2012 Lexus LFA Nürburgring Package

Announced back in May 2010, the Lexus LFA with the Nurburgring Package will make its official debut next month at Geneva. The Japanese sure took their time releasing the car but as the title says, better late than never. If you haven't heard about this special edition of the LFA, it offers 10 hp more in comparison to the standard model, which means that the V10 4.8-liter will produce a whopping 562 hp.

2012 Lexus LFA Nürburgring Package

In addition, the shift times will be reduced by 50 milliseconds to only 150. Last but not least, this LFA version will also get an upgraded aero package.

2012 Lexus LFA Nürburgring Package

As a quick reminder, the standard model costs $375,000 and if you want this Nurburgring Package you'll have to pay another $70,000 which in my opinion is a little bit too much for only a few improvements. Only 500 LFAs will be ever made and 10% of these will benefit from this special package. I'm pretty sure that Lexus will sell these cars in a matter of hours.

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Better Late Than Never – Lexus LFA With Nurburgring Package Heading For Geneva

Jeep Grand Cherokee SRT8

I've always considered the Grand Cherokee as the best SUV out there although I don't like big cars that much. The guys over at AutoBlog posted a couple of photos of the SRT8 version which should be out in the following months.

Jeep Grand Cherokee SRT8

Rumors say that the SRT8 version of the Jeep Grand Cherokee will have a 6.4-liter HEMI engine under the hood that will develop about 470 hp. The bad thing is that the power unit will most likely be mated to a 5-speed automatic gearbox. However, this transmission will be the first SRT-branded product with paddle-shifter. The SRT8 version will stop efficiently thanks to those massive 14-inch Brembo disc brakes.

Jeep Grand Cherokee SRT8

Source: AutoBlog

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Jeep Grand Cherokee SRT8 Spied

During this period takes place the 103rd edition of the Chicago Auto Show, the largest auto show in North America and a fun place to visit with your family (husband, children or nanny). The show offers interactive displays, kid-sized cars that children can drive, cool concepts and indoor driving courses for you and your family.

Today’s Women Day
The important part in this article is that today, on February 15, is Women's Day, meaning that the organizers have created a special program for women while manufacturers will present special women-oriented programs on the purchase and lease of cars and maintenance. During this day, women are admitted for $7.

Chicago Auto Show Special Days
The Women's Day is the first from the list of Special Days on Chicago Auto Show, a list that includes Chicago Auto Show Food Drive (on Frebruary 16) and Telemundo Hispanic Day (on February 18) too.
Chicago Auto Show visiting period is: February 11- February 20, 2011.

For more information about the program and exhibitions, you can visit Chicago Auto Show official webpage.

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Chicago Auto Show 2011: Today Is Women's Day

Gumpert Tornante

The 2011 Chicago Auto Show is heading towards its end and now we focus our attention on the upcoming automotive event organized in Geneva next month. One of the automakers that will be present is going to be supercar manufacturer Gumpert who will be bringing its latest creation – the Tornante.

They've released this teaser to grab our attention and it seems that their new model is a more refined car which will most likely have a more comfortable cabin in comparison to their racing thoroughbred – the 2010 Apollo.

The car will not lose its racing heart as it will get the same impressive V8 twin-turbo 4.2-liter that can be found in the aforementioned Apollo. This engine will be mated to a TT40e transmission and changing the gears will be done with the help of the new set of F1-insired paddle shifters.

Rumors say that Gumpert is also working hard on an alternative-power drivetrain. We'll let you know once we find out something about this.

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2011 Geneva Preview – Gumpert Tornante

Ford is one of the carmakers that has been giving its best to bring all kinds of buttons and touch screen and info-gaming-entertainment to the interior of its cars. Blue Oval’s MyFord Touch infotainment system is one of the most complex of its kind, for that matter, and it makes sense that learning how to use it would take some time. So now, car dealers have more to talk about with their customers, which doesn’t necessarily make them happy.

In order to compensate for this and keep Ford buyers happy, the car maker has started to pay dealers with $75 a pop for every car they sold that had MyFord Touch system on it. And $50 for all the Fords that leave the showrooms and have Sync on them. This financial effort is meant to encourage car dealers to take their time on the sale and explain how everything works for the customers, so that they can drive their new Fords peacefully home.

How about that?

Source: Autoblog.

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Dealers get paid to teach MyFord Touch to Ford buyers

Nearly 800,000 child-safety seats are recalled from the car-seat manufacturer Dorel Juvenile Groups because the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration has observed that harness adjustment stray may loosen during use. It is a list of almost 50 different car seat models, manufactured from May 1, 2008, through April 30, 2009 which include Convertible child restraints Alpha Omega, Alpha Omega Elite, Enspira, Priori, Prospect, and Vantage; Infant child restraints Mico and OnBoard.

The car-seats’ problem
It has been found that, sometimes, the harness locking and release button doesn't return to its locked position. The result of this problem would be the adjustment strap slipping back through the adjuster when the child moves in his car seat, which exposes him to injury in case of collision.

What is to be done
All the persons with affected car seat registered with Dorel will have their button fixed, receiving a free kit. If the child-safety seat that you use for your baby is on the recalled list of models, you should contact Dorel.

For more information about the models recalled and about the entire situation, visit the Dorel Juvenile Groups official webpage.

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Child Car-Seats Recalled

Vyrus 986 M2

Although I'm not a big fan of motorcycles, this Vyrus 986 M2 looks awesome. The engineers over at Vyrus made a name for themselves launching some of the coolest motorcycle designs, but now they've prepared something a little bit more significant, courtesy of their new 986 M2 race bike that will have a road version by the end of 2011, or at least that is what they've promised.

Vyrus 986 M2

Probably the most important difference between this and typical motorcycles would have to be the hub-center steering that Vyrus has perfected on bigger bikes, like the 987 C3 4V (not a cool name, isn't it?) This bike was designed for Moto 2 racing purposes and taking into consideration that all the motorcycles in this competition must have the same spec engine, which is in fact based on the 600cc-unit that powers Honda's middleweight repli-racers, hub-center steering will most likely separate Vyrus from the rest of the competition.

Vyrus 986 M2

Aside from the cool looks and the hub-center steering, the motorcycle has also other interesting features. Take for example the placement of the radiator which is located under the engine. More than that, the exhaust exists through two very cool ports that poke out above the swingarm. Speaking of the swingarm, the rear one uses a linkage to actuate a shock mounted 90-degree from what is considered to be normal shock placement. All of these tweaks have been done in order to improve rider feedback and for mass centralization purposes.

Vyrus 986 M2

I really am curios if the road version of the 986 M2 will look just as cool as this one. The company said that they should be able to launch it this September. They estimate that the road version model will have a $34,000 price tag which isn't that much. We'll have to wait and see.

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Vyrus 986 M2 Is One Mean Machine

I’m not sure why Nissan would think it’s a good idea to put its ugliest car near beautiful swimsuit models, but that’s for their marketing manager to figure out. All we know is Nissan is working with Sports Illustrated to make it to the pages of this year’s SI Swimsuit issue. In order to get the word out, they made a few commercials. Bad ones, we might ad. I mean, Amber is hot in her bikini, but she’s definitely the only thing worth seeing.

We don’t see any appeal in the hideous lines of the Juke and the guy in the spot is… bland. Still, if you’re a swimsuit model fan, there are worst ways to spend a couple of minutes. So check out the clip after the jump.

Click here to view the embedded video.

Click here to view the embedded video.

Click here to view the embedded video.

Click here to view the embedded video.

Source: Autoblog.

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Nissan Juke commercial: the beauty and the beast

2011 Cadillac Escalade

Last week I've explained why I really don't like the Hummer H2 and today I'm going to talk about another big car, the Cadillac Escalade. First I would like to say that I am not a huge fan of SUVs because I really don't see the point of buying one, except maybe for the fact that they can sometimes be safer. Although I don't like them, I can't say that I wouldn't drive a Mercedes ML or a BMW X5, but I definitely wouldn't like to be behind the wheel of an Escalade.

2011 Cadillac Escalade

I hate it just for the same reasons that I don't like the Hummer – it's big, it's ugly and I don't see why anybody would buy it. Of course, if I were a rapper I'd like it. I probably saw an Escalade in more than 100 rap videos, and all of the cars had at least 22-inch rims. 50 Cent must have at least a dozen of these in his garages. I know this may sound superficial but sometimes you really can tell a lot about a car if you look at who owns one and vice versa.

2011 Cadillac Escalade

Of course, being a 6020-pound car, it eats up a lot of gas as it will do only 12 mpg in the city. I simply can't find anything good about this car no matter how hard I'd try. If someone can tell me at least one good thing about it maybe I won't hate it that much. I know that it is very spacious, but there are definitely other cars that will offer just about the same space in a more reasonable size and appearance.

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Why I Don't Like The Cadillac Escalade

Ferrari Pininfarina 250 Cabriolet

I've always liked Ferraris, ever since I was a little kid. I fell in love with them when I saw a poster of the 250 GTO which still remains one of my favorites. Last week, a friend of mine over at Dimostra.com gave me some pictures of a Pininfarina 250 Cabriolet that belongs to a collector. It blew me away; this has to be one of the most beautiful cars ever made and the condition of the car is astonishing.

Ferrari Pininfarina 250 Cabriolet

The history of this car is pretty interesting. In 1976, Hil Raab, who already owned a Ferrari Cabriolet (late model), read an advertisement for a Ferrari Cabriolet which was for sale in Texas and he thought that he should get a worthy companion for his Cabriolet (03467GT). Hil got on the plane and took the first flight to Houston to pick up his second Ferrari and drove it back to Northwest Indiana. The very next morning it was official, the papers have been signed, the tank was full and Hil was on top of the world, he now owned an exquisite Pininfarina 250 Cabriolet.

He drove the car for twelve straight hours through heavy rain. I was very surprised to find out from my friend that Hil didn't had any problems with the rain as the convertible's top and wiper motors provided maximum protection. 1,200 miles later, the car was in perfection condition, although half of this distance was done in pouring rain. More than that, the car managed to do a remarkable 17 mpg.

Ferrari Pininfarina 250 Cabriolet

Back in 1998 the car was painted and the seats were covered in Ivory Connolly leather. What I like the most about the car, aside from its looks, is the fact that it still has almost all of the original parts. Hil drove the car twice in the Colorado Grand, and in 2009 he managed to win the "Best Paint" award at the Milwaukee Masterpiece.

Now for a brief history lesson – in 1959 Pininfarina redesigned the Cabriolet more in keeping with the 250 Coupe. Back then, all of the cars that wore Pininfarina's signature were generally more expensive, luxurious and heavier in comparison to the ones made by Scaglietti. Of the first series of cars, they made 40 units and Hil's 250 Cabriolet is the last one.

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A Blast From The Past – Ferrari Pininfarina 250 Cabriolet