Arden, the German tuning firm that's been tweaking Jaguars for decades, is teasing us with this concept shot of its new Jaguar XF AJ 21. We just drove the 2009 Jaguar XF and felt the sheetmetal was lacking some excitement. In a good manner, it appears that Adren has addressed some of our concerns with its aerodynamic sport package including new front and rear bumpers, new side skirts, and a more aggressive wheel package. Look closely and you'll notice the cat is back on the hood (maybe too much redundancy, considering the badge is just below it as well?). Expect more photographs, specifications and pricing in the near future.
Why is it that people feel the need to saddle perfectly good cars with replica bodywork to make them look like exotics? There's nothing wrong with the last generation Toyota MR2, true, it's no Ferrari, but then again, you can buy an entire MR2 for very much less than a Ferrari 360; an amount closer to the downpayment, most likely. We'd keep the bodykit away from the MR2 and spend the extra dough on suspension and engine mods. If you really must project the image that a Ferrari brings (you know – this car costs more than your house, and I'll sell it for more, too. Yes, that does make me better than you) you could follow the lead of this MR2 Spyder's owner.
If you can stomach the truncated proportions that haven't survived scaling well, your MR2 will make a solid basis for you to become a total poseur. From what we can see, the car pictured has had time and energy lavished on it. The extra-wide door gap is not pretty, but overall, there's a lot of detail here, and the pictures show something that's reasonably turned out, instead of a total hack job. It's a very well done tribute, in fact. At least you can be fairly certain that the MR2 will have more uptime than the Ferrari, and when it does need to go see the doctor, the prescription's cost will lean more toward ibuprofen, not radical walletectomy.
Needless to say, we aren't surprised to come across a Porsche Boxster with a Carrera GT bodykit -- recessed doors, power hardtop convertible, Tiptronic (or "Triptonic," if you look at the auction listing), and just 16,000 miles on it. It also sports new rims worth $6K. The seller is moving to Hawaii, lucky dog, and has "too many cars," as if there is any such thing.
With a reserve of over $50,000 we're not exactly expecting a blowout, but it is a cool knock-off for significantly less than a bona-fide Carrera GT -- and with Porsche engineering, still. Place your bids here.
The Audi Q7 is the embodiment of being fashionably late, having arrived on the scene at the tail end of the SUV bubble looking like a million bucks. No doubt it will still win customers with its combination of expensive looks and performance above and beyond what traditional utes offer. Still, the aftermarket loves to tinker and the Q7 is a willing canvas. The newest body kit to be offered for Audi's SUV is the PS Q7 by PPI, a German tuning company you might remember for the single-frame grilles they sell for last-gen Audis and the monster 600-hp Audi A8 Executive sedan.
The PS Q7 is adorned with aggressive cosmetic enhancements that include a new front bumper with large air intakes, four small fog lamps, and a matte carbon fiber splitter below the big Audi grille. The new bumper also reportedly reduces lift on the front axles at speed. Side sills with small exhaust vents behind the front wheels take up residence on the Q7's flanks while a new rear bumper with two cutouts for PPI's 4 pipe stainless steel exhaust dress up the rump. A tasteful rear spoiler is also located above the rear window.
PPI placed 22-inch one-piece alloy wheels at each corner, which are tucked under each fender thanks to the PPI sport module, a chip that allows the Q7's air suspension to go lower than stock. A big brake kit has also been installed to scrub off speed that the PS Q7 accumulates from its various stages of tune. The top Stage II package increases the power of Audi's 4.2-liter V8 all the way up to 600 horsepower, just like the A8 Exec express.
Ah, the trials of being a tuner, especially one that creates its own line of body enhancements. When Volvo gave the XC90 a face-lift for 2007, Heico Sportiv had to respond to the updated Swedish SUV with a new kit in which to wrap it. The biggest improvement is the use of a material called PU-RIM plastic. This material is touted as 'brakeproof', which should be translated breakproof to us. Regardless, the front and rear enhancements are three-piece designs and give the XC90 a more butch appearance. The front skirt includes cut outs for fog lights, which can be upgraded to cornering lamps. There is even an optional dual exit exhaust that can be added to complement the rear apron.
Heico can also outfit your XC90 (or any other late model Volvo) with performance parts to go with that body kit, including ECU upgrades, suspension packages, and brakes kits. If you want, you can also get the aluminum door pins or other interior goodies so that your investment in Heico parts doesn't go unappreciated inside the cabin.
The Jalopanese folk have just posted pics and info of last of three vehicle Ford previewed for the media today, the 3dCarbon Fusion. Though it's basically just a six-piece body kit for the Fusion, the look is sharp and, like the F-150 FX2 Sport Extreme reminded us of the SVT Lightning, the 3DCarbon Fusion has us pulling out old photos of the SVT Contour and sighing repeatedly. Many of you will no doubt appreciate 3dCarbon leaving off the silly graphics, stripes and paint on this vehicle and letting us see it in a more natural state of execution. The body kit includes a front air dam with a two extra chrome bars (bringing the total of chrome bars on the Fusion's face up to five), side skirts, a rear lower skirt, an upper deck spoiler and a rear deck spoiler, all manufactured in urethane instead of fiberglass. Plus, this particular Fusion has all-wheel drive and 3dCarbon added Brembo brake calipers and drilled rotors for some visual panache. All told, Ford would be hard pressed to make a factory-backed sport edition of the Fusion look better than this kit. 3dCarbon is bringing tuned versions of the Edge, Lincoln MKZ and MKX to the SEMA show, as well. Follow the Read link for pics of the 3dCarbon Fusion from more angles.
You may remember DAMD as the Japanese tuner house that grafted an Aston Martin nose on a Nissan 350Z (more on that in a later post). Now the aftermarket company has set its sights on the brand new Mitsubishi Outlander, which in our opinion looks just fine off the showroom floor. But those DAMD tuners went and produced a three-piece body kit for the Outlander that includes a new front spoiler, rear apron and side skirts. A new grille insert can also be bought to finish off the company's kit. The wheels are 20-inch in diameter and look to be about all the Outlander's fenders can handle. We wish we could tell you this DAMD Outlander was packing some heat over and above the stock 3.0-liter V6 producing 220 horsepower, but DAMD produces parts strictly for show, folks. If you live in the U.S., however, it makes no difference as DAMD sells its wares only in Japan.
Veteran tuners know that the best sport compacts are built from base models, not range toppers. That's because base models are blank canvases ready to accept new wheel and tire combos, body kits, head units, seats, paint and every other mod in a tuner's arsenal. Scion apparently understands the tuner and is releasing a Spec Package for the tC in 2007. The 2007 tC Spec Package is a bare bones tC that starts at $15,000 for a manual and $15,800 for an automatic. It's got steel 16-inch wheels and comes in four basic primer colors – Super White, Flint Mica, Black Sand Pearl and Classic Silver Metallic. It retains the tC's fixed glass panorama roof yet has unique upholstery and a urethane steering wheel. Considering a standard tC starts at $16,400, the new Spec Package prove popular with the public at large and not just tuners looking for a blank slate when it arrives at dealerships next month.
[Note: 2007 Scion tC shown, pics of the Spec Package have not been released by Toyota/Scion yet]
Mustangs were all the rage at the New York Auto Show this year and the frenzy of Ford stallions continues with
Roush’s announcement of its Stage 3 Mustang. Called “the best Mustang we have ever built,” by Jack
Roush himself, the Stage 3 Stang features the GT’s 4.6L V8 with an intercooled ROUSHcharger system that includes
a specially calibrated ECM. The ROUSH treatment nets an additional 115 horsepower over stock bumping the total number
of ponies to 415 and torque now stands at 395 ft-lbs. The suspension and brakes have also been upgraded to handle the
additional power and ROUSH has modified the exterior with a seven-piece body kit. The racing stripes are one of the
car’s few options.
Follow the jump for ROUSH’s official press release that includes more
details on its best attempt at a perfect pony car to date.
Got yourself a Porsche Carrera, GT2, GT3, Carrera 4S or Turbo from 1997-2004? Those were the years of the 996, which marked a change from air-cooled to water-cooled. It was also the point at which Porsche essentially canned the round headlights and flared fenders. By all accounts, the 996 was an incredible machine... but what about Porsche tradition? Well, if one can get around the whole air-cooled thing, hot-shoe tuners Hamann have got a package they'd like to show you.
The tuning shop uses original Porsche parts in combination with their own to convert the 996 to a 997, sans the cost of going out and buying a brand new Porsche. On top of the conversion, HAMANN added wing doors, a cool body kit, and performance components to round out the upgrade. The result is a slick looking 997 with 620 bhp and a top speed of 217 mph.
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