CARSCOOP

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• A Collection of Cool, Sleek and Unique Steering Wheels from Modern Cars
• Seat Drops 60 Fresh Photos of the All-New Leon Sport Coupe
• C&D Tips Drivers How to Go Over the Speed Limit and Avoid Tickets
• Spied: New BMW i3 Drops More Camo, See it Side to Side With the Concept
• Skydiver Jumps into VW Beetle Convertible from Plane for Promo
• New Citroen DSS Wild Rubis Crossover Concept – This Is It!
• Are These Supercars from Need for Speed Movie Just Replicas?
• This is How Much Fun You Can Have with Two Ferrari F50s
• Norwegians Embrace Nissan Leaf EV, the Country's 13th Best Selling Car in 2012
• Fiat Boss Confirms Automatic Transmission for Sporty Abarth 500 Models
• Listen to Another Badass V8, This Time from the 1960s and the Ford GT40
• GM Reaffirms Commitment to Opel, will Invest €4 Billion, Present 23 New Cars Through 2016
• Toyota Highlander Driver Demolishes Garage, Cries "Unintended Acceleration", But Is It?
• Spy Shots: Mercedes-Benz Takes GLA 45 AMG Hot Crossover to the 'Ring
• Ford to Debut an All-New Concept Model at the Shanghai Auto Show
• MT Pits the All-New 2014 Jeep Grand Cherokee Diesel Against the VW Touareg V6 TDI
• Alpine Names it's First Racecar in 35 Years the A450
• Designer Envisions a Ferrari 458 Italia Replacement with New FT12 Concept
• Audi to Launch Four New RS Models This Year, Plans Faster Introductions
• Aston Martin Explains the Rapide S in Five Minute-Long Video
• Ukrainian Cars Do the Awkward Walking Dance and Collide Head On
• Toyota Questions Polk’s Statistics, Says Corolla Beat Focus as World’s Best-Selling Car
• GM Reunites with Facebook Ads After an 11-Month Break
• Qoros Brand to Make China Debut at Shanghai Motor Show

A Collection of Cool, Sleek and Unique Steering Wheels from Modern Cars Posted: 10 Apr 2013 08:43 PM PDT Steering wheels used to be big, thin and very elegant-looking in the early days of the automobile. They were usually came with a wooden rim, metallic spokes or prongs, which were quite narrow in their construction, and ranged in number from one to four. As time passed and as airbags and other safety constraints began to make their presence felt in the industry, the design of steering wheels took a downward plunge, and it just now seems to be getting back on track with a few stunning examples fitted to production cars. Read more »

Seat Drops 60 Fresh Photos of the All-New Leon Sport Coupe Posted: 10 Apr 2013 05:05 PM PDT Following the Geneva debut of its three-door Leon SC model, Seat has released 60 new high-resolution photos and in-depth details of its compact model. The Leon SC compensates for the 35-mm (1.38 in) shorter wheelbase compared to its five-door sibling with a sportier profile. It is the first time that Seat has offered a three-door version of the Leon, with the five-door model giving up on the hidden rear door handles as a consequence. Read more »

C&D Tips Drivers How to Go Over the Speed Limit and Avoid Tickets Posted: 10 Apr 2013 04:30 PM PDT If you drive a car, or have driven at some point in your life, you will undoubtedly be familiar with the concept of  speeding. Most drivers do it quite frequently, and it's not even intentional. These days the speed limit can change within a few miles, and if at the moment you were passing the restriction sign you happened to be looking at your mobile phone, or just away generally speaking, the cop around the corner is going to write you a ticket. Read more »

Spied: New BMW i3 Drops More Camo, See it Side to Side With the Concept Posted: 10 Apr 2013 04:04 PM PDT The clock is ticking for the presentation of the first production model of BMW's newly formed "i" sub-brand, the i3 supermini that will be followed by the more expensive and upscale i8 sports coupe. Sales of the i3 hatchback are scheduled to start in the first quarter next year with BMW to offer the car with standard plug-in electric or optional range extender-assisted, electric-drive powertrains. In these fresh spy shots that landed in our email box today, the i3 has shed sections of the swirly disguise from glasshouse and the front and rear aprons. To understand what has changed from the original concept displayed at the 2011 Frankfurt Auto Show, we placed the images of the prototype next to the study. Read more »

Skydiver Jumps into VW Beetle Convertible from Plane for Promo Posted: 10 Apr 2013 03:15 PM PDT The ways in which manufacturers promote their cars vary greatly, and when they go all-out and do their own ad campaign for one model, then you know they're serious and are going to pull out all the stops. For instance, VW has launched the "As Sun As Possible" campaign for the new Beetle Cabriolet, which talks about the stories of "six sun seekers," while also showing off the car. Read more »

New Citroen DSS Wild Rubis Crossover Concept – This Is It! Posted: 10 Apr 2013 04:15 PM PDT We're going to assume that it won't be long before Citroen releases preliminary or perhaps even full details on the all-new DS Wild Rubis concept car as the French carmaker had told us that it would do so on Thursday, April 11, but for now, you can feast your eyes on eight, high-resolution images of the study that were leaked online. What we do know for sure about the Wild Rubis is that it will receive its global premiere at the Auto China 2013 in Shanghai next week. Read more »

Are These Supercars from Need for Speed Movie Just Replicas? Posted: 10 Apr 2013 02:05 PM PDT We have to admit that we were really impressed when we saw the kind of machinery the producers of the upcoming "Need for Speed" movie were able to get their hands on – a McLaren P1, Koenigsegg Agera R, Spania GTA, not to mention the more than exclusive Lamborghini Sesto Elemento… However, judging from these new photos that surfaced on the Internet, some of these cars seem to be replicas of the original models. A Reddit user posted close-up shots of the McLaren P1 and Koenigsegg Agera R in which the two hypercars look fake. Read more »

This is How Much Fun You Can Have with Two Ferrari F50s Posted: 10 Apr 2013 01:39 PM PDT We can imagine that having a Ferrari F50 is a real treat for anybody, but if you bring in another one, will it double the fun? It sure seems that way from the video posted below, where a red and a yellow F50 made to do donuts inside (a barn, probably) and at the end, the makers of the video want to see just how much smoke you can produce with two supercars and a piece of rope – it's reverse tug of war time! Read more »

Norwegians Embrace Nissan Leaf EV, the Country's 13th Best Selling Car in 2012 Posted: 10 Apr 2013 01:16 PM PDT Norway really seems to have taken a liking to the all-electric Nissan Leaf, and reports now show that since the car went on sale in the country, in October of 2011, more than 3,300 have been sold. In 2012, it alone accounted for 1.7 percent of the entire Norwegian car sales figure for the year, with 2,298 units shifted. Going even further, it was Nissan's second-best selling model, after the Qashqai crossover, which beat it by a difference of 599 vehicles, and 13th bestselling car overall in the market. Read more »

Fiat Boss Confirms Automatic Transmission for Sporty Abarth 500 Models Posted: 10 Apr 2013 12:39 PM PDT Even before automatic or dual-clutch transmissions became the norm for most automakers, any foreign company that wanted to have a moderate success in the U.S. market always offered a two-pedal option for its models. One exception is Fiat's Abarth sub-brand. If you visit the Italian carmaker's U.S. website and select the "Powertrain" section from the "Choose Options" menu, the only choice you get is an "Engine Block Heater", as both the Abarth 500 Coupe and Cabrio are offered exclusively with a six-speed manual gearbox. Read more »

Listen to Another Badass V8, This Time from the 1960s and the Ford GT40 Posted: 10 Apr 2013 12:05 PM PDT The V8 is an engine that, in its own way, helped America start its own industrial revolution. These engines were dependable, easy to fix and since there were so many of them around, relatively affordable to produce and purchase. They powered everything from trucks to sedans and sports cars, and even one of the world's first supercars – the Ford GT40, built between 1964 and 1969. Read more »

GM Reaffirms Commitment to Opel, will Invest €4 Billion, Present 23 New Cars Through 2016 Posted: 10 Apr 2013 11:44 AM PDT GM has announced a massive investment program for its ailing European subsidiary Opel over the next four years, worth €4 billion ($5.23 billion). The GM Board of Directors announced the decision today at a meeting in Rüsselsheim, Germany, the home of Opel. A large part of the announced investments will go into new Opel/Vauxhall models, as GM's European arm wants to introduce 23 new models including the upcoming Cascada cabriolet and 13 new powertrains through 2016. Read more »

Toyota Highlander Driver Demolishes Garage, Cries "Unintended Acceleration", But Is It? Posted: 10 Apr 2013 11:18 AM PDT Given all the attention Toyota has received for the unintended acceleration issues, it's not surprising that it's one of the first things that cross the minds of drivers whenever they're involved in a strange and usually, hard to explain, accident or incident. Sometimes they are right, but sometimes they are wrong. A female driver of a relatively new Toyota Highlander posted a video of a rather bizarre incident on YouTube a couple of months back (on January 21, to be precise), though, this is the first time we've seen it, and judging from the low viewer counter, most likely the same applies to you too. Read more »

Spy Shots: Mercedes-Benz Takes GLA 45 AMG Hot Crossover to the 'Ring Posted: 10 Apr 2013 10:28 AM PDT What we believe to be the performance-orientated AMG version of Mercedes-Benz' upcoming GLA crossover, was spied undergoing speed and handling tests around the world's most notorious racetrack, Germany's Nürburgring Nordschleife. Albeit heavily wrapped in masking tape and plastic cladding, like the previous GLA 45 AMG prototype we showed you, this one too sports some special features that confirm its performance pedigree like the larger alloy wheels with wide tires hiding chunky brake discs. Read more »

Ford to Debut an All-New Concept Model at the Shanghai Auto Show Posted: 10 Apr 2013 10:05 AM PDT Ford has announced it will reveal an all-new concept car at the Auto Shanghai 2013 on April 20. The U.S. automaker hasn't provided any additional details on the study other than the car will have its global premiere at the show. Read more »

MT Pits the All-New 2014 Jeep Grand Cherokee Diesel Against the VW Touareg V6 TDI Posted: 10 Apr 2013 09:17 AM PDT Jeep seems to be really proud of what it has achieved with the Grand Cherokee, now that it has been redesigned for the 2014 model-year. It can be seen in the way they show it off, the style of writing that they use to promote it, and in the fact that that they gave it a credible SRT version. Now, fuel-conscious buyers can rejoice, because Jeep's flagship offering can be had with a torquey and efficient diesel engine. Read more »

Alpine Names it's First Racecar in 35 Years the A450 Posted: 10 Apr 2013 08:32 AM PDT Less than a month after the announcement of Alpine's return to motor racing, the revitalized Renault Group brand has released the name of its first racecar in more than three decades, the all-new "Alpine A450". The French brand says it chose the name as a tribute to the Alpines which raced at Le Mans in the 1970s. Read more »

Designer Envisions a Ferrari 458 Italia Replacement with New FT12 Concept Posted: 10 Apr 2013 08:00 AM PDT Automotive designers, be that professional or amateur, tend to be a restless breed of people, always thinking of the next project. It comes with the territory, of course. After sharing his vision for a next generation Ferrari Spider model with a concept featuring a two-seat layout and a mid-mounted engine, Aldo Schurmann returns this year with a fresh design study for a Ferrari 458 replacement that he has named the F12T. Read more »

Audi to Launch Four New RS Models This Year, Plans Faster Introductions Posted: 10 Apr 2013 07:30 AM PDT To mark the 30th anniversary of its high-performance division Quattro GmbH (founded in October 1983), Audi will launch four new RS models this year, while also promising that future RS cars will be brought to market more quickly. The four new RS models that will launch this year are the RS6 Avant, RS7 Sportback, RS5 Cabriolet (all made at Quattro's Neckarsulm facility) and RS Q3, the first SUV to be turned into an RS model. These new four cars will basically double Quattro's range of RS models. Read more »

Aston Martin Explains the Rapide S in Five Minute-Long Video Posted: 10 Apr 2013 07:11 AM PDT The Aston Martin Rapide S is one of the nicest looking four-door sedans in the world, but many will dismiss it as being a simple facelift of the previous model. Here to correct you is the firm's Director of Product Development, Ian Minards, who breaks the S apart in front of your eyes and puts all the changes they've made into perspective. Read more »

Ukrainian Cars Do the Awkward Walking Dance and Collide Head On Posted: 10 Apr 2013 06:36 AM PDT You know when you're walking towards someone and you both try to change path, but end up taking the same direction and bump into each other anyway? Well, imagine the same thing, but instead of walking, driving a car – yes, it's as scary as it sounds. Something of the sort happened to a pair of Ukrainian (or so the video author claims) drivers who tried to avoid each other on the road but their moves resulted in a head-on collision. Read more »

Toyota Questions Polk’s Statistics, Says Corolla Beat Focus as World’s Best-Selling Car Posted: 10 Apr 2013 05:59 AM PDT Toyota says its Corolla compact car was the world's best-selling vehicle in 2012, not the Ford Focus, as the U.S. carmaker said yesterday citing R.L. Polk & Co.'s global new vehicle registration data for the full-year 2012. Ford said it sold 1.02 million Focus vehicles last year topping the Toyota Corolla, which was attributed sales of 872,774 units. The Japanese carmaker's was quick to contradict its rival. Read more »

GM Reunites with Facebook Ads After an 11-Month Break Posted: 10 Apr 2013 05:28 AM PDT In May last year, General Motors decided to pull the plug on its Facebook advertisements because the second-largest U.S. marketer determined that their paid ads on the website had little impact on consumers. It's worth noting that it did so only three days before the world's most popular social network made its first public offering. Now, just shy of a year later, General Motors confirmed to Adage that it's returning to Facebook ads, albeit, without really explaining why. The only significant change that seems to have taken place during this period is the July, 2012 dismissal of former CMO Joel Ewanick, who was said to have been "instrumental" in GM's decision to abandon Facebook advertisements. Read more »

Qoros Brand to Make China Debut at Shanghai Motor Show Posted: 10 Apr 2013 05:01 AM PDT For most people, the name Qoros remains an unknown quantity - for now. After the brand introduced itself with the classic phrase "Hi, I'm Qoros and I'm an automaker," at the Geneva Motor Show earlier in the year, it's now time for the other important market their cars are aimed at to get a closer look – China. Qoros will be making its official China debut at the Shanghai International Auto Show, on 20 April. Read more »

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