on the R8, of 44 percent to the front and 56 percent to the rear.

The car's body is highly compact in appearance. The front end and the gently curved roof arc are drawn in a sweeping line; a line which immediately marks the two-seater out as an Audi.

The side view also reveals familiar contours. The dynamic line above the wheel arches and the shoulder line interlink the front end, side and rear, imbue the doors and the transition to the side air vent with a strong presence, and even more emphatically highlight the typical Audi rounded wheel housings accommodating the big wheels.

The cabin of the Audi R8 is pushed far forward – a typical feature of a mid-engined sports car, and as such a visual cue linking it to the race car of the same name. Behind the cabin, positioned in front of the rear axle, is the V8 FSI engine, a sculptured piece of engineering visible both through the large, shield-shaped rear window and from inside the car.
The full aluminum body is constructed in the Audi Space Frame (ASF) design. Its perfect synthesis of minimal weight and maximum rigidity provides the ideal foundation for optimum driving dynamics, as well as delivering an outstanding power-to-weight ratio of just 8.18 pounds per bhp.

The Interior

The sporty interior is dominated by a totally driver-oriented cockpit architecture, integrating the driver between the dashboard and the high centre console. The instrument panel above the console is angled slightly towards the driver. The flat-bottomed steering wheel is a typical feature of the sportiest Audi models, and also enables comfortable sports car entry and exit.

Form follows function: this design principle is implemented throughout the R8. Alongside the driver-oriented architecture, also reflected in the styling of the side window sills, the choice of materials also makes for a highly functional look and feel. Looking around when in the driving seat makes one thing clear: just like in the R8 race car, the styling and placement of all the elements in the cockpit of this driving machine is focused on the essentials. The center point of everything is the driver.

The Drivetrain

Turbine-like power up to the highest rev ranges, a high maximum torque, all combined with a fascinating sound, are the characteristics of a perfect sports car engine. An engine that is fascinating both in terms of its enormous power potential and its suitability for everyday use.

In the high-revving 420 bhp eight-cylinder engine, the evolution of FSI petrol direct injection technology has reached a new high. This technology has also enjoyed many triumphs in the Audi R8 race car.

The figures illustrate the outstanding potential of the eight-cylinder unit. At 7,800 rpm the 4.2-liter engine delivers 420 bhp of power output. Peak torque is 317 lb-ft from 4,500 to 6,000 rpm. And no less than 90 per cent of this maximum torque is maintained consistently throughout a wide engine speed range from 3,500 all the way to 7,600 rpm. As a result of these qualities, the eight-cylinder power unit provides maximum thrust in virtually any driving situation.

The performance figures are equally impressive: the R8 accelerates from a standstill to 60 mph in 4.4 seconds and reaches a top speed of 187 mph.

Two transmissions are available: a manual 6-speed gearbox or optionally the Audi R tronic sequential-shift gearbox. Here, too, the influence of the motorsport world is clearly evident, with a joystick gear-shift on the centre console and, most especially, the paddles mounted on the steering wheel, which are a long-established ergonomic feature in motorsport. The best illustration of this is once again the Le Mans winning Audi R8, which also enables the driver to change gear on the steering wheel.

The Audi R8 is being built on a small-lot production line in a specially constructed new block at the Audi plant in Neckarsulm, Germany.

$109,000

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2009 Maserati GranTurismo S

Maserati GT SA year after the unveiling of the GranTurismo, Maserati will be back at the Geneva International Motorshow with yet another world premiere, the GranTurismo S. The ultimate expression of the Trident coupé's sportiness shifts the emphasis onto performance and driving enjoyment.

Two main novelties are at the heart of the new Maserati: the 440 HP V8 4.7 engine and the electro-actuated gearbox with fast MC-Shift arranged in the Transaxle layout typical of high-performance sports cars that represents the technological DNA of all Maseratis.

The GranTurismo S makes use of the high-performance brake system developed in collaboration with Brembo and introduced for the first time in the automotive field on the Maserati Quattroporte Sport GT S. The system features front brake discs made with dual-cast technology - a dual casting of cast iron and aluminum, paired with aluminum mono-bloc 6-piston brake calipers, ensuring optimized braking performance.

On the exterior the Maserati GranTurismo S is characterised by a number of aesthetic modifications that, although discrete, are highly effective and make the car body appear sportier without abandoning the sleekness of the lines masterfully designed by Pininfarina.

The interior upholstered in Poltrona Frau leather and Alcantara reflects the sporty flair of the Maserati GranTurismo S; the figure-hugging front and rear seats are distinguished by their new dynamic design with horizontal piping on the seats and seatbacks
Base Price: $130,000 (est)

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BMW: Always the Award Winner

BMW has won many awards because of the high class performance that BMW vehicles give. Talking about winning awards, one can not forget the ultimate BMW 5 series. This series has won many awards. BMW 5 series is a mid size luxury car. BMW started the production of the 5 series in 1972 and is till producing it. This series had won hearts of million of people. There are two body styles, Sedan and touring (Wagon), available for BMW 5 series. As suggested by its name, BMW 5 series is the fifth generation car for BMW. Gandini designed the first BMW 5 series car. BMW had produced five generations for the 5 series. These generations are denoted by the traditional numbering EXX. This was the first time that BMW started the tradition of 3 digit numbering. The first digit represented the series number (5 in this case) and the other two represented the engine size. E12 was the first generation of BMW 5 series car.

There were different models produced for BMW E12. Here are few models listed; 518 1.8L (1974), 520 2.0L (1972), 525i 2.5L (1973), 528i 2.8L (1975) and M535i 3.5L (1979). E28 was the next model in the 5 series family. This model was a high performance fifth series car. This car had a power full 24 valves engine with six throttle body. BMW released this model in the year 1982 and its production was continued till 1988. Here are few models released for BMW 5 series; 518i 1.8L, 520i 2.0L, 524d 2.4L, 525i 2.5L, 528i 2.8L, 530i 3.0L and 535 I 3.4L. This model was considered to be one of the fastest at that time. The next generation in the BMW 5 series was the E34 that was produced in 1989 through 1996. BMW E34 won many awards for offering the best safety and reliability. BMW E34 gave a sporty look and that was the reason why it was so popular at that time. BMW E34 was considered to have a very attractive design. Here are few models for the BMW E34; 518i 1.8L (1989), 520i 2.0L (1988-1990), 525i 2.5L (1988-1991), 530i 3.0L (1994-1995), 540i 4.0L 1993-1995 and M5 3.6L (1991-1993). BMW E39 is the second last generation for the 5 series.

BMW produced this generation cars form 1996 through 2003. This generation was the first to be truly called a sports car. This generation had most success than the previous generations. Some people call BMW E39, the best car ever produced by BMW. This generation has the highest consumer ratings. This generation had extraordinary performance in speed. BMW E39 had a power full engine that has an excellent and smooth drive. The total torque for the BMW E39 engine is 500 Nm that is the reason why this car reaches 0-100 Km per hour in an unbelievable time of 5.2s. The last generation in the 5 series is the E60/E61. This generation is being produced from 2004 till present. This generation is currently using the best available technology. A maximum power of 5.0L engine is available in this generation. E60 was given the award for “Best Luxury Car” for the year 2006. BMW E39 was on the front pages of many famous car magazines.

BMW: What makes it the best Luxury Car?

BMW is believed to be the best luxury car manufacturing company. In the race of best luxury cars, BMW is ahead of all other luxury car manufactures. Now the question is that what makes BMW the best luxury car? BMW is using the most advanced technologies available to produce high tech cars. BMW cars are equipped with up to date components giving extraordinary performance in comfort, speed and style. BMW is producing wonder full cars. All BMW models have decent shape and style. You will keep looking at BMW for quite some time because of its beauty. The interior and exterior design of BMW cars are mind blowing. Let us see what the latest car from BMW has. 2007 BMW M5 Sedan is master piece produced by BMW. The total length of 2007 BMW M5 is 4864.1 mm or 191.5 inches (4.864 meters). Total width is 1846.5 mm or 72.7 inches (1.846 meters) and the total height for 2007 BMW M5 Sedan is 1468.5 mm or 57.8 inches (1.468 meters).

All these specifications show that 2007 BMW M5 Sedan has a lot of room both for the passengers and cargo. Now let’s see some more dimension specifications. 2007 BMW M5 Sedan comes with a total curb weight of 4012 pounds or 1819.81 kilograms. 2007 BMW M5 Sedan comes with a hard fixed top. The front track is 1579.9 mm or 62.2 inches (1.58 meters). The rear track is 1567.1 mm or 61.172 inches (1.567 meters). All these specifications lead 2007 BMW M5 Sedan to be the best in the luxury car business. 2007 BMW M5 Sedan is superb car with wonder full features offering excellent overall performance. BMW offers the best car safety. Recently BMW was given the award for “The safest car of the millennium” by IBIA (International Brain Injury Association). This is the great achievement for a car manufacturer as nowadays many human lives are wasted in road crashes. BMW is the first and the only one to introduce HPS. HPS stands for Head Protection System. It’s great to know that car companies are realizing the importance of car safety. This system has already saved many human lives. People and different associations like IBIA are appreciating BMW efforts for making much safer cars.

One important factor in determining the overall performance of any vehicle is the front and rear weight distribution. This is a very important factor as front and rear weight distribution is directly affected on car’s acceleration and speed. 2007 BMW M5 Sedan front and rear weight distribution is excellent. 52 for the front and 48 for the rear weight distribution. 2007 BMW M5 Sedan is a standard four door car with 5 passenger seats including the driver’s seat. The total wheel base is 2888 mm or 113.7 inches (2.887 meters). The bottom line is that BMW is the best luxury car manufacturer and BMW vehicles are reliable, extremely comfortable, great style, high performance giving and are the fastest.

BMW Launching Hydrogen powered luxury car

According to the BMW’s spokesmen, BMW will launch a luxury car that will operate on either hydrogen or premium gasoline. This is great news for BMW fans. BMW only plans to produce limited number of hydrogen powered cars. The hydrogen powered BMW is based on the wonder full and most success full BMW 7 series luxury sedan. BMW has announced to bring out the hydrogen version of the 7 series luxury sedan in the year 2007. BMW is not only producing limited number of hydrogen 7 cars but has also announced that this car will be given to selected drivers only and will be used in selected areas too. BMW hydrogen 7 car is equipped with a high quality and power full 12-cylinder engine. The total power of BMW hydrogen 7 car is 260 hp and is more than enough. BMW hydrogen 7 is capable of running on either hydrogen power or pure gasoline power. According to BMW, you can switch between hydrogen and gasoline power with a push of a button. Both hydrogen and gasoline have a separate tank which means that you will have long cruising range. According to BMW spokesman, the total cruising range of BMW hydrogen 7 will be some where around 390 to 460 miles. BMW hydrogen 7 will be capable of giving a cruising range of about 100 to 140 miles for the hydrogen tank. On the other hand, BMW hydrogen 7 will have a cruising range of about 320 to 350 miles for gasoline. Thus BMW hydrogen 7 has a big advantage of long cruising range. You don’t have to worry about refilling for quite some time.

The duel fuel system allows you to switch to gasoline or hydrogen power. Hydrogen filling stations are not as common as gasoline filling stations so the duel fuel switching feature helps a lot. If you run out of hydrogen gas and there is no hydrogen filling station around, don’t worry you still have gasoline that can drive you more than 300 miles. In case BMW hydrogen 7 runs out of hydrogen gas, you don’t even have to worry about switching from hydrogen to gasoline because BMW hydrogen 7 automatically switches from one fuel source to other when ever one fuel source tank gets empty. BMW is planning to produce a total of 100 BMW hydrogen 7 cars in the year 2007. From these 100, BMW fixed the US quota to 25 cars. BMW wants to see selected people in BMW hydrogen 7 and are also planning to charge a monthly fee for using the car. BMW hydrogen 7 is based on BMW 760Li. BMW 760Li is the most costly car in BMW cars list. BMW 760Li also has 12-cylinder engine. BMW has not announced the price for BMW hydrogen 7 but one can guess the range of BMW hydrogen 7 price as it is based on BMW 760Li which costs some where around $120000. Hydrogen is available abundantly on the earth but is not in pure form.

There are different chemical processes to separate hydrogen. These chemical processes are of concern as these processes can increase environmental pollution. On the other hand, hydrogen powered vehicles only produces water vapors and no pollution.

BMW: The Most Power Full Machine

One it comes to the most power full car available in the market, BMW is always listed on the top of the list. BMW has produced the most wonder full cars that any one can only see in their dreams. BMW offers high tech cars equipped with the most advance technology. BMW has a high reputation of producing cars that have a sporty look and feel. The main reason for the big success that BMW has is that they are producing cars that make a person feel that he is driving a sports car. Talking about the sporty feel car, how can we forget the BMW Z4? This model has an excellent performance and look that is very much same like a sports car. BMW Z4 is rear wheel drive car. BMW first released Z4 in the year 2003. BMW Z4 was released to replace BMW Z3.

BMW Z4 is more power full than Z3. BMW introduced multi tank suspension in the Z4 model that made the car more comfortable. The multi tank suspension also had the impact on car handling, thus highly improving Z4 road grip. BMW Z4 comes in two body styles; 2 door coupe and 2 door convertible. BMW Z4 is available with 2.0L, 2.2L, 2.5L, 3.0L, 3.2L engines. All these are power full engines based on high tech technology. BMW Z4’s transmission is available in 5 and 6 speeds. BMW Z4 comes with manual, automatic, and semi-manual transmission. BMW Z4 car is an excellent piece of work. This car is too fast. BMW Z4 with 2.2L engine can reach 0 to100 Km/hour in an unbelievable time of 7.2 seconds. BMW Z4 with 2.5L engine is even more power full and according to BMW, Z4 2.5L reaches 0 to 100 Km/hour in an incredible time of 7.0 seconds. All this is possible because of the high quality research that BMW is doing to attain faster speed in less time. The weight ratio is very important factor for any car to have high speed. BMW is making the weight ratio better and better with very year.

BMW Z4 2.5L has a total horse power of 141 kW AT 6000 rpm. It has a total weight of 1335 kg. It reaching 0 to 100 Km/hour in 7.0 seconds and if this has not impressed you then hear this, BMW Z4 3.0L having a total horse power of 170 kW can reach 0 to100 Km/hour in 5.9 seconds. Wait, there is still more. BMW Z4 also comes with a 3.2L engine. BMW Z4 3.2L has a total horse power of 246 kW AT 7900. Total torque produced by BMW Z4 3.2L is 262 lb-ft AT 4900 rpm. Six gear transmission is available for BMW Z4 3.0L and M roadster. BMW Z4 M roadster was released in the year 2006. They are equipped with 3.2L engine capable of producing 330 hp.

BMW Z4 M roadster comes with 6-speed manual transmission. It’s hard to believe this but its 100% true that BMW Z4 M roadster reaches 0 to100 Km/hour in 4.9 seconds.