Home / Posts tagged 'Luxury Sedan'

• MS Design Readies Audi S4 ‘A46′ for Top Marques Monaco 2013

  In Tuning / By Ari Cox / 19 April 2013

  

  The B8 Audi RS4 is only offered in Avant flavor, or in more plain speak, wagon body style. So, what’s a saloon (sedan) aficionado to do? Austrian tuner MS Design thinks they have the answer. Their Audi S4, dubbed the A46, serves up 450 horsepower and can sprint from 0 to 62mph in just 4.5 seconds on its way to a top speed of 178 mph. The engine tuning kit from MS adds a whopping 117 horsepower to the all aluminium-alloy 3.0L TFSI supercharged V6 engine.

  But the fun doesn’t stop there… A stylish body kit adds a new front and rear fascia with red accents, more pronounced fender flares, side skirts with black accents and a rear deck lid. A height adjustable sport suspensions drops the car down on the 20 x 8.5-inch lightweight alloy wheels.

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• You Deserve a K-Break: Hanging out at a Top VIP Style Tuning Shop [Video]

  In Fast Forward / By Tom Anderson / 16 April 2013

  

  If we had to pick one style of tuning that we wish was more prevalent in this country than it already is, it would probably be VIP. We love full-size luxury sedans and coupes as is, but when they’re given a lowered stance, nice wheels and tires, monochromatic paints, a few aero parts and a tricked out interior, we go all Tex Avery’s wolf. Oh yes, we heart bippu.

  Kazuki Ohbayashi also likes VIP style, so much so that he built his company – K-Break – around it. The crew from XCar travelled to the Osaka suburb of Fujiidera to sit down with Ohbayashi and discuss not only his history in the tuning business, but also what makes a customized luxury car a VIP style car. And in case you still have trouble picturing what VIP style entails, there are plenty of shots of a pair of K-Break creations – a very pink Toyota Aristo and a handsome white Lexus LS460 – to help give you an idea. So…are you a convert yet?

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• 2014 Maserati Ghibli is a Mid-Size Stunner

  In Auto News / By Tom Anderson / 9 April 2013

  

  The previous generation Maserati Quattroporte was the child of compromise. The early ones were stuck with a herky-jerky single-clutch paddle shift transaxle shared with Maserati’s two-door models, but even after a mid-cycle refresh that replaced that rear-mounted gearbox with a  conventional torque converter automatic bolted directly to the engine, the Quattroporte still had another, arguably more damning mark against it: Its size. Specifically, its proportions were about halfway between those of the competition’s mid-size and full-size sedans. This odd size probably wasn’t the only thing holding sales back, but we’d be surprised if it wasn’t a factor.

  Maserati has remedied this with the new sixth generation Quattroporte, which is now a proper S-Class/7 Series/A8/XJ fighter in terms of dimensions. Naturally, this now leaves room for a genuine mid-size sedan to do battle with the likes of the E-Class, 5 Series, A6, XF and the upcoming third-gen CTS. And the car the boffins in Modena have created to carry out that mission wears a hallowed name from the trident brand’s past: Ghibli.

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• Kahn Design Porsche Panamera Super Sport Casts a Broader Black Shadow

  In Tuning / By Tom Anderson / 8 April 2013

  

  When it comes to tuning Land Rover products, Kahn Design is arguably the best in the business. But this successful English firm by no means limits itself to homegrown SUVs; it has also applied its special touch to the likes of the Mercedes-Benz SLR-McLaren and Jeep Wrangler. And just like the innumerable Land Rovers and Range Rovers that have left its workshop, these other makes and models combine clean, contemporary design cues with immaculate Old World craftsmanship and attention to detail.

  So when we found out Kahn Design was working over a Porsche Panamera, we were understandably excited. We were even more excited when we heard that it would be called the Panamera Super Sport. And after looking at the pictures and reading about, it seems our anticipation was mostly justified.

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• Mercedes-Benz CLA45 AMG Drops Ahead of NY Auto Show

  In Auto News / By Freddy Chen / 20 March 2013

  

  One of the things I’ve always found remarkable about Top Gear (apart from being one of the most awesome motoring shows on the planet) is their secret-keeping abilities. Specifically, their ability to keep the identity of the Stig a secret. Companies across the world go to all sorts of lengths to maintain corporate/trade secrecy and automakers are no strangers to the game. Except that more than a few of them are slipping.

  In the past few months, it would seem that automotive spies across the world have gotten a lot better at finding out the latest sheetmetal. Even the Lamborghini Veneno was revealed in a Czech auto publication just before its Geneva debut. And now, one of the latest offerings from Mercedes has been uncloaked before its New York International Auto Show official release. Not that it would have been too hard to imagine what AMG would have cooked up for the new Mercedes-Benz CLA45…

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• German Tuner mcchip-dkr Supercharges the 2013 Mercedes-Benz C63 AMG

  In Tuning / By Freddy Chen / 12 February 2013

  

  In a world where everything can be automated and the precision-guided instrument of a machine is often found in place of a skilled craftsman, there’s something to be said about still doing things by hand – and the folks at AMG must feel the same way. Under the self-descriptive motto of “one man, one engine”, each AMG engine is hand-built and assembled by one craftsman and one craftsman only. Once finished, the individual affixes a hand-signed plaque to the engine so each AMG customer knows who to thank.

  So what do you do then, if you don’t feel that your AMG machine is quite powerful enough? Specifically, what do you do if you feel your C63 AMG with its 6.2L V8 and 451HP just isn’t enough? Well, if you’re German tuning company mcchip-dkr, you apply forced induction and over eight years of in-house chip development research and let the results speak for themselves.

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• Review: 2013 Lexus GS 350 F-Sport

  In Road Tests / By Ari Cox / 16 November 2012

  

  The first generation Lexus GS, aka Toyota Aristo, landed in the US in 1993, and was shoehorned between the upmarket LS and the diminutive IS. Despite its design pedigree from the likes of the exalted Italdesign Giugiaro, it arrived as an amorphous blob of sheet metal, in an arguably (and minimally) successful attempt at mimicking organic shapes.

  Despite its simple look, Lexus was white hot at the time and the hip-hop community immediately embraced the car, with rappers like the Notorious BIG giving it shout-outs in songs. Ever since then, the GS platform has been on a roll. Each generation has seen the vehicle come more into its own as Lexus has solidified its own unique design language and has taken some aggressive risks, moving away from the status quo.

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• Sub5Zero Fantasy Collection: Cadillac Sixteen

  In Featured / By Tom Anderson / 1 July 2012

  

  When it comes to ultra-luxury cars, the British appear to be the current world leaders. Although they are both presently owned by German automakers, the current offerings of Bentley and Rolls-Royce are nevertheless the products of time-honored English craftsmanship, chock full of painstakingly-assembled swathes of metal, rubber, wood, leather and wool. Sure, Mercedes-Benz’s 21^st century revival of Maybach attempted to take a bite out of BMW and VW’s UK outposts, but considering Stuttgart’s decision earlier this year to (finally) pull the plug on the grandiose gambit, we’re going to go ahead and call it a failure.

  Of course, the Brits didn’t always have the hyper-premium motorcar market to themselves. For most of the prior century leading up to WWII, the Germans, French, Italians, Americans and even the Swiss built cars that were as much works of art as they were machines. Cadillac – despite (or is that because of?) being under the General Motors umbrella – was no different, building huge automobiles, including a variety of V16-powered models. It was these paragons of opulence that Cadillac sought to pay tribute to when creating the concept car you see before you, the 2003 Sixteen concept.

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• Review: 2012 Audi A7 Prestige 3.0 TFSI

  In Road Tests / By Ari Cox / 25 January 2012

  

  ‘Game over’ is not an expression generally used in the automotive realm. And though we’re hesitant to use it in this case, we feel justified when referring to the likes of the new 2012 Audi A7. We’ve driven everything from electric roadsters to $100,000+ sports cars (which oddly enough sometimes fit both categories), but Audi’s new five-door hatchback sedan coupe has emerged as an uncontested winner without ever really playing the game. And it’s done so by operating in a little bit of an automotive gray area.

  The 2012 Audi A7 is a fascinating amalgamation of 2 distinctly different styles. The first is a nod to the 2004 Mercedes CLS, a four door fastback saloon style “coupe” with its sweeping roofline tracking all the way to the rear of the car. Though these cars initially sold like hotcakes (and raised quite a few eyebrows) the auto manufacturers that tried to follow suit were less successful and the segment eventually cooled off. The second style harkens back to the upscale hatchback which really hasn’t seen any successful action since the days of the Sterling 827 and Rover SD1. So it’s interesting that Audi chose to create a car that mixes in strong elements from both classes, but with its own skillfully interpreted design esthetic and brand language.

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• Anderson Germany Turns the Old Audi S8 into an Evil Executive Express

  In Tuning / By Tom Anderson / 14 December 2011

  

  For years now, the Audi S8 has been one of our favorite cars. After all, can you name another full-size sedan that features a posh interior, brawny engine, a lightweight aluminum chassis and tenacious AWD grip? The Jaguar XJR comes close, but is rear-drive only. The BMW Alpina B7 xDrive claws at the road with all four tires, but the mostly steel monocoque makes it a fattie by comparison. Essentially, the S8 – now entering its third generation – is in a class of one.

  But for some S8 owners, being the only car like it in its class isn’t enough, even when the prior generation S8 – known to Audi fans as the D3 generation – had an additional attribute that no direct rival had: A V10 engine, specifically a slightly detuned variant of the Lamborghini Gallardo’s powerplant. Fortunately, the well-rounded tuners at Anderson Germany have devised a suite of upgrades to make your Gen 2 S8 stand out from its peers.

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