Ford will be showing the Kuga crossover concept next week in Frankfurt. The Kuga is the offroad version of the Ford Focus, based on the same platform.

The production version of the Kuga should be pretty similar to the concept that was shown in Frankfurt: the Kuga is already an evolution of the Iosis X concept that was shown last year in Paris.

The Kuga will be available both in FWD and 4WD versions. The engine of the Kuga being previewed in Paris will be the 2.0 TDCi turbodiesel unit with 136 ps already mounted on the Focus. The production version should also get other engines from the Focus range.

Production of the Kuga will start early next year. Prices are not known at the moment.

Continue reading: Ford Kuga - official images of the preview

Finally, the official announcement of the Audi RS6 Avant has come. The new “monster” from Ingolstadt is really a super-car in all but appeareance: the engine is a 5.2-liter V10 twin-turbo with 580 bhp and a torque of 650 Nm (100 hp more than a Porsche Turbo!). The acceleration from 0-100 km/h takes only 4.6 seconds.

The new Audi RS6 is the most powerful road-going Audi ever, but the exterior is, as ever, quite understated. The fenders have a bit more bulge, the twin oval exhaust tubes are quite imposing, there is a discreet rear diffuser, but everything is discreet, no extraneous air intakes, no aerodinamic appendages added almost as an afterthought. Even the led daylights are less flashy than those of the Audi S6.

All in all, the new Audi RS6 Avant appears to be the ultimate family sports car, with 1,660 liters of space in the cockpit, tons of power, the Quattro 4WD system to handle it and a price (in Germany) of 101,000 € which seems pretty reasonable, given the substance of this car. The full text of the Audi press release, with all details follows below the fold.

Continue reading: Audi RS6 Avant- official images and specs

Mercedes Classe C Station Wagon

Mercedes-Benz has announced the new C-Class Estate. Based on the same W204 platform as the recently presented C-Class sedan, with the same engines and speficications, the C-Class Estate has a load capacity of up to 1,500 litres, higher than any other car in the segment, according to Mercedes-Benz.

Below the fold you can find the full text of the Mercedes-Benz press release concerning the new C-Class station wagon.

Continue reading: Mercedes - C Class Estate

For the delectation of anyone who is as obsessive-compulsive as us about new cars, here’s a link to the microsite of the new Audi A4, a nice gallery of wallpapers of the new saloon from Ingolstadt and a video with studio shots of the A4 where the excitement consists mainly of seeing the xenon plus headlights and LED daylights being switched on and off.

Continue reading: New Audi A4 - microsite, wallpapers and video

Some more photos of the new Audi A4, this time with the S line trim. And, to go with them, the official press release on the Audi A4 (pdf , 29 pages), of which you can find the brief version below the fold.

Continue reading: More about the new Audi A4

Official images of the new Audi A4 are here. The design of te B8 model of the mid-premium saloon from Ingolstadt seems to be a very moderate evolution of the previous model. Maybe too conservative.

The proportions seem to be a little more aggressive, maybe thanks to the shorter overhangs, the longer hood and the longer wheelbase. The hood has a little more of a slope and finishes in slightly less imposing single-frame grille. The headlights have pretty showy LED daylights.

Fortunately, underneath the body the changes are much more interesting. The MLB modular system made it possible to move the engine 154 mm backwards, for a better weight distribution.

Continue reading: New Audi A4 - official images and data

The official announcement for the new Audi A4 is expected tomorrow (august 28th). In the meantime, in an announcement about “efficient drive systems”, Audi has released some interesting tidbits that help us put the new A4 (B8) in perspective with the previous two generations (B6 and B7).

In the chart above (click on the image for a higher resolution version) you can see a comparison of technical data between B6, B7 and B8 for an A4 1.8T. A first thing to be noted is the very smal difference in weight, with the B8 25 kg heavier than the B6 (from 1,370 to 1,395 kg).

Another interesting thing is the passage from the old 1.8T to the new 1.8 TFSI. Power output has risen from 150 to 170 ps, torque from 210 to 250 Nm (passing through the 163 ps/225 Nm for the A4 B7), while fuel consumption is down 15% from 8.3 to 7.1 liters per 100 km. CO2 emissions are down 15% too, from 199 to 169 g/km. Performance should be sensibly better, with a 0-100 km/h time that should be down from 8.9 to 8.4 seconds.

Via | Auto.cz

Continue reading: Audi A4 B8 - first official informations

Our friends over at Autoblog.nl tip us off to a nice image gallery of the new Jaguar XF on the site of the english magazine Autocar. The images are low-res only (356×236 pixels), so we’ll have to wait some more days to better appreciate Jaguar’s new premium saloon (the official announcement will be on august 28th).

At launch the Jaguar XF should have two 4.2 liters V8 engines, both naturally aspirated and supercharged. The supercharged should output 420 ps.

Continue reading: Jaguar XF preview

Citroën has finally released high res images of its C5 Airscape concept car, a beautiful and elegant coupè-convertible that will debut next month in Frankfurt and prefigures the look of the next generation of the C5 saloon.

The effort of building a true premium car is apparent both in the sleek and aggressive exterior lines and in the rich interior. If the C5 Airscape was branded with the three pointed star or the 4 interlocking circles instead of the double chevron, its success would be assured. As it is, if it was to be produced, it would have to overcome plenty of prejudices against french-built premium cars.

For more details you can find the full text of the press-release below. Some highlights: carbon fiber roof with a big glass portion that prolongs the windshield, UrbanHybrid mild hybrid system (smoth stop-start, brake energy regeneration), 2.7 V6 HDi turbodiesel engine with 208 ps/440 Nm.

Continue reading: Citroën C5 Airscape Concept

Volkswagen will be showing at the IAA 2007 in Frankfurt the Golf BlueMotion for the first time. For the most economical version of the popular hatchback, VW boasts an average fuel consumption of 4.5 liters/100 km and only 119 g/km of CO2 emissions. Fuel consumption if .06 liters lower than the Golf 1.9 TDI from which it derives while C02 emissions are down from 135 g/km.

The 1.9 TDI engine of the Golf Bluemotion has 105 hp and 250 Nm of torque, but its programming has been modified to lower the idling regime. There is also a new particulate filter, which lowers emission and absorbs less power. The gearbox has longer gear ratios in 3rd, 4th and 5th gear. The penetration coefficient (Cx) has been lowered from 0.32 to 0.30, thanks to an optimized underbody and a new radiator grille. The Golf Bluemotion also has tires optimized to lower rolling resistance. Top speed is up from 187 km/h to 190 km/h (o

Sales of the Golf BlueMotion will start late this year with prices from 20.615 € for the Trendline
specification (315 € more than the 1.9 TDI Trendline). Below the fold you’ll find the full text of the VW press release.

Continue reading: VW Golf Bluemotion

Volkswagen has announced that il be showing 8 world premieres at the next IAA in Frankfurt. The most important premiere will probably be the new VW Tiguan, the mid-size SUV. The Tiguan will be equipped with a new 1.4-liter Twin Charger engine (150 ps), a 2.0-liter TSI turbocharged engine (200 ps) and two new 2.0 liter Common-Rail turbo-charged engines, with respectively 140 and 170 ps. The new diesel engine will both comply with the new Euro 5 emission regulations.

VW will also show a “non convenzional” prototype, of which they say: “The heart of this sensationally flexible City Expert will beat where the flat-four boxer engine once did in the Beatle”. The fact that the press release talks about a “heart” and not an engine makes one think that it’ll be something different from a normal internal combustion engine.

Last but not least, the BlueMotion model offensive, with 6 world premieres. The “low-emissions, low fuel consumption” denoted by the BlueMotion range will thus grow from two to eight models, to which another one will be added during 2008.

Continue reading: Volkswagen - 8 world premieres in Frankfurt