Indian Autos blog

The Mclaren P11 will be the British company’s super sports car after a very long gap. The Mclaren Mercedes SLR launched earlier in the decade, proved a point, but did not quite do what Mclaren wished for. At least it was never as famous as its predecessor the Mclaren F1, which many still maintain as the best supercar ever made.

Mclaren has formally announced its racing wing and production car wing will be handled as different entities. None other than Ron Dennis, team principal of the successful Mclaren Mercedes F1 team will anchor the latter and its newest project, a supercar codenamed the P11.

The JDM (Japanese Domestic Market) Toyota Land Cruiser has received a new 318hp 4.6-liter V8 engine. The Land Cruiser’s current engine is a 4.7-liter Toyota engine which uses outdated technology.

The 4.6-liter V8 Dual VVT-i gasoline engine produces 318-horsepower at 5,600 rpm and 460Nm of maximum torque at 3,400 rpm. The predecessor’s 4.7-liter V8 posted inferior figures of 288HP and 445Nm. The new 4.6L V8 is coupled to a new 6-speed automatic transmission that replaces the previous 5-speed auto box.

The wait for the TVS Apache RTR 180 has been long and hard and it finally is here! The Bajaj Pulsar 180 has got something to bitch about. It’s a promotional video of the 180cc version of the TVS Apache which currently displaces 160cc and comes in carburetted and fuel injected versions.

The Apache 180cc will produce 17.3ps of power and carry rear disc brakes. Information on the launch date, variants and prices have not been set afloat. We expect the bike to arrive at dealer showrooms by the end of May.

Tata Motors announced 500,000 booking forms of the Tata Nano has been sold by the company through its 30,000 outlets in the country. The booking forms which are available till midnight April 25 in dealer showrooms trading Tata products, have sold enough to generate U.S.$3 million for the company.

One can purchase booking forms for 300 rupees (USD 6) in outlets which deal not only with cars, but other Tata products such as watches and clothing line. The booking was pronounced open on the 9th of this month while forms were made attainable to customers from the 1st.

As soon as the deadline is arrived on the 25th, 100,000 winners will be picked randomly by a computer and the cars will be distributed starting from July.

The title illustrates and communicates my disappointment. It could have been a dream weekend for Vijay Mallya, team owner. His cricket team, the Royal Challengers emerged winners in its inaugural IPL cricket match yesterday and today his Force India car driven by Adrian Sutil in the Shanghai may well have taken sixth place ahead of last year’s world championship contenders Lewis Hamilton and Felipe Massa.

But not all days are Fridays as some put it.

Sutil was under constant pressure from Lewis Hamilton, who was fighting hard to regain the position which he lost to Sutil after spinning out a few laps earlier. Sutil lost grip, he was carrying more speed than the car could handle, forcing him to spin out and hit the barrier with 6 laps to the checkered flag. Damage was irreparable.

It might look like the same Audi R8 that was launched in 2007, but that’s where the similarities end.

This new R8 has two more cylinders and a little more grunt than the old Audi R8, thanks to a Lamborghini-sourced V10 engine that sends 525 horsepower to all four wheels via a sophisticated quattro all-wheel-drive system.

The Result is a zero to 100 km/h (62.14 mph) sprint in 3.9 seconds and a top speed of 316 km/h (196.35 mph).

BMW has launched its diesel-powered 320d Highline variant here in India. Bearing a Rs.30.70 lakh price tag, it costs 2 Lakhs more than the base diesel 3-series – the 320d.

I know what you are thinking. You feel the Skoda Fabia Scout above is nothing more than a regular Fabia with different bumpers, wheels, roof rails and plastic.

Yeah, you are right

The Skoda Fabia Scout is a faux off-road version of the popular hatchback. Need more adrenaline? why not try the Skoda Fabia Sportline which already is on sale in Czech Republic, comes into India later in the year. Not interested, glance at the Skoda Fabia Sport, if you might.

The Skoda Fabia S2000 is the maximum level of madness you can arrive at. You’ll officially be categorized as a proper hooligan if you drove that thing on the road.

The Skoda Fabia hatchback Scout will prolly book a spot in one of the auto shows this year and should be in markets sooner than the Skoda Fabia vRS which is another hooligan in the making.