Autoblog

Click above for a hi-res gallery of the Subaru WRX STI spec C

It looks like a regular STI, right? Well, according to the spies at KGP, it's not. This is actually the forthcoming Impreza WRX STI spec C out for a cruise in some approipriately sloppy weather. Note the white wheels and reworked rear diffuser, which are the visual giveaways in this case. When the spec C arrives, it should tip the scales at around 150 to 200 pounds less than the regular STI and be further augmented with engine upgrades and improved braking. That'll make for a nice neighborhood rally car, indeed. All you'll need is a little snow, some studded rubber, and someone yelling directions at you in Finnish from the passenger seat to really bring that WRC experience home. For the rest of you, just ask your wives to ride shotgun. They'll be shouting directions at you (though probably not in Finnish) in no time. Check out the attached gallery for more shots, both on the street and on the Nordschleife (on a nicer day).


[Source: KGP Photography]

Click above for a high-res gallery of new Acura NSX spy shots

The spies at KGP Photography have captured the first shots of the next Acura NSX in its prototype form. Gone is the makeshift S2000 bodywork the car has been photographed in before, replaced by what appears to be its true form: a classic, long-hooded sports car profile that is significantly more muscular and aggressive-looking than the Advanced Sports Car Concept. The camo effectively hides most of the juicy details, particularly up front,. Still, you can make out the three well-defined intake openings there, as well as headlamps that are larger than the slitlike units shown on last year's concept car. In back, stacked square dual exhausts suggest plenty of underhood muscle, which makes sense since a V10 is expected to be nestled under the car's lengthy bonnet. The mule depicted above also suggests a BMW 6-series-like decklid aft of the rear glass, though there's no way of knowing if it incorporates taillamps that run the width of the rear, as we saw on the concept. No matter. It all adds up to something we want to see a lot more of, and soon.



[Source: KGP Photography]

KGP Photography was spending its weekend in beautiful Death Valley when its photogs snapped a whole lot of pics of the next VW Rabbit in testing. Judging from the VW engineer flipping off the camera (will they ever learn how bad that looks?), we're pretty sure the Volkswagen testers didn't want any pictures out just yet. A new, stronger character line can be seen spanning the Rabbit's flank, and the door handles no longer intersect said crease. The front and rear of the car are pretty well covered, but the general shape doesn't look very different than the Rabbit we already know and love. Powertrains are likely to remain largely unchanged, with a Euro-style range of petrol and diesel engines.

The Rabbit/Golf is perhaps the most important car in the VW stable, as it sells worldwide at very high volume. One place where the Rabbit isn't as popular is here in the States, which is part of the reason we didn't get the Gen V Rabbit until only recently. Expect to see the new Golf swing in to European showrooms in 2008, with the bunny-monikered version arriving here a couple of years later. Click the read link below to view more spy shots of the Rabbit over at Winding Road.

[Source: Winding Road]

The return of the NSX to Acura's lineup has been an off-and-on again affair, but the latest intel has a new NSX with a 500-horsepower V10 on schedule for an arrival sometime in late 2008 or 2009. While our only indication of what the new NSX may look like up to this point has been the Acura Advanced Sports Car Concept, we do know work is well under way on the car's mechanicals. Thus, we submit these spy photos as Exhibit A, evidence that Acura is currently testing its new NSX. They were taken at the Nurburgring in Germany and show a heavily modified Honda S2000 with quad tailpipes located in the middle of the rear bumper and what appears to be a heavy-duty double wishbone suspension below. The test car also features big wheels and a hardtop of sorts. The S2000 body on this NSX mule suggests that Acura is still far from finalizing a design for the car, but that doesn't appear to have stopped engineers from working on the brand's follow up to the world renowned "everyday supercar" that was the original NSX.

[Source: Straighline Blog]

Related posts:
Further developments on the NSX powertrain
Acura kills NSX and announces heir
New NSX to get V10 + AWD
Acura confirms V10 for NSX replacement
One powerful NSX: Acura supercar to have 500HP at 23.5 MP

You never know what you'll see while sitting high up in a tree. Case in point is this crossover from Dodge that KGP photographers caught while, um... rescuing a kitten. Known internally as the "JC49", this CUV based on the Dodge Avenger/Chrysler Sebring platform is news to us. Apparently it's meant to take on such vehicles as the Ford Edge and Toyota Highlander in the marketplace, which we suppose there's room for in Dodge's lineup considering most of its utility vehicles are of the truck-based "Sport" variety. Only the Caliber stands out as being based on a unibody platform, so something larger with a smooth ride and decent mileage could do well in Dodge's lineup.

It's a little hard to tell if the JC49 has three rows of seating, but from its profile we can see there appears to be room for an extra bench. While the description from KGP claims that the styling follows traditional Dodge styling cues, we don't really see them. The exposed metal on the vehicle's side is very clean and reminds us of the Acura MDX. The front end, though heavily masked, does show a Dodge "crosshair" grille, but not an upright, in-your-face one that we see on on so many Dodge's. This one appears to be shaped like a shield and raked back quite a bit.

What's more surprising is the price at which KGP claims this vehicle may start. According to them, the JC49 could go for as low as $20,000, probably equipped with a four-cylinder engine. That would certainly overlap with a well-optioned Caliber in the marketplace and, quite frankly, seems a little low for such a large vehicle.

[Source: Winding Road]