BMW Z4 GT3 Confirmed for ALMS 2013

ALMS 2013 season will be held on 21st September and some of the latest reports show that BMW will be back on the track for this particular annual race with the 2013 BMW Z4 GTE based on the BMW Z4 GT3 which has been in the ALMS since 2009. It has gathered back-to-back GT championships, among them being the driver, team and manufacturer titles in 2011 not to mention seven class victories, all in the hands of Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing (BMW Team RLL).

Speaking on the car, BMW Motorsport Director Jens Marquardt said;

With the BMW Z4 GTE, we are starting a new chapter in North America alongside BMW Team RLL; we have celebrated magnificent victories and titles with the BMW M3 GT and BMW Team RLL over the past four years. The BMW Z4 GTE has everything it needs to continue this success story.

The team members are also key to performance, starting with the manager; long-time BMW employee Gordon McDonnell has been named the BMW NA Motorsport Manager and will lead the program from concept to the finish line. Returning drivers Bill Auberlen and Joey Hand from the US and Dirk Müller (DE) will join the effort.

New to the team is twenty-one-year old John Edwards (US) who will join the team, replacing Hand for the races that don’t fit into Hand’s DTM schedule. Edwards began his career in open-wheel racing, winning the Star Mazda title in 2008 and the Atlantic series championship in 2009 and since 2010 he has focused on GT and GS class racing in the GRAND-AM series.

26-year old Maxime Martin from Belgium will be the newest member to join the BMW Team RLL for the full 2013 season. He finished second in the 2012 BMW Sport Trophy after a strong season racing a BMW Z4 GT3 in the Blancpain Endurance Series and a BMW ALPINA B6 GT3 in the ADAC GT Masters.

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Lamborghini Aventador Receives Carbon Interior from MAcarbon

The Lamborghini Aventador is a carbon fiber beast that offers a ton of excitement per second, but there are still certain ares where one might want a bit of extra drama. One of these is the interior - how can you not want exposed carbon fiber in the cabin of such a car?

The answer comes from the aftermarket world and, in this case, from US specialist MAcarbon,. which has delivered a series of carbon fiber trimming for the LP700-4.

The company has shared a couple of photos with us and the prospect of gifting an Aventador with such goodies brings quite a lot of excitement. So far, MAcarbon has released developments such as trimming for the steering wheel, door panels, center console, as well as two pieces that are destined for the inner and outer frames of the navigation unit.

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2013 SRT Viper Receives ADV.1 Wheels via Virtual Tuning

Since the Chevrolet Corvette made its debut in Detroit, it’s grabbed quite a lot of our attention and we’re feeling that the new 2013 SRT Viper is a bit jealous. In order to make up to the snake, we decided to see how it would look with custom wheels on and share this with you.

Of course, getting our hands on one and swapping its wheels with aftermarket ones would’ve been a bit of a far stretch, so we turned to the world of virtual tuning instead.

We came across the adjacent rendering, which shows the 3rd generation Viper wearing custom rollers from Advance One Wheels. These come with a five double-spoke design - a minimalist one that allows us to get a good look at the massive brakes of the supercar.

The ADV.1 Wheels use a chrome finish, a feature that really suits the character of the Viper well.

News Source: PS-Garage

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2014 Chevrolet Corvette C7 Stingray ZR1 Rendering Released

The 2014 Chevrolet Corvette C7 has just made its world debut in Detroit and the vehicle is now keeping those who handle virtual tuning busy. Yesterday we showed you a rendering of the car wearing COR wheels and now it’s time to go even further.

The adjacent image shows the new Stingray as a ZR1, with the car receiving new front end details. The front fascia is significantly more aggressive than before, as if it would indicate the presence of the ZR1's supercharged engine under the bonnet. It also uses massive LED daytime running lights, as well as a generously-sized front splitter that draws quite a lot of attention to the vehicle.

The ‘Vette is also shown wearing a set of custom rims from Advance One Wheels. These come with a multi-spoke, deep concave design. The simple styling cues of the wheels allow us to focus on the design of the car and simply make it stand out a bit more.

Image credits: SpinnerBG on deviantart

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Spyshots: 2014 Porsche Panamera Winter Testing, Sports New Lights

The refreshed or facelifted Porsche Panamera is undergoing its second session of winter testing in Northern Europe. Last year, we were reporting that the changes made to this car would not be that significant, but these latest prototypes are much different.

It appears that Porsche might have reconsidered their original plans and are now going to introduce sweeping changes to the Panamera. We've heard similar rumours about Macan compact SUV, which is supposedly going to be redesigned to be as funky as its main rival, the Evoque.

These photos our spy photographers have managed to capture show the Panamera now sports a new set of taillights, which are all-LED and designed much the same way as those on a Cayman.

At the front, heavy camouflage is masking our view, but we know an LED bar will be used for the daytime runners, a much needed update.

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Genk Protest Ends - Ford Resumes Production

The situation at Ford's plant in Genk, Belgium, where production had been stopped due to workers blocking and cutting the supply of parts, as well as disrupting the plant in other ways. Up until now, they had not built and delivered a car since October 24, when the announcement that the plant would be closing down was made public.

Production should have been restarted earlier this month, but the attempt failed, as the protesters blocked an adjacent supply building.

However, now production has been restarted and this makes Blue Oval officials very happy, according to a company spokesman, Adrian Schmitz, who was quoted by Bloomberg: “We are pleased to be building and shipping vehicles again and are working to get the factory quickly up to full production.”

As a reminder, the Genk plant has a rich tradition, in association with the Ford name, as it is the spiritual home of all Europe-bound large Fords, and currently builds the Mondeo, as well as the S-Max and Galaxy models.

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Mercedes-Benz SLS Gets Purple Finish in China

We are all for the painting of very fast cars in outrageous colours, because when it comes to cars like the Mercedes-Benz SLS, the car is really worthy of a 'special' paint finish, to really make it visible. Most SLS models we`ve seen are either black or dark grey, and while they do suit the car's somewhat understated and Germanic personalities, we say they are not enough.

The SLS deserves a much fresher paint finish. Something like this purple wrap job from Shanghai, China, which really makes the gullwing coupe pop. Sadly, there`s only one photo, and we would have loved to see it from multiple angles, as it is the first purple example we`ve seen, and we have a hunch the rest of the car will also go well with the new colour.

The wrap job itself looks to be of high quality, and even the outer cowling of the badge is wrapped - proof that somebody has taken the time to do the job properly. We hope to see more photos of this purple monster from China, but if we don`t at least we know that a purple SLS exists, and it is attracting the looks of pretty much everybody passing by (pedestrians, and other drivers alike).

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Blood-Red Nissan GT-R Gets Bodykit in China

The Nissan GT-R looks like the kind of car which takes its mods well, and wears them with pride, no matter how small or outrageous they may be. Body kits, rims, spoilers and wild paint jobs really make the GT-R come alive, and whatever you do to it, there is a very high likelihood of it looking rather smart once you`re done.

This red example from China is excellent in illustrating the point. The car was spotted at a used car dealership, in the city of Shenzen, in the Guangdong province, and the first thing that strikes you about it is the bright red finish.

However, this what you are looking at is no wrap - the car is actually painted red, and is all the better for it. It also gets a nice wide body kit, a new rear spoiler, and aftermarket rims, with black interiors and red contrasting outer edges.

The car overall looks great, and as we`ve said before, it wears its mods with pride. We don`t know if the car has also had any performance upgrades, but since the GT-R is already stupid-quick, they are not mandatory.

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Ferrari Teases New Formula 1 Car - Will Be Revealed on February 1

Ferrari has created a special section on their official homepage, where they have added a 24-hour countdown, to let fans know how long they have left before a more revealing teaser for the 2013 Formula 1 car is shown.

Set to be revealed on February 1, it will be the last of the V8-powered F1 car, because as of next year a 1.6-liter turbocharged V6 will be required.

The unveiling will be broadcast online via live streaming, and we expect the Italian team to cook up some sort of special celebration for the occasion, possibly a speech from someone higher up in the company, as well as supermodels to pull the wraps off the car.

The all-new F1 car will be driven in 2013 by the same two drivers Ferrari employed last year: Spaniard Fernando Alonso, seconded by Brazilian Felipe Massa. Ferrai is one of the few teams who did not want or need to make any changes to the formula, as its drivers were very competent and very competitive in 2012, and they simply want to build on that this year.

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Video: Toyota releases teaser for Kaley Cuoco Super Bowl ad

Toyota has released a 35-second teaser video for its upcoming Super Bowl spot staring Kaley Cuoco, the actress best known for her role as object-of-nerd-affection Penny on The Big Bang Theory. The real star of the ad, however, is its soundtrack, the 1995 hit "I Wish" by rapper Skee-Lo that will have your mind cashing nostalgia checks the moment it hits your ears.

We still don't know much about the content, plot or story of this Super Bowl commercial, though we can say that its object of promotion is likely the new RAV4 we see Ms. Cuoco driving in it. The rest of the time she's walking the street in a purple get-up granting wishes like Robin Williams on a Disney sound stage. And then the Easter Bunny and a chihuahua enter the picture and we get lost. Clint Eastwood under a bridge this is not.

But hey, Super Bowl ads cost millions and millions of dollars to produce and air, so we trust that Toyota spent its money wisely and will have us ROFLing on game day.

News Source: Toyota via YouTube

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