Range Rover

Mi.To, baby Alfa by all means. Now we reveal the first complete, undisguised, interior dash pictures of this supposed-MINI slayer, another one from the Fiat Group after the 500. Shots we first showed of spied interior were not too far off the mark at all – click here to refer – apart from the completely hidden centre console as well as the cloth seats. The car has shares a lot of its inside looks with bigger Alfas, and would be quite difficult not to recognise as an Alfa from a short glance.

As a miniature Alfa – not by much of course – Mi.To sports two doors that make it look like a roadster, but is actually a coupe. Not sure exactly how much legroom is in there yet but we do expect a comparable figure to its chief rivals. A major attraction to the Mi.To will be the Ferrari-style manettino system that regulates and harmonises settings for such things as damping and so on. Reports suggest it will be standard in the Mi.To, a car expected to fetch a minimum of €20,000 each at the dealers’.

Performance meets designer labels. This is what the new SL 63 AMG Edition IWC is all about; the desire to marry hi-performance with plush luxury. As a result of the partnership with Swiss watchmaker IWC, which first bore fruit with the old CLS 55 AMG, SL 63 AMG has gone into hi-designer mode as well. The car is fitted with all sorts of special fittings, most of which serve as beautifying agents, such as the Tobago brown nappa leather upholstery, which makes a unique look to the SL 63 AMG. Carbon matte trim inside is not only eye candy but also geared for performance. AMG badging is apparent everywhere, as expected. Other telltale signs that this is exclusive include the IWC logo at the centre console, black floor mats featuring Tobago Brown leather piping. The SL 63 AMG Edition IWC will be the first vehicle to be offered with the all-new designo magno Kashmir white finish. Steering wheels is not normal either, featuring a flat-bottom design so well loved by sporting automakers nowadays.

The car still sports AMG’s 6.2-litre V8 pushing out its 386kW/ 525 bhp and torque of 630Nm through the new AMG seven-speed MCT transmission, good for 0 – 100km/h in 4.6 seconds, limited to a top whack of 300km/h. Only 200 units will be made and availability is November 2008.

BMW has once again played the dominant role at the International Engine of the Year Awards, whose 2008 edition have just been announced. The Munich-based company took the honours six times in what appears a one-sided contest skewed in favour of the blue and white-propeler outfit.

To top it all, the coveted International Engine of the Year was part of the six that BMW scooped. This category was taken by the 3.0-litre twin-turbo for the second time in a row. It beat Volkswagen Group’s 1.4 TSI powerplant almost by a 100 points to the post and BMW was represented no less than four times in the top 8 for this main award. The awards are presided over by a panel of 65 international motoring journalists from 32 countries across the whole world. They serve to recognize engineering excellence in many of the cars that we all love.

In the categories section winners included the VW Group’s 2.0-litre turbo found in such luminaries as the Golf GTI and SEAT Leon Cupra. Subaru won the 2.0-litre to 2.5-litre category with the 2.5 turbo. But a sigh of relief must have gone to Porsche who took the Performance Engine of the Year Award. This was a hotly contested category with engines like Audi’s 5.2-litre V10 twin turbo, Nissan 3.8-litre twin turbo GT-R and two M engines in the V10 and new 4.0-litre V8. In fact, so close was the competition in this regard that the top three nominees – 3.6 Porsche, 5.0 BMW and 4.0 BMW respectively – were separated by a mere four points!

Other prominent engine makers like Ferrari, General Motors, Ford and Mercedes-Benz (especially AMG division) will now have to take serious stock of their wares to catch up to the ever-dominant BMW and Volkswagen.

Here’s the list of the 2008 winners:

International Engine of the Year 2008
BMW 3-litre Twin-Turbo (135i, 335i, X6)

Best New Engine of 2008
BMW 2-litre Diesel Twin-Turbo (123D)

Green Engine of the Year
Toyota 1.5-litre Hybrid Synergy Drive (Prius)

Best Performance Engine
Porsche 3.6-litre Turbo (911 Turbo, 911 GT2)

Sub 1-litre
Toyota 1-litre (Aygo, Yaris, Peugeot 107, Citroën C1, Subaru Justy)

1-litre to 1.4-litre
Volkswagen 1.4-litre TSI Twincharger (Golf, Touran, Tiguan, Jetta)

1.4-litre to 1.8-litre
BMW-PSA 1.6-litre Turbo (MINI Cooper S, Clubman, Peugeot 207, 308)

1.8-litre to 2-litre
Volkswagen/Audi 2-litre Turbo (A3, A4 Cabrio, A6, TT, Eos, Jetta, Golf GTi, Altea, Leon, Skoda Octavia)

2-litre to 2.5-litre
Subaru 2.5-litre Turbo (Forester, Impreza, Outback, Legacy)

2.5-litre to 3-litre
BMW 3-litre Twin-Turbo (135i, 335i, X6)

3-litre to 4-litre
BMW 4-litre V8 (M3)

Above 4-litre
BMW 5-litre V10 (M5, M6)

Last year the Brilliance BS6 premium sedan failed German crash tests at 40 mph miserably, with the released pictures showing a quite scary possible scenario leaving a major dent the reputation of the Chinese automaker. However a recent real life experience of a Brilliance BS4 owner could help change that opinion.

Whilst travelling at 100km/h the BS4 driver lost control of the vehicle as it crashed through a barrier flying down into a ditch, rolling two times before it hit a pile of dirt and landed again. Despite Brilliance' reputation for producing unsafe cars, the driver escaped with only minor bruising where his seat belt pulled against his waist.

Unsurprisingly the car has been totalled, leaving the owner to fight it out with the insurance company.

Soon many other tuners will be on the new A4 (B8) bandwagon. For now RIEGER Tuning is showing off its latest creation in the A4 3.0 TDI. RIEGER has gone and changed quite a few bits and pieces of A4, such as a redesigned rear bumper that features an integrated air diffuser, side skirts and a front lip spoiler. The wheels are special as well at 20-inch in alloy.

To give the A4’s look some suitable go to match, RIEGER popped the bonnet to redo some of the ECU’s hard work. So instead of 176kW from the turbo diesel motor, we now see a total of 219kW, plus torque measuring stonking 610Nm. Remember that the standard car sees 500Nm, so this is quite a significant jump.

Geiger Cars, run under the sharp tutelage of Karl Geiger, is well known for its imported American cars that it tunes to customer satisfaction. All the way in Munich, Germany. Geiger has now imported the massive F650, presumably by ship via the Atlantic, for tuning. The vehicle’s proportions are simply incomparable. When we first spotted the big blob of Ford metal at the 2006 Detroit Motor Show we knew somewhere somehow would find it the most interesting thing since the model T Ford. Indeed.

Measuring some 21.3 feet (6.5 metres) in length and weighing 5.2 tonnes of curb weight on the scales, the F650 needs a truck driver’s license to drive. Comparisons have been made, by Geiger, to vehicles like the HUMMER H2 which sadly falls short on the size front.

The engine itself is a diesel motor, covering some 6.7-litres. The 320 bhp will hardly scare away anything in this day and age, especially if it’s 320 horses expected to run more than 5 tonnes of steel. You are better off racing a train. However. Here’s the thing. F650 from Geiger isn’t too interested in kiloWatts anyway since a truck’s main function in life is to haul cargo, dead or alive. What matters in this league are Newton metres or pounds in feet as it were, where we count 737.6 lb-ft of them. All from this six cylinder unit! Only the likes of Mercedes-Benz 65 AMG and Audi V12 TDI engines make such numbers. The vehicle is driven by a 6-speed automatic gearbox.

Get this. You can customize your vehicle to your best liking with things like gullwing doors, leather interior and navigation entertainment systems.

Barely weeks after Audi first showed the Q5 officially, the German marque has revealed an S Line version of the Q5. The car attracts a sportier demeanor through a number of exterior changes. Some of these are 19-inch wheels which if you didn’t know, would certainly put you off the idea of going off-road in the swashbuckling Audi SUV. An optional 20-inch alloy is available, put around 255mm of black rubber. A groovy grille with a matching mesh pattern of air vents around the fog lights accentuates the aggression of S Line.

Interior features layons of brushed aluminium with the three-spoke steering wheel featuring multi-function capability and wrapped in perforated leather. Typically S Line, the door sills show “S Line” whenever you open the doors. The seats are layered in Nappa or Alcantara trim with the S Line logo embroidered on the seat for that extra special touch.

Nothing gets done to the engines as these are purely for sporty looks and drivability. That means for now we get the two TDI engines 2.0-litre and 3.0-litre, as well as the petrol-engined 2.0-litre TFSI. These plants are good for 125kW, 350Nm and 176kW, 500Nm respectively, while the TFSI makes 155kW and 350Nm.