2008 Saturn Astra
February 6th, 2007
Saturn is currently preparing to debute the all-new Astra, a car that’s more-or-less identical to the European Opel Astra in every significant way. Rather than importing the car from Europe, which it will do at launch, to get the car more quickly, GM will build the car Stateside and massage some of the more expensive content out to make it a more cost-effective proposition for the U.S. market. What arrives on Saturn forecourts in the fall of 2007 will be much closer to its European sibling.
2007 Audi S8
February 5th, 2007
The Audi S8, which is an Audi A8 powered by a Lamborghini Gallardo’s V-10. The Power priorities are different for a luxury sedan weighing more than two tons. The S8’s version has its bore whittled out an additional two millimeters, increasing the displacement from 5.0 to 5.2 liters.
It also has Audi’s direct-injection system, called FSI. Maximum output is down from 493 horsepower at 7800 rpm in the Gallardo to 444 at 7000 rpm in the S8, and torque is up 22 pound-feet (398 pound-feet total), peaking 1000 rpm earlier at 3500 rpm. Interestingly, 444 horsepower is precisely the output of the 12-cylinder engine (the W-12) in the long-wheelbase A8L and 114 more than offered in the base 4.2-liter V-8.
2009 Porsche 911 Carrera S
February 2nd, 2007
For some car companies, evolution involves making radical changes at regular times to their products in order to maintain their appeal. However, that’s not the way it works at Porsche, who’s notoriously fast cars get updated at a notoriously fast pace, at least in terms of style, even while sometimes major advancements occur under the hood.
Even so, the slight changes that will find their way to the iconic Carrera within the next year or so are not so insignificant as to make it past the watchful eye of our European spy photographers, one of whom exasperated a Porsche test driver (who was stupid enough to venture onto Germany’s public roads in a future Carrera) by following him about while snapping away.