So you say you've heard enough already about the 550-hp 2011 Ford Shelby GT500? What are you, a communist? Either way, you haven't actually heard the GT500.
Well now you have. Or rather, you've heard a recording of the nasty GT500 through what are, let's face it, probably pretty crappy speakers. Even so you get a sense of the rip and burble of the new exhaust system overlaid with the positively toddler-level whine of the supercharger.
It's worth making the jump just to see some poor sap driving the convertible 2011 GT500, top down, in the middle of a Michigan winter.
Ford decided it couldn't wait until the actual start of the 2010 Chicago Auto Show to reveal its two new variations of the 2011 Transit Connect utility van. One is a pure electric version of the standard model while the other is a taxi conversion.
The 2011 Ford Transit Connect Electric is designed as a short-errand hauler that doesn't give up any cargo capacity in return for clean running electric motor. The 2011 Transit Connect taxi is exactly what you would expect, a striped down people hauler with vinyl seats and extra wiring for a sign on the roof. The taxi version of the Transit Connect does introduce a natural gas or propane conversion for the standard 2.0-liter four-cylinder, however, and that conversion will be available for all Transit Connects, not just the taxi version.
In addition to the specifications laid out in the press kit, Ford officials made the following claims about the 2011 Shelby GT500 at today's press conference in Detroit:
- It will be one tenth quicker to 60mph and two tenths quicker in the quarter-mile than the 2010 model. - The Performance Pack will add 18% more downforce. - The exhaust has 32% less backpressure.
That's about it, which is clearly isn't much, but in the land of Mustang, no detail is too small to rub in the face of the bowtie boys.
There wasn't much revealed today about the 2011 Shelby GT500 that we didn't already know from previous leaks. Yes, it's new aluminum block 5.4-liter V8 makes 550 horsepower. Yes, you can get a glass-roof coupe and yes there's a new SVT Performance package that adds a few extra mechanical bits to the big-buck Mustang.
We caught an early glimpse of the Nissan 370Z 40th Anniversary Edition last week and now it's been revealed in full courtesy of Nissan UK. Over there it will be called the 370Z Black Edition, but it's loaded up in the same manner as the version we'll get.
According to the U.K. press release this 370Z will get unique seats, extra red stitching throughout the interior and a premium navigation system.
Exterior upgrades include 19-inch Rays wheels, red brake calipers and, of course, 40th Anniversary badges. Only 370 units will be sold in all of Europe, no word yet on Nissan's plans for the U.S., but we'll get a full download next week at the 2010 Chicago Auto Show.
Last week we brought you a partial list of the upgrades in store for the 2011 Shelby GT500 courtesy of an order guide leak. This morning, some crafty members at TeamShelby noticed a video of the upcoming GT500 on one of Ford's media sites. The pictures you see here are screen grabs from that video which has since been taken down.
It's the closest thing we get to an M7 and the 2011 BMW Alpina B7 is priced accordingly. Standard wheelbase models start at $122,875 while the one with the big back seat goes for $126,775.
The new super sedan will make its official debut the 2010 Chicago Auto Show next week and go on sale in the spring. Based on the latest 7 Series, the B7 is tuned to produce 500-horsepower and 516 pound-feet of torque.
You into minivans? Probably not, but there are still those who need them, sometimes even want them as their ability to haul the family is unsurpassed by any other vehicle on the road.
For some time now, the Honda Odyseey has been the van of choice. It's huge, yet drives much smaller. There's more than enough passenger/cargo room and all the right features are there too.
At the 2010 Chicago Auto Show, a concept version of the 2011 Honda Odyssey will be shown for the first time. And knowing Honda, it will be about one shade of paint and a couple overly shiny taillights away from the production version.
This is the much-anticipated 40th Anniversary Edition 2010 Nissan 370Z. It was caught by a spy photographer in Southern California this morning a couple of weeks before its planned debut, which is set to take place during the Chicago auto show.
These exclusive spy photos, obtained only by Inside Line, reveal a more mild treatment than Z fans might have been expecting. The dark gray body color is unique, of course, as are the body-color wheels and the red brake calipers, but the wheel design and bodywork appear to be unchanged. Even the rear spoiler looks to be the same as the spoiler on a 370Z Touring.
Badging has also been kept to a minimum. Only a single, small 40th Anniversary badge on the car's rear bumper (just below the standard 370Z badge) tells the valet this is no ordinary Z.
All we know about the interior is that it has red leather covering standard Z Touring seats, and we know even less about the sports car's mechanical bits. We've been told the car would use some Nismo parts, but we won't really know until Chicago.
Kia just released this teaser shot of its Ray concept car that will debut at the 2010 Chicago Auto Show. It was drawn up in Kia's American design studio and is intended to give some direction to the company's idea for a plug-in hybrid vehicle. Doesn't look half bad. We'll see the rest in a few weeks when the 2010 Chicago Auto Show opens for the press on Feb. 10th.
Remember that goofy little utility truck Ford unveiled at the Chicago Auto Show in February? It's almost here, and Edmunds.com has just posted full pricing and options. Want a Dewalt tool link? How about doors that open 225 degrees? It's all there for the taking provided you can live with those odd headlights and even more bizarre profile.
In yesterday's press conference on the state of the domestic auto industry, President Obama gave Chrysler 30 days to finalize a deal with Fiat. With that in mind, Sergio Marchionne, Fiat's CEO, wasted no time and immediately flew to Detroit.
Chrysler released a statement late yesterday saying that it had "a framework agreement" in place with Fiat, so clearly there are still plenty of details left to iron out. With bankruptcy looming, we don't see how Chrysler will come out of the talks without a deal in place.
Kia used the Seoul auto show to unveil its first every production hybrid vehicle. The Kia Forte Hybrid, aimed at the South Korean automaker's home market, is slated to go on sale later this summer.
It combines a 1.6-liter liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) engine with a small electric motor-generator, a continuously variable transmission and what the company says will be the world's first lithium-polymer battery pack.
It's been all of a month now since the 2010 Ford Taurus SHO debuted at the 2009 Chicago Auto Show sporting a 365-horsepower, twin-turbo V6. Sure it might be hooked to an automatic, but the new SHO is still a formidable beast.
We can't help but wonder, however, if the Taurus might suffer the same fate as the new Mustang. That is, a high-powered muscle machine that gets lost in an economy that sees spending extra cash on horsepower as a frivolous waste of money.
Maybe you saw the Hyundai Genesis Coupe commercial that ran during the Super Bowl? That would be the one with the yellow coupe drifting all over Road Atlanta? Hyundai used a cut edited by Billy Corrigan, but it also offered viewers the chance to make their own version by going to its website.
Our in-house photography ace Scott Jacobs recently took a stab at a remake. What do think?
