You may remember last week we showed you a split-screen video of the Dodge Viper ACR and Corvette ZR-1 lapping the famed Nurburgring in Germany. As you already know, the Dodge Viper ACR now holds the fastest lap record with a blistering time of 7:22.1. What you may not know is that the record lap was set by SRT engineer Tom Coronel on just his fifth lap ever around the 'Ring. His team arrived in Germany just the day before, none of them ever having run Germany's most famous track before. Coronel actually broke the record on his third lap with a time 7:24.1, but then proceeded to break his own record two laps later.
What we have for you after the jump is some of the official video of that record lap from two different angles. The first you saw a bit of in the split screen video with the ZR1, but this is the full-screen version with G force data and track location data on the screen. The second comes courtesy of the Viper Club of America, who put together an exclusive video of the same lap using an outboard camera on the passenger side. Both are amazing to watch, if only to understand just a bit more how terribly fast the Viper ACR is.
Today is the day reservations become available for the Hyundai Genesis Coupe in Korea. To celebrate, Hyundai has released a new commercial which you can watch after the break. Those placing orders now should begin taking possession of their new two-door, rear-wheel drive coupe on September 26. Pricing for the new hotness from Hyundai is very reasonable for the Korean market with a base price of 25,360,000 WON (about U.S. $23,000). Stepping up to the "Stylish Pack" (seriously?) nets you 19-inch rims, a limited slip diff and optional Brembo's for 26,920,000 WON (U.S. $24,500). Well worth it in our estimation. A loaded 3.8-liter V6 Genesis Coupe will go for 33,150,000 WON (U.S. $30,100), which buys you over 300-horsepower and a full leather interior.
Hit the jump for a full rundown of pricing and options for the Coupe in Korea. According to our tipster, the Genesis sedan with the 3.8-liter V6 is selling for about $70K in its home market. This being the case, it's pretty hard to draw any conclusions as to what this means for U.S. Genesis Coupe pricing when it goes on sale sometime in 2009. We can hardly wait. Thanks for the tip, Sam!
We're nearly a year from the big screen debut of Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen, but that hasn't stopped us from devouring every bit of early information that we can about the new Micheal Bay action flick. There is an early video taken from the first day of filming which features a few of the things that we're expecting to see front and center in this movie: cars, motorcycles and explosions. While the video is pretty short and doesn't reveal all that much, it still has us psyched about the movie and we will surely continue to watch as more filming documentaries are released.
We've pasted the YouTube version after the break, but you might want to check it out on Walmart's site for a clearer version. You'll need the following code: AllSpark62609. There is one more video from Industrial Light and Magic. It's called Creating Transformers and it details what it takes to animate a Transforming robot on-screen with live actors through some of the best scenes from the first movie. Yeah, we're officially excited.
Steve Sutcliffe was wrapping up Autocar's annual 0-100-0 test when a well spoken Japanese gentleman wandered over and started checking out the cars. Now what would you do if you had a car park full of supercars, a private track rented for the day and a Formula 1 driver hove in to view?
Give him the keys then grab a video camera? Evidently Steve thinks the same way. Rather than let Taku embarrass Steve's 0-100-0 times "because he's small and lighter" (yes Steve, we're sure that's the only reason he'd be quicker...) Autocar let him off the leash on the full track. Click through to see what Taku, who drives a classic Mini Cooper in the UK and a Honda Beat when in Japan, got up to in his first few minutes in a real supercar -- and why he got red flagged all too early.
Taku, who lost his F1 drive when Super Aguri folded earlier this year, has an official test with Scuderia Toro Rosso on September 18th. On the basis of this video alone, it's a fair bet that Red Bull will finally have a popular spokesperson for the Japanese market next year.
The trailer for Need for Speed: Undercover is out, and it is 60 straight seconds of "We want." The in-game texture looks primo and the storyline sections are a nice mix full-motion and rendered video. We have no idea what the game involves yet, so we can only hope that EA has restored some of the buck-wild madness that was missing from Need for Speed: ProStreet. We do know, however, that not only have police chases returned, but the boys in blue appear to be driving... R34 Nissan GT-Rs. So if as the sultry voiceover in the trailers says, "This is all going to come crashing down," it looks like you'll have a whole lot of fun making rubble. Follow the jump for the video, and check out the Need for Speed site for a couple more. Thanks for the tip, catgirlshyla!
You may have seen our In the Autoblog Garage report from earlier today about a very unique car: the KITT Shelby GT500 KR. When someone offers you the keys to what is essentially a supercharged V8-powered prop, you make the most of your time together. The above video shot and produced by Chris Shunk shows you exactly how we spent our all-too-short time with KITT, which is to say, we peeled out a lot and pretended to be a young loner on a crusade to champion the cause of the innocent, the helpless, and the powerless.
So far the only video footage we've seen of the new Ferrari California has been either computer animated or sitting still with a giant chin talking. But the fellas over at Autocar magazine in the UK made their way down to Maranello with video cameras in tow for an up-close-and-personal with the newest Prancing Stallion. After the jump you'll find some focus-changing fun angles of the new California, as well as a brief interview with product development director Roberto Corradi, who amusingly informs us that the car was made easier to drive and more softly styled to accommodate female customers. Seriously. Check it out after the jump... it's good for a laugh.
Hmmm, make that long weekend entertainment. Let's close out the theme of vintage car 'toons with one of the best of them all. Once again, Tex Avery dishes out the laughs with "Car of Tomorrow", an all-time great that, among other things, gleefully jokes about running down pedestrians ("Just let 'em try to get away") and pokes fun at those ever-decisive women drivers. Unfortunately, the embedded version after the jump is the censored edition of the cartoon. The P.C. police at Time Warner (which also owns this site's parent, AOL) evidently felt that America could no longer handle the Indian convertible (with a teepee top) and the "sport roadster that's popular in China" (it's a snazzy rickshaw) when the short aired as part of Cartoon Network's ACME Hour. Fortunately, you can still check out the original, uncensored version on the web; it's just not currently embeddable. Follow the jump to watch the final installment of this holiday weekend's impromptu nostalgia 'toontrilogy. This was fun. Hope you enjoyed it as much as we did.
Judging by your comments, watching "Susie the Little Blue Coupe" yesterday brought back memories for many of you. Another thing that became very apparent is that you also hold Tex Avery's 1952 short, "One Cab's Family" in extremely high regard, and commenter "raf 280z" stuck a link to it in the thread. Like Susie, the Cab family's story is an endlessly re-watchable classic. Mom and Dad taxi welcome their adorable little boy into the family garage (note the wallpaper border inside -- one of many great touches), but as junior gets older, he gets a little rebellious, and trouble follows -- big trouble. So, grab your kids, sit back and enjoy it after the jump. "Nurse, check his oil, fill 'im up with gas and we'll take him home!"
Thanks to frequent commenter and tipster "catgirlshyla" for sending in a link to Walt Disney's Susie the Little Blue Coupe, an animated short that originally debuted theatrically in 1952. As you can plainly see, the Disney/Pixar gang used Susie as the inspiration for how to give life to the rides in 2006's Cars -- eyes in the windshield; grilles and bumpers forming mouths. It's just as effective and charming (perhaps even more so) in decades-old hand-drawn animation as it is in 21st-century CGI. The story's very straightforward -- it chronicles Susie's life cycle from new car to used car to junk heap. Don't worry, there's still a happy ending -- it's vintage Disney, remember. Anyway, this is good stuff. Follow the jump and enjoy.
Paris Preview: Officially Official, Honda's new hybrid is the Insight!
Mazda Kiyora city car concept, MX-5 facelift head to Paris
Leaked: Official updated Mazda MX-5 image
Reader Spy: Chevy Volt caught on set of Transformers 2
Spy Shot: Production interior of Chevy Volt (maybe)
In the Autoblog Garage: 2009 Jaguar XF Supercharged
By the Numbers - August 2008: New Digs Edition
In the Autoblog Garage: KITT Shelby GT500 KR
First Drive: 2009 Cadillac CTS-V
In the Autoblog Garage: 2009 Nissan Murano
