Like the prancing-horse crowd, the bucking-bull boys have corralled a few more horsepower and shed some unnecessary weight to create this special edition.

Starting with the already exhilarating Gallardo coupe, Lamborghini chucks the rear diffuser, the underbody tray, the rearview-mirror housings, the interior door panels, the central tunnel, and the engine cover and replaces them all with carbon-fiber copies of the old panels for a reduction of 154 pounds, bringing the weight down into the 3370-pound neighborhood.
Then, compounding this weight-loss program, the intake and exhaust systems are retuned, and the ECU is reprogrammed to stir up 10 more horsepower, for a total of 523. Lamborghini claims these upgrades will spit a Superleggera to sixty in 3.8 seconds, 0.3 second quicker than the last Gallardo coupe we tested. Lamborghini’s paddle-shifted e-gear six-speed transmission (usually a $10,000 option) comes standard in the Superleggera. Get in line now. This special-edition Lambo will be available in March 2007 and will certainly cost a significant chunk more than the Gallardo’s already steep $175,000 base price.

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It might cost more than the hardtop F430, but the droptop version of the nearly perfect sports car offers the same nearly sublime driving experience. It’s a fast, comfortable supercar that never disappoints the driver while managing to sound better than the hardtop.

Excels at everything, and the F1-inspired V-8 will make the hairs on the back of your neck stand up.

HIGHS
Provides a flawless driving experience and the top goes down; a near-perfect mix of style, performance, and cutting-edge technology.

LOWS
It’s expensive and you’ll incur the wrath of player haters; this is not the car for retiring types or seekers of anonymity.

Base price: $209,222
Vehicle type: mid-engine, rear-drive; 2-door 2-passenger roadster
Interior volume, F/R/cargo (cu ft) 52/NA/6
Wheelbase 102.4 in
Length/width/height 177.6/75.7/48.6 in
Turning circle 36.1 ft
Curb weight 3351 lb
EPA city/hwy mpg 12-13/17 (est)
Fuel-tank capacity/range 25.1 gal/301-326 mi

POWERTRAIN
4.3-liter DOHC 32-valve V-8; 6-sp man, 6-sp man with automated clutch and shifting

SUSPENSION
F ind, unequal-length control arms, coil springs, anti-roll bar
R ind, unequal-length control arms, coil springs, anti-roll bar

BRAKES
F/R vented, cross-drilled disc/vented, cross-drilled disc
ABS standard
Stability Control standard

]]> http://www.imtushar.com/auto/ferrari-f430-spider/feed/ http://www.imtushar.com/auto/2009-alfa-romeo-8c http://www.imtushar.com/auto/2009-alfa-romeo-8c#comments Sat, 27 Jan 2007 03:40:14 +0000 Tushar auto http://www.imtushar.com/2007/01/27/2009-alfa-romeo-8c/  

This gorgeous two-seat coupe turns out to be the latest chapter in the on-again/off-again thriller that centers on the chances that Alfa Romeo will one day soon be reunited with U.S. buyers. The 450-hp 8C Competizione is, we’ve been assured repeatedly, a certainty to reach our shores. We might even say we’re confident that by the end of 2007 Americans will be able to drive away from the local Maserati dealership in an Alfa.

A concept car at the Frankfurt show in 2003, the 8C was intended to be an expensive, limited-edition sports car that would promote the resurgence of the Alfa Romeo brand. Struggles within the company nearly killed the 8C, as some deemed its Maserati engine and high price out of step with the rest of the more reasonable Alfa lineup of sporty family sedans and coupes. But now Alfa has promised to build the 8C, in part to establish itself in the U.S. prior to the arrival of the less expensive, more mainstream Brera and Spider that, we last heard, will be sold in U.S. showrooms sometime in 2010.

The IMAPCAR technology has been developed by the Japanese electronics manufacturer with the support of automobile manufacturer Toyota and Denso, an automotive components manufacturer. The first car to feature the IMAPCAR system will be the new Lexus LS460 which has been developed by Toyota and will be available this autumn.

The processor can detect obstacles such as vehicles, pedestrians and lane markers. Once IMAPCAR has detected an obstacle it can apply the brakes to prevent impact. The chip can perform 100 giga-billion operations per second and NEC claims IMPACAR is five times faster than any alternative image processors currently available.

NEC first began developments in image processing in 1990 and this new system follows previous models launched by the company in 2003 and 2004. The processor is designed to help manufacturers of automobiles and automotive electronics develop safety systems more efficiently.

All three of the companies involved in the project plan to pursue further developments in the field of image recognition technology in order to refine the technology for pre-crash safety systems. The processor is priced at USD200 and NEC expects to be producing 10,000 units per month by next March.
NEC projects that detection chips will be installed in 4 million cars by 2010, with that figure increasing to 8.6 million by 2012 and 18 million in 2015. The company expects annual sales of the device to be worth USD268 million by 2015, the equivalent of 3 percent of NEC’s sales in 2005. The company aims to have 40 percent of the market by 2015.

The car, driven by Wing Commander Andy Green, broke the record on the Bonneville Salt Flats in Utah after making two runs Tuesday.

The first run was made at an average speed of 324.248 mph with the return run averaging 333.339 mph, beating the previous record of 235 mph which has stood for more than 30 years. In 1997, Green became the fastest man in the world when he drove ThrustSSC through the sound barrier to a speed of 763.035 mph.

The JCB Dieselmax he drove was designed by a British team, powered by a version of the same engine that is used in ordinary JCB vehicles and was built in Staffordshire, England.

“To have built the world’s fastest diesel is a stunning achievement for the JCB Dieselmax team and the car performed superbly,” said Tim Leverton, project director.

Sir Anthony Bamford, chairman of JCB, said, “This is a marvelous achievement for JCB, and a wonderful tribute to British engineering.”

Wing Commander Green said, “It’s a fantastic day for British engineering and for JCB, who have shown a lot of courage with this project.”