Volkswagen Reveals Polo R WRC Racer with 300HP [Video]

After months of rumors and whispers, Volkswagen officially announced that it will enter a factory team to the World Rally Championship starting with the 2013 season. The announcement was made in Italy, where journalists had the chance to take a first look at the car VW will throw in the competition, the 300HP Polo R WRC, shown here as a prototype. Read more »

McLaren's MP4-12C GT3 Racer gets 100HP less than the Street Version [Gallery and Video]

McLaren has announced full technical specifications of its MP4-12C GT3 racing model, which much surprisingly, has 100 horses less than the road car it's based upon. The racer uses the same 3.8-liter twin turbo V8 engine (codenamed M838T), but in a de-tuned state deliver 500 horsepower (down from 600HP) in order to “provide optimum power for a performance-balanced race car,” according to McLaren. Read more »

Yugo…Grale Replicates Lancia’s Iconic Delta HF Integrale [with Video]

If you grew up in the late 1980s or early 1990s and were an avid automotive enthusiast, chances are you fondly remember the great Delta HF Integrale, arguably the last super exciting (from a driver's perspective) Lancia model.

And while Lancia has turned a new page in its history, tending to the needs of customers enamored with fashion catwalks instead of rally courses, there are plenty of drivers out there who cherish the original spirit of the Italian brand. Some, however, have taken their love of Lancia to the extreme turning mundane Yugos, itself a by-product of the Fiat 127, into Integrale replicas.

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New Audi R18 TDI Le Mans Competitor with smaller 3.7-liter V6 Diesel to Receive Racing Debut in Spa

In less than two months time, Audi’s brand new R18 TDI racer -that would be the bug-eyed model pictured on the right, will show us what it’s capable of at the famous 24 hours of Le Mans on June 11/12. But before the prestigious event in France, the brand with the four rings will give the R18 TDI its racing debut at the second round of the Intercontinental Le Mans Cup at Spa in Belgium on Saturday, May 7. Read more »

New Mercedes-Benz C63 AMG Debuts as Official Safety Car of DTM Racing Series

Mercedes-Benz and its AMG division continue to serve safety cars to the world of racing, this time with the refreshed C63 AMG sedan that will be used for the 2011 DTM touring car season. The Stuttgart automaker’s latest Safety Car will make its premiere on May 1, 2011, at the opening race of the German Touring Car Masters season at the Hockenheimring in Baden-Württemberg. Read more »

F1’s Team Lotus Acquires British Sportscar Maker Caterham

The owners of Formula One Team Lotus announced today the acquisition of lightweight sportscar manufacturer Caterham, for an undisclosed sum from the shareholder consortium led by Corven Ventures.

Based in England, Caterham has made a name for itself for building the Seven, a lightweight two-seater sports car that was designed by Lotus founder Colin Chapman and who sold the rights of the car to Caterham in 1973.

Team Lotus chiefs Tony Fernandes, Kamarudin Meranun and SM Nasarudin said in a statement that the company plans to expand Caterham’s profile and product family while also continuing the development of the Seven.

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VIDEO: The World’s Fastest IRS Corvette Runs ¼ Mile in 7.89 Seconds

A heavily modified 2007 Chevrolet Corvette Z06 [C6] equipped with a turbocharged V8 engine built by IPS Motorsports, recently shattered the quarter mile record for IRS ‘Vettes completing the sprint on the dragstrip in just 7.89 seconds with an exit speed of 180 mph (289 km/h). The record-breaking time was achieved at the 2nd race of the LSX Series in Atlanta. Watch the run through the in-car camera in the videos right after the break. Read more »

Robert Kubica Discharged from Hospital, Still a Long Way Before F1 Return

Formula 1 driver Robert Kubica has left the Santa Corona hospital in Italy where he had spent the last 11 weeks after a scary rally accident. According to a hospital statement, the Polish driver is in good condition and will soon begin rehab. “He will carry on being monitored by the Santa Corona doctors who had him in their care through scheduled appointments," the hospital said in a press statement. Read more »

Real Life Fast Five: What is the Ultimate Heist Vehicle? [Video]

Inspired by a scene from the upcoming Fast Five film or as some fans refer to it, Fast and Furious 5, in which the protagonists try out different cars to find the right one for a risky heist, the folks over from Autotopia set out to test numerous tuned cars on a race track to see which one is best suited for the task.

The cars they chose for the test include the AE Performance Nissan 370Z used in the movie Fast Five; Autotopias’ Ford Cargo Van; DC Motors Mercedes Benz CLK63 AMG Black Series; Gintani BMW X5M; Heintz Ford Mustang GT 5.0; MFEST E60 BMW M5; OE Tuning Mercedes Benz C63 AMG; Airtiger Express Nissan GTR R35; Tesla Motors Roadster Sport and finally, the Team Wu Dodge Charger Police Car.

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New Audi R8 Print Ad: "A Sporty Car Full of History"

Longtime VW Group advertising partner DBB has come up with a new print advertisement for the Audi R8 to highlight the brand’s rich sports car heritage. The print ad, which is the creative work of DDB Barcelona, plays on the tag-line “Audi R8: A sporty car full of history” and shows a cut of the R8 coupe incorporating three racing models from Audi’s past including the Ur-Quattro rally car, and what looks to be the NSU TT and Auto Union Type D. We’ll remind you that NSU and Auto Union merged in 1969 to create what we know today as the Audi brand.

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Toyota Corolla vs Ferrari F430: Can You Guess Who Wins this Race?

Pitting a puny stock Toyota Corolla against a Ferrari F430 and asking which car would win in a straight line race sounds like a joke, right? Well, under any other circumstances, you would be right to take this as a shaggy dog story but this comparo, which was made for a Japanese TV show, has a peculiar twist to it: the race was run in reverse gear… So, now that you know, can you pick the winner? Enjoy the quirky drag race between the Corolla sedan and Maranello’s supercar in the video clip after the break.

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