The Transsyberia Rallye 2008, in which most of the top racers seem to be sponsored by Porsche, has finished its 11th leg, and the Team France is in the lead, follewed by Team Germany. Team Qatar ran into a rock and damaged their vehicle, and may not be able to continue to the 12th leg. A few days ago, the original points leaders were Team Middle East, but on the 9th leg, driver Said al Hajri drove into a hidden pothole and injured his spine.
This Renault Megane R26.R is a track-ready version of the Megane F1 Team R26 on sale in the GCC. The R26.R will only be available in Europe, and it uses weight-savings to become the quickest compact hatchback to lap the Nurburgring racetrack in Germany.
The little-known Transsyberia rally from the Russian capital of Moscow to the Mongolian capital of Ulaanbaatar is being heavily promoted by Porsche, so much so that they custom-built a set of Cayenne S Transsyberia models to compete in the rally. Unlike the WRC, these road-legal vehicles are closer to their showroom counterparts. Though some other vehicles are also running the rally, the Cayenne-driving teams are getting the most publicity through international Porsche online advertisements (though none on this website). Unsurprisingly, they are also currently leading the 2008 rally, which has already reached its fourth leg.
The British magazine CAR had apparently got its hands on first images of the upcoming 2010 Lotus “Eagle” earlier. Powered by, of all things, a 3.5-litre Toyota V6 mounted behind the seats, it is supposed to a luxury cruiser alternative to the strippo Elise and barely-known Europa. “Eagle” was the codename for the car that eventually debuted as the new Lotus Evora at the British Auto Show.
So a few weeks ago, the staff manning the front desks at the Immigration department made my father run around different counters over two days as he tried to get a residence visa for my college-going brother, since the clerks were on a power-trip and kept asking for random bits of unneeded paperwork, which in the end were discarded without being checked. Incidentally, a few days ago, while dropping my mother off at the airport, I argued with red-shirted staff as they weren’t letting me pull my mother’s heavy suitcase up till the first x-ray scanner (much before the actual check-in counters,
Renault Middle East sent us news that they will launch a new midsize sedan in the GCC during September. They even sent us a teaser photo of the unnamed car, showing only a tail-light. That was enough for me to figure out that the car will be a rebadged version of the Korean-built Nissan-derived Samsung SM5.
Peugeot has quietly released photos of the 2009 Peugeot 308 CC hardtop-convertible, ahead of its official launch at the 2008 Paris Auto Show.
With the new SL65 AMG Black Edition taking up the top spot in the Mercedes-Benz line-up temporarily, the SLR McLaren is being discontinued soon, as AMG and McLaren branch off to make brand new supercars of their own. To give the aging SLR one last hurrah, an SLR Speedster is being developed. The funny part is, these “spy shots” were deliberately leaked by Mercedes-Benz themselves.
While the overdone SLR McLaren is finally going out of production, Mercedes-Benz is putting out the SL65 AMG Black Edition to take its place for a while. Powered by a twin-turbo 6.0-litre V12, it is one serious performance machine, even if it only comes with an automatic transmission.
The 2009 BMW 3-Series has been facelifted mildly, if you can even figure out what has been changed. These are first photos of the car, and it is set to launch at the Paris Auto Show. It looks like engines will remain the same.