The Aston Martin V12 Vantage has arrived and yes, you want one. Evolving the styling and engineering exercise Aston unveiled in 2007 and set for a Geneva Motor Show debut, the blokes Gaydon claim the V12 Vantage is the most driver-focused sports car the automaker has ever produced.

Power is provided by a 6.0-liter V12 putting out 510 hp at 6,500 rpm and 420 lb.-ft. of torque at 5,750 rpm. The Vantage's new-found grunt is sent through a carbon fiber driveshaft to a rear-mounted six-speed manual gearbox. The transmission benefits from an oil cooler and a new rear diffuser helps cool the standard limited slip differential. Aston claims a 0-60 time of 4.1 seconds and top speed of 190 mph.

Independent double wishbones are mounted fore and aft, while six-piston calipers squeeze 398mm (15.67-inch) carbon ceramic discs in front and four-piston units clamp down on 360 mm (14.17-inch) ceramic rotors in the rear. The front wheels measure 19x9-inches and the rears 19x11-inches, each wrapped in Pirelli P Zero Corsa rubber sized 255/35 and 295/30, respectively.

Inside, carbon fiber door pulls join a host of standard features, while lightweight, carbon-kevlar seats, personalized sill plates and a premium audio system are optional.

The V12 Vantage features spring rates 80% stiffer in front and 45% stiffer in the rear, allowing the coupe to hit up to 1.3 lateral gs. The V12 mill weighs almost 200 pounds more than the V8, but after the Aston got done tweaking the Vantage, the overall increase was a paltry 110 pounds. Pricing hasn't been announced, but expect each of the 1,000 V12 Vantages Aston plans to produce to fetch a princely sum. All the details are available in the press release below the fold.

Next month at the Geneva Motor Show, we'll finally get a look at the highly-anticipated Mazda3 MPS (that's Mazdaspeed3 in Americanized English for y'all), as well as the new Mazda3 i-stop, which features the automaker's fuel-saving stop/start system. The i-stop system, combined with Mazda's MZR 2.0L DISI four-cylinder, deliver 12-percent better city fuel economy and helps drive down the car's emissions output in the face of the upcoming Euro 5 standards.

The Mazda3 MPS takes the jovial-looking hatchback and gives it a little more of an edge. As you can see, the happy face remains, but it's now accentuated by a substantial hood scoop, specific grille trim, and round foglamps. Out back, a pronounced roof spoiler, black bumper insert, and dual exhaust tips are visual cues that tip off the car's performance nature. Power comes, as before, from a turbocharged MZR 2.3-liter DISI four-cylinder, but no specific numbers have been released yet. For that, Mazda's making us wait. No problem, we're patient. As always, we'll bring you full coverage from the floor in Geneva when the festivities get underway.



[Source: Mazda]

Nissan's plans for the Geneva Motor Show include the debut of the Qazana concept crossover and the production debut of the NV200 people mover.

According to Nissan's official release, the Qazana (not Qazan, as previously reported) is a small, five-door CUV that will "challenge conventional wisdom" in the segment. Nissan hasn't released a teaser of the Qazana, instead describing the crossover as a low-slung hatch with large wheelarches and suicide doors. If the Qazana reaches production, expect it to slot in below the Murano and Qashqai in markets outside the U.S.

The production version of the NV200, originally seen in concept form at the 2007 Tokyo Motor Show, will also bow in Geneva, and will feature three rows to accommodate seating for seven, along with sliding side doors and a flexible interior to fit all the detritus a European family on the move can manage. Van and Combi versions will be offered further down the line, but Nissan hasn't announced when the NV200 will go on sale or if the mini-minivan will make it to the States. Hit the jump for the press release and look for the live in just over a month.

Aston Martin doesn't have a huge product range. In fact, until the Rapide and One-77 come along, its line-up essentially boils down to two models: the Vantage and the DB9. And if reports coming straight from Switzerland are to be believed, the now-independent British sportscar company is descending on the Geneva Motor Show next month with new top-of-the-line variants of both.

First up is the convertible version of the DBS. The iconic Bond-mobile, whose name may have finally been determined, will make for a stunning drop-top. Not unlike arch-rival Ferrari, which took the 430 Scuderia and crossed it with the F430 Spider to create the 16M Scuderia Spider, Aston will take the fixed-roof DBS and put it in a room together with the DB9 Volante, dim the lights, put on some Boys2Men and let nature run its course.

Reportedly joining the DBS Volante/Roadster will be the production V12 Vantage RS. Forgot about that one? It's easy when Aston keeps serving up delectable new flagship supercars, so we'll scribble the recipe down for you again: take one V8 Vantage and the 600-hp V12 engine from the DBRS9 race car. Add louvers, spoilers, carbon fiber and alcantara. Shake (don't stir). Production should be very limited, and performance should be blistering. Stay tuned.



[Source: topcarblog.ch]

Think about French automobiles and inevitably two vehicles spring to mind: the quirky 2CV and the iconic Citroen DS. Both models are cult favorites and at least one is making a comeback.

Citroen is launching a global rebranding campaign this Wednesday in conjunction with its 90th birthday, and along with upgrading its dealers and providing better post-sales support, Citroen will introduce a new segment of "near-premium" models that will revive the DS nameplate.

The first concept, a small car wearing a DS3 badge, will be unveiled at the Geneva Motor Show this March and hit the European market in the first half of 2010. Citroen will expand the range to include a lower-midsize vehicle, dubbed the DS4, due to go on sale in 2011, while a third model, an upper-medium sized sedan wearing a DS5 nameplate, will arrive in showrooms in late 2011.

The new DS range of vehicles will be positioned higher than their corresponding C3, C4 and C5 stablemates, and will likely feature more striking designs and luxurious appointments. We'll catch our first glimpse of the Citroen DS3 in less than a month, but expect more details to be released later this week.


[Source: Automotive News – Sub. Req.]

The 2010 911 GT3 might seem like more of the same from Porsche, but that's hardly a bad thing. The combination of a high-revving flat-six combined with excellent handling and boy racer looks has never been so appealing. Since its official unveiling yesterday, Porsche released even more gorgeous high-res photos of the car, along with a video of the new GT3 on track with legendary rally driver Walter Röhrl behind the wheel. Check out the new pictures in the gallery below, and watch the video after the jump.


[Source: Porsche]

Nissan put out an incredibly brief press release about its plans for the Geneva Motor Show, including one line about a new concept that will debut this March. After a bit of snooping we've got a name and a genre: it's called the Qazan and it's a compact crossover designed to slot in below the Euro-market Qashqai.

The sketch above was pulled from our previous story about Nissan's new A-segment vehicle that's due to be produced at the automaker's Sunderland plant in the UK. If the rumors hold true, production of the Qazan will take over the Micra assembly line when it ends next year. The Qazan is expected to go on sale in 2010 and aimed to compete with the Kia Soul, so expect an upright body and a youthful image. More to follow from Geneva in just over a month.

[Source: ZampaRuedos]

Bentley has released a teaser video of its upcoming new "extreme" biofuel supercar, which we expect will use a version of the British firm's existing German-engineered twelve-cylinder engine adapted to run on ethanol. Although Bentley is trying hard to promote the green side of the flex-fuel equation, horsepower addicts will also find something to like from the new machine. Quite a bit more power can be extracted from ethanol when an engine has been properly tuned to run on the high-octane fuel, so it shouldn't be too surprising that the British automaker is claiming that its new coupe will be its most powerful production car ever, a title previously held by the 600-horsepower Continental GT Speed.

As with any flex-fuel engine, the car will be able to run on any mixture of gasoline and ethanol, and its on-board computer will adjust the timing to run properly and make as much power as possible. We're sure we'll get plenty more details before the car's official unveiling on March 3rd at the Geneva Motor Show, but for now, enjoy the video after the jump.

[Source: ExtremeBentley.com]

BMW seems to enjoy confusing us with new cross-segment body-styles. Next up to bat is the Progressive Activity Sedan, a sort of hatchback version of its upcoming 5 Series, positioned in between the 5-Series sedan and touring models. We've seen the PAS (which hopefully won't turn out to be a PoS) in test mule guise racking up the development miles, but sources now suggest that BMW is preparing to give the quirky concept its press debut at a dedicated event on February 11-12 in Munich.

Lending credence to that notion has been the appearance of an odd video sketch centering on the design philosophy behind the PAS. The video gives precious few details, but it does hint at a dual-access hatchback configuration and illustrates BMW's priorities with the model, most of which center around occupant accommodation. (The video makes alarmingly little mention of driving dynamics).

If the rumored debut dates are true, that's almost a month ahead of the Geneva Motor Show, and it could mean that its public debut will be held there in Geneva after the press has had its fill. Alternatively, BMW could decide to launch the conceptual pre-production PAS in February, the conventional new 5-Series in March at Geneva and wait to debut the production PAS until Frankfurt in the spring. With this kind of gradual reveal in the cards, we're starting to understand what BMW means by "Progressive."

[Sources: BMW; World Car Fans]

MINI's going to be busy over the next few months, with new product debuts already scheduled for Geneva (the MINI One Clubman) and Frankfurt (MINI Crossover). If the rumors are correct, you can add one more to the mix, as the John Cooper Works edition of the new convertible looks to join its fixed-head stablemate at the Geneva Motor Show in March. As in the JCW hardtop, the ragtop version will be blessed with a more powerful version of the Cooper S model's turbocharged 1.6-liter four-cylinder engine, which can send its 211 horsepower and 192 lb-ft of torque to the front wheels through a six-speed manual gearbox. As with the hard-hat JCW, an overboost function allows for a torque peak of 207 lb-ft for a short period of time of quick bursts of acceleration.

Chassis improvements include new 17-inch alloys (with optional 18-inchers), an upgraded brake package and standard sport suspension. Of course, no upgrade package would be complete without a few visual modifications, and the JCW delivers with a revised front fascia, aero kit and plenty of badging inside and out. Want one? Expect to pay at least 30K for the privilege.


[Source: Carscoop]