The Demo Site

Gallery: Nissan GT-R SpecV

With the coupe, cabrio, targa and turbo variants of the latest Porsche 911 already out on the road, Zuffenhausen is preparing similar updates for its flyweight road rocket, the GT3 RS. Test mules have been spotted roaming the French alps, which in this season would probably be the last place we'd want to drive a rear-engined, rear-wheel-drive track car. But then we're not zany German engineers, now are we?

We can expect that the latest 911 GT3 RS will receive the same updates as its brethren (including the Turbo's LED light strips up front) and be updated with the retro decal stripe and badge graphic down the quarter panel, plus colored wheels, contrasting wing-mirror housings, a big rear wing and an interior roll cage. A carbon fiber rear wing and hood plus a plastic rear window will help keep the weight down versus the conventional 911 Carrera, which should help the new RS hustle to 60 in a scant four seconds flat.

[Source: Wheels24.co.za via German Car Blog]

Gallery: Spy Shots: Suzuki Kizashi in Germany

[Source: Reuters, IndiaInfoOnline]

For fifteen years, the Lexus ES has been the top-selling luxury sedan from the top-selling luxury marque in America. But after twenty years of sharing its underpinnings with the Toyota Camry, the Japanese auto giant has decided to let the two mainstay models go their separate ways. With the sportier IS sharing the duty of anchoring the lineup and a new hybrid model on its way, the ES might get scrapped altogether... but not before one last hurrah, previewed by the crude spy shot you see to the right. The 2010 Lexus ES350 will be a subtle update on the current fifth-generation model, in true Lexus style, with modest tweaks to the styling to keep it fresh for another few years. Nothing revolutionary, which means nothing to upset the model's conservative customer base, either. (That's what things like the IS-F are for.)

[Source: BurlappCars.com]

The Jaguar XF-R has doffed a little more of its mask, and now we can clearly see the copious amounts of black mesh that will fill in the front air dam's side vents, replacing the aluminum strips there now. Otherwise, and as usual, you'll need to know your Jags in order to tell this R apart from its lesser siblings. In addition to the mesh the mesh, the hood vents, rear deck spoiler, and quad pipes are the giveaways.

Otherwise, the car will get 20-inch wheels of a different design than the ones found on the XF Supercharged. And speaking of that other blown cat, the supercharged 5.0-liter lump that will power the XF-R will be up 80 hp up on the "regular" blown XF; in addition to a faster 0-to-60 time, we imagine there'll be increased sound and the fury to go along with it.

[Source: Next Autos]

Following in the footsteps of its European twin, the Fiat Sedici, Suzuki is slightly reworking its SX4 Crossover for next year. You'd be forgiven if you didn't notice - all of the revisions are quite subtle - but the whole front fascia has been slightly remodeled. The most obvious change is to the grille area, which now has a slightly smaller opening that's flanked by new concave recesses for the fog lights. Apparently, the faux rear skid-plate has been redone as well. Like we said: minor, discreet changes.

Inside, the Sedici has been upgraded with dual zone climate controls, so it would make sense that the SX4 would benefit from this new feature as well. We don't expect any powertrain changes, which is just fine with us. We thought that the SX4 was plenty peppy with its standard 2.0-liter DOHC engine's 143 horsepower and 136 lb-ft of torque when we had the sedan model in our garage earlier this year.

[Source: Carscoop]

Gallery: Spy Shots: Acura NSX

[Source: AutoTeleGraaf.nl]

There's no hiding these days from Big Brother. The nutcases in the tin-foil hats would tell you there never was, but now even automakers have to watch out. Development teams out testing prototypes on public roads used to have to watch out for professional spy photographers, but with the advent camera phones and now Google Street View, there's no hiding anywhere. That's what the boys at Garage419 discovered when they found shots of several Porsche prototypes on service while searching for a good driving road in Colorado.

Hard to tell much from the shots of the Boxsters, Caymans and 911s, except to say that the automakers' dev teams and the paparazzi alike have a new kid on the block to watch out for.

[Source: Garage419]

The Fiat Sedici is up for a refresh that is so subtle you probably wouldn't notice it unless you were a member of a Sedici enthusiast site, which is where these photos came from.

Fiat's version of the Suzuki SX4 crossover, gets a new grille to fall in line with Fiat's design language and a front bumper treatment that turns the door cladding into one continuous swoop around the car. Inside, it gets an updated center console and dual-zone climate control.

The CUV will also feature rear disc brakes for the first time. Transmission choices should remain the same, with five-speed and six-speed manuals. Engine offerings are expected to include a 2.0-liter diesel and the 120 hp 1.4-liter T-Jet found in other Fiat offerings like the Grand Punto Sporting.

[Source: Autoblog.it]

What the heck's an Isuzu test mule doing banging around the Midwest? There's no hope that this D-Max, based on the GMT 355 platform, will ever see a North American showroom, since the company recently folded up its tent and left.

What's most likely is that an OEM is doing some development work on the big 3.0-liter four pot turbodiesel. Pickuptrucks.com speculates that Bosch or AVL's Detroit-area outposts might be fiddling with the engine under the ill-fitting hood, as the vehicle has been seen going to and fro some engineering facilites. So, while the idea of a GMT 355 with a torque-tacular turbo-diesel is exciting, it's likely not likely that consumers here will ever get the chance to buy one. Darn.

[Source: Pickuptrucks.com]

Could it be? Right in the midst of my own personal search for a mint Gen 1 (1989-1991) Taurus SHO comes pictoral proof that Ford may be resurrecting the Super High Output model. What we have here is one of many images published by Jalopnik showing the "SHO" moniker in its traditional font on the passenger side dash of a 2010 Ford Taurus.

What does it all mean? That's tough to say. The safe bet is that Ford may be developing a Taurus SHO concept car that could debut after the standard model is revealed at the 2009 Detroit Auto Show next month. It would also be safe to assume that a Taurus SHO would be powered by Ford's new EcoBoost V6, which is rumored to produce 350 hp and 350 lb-ft of torque. That's a heaping helping more than the 220 hp produced by the Yamaha-built 3.0L V6 in the original SHO, but there's also a lot more Taurus to haul around these days.

While it's possible that Ford could be adding the SHO trim level back to the Taurus line, we hope these pictures portend the arrival of a concept car only. You might be wondering how such an avid SHO fan could speak such blasphemy, and the answer is that today's Taurus is far removed from the original that shocked the industry back in 1986. Back then the Taurus was a mid-size family sedan with a futuristic design that broke the mold, and the SHO was heralded as an M3 at half the price when it arrived in 1989. Today's Taurus is just too big and expensive to wear those shoes, though an M5 on sale for 50% off sounds tempting. If we're being honest, however, a Fusion SHO tuned by SVT would be irresistible.

[Source: Jalopnik]

The 2010 Peugeot 3008 has been spotted in France wearing a scant amount of camouflage, and unless Peugeot is deceiving us, it looks just like the Prologue HyMotion4 Concept from the Paris Motor Show. Updating the sheetmetal of the 4007, this crossover Pug gets a much smoother grille treatment and a combination of lines and curves out back suitable for a display at MOMA. The interior isn't revolutionary, but it's expected to offer seating for five or seven and looks like it will hold up to consumers cross-shopping the Nissan Qashqai and VW Tiguan. Four-cylinder turbocharged engines are predicted to be sized at 1.6-liters, burning either gas or oil and driving two wheels at launch, with a four-wheel-drive variant offered down the line. Thanks for the tip, Jackob!

[Source: Autokrata]

Gallery: 2010 Lincoln MKT - spy shots

[Photos: KGP Photography]