The News for June 20th, 2014

JL4_5500_2 Welcome to the Hooniverse News! As always, this is a weekly recap of some of the biggest stories in the automotive industry without the fluff or bull. I just throw in a little opinion of mine because I can. This week:

  • Bentley Continental GT3-R is how Bentley celebrates racing again

  • Mercedes-Benz CLS gets a small face lift

  • Ford Performance Vehicles readies their farewell tour

  • GM releases details on Chevy Colorado and GMC Canyon, midsize trucks still alive

  • Nissan hints at a future performance car with their Vision Gran Turismo concept

Bentley Continental GT3-R

JL8_9049_2 Let’s just assume for a second that you’re in the market for a Bentley or some other über luxurious grand tourer. Let’s also assume that you want this GT car to be fast. Really fast. Most people who face this first-world problem would go straight to the Continental GT Speed, a 200+ mph lounge chair that has established itself as the most hardcore, purpose-built speed machine in Bentley’s lineup. For a few, however, the GT Speed might not be good enough. Fortunately, Bentley has a new offering which isn’t faster than the GT Speed in a straight line but could probably wipe the floor with it everywhere else. Meet the Bentley Continental GT3-R. Bentley’s most dynamic road car in company history and is the closest thing to a race car you’ll be able to find from one of the world’s premiere luxury brands. For the GT3-R Bentley has taken clear inspirations from the Continental GT3 race car which just won them their first road racing victory on UK soil in 84 years, and the results are a car that focuses on well-balanced road-racing abilities rather than just top speed. Powering the GT3-R is a familiar 4.0-liter twin-turbocharged V8 with the boost cranked up to eleven. In total, 572 horsepower and 512 ft.-lbs. of torque are generated from that motor which gets sent to all four wheels through a close-ratio ZF eight-speed automatic gearbox. The all-wheel drive system is specially tuned for the purpose of maximum grip with the addition of torque vectoring – a Bentley first – and the suspension is also designed to cope with whatever road or track it gets thrown on to. Weight reduction was also a priority for this car – sort of – with a weight loss of about 220 pounds compared to the standard V8 model. It still weighs in at 4,839 lbs., but it’s a start. Even though this isn’t a top-speed-first kind of car, it still distinguishes itself as their fastest-accelerating road car ever with a 0-60 mph time of just 3.6 seconds. It’ll leave a nice roar as it sets off too thanks to a new titanium exhaust system. JL4_5990_2 When it comes time to slow down, Carbon Silicone Carbide brake discs measuring 16.5-inches up front and fourteen inches at the rear and eight-piston calipers will surely bring things back within the law in no time at all. To quote the press release (which is rare but appropriate here), those fancy brakes have the “ability to absorb up to 10 megajoules of energy (enough to power a family home for six hours) in a single stop yet remain fade resistant”. Those miracle brakes, which feature green-painted calipers because Bentley, sit behind lightweight forged twenty-one-inch wheels which are wrapped with high-grip Pirelli rubber. JL8_9120_2 The interior is unlike what you’d expect from a Bentley. The front seats are bespoke racing-style bucket seats trimmed with leather and Alcantara and the rear seats are nonexistent. Alcantara inserts, carbon fiber trim, and green accents line a sportier than usual cabin. The exterior gets its fair treatment of sportiness as well with a bespoke front splitter, fixed rear wing, functional hood vents, and plenty of carbon fiber and gloss black accents. The only paint color available is Glacier White with two-tone green graphics that trace the car’s “power lines”. Only 300 examples of the Continental GT3-R, Bentley’s “finest hour”, will ever be made. Pricing wasn’t provided even though order books are open now. Deliveries will start late this year so I’m sure you’ll have plenty of time to sell your body for science. [Source: Bentley]

2015 Mercedes-Benz CLS

2015cls1 Mercedes-Benz’s original “four door coupe” and “shooting brake” are scheduled to receive a bit of a face lift for the upcoming model year. Very minor exterior styling updates, a slightly tweaked interior, a new engine option, and a new transmission are what make the mid-life refresh for Benz’s oxymoron of a car. Styling-wise there isn’t much to tell it apart from the last, but it does in fact come with a reworked and more aggressive bumper featuring larger air ducts, a diamond pattern grille insert, and new standard full LED headlamps. The interior is mostly the same minus some small design changes but the biggest change is the eight-inch screen that shows the infotainment system, which like all the other Benzes, is mounted in a way that makes it seem like an afterthought. 2015cls2 The new model available with this face lift is the CLS400 which employs a 3.0-liter twin-turbo V6 producing 328 horsepower and 354 lb.-ft. of torque. Rear-wheel or all-wheel drive are available for all CLS models and all new non-AMG CLS models will ship with a new nine-speed automatic transmission. The CLS63 AMG itself gets a couple power tweaks in the form of more power as standard, 549 horsepower for rear-wheel-drive and 577 horsepower for all-wheel-drive to be exact, which used to be an optional extra for both variants of the last CLS63 AMG. 2015cls3 Pricing info was not given. [Source: Mercedes-Benz via Autoweek]

FPV Falcon GT F 351

FPVfinal The impending demise of the Australian automotive industry has been briefly mentioned here before and is something I’d say is just as tragic if not more than that time we thought we were going to lose Saab. With Australian factories having their days numbered and the world-famous muscle sedans and utes that win our hearts from afar destined for the history books, Ford Performance Vehicles is offering up one last hurrah for the fans. Dubbed the Falcon GT F 351, this high-performance Falcon is the last of its kind (the ‘F’ is for final). After this, Ford Performance Vehicles will shut its doors and the normal Ford Falcon its built on will disappear a few years later. The GT F 351 is the appropriate car for the occasion considering it’s the most powerful car FPV has ever sold thanks to its supercharged 5.0-liter V8. 471 horsepower (351 kw) and 420 lb.-ft. of torque provide more than enough power for your smokey tribute to Aussie performance. Suspension and braking have been upgraded as well but I can’t imagine you’d need them on a muscle saloon. The final FPV Falcon GT isn’t the only celebration car that was announced, as a good ole Ute is there to accompany it during its final hours. The FPV Pursuit Ute is another celebration of a uniquely Australian creation which features similar treatment as the Falcon GT F 351 including similar graphics, similar chassis tuning, and the same engine. To all two Australian readers we have here, enjoy this celebration of Aussie performance while you can. 500 Falcon GT F 351s will be sold to Australia plus 50 for New Zealand. 120 Pursuit Utes are in the pipeline. Please hoon responsibly. [Source: FPV via Autoblog]

BLIPS

2015colorado GM hasn’t given up on the midsize pickup yet as evident by the all new Chevrolet Colorado and GMC Canyon which we’ve seen within the last six months at auto shows. This week however, we’ve been given the technical details on the two trucks that potential buyers have been waiting for. For starters, both trucks come standard with a 200 horsepower four-cylinder engine (your move, Toyobaru) but also come available with a class-leading 3.6-liter V6 producing 305 horsepower and 269 lb.-ft. of torque. A diesel option is apparently on the way too… When “properly equipped”, the duo can tow up to 7,000 lbs. If you’re interested in more information about what is the only down-to-earth story I’ve covered this week, that’s all available from our friends at Autoweek. Nissan y PlayStation revelan su visión del futuro con el concep It’s time for another Vision Gran Turismo car, this time from Nissan. As part of Gran Turismo‘s campaign to bring in over a dozen of the world’s top car designers to create unique concepts for their game, Nissan has quickly revealed the Concept 2020. The 2+2 virtual supercar, in Nissan’s own words, hints at the future – most likely the future of the GT-R or something even more insane by the looks of it. No other specific information about the car was made available, but if you have a Playstation 3 and Gran Turismo 6 you’ll be able to experience it in a free update which comes available sometime in July. [Source: Nissan]

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