Autoblog

Click above to view a high-res version courtesy of AutoExpress.

According to AutoExpress, the next generation BMW 5-series will be offered as a hatchback, along with its standard sedan and wagon counterparts. The Brit pub supposedly has it on good authority that the new hatch design will be similar to the "TwinDoor" feature offered on the Skoda Superb, which allows the driver to raise either the trunk alone or the rear window and trunk simultaneously. If employed on the new 5-series, storage – with the rear seats folded flat – could approach X5 levels. Expect to see the new 5er launched in 2010.

[Source: AutoExpress]

The new Lancia Delta has been spotted at a photo shoot, and this blogger thinks it's a mighty find looking car. The production version of the Lancia Delta HPE Concept that debuted at the 2006 Paris Auto Show, was apparently considered a disappointment, and the lines haven't really changed.

The car has traces of some recent Ford (of Europe, of course) products, such as the Verve and Fiesta, but that doesn't make it any less beautiful, and remember the concept car was out two years ago. The Delta, at about 4.5 meters long, 1.8 meters wide and 1.5 meters tall, is meant to challenge the Audi A3 and VW Golf, and will get turbocharged engines from 120 hp up to 200 hp. It looks like Lancia will be the last Fiat brand and take the longest to return to former glory, but this is a fine start.

[Source: Autogespot]

Click image for a gallery of the new Superb's Twindoor system

Czech automaker Skoda unveiled its new 2009 Skoda Superb (based on parent company VW's Passat) at the Geneva Auto Show this week. It's a great-looking car that represents an excellent execution of the platform, but that's not what makes it so eye-catching. We were more intrigued by that trunk... or is it a liftback?

The Superb features an innovative combo trunk/tailgate system that Skoda calls the "Twindoor." Its design allows the hatch to be opened like a conventional trunk, or like a rear hatch. The clever 'lift-trunk' sports not one, but two small releases in the same general spot that a single trunk release would normally be found. Press the button in the center, and it opens as a conventional trunk with spring assist. Press the button on the right, and it opens as a rear hatch with strut assist. Opened wide as a hatch and with the seats folded, the Skoda Superb has 565 liters of cargo space (our math says that's about 20 cubic feet).

The Skoda Twindoor deserves merit. It is a brilliant idea that we hope catches on with other manufacturers, hopefully on this side of the Atlantic. However, it does leave us wondering if we are witnessing the first signs that sedans are also evolving into that abyss of vehicles classified as the CUV. Thanks for the tip, Johanes!

[Source:Skoda]

If your inner rally driver lusts for something different than the run of the mill Subaru or Mitsubishi, there's a tasty new Gallic morsel to spice things up. Citroen is taking their C2 to the FIA Junior World Rally Championship this year, and the C2-R2 Max Rally kit is their ticket to homologation. The kit keeps the price down, but doesn't skimp on serious pieces. The 1.6-liter engine belts out 190 horsepower, and there's larger brakes and a hydraulic steering rack to keep that power in check and make sure it's properly directed. There's also an adjustable rear suspension to help fend off competitors on the track. All of our puppy-dog enthusiasm is for naught; we can't get this un-subtle killer hatch in the United States. C'est la vie.

[Source: Inside Line]

Before its highly-anticipated unveiling at the Geneva show in March, Alfa Romeo has been leaking mere glimpses at its upcoming entry-level hatchback. Tentatively known as the "Junior" after Alfa scrapped its own online naming contest, the hatchback is based on sister company Fiat's Grande Punto platform, but with even more sumptuous Italian styling and a range of engines.

These latest images appear to have been prepared for its brochure, but have somehow found their way out of the factory and into cyber-space. None of the images, which can be seen after the jump, reveal anything more than some close-up details, but the when Alfa takes the wraps off its latest, it should give the Mini a run for its money.

[Source: Progretti955 via Carscoop]

While Ford keeps on cranking out newer, faster versions of the Mustang for American customers, Ford of Europe is preparing new packages for the Fiesta ST and Focus ST hot-hatches to do the same thing.

The £950 package for the diminutive Fiesta ST pushes power up to 185 hp from its 2-liter four, which is expected to come from upgraded engine management, cylinder heads, a new camshaft and exhaust. All that adds an extra 37 hp to the standard Fiesta ST's 148, dropping a sprint to 60 down half a second to eight flat.

Meanwhile, the larger, more powerful Focus ST gets treated to a similar upgrade, worth about £1,500. This package is tipped to include a new air filter, ECU and exhaust, amounting to a similar 38-horsepower increase in power for a total of 260 that drops the 0-60 blitz down to 5.5 seconds. Thank heavens Ford sells a version of the Focus here that's just as fast. Oh, wait...

Get this: current ST owners in Europe can also get this package retrofitted to currently-owned cars, along with a full-factory warranty on the parts. Europeans, then, will just have to make do with these hot hatch packages a while longer before the 300+ horsepower Focus RS arrives in 2009, at which point Blue Oval fanboys from the U.S. will invade your countries with the intent to drive.

[Source: Auto Express]

click above for high resolution gallery of the Toyota Auris SR180

The bucket of parts that makes up the Toyota Corolla also gives life to several other vehicles worldwide. In the UK and other parts of the world, they get the Auris, a three- or five-door hatch-type-thing. While Toyotas in the United States are sleepy affairs, the Auris is ringing in 2008 with a sporty, well-equipped SR180 version. Looking great with a lowered suspension from Toyota Motorsport and blacked out rear glass, the Auris appears intimately involved with the pavement. There's a subtle spoiler atop the hatch, which always gives a nice finish to the back end of this style car, and the wheel arches are nicely filled with 17-inch alloy rims. Underhood, Toyota's D-4D Diesel provides 175 horsepower and a whopping 294 ft-lbs of torque through a six-speed manual while returning 38 mpg (US) on a combined cycle.

Equipment levels are up, providing the driver with such goodies as dual-zone climate control, automatic headlamps and wipers, and cruise control. Stability and traction-control systems are standard, too. It all sounds and looks very good until you run the roughly £18,500 price through a currency conversion – coming out the other side at about $37,000 greenbacks. Some people would sell a kidney on eBay for the opportunity to get something like this Stateside, and it certainly is a rare Toyota that makes us say "That's cool." If you're someplace where you can take advantage of it, order yours now for January delivery.

[Source: Toyota]

Overseas customers anxiously awaiting the upcoming entry-level model from Alfa Romeo have a little teaser to hold them over. The replacement for the three-door version of the long-in-the-tooth Alfa 147 is expected to debut at the Geneva show this coming March, but this is the first time we've actually seen it.

Unfortunately, all we can see is a bit of the front and rear bumpers, but like an unguarded celebrity pop idol getting out of a car, a little glimpse can be worth a lot. All that can be seen from the front shot is a fog-light flanking the front air dam, but the red cover betrays the iconic Alfa shield grille underneath. Around back is a better view of an intriguing overlapping double-oval exhaust peering out from what little rear overhang there is.

No word yet on whether the Junior (or whatever it will be called after Alfa bailed on its own online naming campaign) will eventually make it over the pond as part of the company's return to the American market, but we'll be on hand in Switzerland for the unveiling in three months.

[Source: Autoblog.it]

click image above for high-res gallery of the 2008 Impreza Outback Sport

The standard new generation evolution usually goes like this: bigger, roomier, longer, wider. For some models, it's not such a big deal to go fiddling with the specs, on certain cars it's even a welcome improvement. Subaru, however, has a conundrum on their hands when they go messing with the Impreza formulation. There's a loveable quirkiness to the recipe; start tinkering too much, though, and you'll end up with New Coke.

Thus, it's with trepidation that we sampled the 2008 Impreza. It certainly looks different than those which came before. New duds don't mean an expanded waistline here, the 2008 model actually twirls out considerably less measuring tape in several dimensions than its forebear, while gaining inches and tenths where they make the most difference. Better doesn't have enough depth to fully convey the marked improvements Subaru has made in their entry-level model for 2008. Even stretching to "a lot better" leaves more to be said



All photos ©2007 Dan Roth / Weblogs, Inc.

Furiosa. That's what the new hatchback from Alfa Romeo will be called, by virtue of an international competition to choose the car's name.

The Italian automaker is getting farther away from the Alfa-numeric (pun intended) nomenclature and giving its models more emotive nameplates instead. The web contest offered online voters a choice of twelve names, and Furiosa got the most votes, beating out Agea, Enos, Everson, Fira, Milo, Mod, Nevo, Solea, Sparvo, Velvetta and Ventura. While some proposals had merit, some of the rejected names were a little cheesy (try to figure out which).

So we can stop calling it the Alfa Junior. The Furiosa is anticipated to make its debut at the Geneva show in March. We're so there.

[Source: Motor Authority]