Click above to watch videos after the jump

Gallery: Need for Speed SHIFT

Continue reading VIDEOS: Need for Speed SHIFT includes Lexus LF-A, BMW M3 GT2, lots of awesome

VIDEOS: Need for Speed SHIFT includes Lexus LF-A, BMW M3 GT2, lots of awesome originally appeared on Autoblog on Fri, 05 Jun 2009 11:27:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Volvo has been trying its darnedest to reinvent itself, but the Swedish automaker is finding it can't escape its own image. Rather than trying to fight it, then, emerging reports suggest that the company will go with the flow while refocusing its model line-up to include more wagons, which already account for some two thirds of its languishing sales.

Among the new models Volvo is reportedly preparing is the V30, a sport-wagon aimed at the Audi A3. Expected to be a little taller and longer than the A3 Sportback, the V30 could incorporate the kind of flexible seating layouts we've seen in minivans, but in a smaller, more upscale package. Based on the European Focus platform, the V30 would slot in above the C30 sport-hatch to where the S40 and V50 fit currently. Those models, meanwhile, would grow slightly larger to take on the likes of the BMW 3-Series, but smaller than Volvo's own next-gen S60 and V70. An XC30 off-road version would likely also fall into the mix, with all-wheel-drive, higher road clearance and more rugged body-cladding.

Gothenburg (home to Volvo's headquarters, not Batman's Swedish cousin) is also tipped to be considering replacing the flagship S80 sedan with a new range-topping V100 wagon, as well as a Smart-style city-car and electric powertrain packages. One way or another, Volvo needs to find its niche and run with it, or it could find itself up for sale like its erstwhile Ford Europe/PAG sister companies Aston Martin, Jaguar and Land Rover.

[Source: Autocar]

Rumormill: Volvo rethinking, shifting focus to wagons originally appeared on Autoblog on Wed, 09 Jan 2008 13:32:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Fresh from the car-web circuit is this picture taken of a decidedly low-tech and low-profile retrofit for an apparently missing or broken gear-shift leaver.

Without knowing exactly what kind of car this was, we'd speculate from the picture that it's a 90's-era pick-up truck, either American or Japanese. Either way, it sounds so much better the way our Spanish colleagues at Motorpasion called it: "Palanca de cambio modelo rustico".

[Source: TechEBlog via Carscoop]

Cheap Resourceful driver puts the stick in his stick-shift originally appeared on Autoblog on Tue, 24 Jul 2007 21:36:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Update on Ford's aspiration for a dual-clutch transmission originally appeared on Autoblog on Sat, 28 Apr 2007 13:12:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

How do you know you've got too much money? When you spend a chunk of it on something like this. The leather Bentley key case is one thing, but this ... this operates on a level all its own.

This shift knob, made for Bentley by IcedOutEmz, a brand of the Las Vegas-based LP Wheel Group, comes studded with 30 karats worth of diamonds trimmed with 10 ounces of 18-karat white gold.

All that bling comes with a hefty price tag: $150k (spitting distance of the Continental GT's $170,000 MSRP itself). That's what it takes to stand out at the SEMA show, where the shift knob will be unveiled this coming November.

[Source: NY Times via Luxist]

Iced-out Bentley knob originally appeared on Autoblog on Mon, 05 Mar 2007 20:29:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Purists will rejoice at the news that for 2007, BMW is offering its lightning-quick M5 with a manual transmission.

Although the 500-hp super-sedan is capable of some jaw-dropping supercar-territory performance (like hitting sixty in 4.1 seconds), some enthusiasts have bemoaned its excessive use of electronic systems that interfere with a direct connection to the road.

With the no-cost option of a six-speed manual instead of the seven-speed sequential SMG gearbox, the M5 isn't expected to be any quicker. In fact, with clutchless manual transmissions always improving, the switch to the stick may in fact slow the car down a bit, especially in the hands of the average driver.

The news opens up the debate all over again: stick or paddle? If you were buying an M5, which would you take?

[Source: Kicking Tires]

BMW M5 shifts old-school originally appeared on Autoblog on Tue, 07 Nov 2006 07:10:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.