Autoblog

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In advance of its public unveiling at the Geneva show in March, and after releasing a teaser photo, Volkswagen's Czech subsidiary Skoda has additional photos and details on its upcoming new flagship.

The aptly-named Superb is based on the Volkswagen Passat platform, though stretched out to offer more space. Its range of features includes direction-changing headlights, a new electronic climate control system, and automatic parking assist. Compared with the model it replaces, the new Superb grows another 35mm longer and 18mm wider, but hunkers down 8mm lower and shrinks in wheelbase by 42mm, actually increasing the overhangs contrary to industry trends.

The Superb also wears its own unique bodywork and badging, but like all top-of-the-line Czech models, the best view is around back where the Skoda features a useful hatchback setup. Motivation comes from a range of six engine options – three gasoline and three diesels – topping out with a 260-hp 3.2-liter V6. A five- or six-speed manual will come standard depending on which engine is chosen, but the Superb will also have an available DSG twin-clutch transmission option.

Although the new Superb doesn't come across as the most exciting thing goin' down in Switzerland this coming March, it appears Skoda put together a surprisingly good package.

[Source: Skoda]

As more and more artists' impressions of the anticipated Mazda RX-9 surface online, images have leaked showing us what the interim facelifted version of the current RX-8 will look like. The image, as you can see, comes from a scanned Japanese magazine.

The changes appear to be exclusively cosmetic. Up front, the grille has been revised to feature higher-mounted fog lamps under new, wider headlights. Around back the taillamps have been updated with four round LED rings. That's pretty much the extent of it, although the car pictured is a new RS version featuring 19" wheels, Recaro racing buckets and Bilstein shocks.

The facelift is reportedly targeted mainly towards American customers, and may not even make it to other markets. We'll bring you more from the updated RX-8's anticipated launch at the fast-approaching Detroit auto show.

[Source: Mazda-Madness.nl via World Car Fans]

The North American International Auto Show in Detroit is right around the corner, where Mercedes is anticipated to unveil the vehicle you see here: the Mercedes-Benz GLK Freeside concept. Official images and details are expected in a manner of days, but someone at Daimler headquarters has apparently let the proverbial cat out of the bag.

Like the "Vision" concepts that Mercedes used to give us in the '90s, the GLK Freeside "show-car" is more of a pre-production prototype than a design study, and is tipped to closely mirror what the production GLK will look like. We already got a preview of the production model when the GLK showed up undisguised on the set of Sex and the City, of all places. The "Freeside" moniker, which seems dangerously close to the "Freelander" named used by Land Rover, is not expected to carry over when the little truck goes into production.

This leaked photo comes at a busy time for Mercedes, which recently gave us the new SLK (and SLK 55 AMG), a teaser shot of the new SL roadster and leaked photos of the facelifted CLS-Class all in the past couple of weeks.

[Source: Carscoop]

It's been a regular smorgasbord for fans of Mercedes roadsters over here, with this teaser shot of the upcoming facelifted flagship SL hitting the web just a few days after Benz revealed the updated version of the smaller SLK. But while the SLK was revealed first in "ordinary" guise, the image above shows the full-fat, fire-breathing SL 65 AMG version.

We already know that the facelift will feature a heavily revised front end with new headlight treatment, but from the rear three-quarter view Mercedes is enticing us with, all can also see the revised taillights, new diffuser with quad exhausts, and a subtle lip spoiler. The new SL 65 also appears to be riding on AMG's latest 19-inch five-spoke rims, similar in style to those found on Stuttgart's other earth-pounding range-topper, the Porsche 911 Turbo.

With the teaser shot also comes information on the two AMG models in the new SL range: the SL 65 AMG we see here, and the SL 63 AMG. The former packs AMG's twin-turbo V12 pumping out a whopping 612 horsepower, while the latter is driven by Affalterbach's 6.3-liter V8 with 525 horsepower, replacing the outgoing 55 version and in the process distancing it from the smaller SLK 55 AMG revealed previously.

We'll have to wait to see more images of the new AMG roadsters, including those that celebrities will be wrapping around trees.

[Sources: Mercedes-Benz via World Car Fans and Motor Authority]

In addition to hosting the world's most popular car show, authoring a library of books and writing regular columns for a variety of magazines and newspapers, celebrity automotive journalist Jeremy Clarkson has turned out a tall stack of DVD specials.

The video after the jump is a trailer of his latest video, called Supercar Showdown. In the new special, scheduled for a November 5 release, Clarkson takes to the road and the track in some of the most mouth-watering and earth-shattering supercars, including the Ferrari 430 Spider and 599 GTB Fiorano, Lamborghini Gallardo and Murcielago Roadsters, Bugatti Veyron, Audi R8, Porsche 911 GT3, Radical SR3, Aston Martin V8 Roadster and Ascari A10. Sabine Schmitz and The Stig also feature in a head-to-head in what looks to be a jaw-dropping orgy of Octane.

Click through to catch a sneak preview.

Kudos to Mike for the tip.

[Source: YouTube]

Click image for a gallery of desktop-sized photos

Yesterday we brought you a sneak preview of the much-anticipated Fiat 500. This marks the revival of one of the most iconic small-car designs in automotive history, a milestone in the Italian automaker's recuperation, and for buyers, an enticing new little runabout to add to the shopping list. Today, Fiat has officially released details and images of the sprightly Cinquecento. The car will be properly launched on the 4th of July, a date that marks the 50th anniversary of the launch of the original 500.

In the meantime, Fiat has provided us with the following: they've confirmed the car will launch with a choice of three engines. A 69hp 1.2-liter 8-valve four, a 100hp 1.4-liter 16-valve four, or a 75hp 1.3-liter 16-valve Multijet turbodiesel will be available and can be mated to a choice of five- or six-speed transmissions. That's before any performance-oriented Abarth versions enter the mix. The tiny car measures just 355 cm long, 165 cm wide and 149 cm tall, riding on a 230 cm wheelbase.

The Nuova 500, which will be built in Tychy, Poland, alongside the upcoming Ford Ka, promises to take the market by storm when it goes on sale, first in Italy, on September 15, with production targeted at 50,000 for 2007 and 120,000 for 2008.

Follow the jump for the preview video and the press release, or click below to view the images in high-resolution.

[Source: Fiat]

The Subaru Impreza has changed faces more times than a dirty politician, but still manages to sell well thanks largely to a loyal customer base. And those loyal customers – not to mention the enthusiasts to whom the letters s-t-i are close to g-o-d – have been patiently awaiting the launch of the current Impreza's replacement, due for unveiling at the New York Auto Show in April and on the market next year.

These images published in Japan are now hitting the internet, and if the illustrations are accurate, the wait just might be over, not to mention worthwhile. Subaru's design director, Andreas Zapatinas, who was responsible for the current Subie's rather unfortunate (though arguably distinctive) front end, was shown the door. And it seems Zapatinas' successors did a much better job putting together a sharp-looking cohesive package that should make the technically excellent Impreza more palatable – if not more desirable – to a broader range of customers.

Does Subaru have a winner on it's hands?

[Source: Edmunds' Straightline]

Gearheads the world over (England particularly) have been eagerly anticipating the upcoming ninth season of Top Gear, the BBC's crown jewel of an automotive magazine show. All the more so following the drama of co-host Richard Hammond's terrifying crash and miraculous recovery, the details of which we followed closely as they developed.

Thanks to Arvin, one of our intrepid readers, we're glad to bring you this brief nineteen-second clip previewing the upcoming season of Top Gear. Nineteen seconds isn't very much, but from this brief clip we can see a few antics the crew is up to: the Porsche 911, remote-control airplanes, Jaguar XKR vs. Aston Martin V8 Vantage, street-paving machines, trying to drive an old pick-up truck, chopping a Fiat in two, driving the Bugatti Veyron at speed, and testing the new Lotus Europa.

This is only a teaser, and we're willing to bet our favorite of friends across the pond have got a great season lined up for us. Shame we don't get the BBC over here in America, but on the internet, "the will" is seldom separated from "the way" for very long.

Volvo's giving us a little treat in releasing these pictures of the XC60 concept SUV, which they'll be showing in a few weeks at the Detroit show. While strictly dubbed a concept show car, the kid brother to the XC90 is expected to go into production in 2009. How closely it mirrors this shapely showcar is the question.

The exterior styling clearly takes on Ford Europe's latest "kinetic" design language, following along the lines (so to speak) of the Ford Iosis concepts, among others. And those lines mark a radical departure from the comparatively conservative styling production Volvos employ, and what was previously expected to continue with the XC60 as well. To compete with the increasingly crowded premium compact SUV segment, that could be just what Volvo needs to cut ahead of the pack. The interior, meanwhile, is very i, Robot ...tres slick, but don't expect much to carry over to production aside from the modern trademark Volvo floating console-dash panel.

Not much is known about the mechanicals on this concept, but we do know it's based on the platform of the Land Rover LR2 (a.k.a. Freelander 2, as opposed to the LR3/Discovery).

Follow the jump for more images.

[Source: Volvo via Carscoop]

The Chrysler Group was kind enough to schedule its own media preview event the day after Ford's Showroom of the Future, so one Detroit rush hour traffic jam and crappy hotel room later we're back in the midst of future vehicles and concepts. Unlike Ford's event yesterday, the Chrysler Group featured only vehicles that are destined to be debuted on the auto show circuit this season, rather than visions of the future for 2008, 2009 and beyond. Nevertheless, everything we witnessed is embargoed at least until the Detroit show and later for some. Hopefully we won't get slapped for saying so, but the mood was positive in Chrysler's Design Dome as the press attended seem genuinely impressed with the majority of Chrysler's auto show lineup. There were certainly models we didn't see today that are being saved as suprises for the shows, but what we were privy to bodes well for The Chrysler Group. Of course, if other media outlets break the embargo you can bet we'll be all over it. Until then, our lips are sealed.