Not more than a couple days have passed since MINI debuted their new Coupe family and already the British brand has prepped their latest, most driver-oriented model ever for the Nurburgring 24-hour endurance race. Guess they’re trying to drive home the point that this is a serious little machine. MINI does have quite the motor sport heritage, and they will be reminding people of that this weekend, June 25-26, with an official factory-backed effort.

MINI will be tackling the 14+ mile long “Green Hell” with a race-prepped 1.6-liter that puts out an additional 39hp over the street car, for a total of 247hp, torque rises to 243ft-lb. The interior has been thoroughly pared down, bringing the weight down to just under an admirable 2200lbs. More power, less weight, and a more aerodynamic profile mean that top speed should be just a hair under 150mph.

The new Coupe family is a bit on the cute side, but this effort should put to rest any concern that this is anything other than a fine addition to one of motor sport’s great marques.

12►

Tanner Foust and the rest of the crew at Top Gear USA are set to get some competition on July 13. The SPEED channel is debuting Adam Carolla’s very aptly named, The Car Show. It’s an hour long show and besides Carolla, features Dan Neil, John Salley and Matt Farah as hosts.

The format can’t help but be similar to the Top Gear franchise as it promises to cover “Everything Automotive” with lots of personality mixed in. It’d be nice to see a genuinely different take on the now classic Top Gear formula, but still keep the beautifully shot, high-powered segments of my favorite supercars.

Look for the show July 13 at 10pm as it spearheads SPEED’s efforts to win back the gearhead audience it lost a few years back when it switched to all-NASCAR, all the time. The Car Show is actually one of several shows SPEED will be introducing shortly. In August, look for other potential hits like Dumbest Stuff On Wheels, and My Ride Rules.

Maserati will finally be getting the SUV they’ve been thinking about for a few years. Thanks to Sergio Marchionne’s successful play in snatching up Chrysler, thus giving Fiat the keys to the Kingdom, engineers are hard at work to make the all-new Grand Cherokee into a proper Maserati. Announced some months ago, it was implied that while the platform would be mainly Jeep, the engine would be from Ferrari… as is the case with other Maserati models.

The latest rumors indicate that the Cayenne-killer from Maserati will now sport a HEMI. The 6.4-liter unit from the Grand Cherokee SRT-8. A very fine motor indeed, but an italian exotic like Maserati powered by something that Bo and Luke Duke could work on blind-folded is…. the reality we have to live with in order for brands to survive and prosper in the current economic climate. It’s a cost-cutting move to ensure Maserati success in an all new market segment.

As far as styling goes, pictured above is what Maserati was thinking about back in 2003. Don’t expect it to look exactly like that as the new model will be based on the Grand Cherokee, and Maserati’s styling language has moved on somewhat from that look. But do expect a medium-sized SUV in the mold of a Porsche Cayenne, a BMW X5, and a…. Jeep Grand Cherokee.

Source: Top Gear

Maserati Private Party Ads

A common play in manufacturing automobiles is to to build as many differentiated models as possible off of one common set of components or platform. Done correctly, it can be very profitable. Porsche does it with their 300 versions of the 911, MINI is doing it with their growing family of Coopers, and other makers have been doing it since the start of the industry over a hundred years ago.

Land Rover is now following that rule in expanding its Range Rover brand with yet another model. It’s recently introduced Evoque model line is meant to be a smaller, more city oriented sort of SUV available in coupe and 5-door versions. LR is now reportedly reviewing the case for a larger, 7-passenger version of that platform. Engines would carry over from the Evoque, so look for a family of fuel-saving 4-cylinder engines putting out as much as 237hp.

Other than a larger body and roomier cabin, there aren’t very many details on the styling and whether it would try to keep the Evoque’s rakish roof line. Hopefully, a fifth addition to the Range Rover nameplate will do lots for the bottom line and little to water down the marque.

Source: Autocar

Land Rover Private Party Ads

About a week after teasing us by releasing official spy photos of a camo’d MINI Coupe, MINI has released a whole trunk-full of high-res pics of the new Cooper Coupe. Interior and all. Reverse baseball cap in place. Click through to see every angle and base pricing for the whole line-up.

Here is the latest member of the rapidly growing MINI family, the MINI Coupe. Its the fastest accelerating, fastest all-out, most driver focused MINI ever. The unique coupe styling is supposed to evoke a kid wearing a baseball cap backwards, as they tend to do. Works in my book, its extremely distinctive, if a little gimmicky. It does look a bit much like a cut and paste job with the new roof and the standard Cooper body, but it does look special enough. As such, just about every dimension is exactly the same as its rear passenger toting brother.

123456►

In case you’re wondering, or if you already guessed, there is no back seat for your passengers to squeeze into. Its been replaced with a cargo area partitioned off from the cockpit. The rest of the interior is pretty much straight from the regular, ‘other’ coupe..which is to say that its pretty nice to look at.

The new Coupe comes in three trim levels and prices: Cooper Coupe ($22,000), Cooper S Coupe($25,300), and John Cooper Works Coupe($31,900). Engine-wise, this lineup mirrors the regular Cooper line-up. The top-of-the-line Works model sports a turbocharged 1.6-liter direct-injection four that puts up 208 horsepower. That’s good for a run up to 60mph in 6.1secs, and a top speed of 149mph. Another autocrosser is born.

Put away the spyshots. Stop guessing about the specs. After a slow but steady trickle of info and pics, BMW decided to officially release details, and lots of high-res pics, about the new M5. As is usually the case, it comes about a year after the recently redone 5-Series and packs more performance than its predecessor. Gallery and details after the jump.

With the looks having more or less debuted last year, the story now is with what’s under the hood. Gone is the last iteration’s V10, replaced by a smaller but more powerful turbo-charged V8. It’s the same unit found in the X5M and X6M. The new M5 now generates 560hp between 6,000-7,000 RPM, and 502ft-lb torque from 1,500 RPM on. Along with increased performance comes increased fuel efficiency, a 30% bump over the last gen’s numbers, now 23.8MPG.

12345►

A seven-speed double clutch transmission sends power out back through an electronic, multi-plate LSD. All that hardware is good for a sprint to 60MPH of less than 4.4secs, and onto a potential top speed of 190MPH. Potential because you have to first turn off the governor that limits it to a lowly 155MPH. More performance with fewer resources, that’s the point of this new M5, as BMW and other carmakers struggle to change along with these ever greener times.

BMW M5: V8 petrol engine, M TwinPower Turbo technology with Twin Scroll Twin Turbo, cross-bank exhaust manifold, High Precision Injection direct injection and VALVETRONIC variable valve control.

Displacement: 4,395 cc
Max. Output: 412 kW/560 hp at 6,000 – 7,000 rpm
Max. Torque: 680 Nm (502 lb-ft) at 1,500 – 5,750 rpm
Acceleration 0 – 100 Km/H (62 Mph): 4.4 seconds
Acceleration 0 – 200 Km/H (124 Mph): 13.0 seconds
Top Speed: 250 km/h / 155 mph (305 km/h / 190 mph with M Driver’s Package)
Average Fuel Consumption: 23.8 mpg
Co2 Emissions: 232 g/km, exhaust standard: EU5

BMW Private Party Ads

Selling your car can be a tough thing to do. As is the case with many things in life, some do it better than others. Some are content to take 2-3 poor quality shots on their cell phone, if that, stumble through one or two sentences to describe their car, and call it a day. On the opposite end of that spectrum are people who realize that in 2011, it takes a bit more than that. High quality…stylized even..photos of the vehicle that win over buyers. An edited, polished, film school caliber video production that makes buyers want the car is a huge advantage. But private party sellers that put together an engaging, informative ad about their car have one small problem…

Classified ads don’t really allow those sellers to create an ad that shows off their vehicle the way they intended. Take for example, the seller of a classic Porsche 911 that has created an exceptional set of photos and an ultra-polished, genuinely entertaining video…embedded below. He’s created an engaging tumblr page about the car and gotten tons of press on car blogs, but the main ad on a popular auto shopping site leaves buyers with an experience that is distinctly 1990s. Our Multimedia Ad combines the interaction sellers like these want, with a genuine classified ad format. Check out the video below, and view the seller’s Multimedia Ad to see how it’s done.

Spring 2012 marks the arrival of an all new generation of BMW’s everlasting 3 Series, and to get ready for the switch, BMW will cease production of the current sedan and coupe this October. The new 3 Series family, F30, will be a bit more muscular and aggressive with its grill treatment, accent lines, short overhangs, and overall look, keeping in line with the rest of the BMW line-up. Hopefully, BMW will go far in updating the overall shape that it has stuck to since the release of the E46 3er more than 10 years ago.

The next-gen 3 Series will include a range of updated 6- and 4-cylinder motors, possibly even a 3 banger. In addition to the updated powerplants, expect a whole suite of technology from BMW’s EfficientDynamics initiative like aero-efficient wheels, solar panels for added efficiency in the use of interior controls, brake energy regeneration, stop-start technology, and pre-heating technology for the engine, gearbox and differential. Even the M3 will quit it’s current marriage to a V8 engine as future M3s will rightfully return to an inline-6 layout, albeit in twin-turbocharged form.

Source: BMW Blog via Autoblog

BMW Private Party Ad Listings

Regardless of where you fall in the whole Mustang and Camaro rivalry, you’ve got to admit that the automotive landscape is a far better place for having both in it, even if the Stang did have to hold down the muscle car fort down all on its own for a few years there…but I digress! Both are leagues better than they were a few years ago, legitimately challenging several pricey imports that were previously seen as untouchable.

Road & Track has put together a video comparo you can watch below. The Camaro convertible is starting to hit the street now and is reviewing pretty well. R&T praises the ride quality and power. The stylish interior didn’t seem to impress too much though. The Mustang has been available as a convertible for a few years now, so it brings along a 5.0-liter V8 for it’s wow factor. Just be glad these two cars exist in such competent executions and press play.

Source: Road & Track

BMW’s latest M car is making the rounds this week and this time Inside Line gets to take it for a spin. Overall, they like the 1-Series M a lot, proclaiming that this 1er is definitely worthy of the M badge. With a twin-turbo inline-6 officially rated at 335hp in a car that weighs 210lbs less than the M3, its easy to see why. The 1-Series M also uses the M3′s suspension hardware, steering rack, and brakes…though it doesn’t get all it’s big brothers goodies as it does have to come in at a price of at least $10k less. The 1-Series M’s base price is $47,010.

But where as the M3 is a regular production car, the 1-Series M is said to be limited to 1000 cars total available in the U.S., don’t expect more next year. That means strong resale prices in a couple years when private party sales begin. Take a look at their video review below and head over to their article for more info.

BMW Private Party Ad Listings