Le Mans-Winning Bentley Speed 8 to Star at Bentley Drivers Club 60th Anniversary

In 2003, Tom Kristensen, Dindo Capello, and Guy Smith drove the Bentley Speed 8 prototype to victory in the Le Mans 24 Hours. The same car will be featured at the 60th Anniversary of the Bentley Drivers Club at Silverstone.

The Bentley Drivers Club 60th Anniversary meeting promises to be a “moving-museum” of Bentley’s motor racing heritage. Bentleys of every era, ranging from a 1925 3 Litre to the 2003 Speed 8, will appear in the paddock and on the track.

Bentley will be bringing several of its more famous racing cars to the track, including at least two cars that helped the marque win the famous Le Mans race five times between 1924 and 1930. The first official Le Mans works Bentley- a 1925 3 Litre- will be featured as one of them and the 1926 3 Litre, “MK 5205”, is another of the featured Le Mans works Bentleys of old.

In stark contrast to the older racing Bentleys, are the Speed 8 and other Brooklands cars and Bentleys that have raced at BDC events in the past 60 years. The Bentley handicap race is set to show the full mix of Bentley’s racing heritage by pitting classic 3 Litres against more modern Turbo Rs.

The Bentley Drivers Club 60th Anniversary meeting takes place at Silverstone on August 8th and 9th.

Image of Benley at Le Mans in 1925 credited to the W.O. Bentley Memorial Foundation

 source by carsanddriver

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Infiniti G37 Sport Sedan

Infiniti G37 Sport Sedan

- Base price: $37,865
- 328 hp, 269 lb-ft of torque
- Inexpensive, powerful luxury sedan

Although the Infiniti G37 is available in coupe and sedan models, again the obvious family choice is the four-door. Available in several trim levels, the Sport model is the best performer of the bunch. With pricing for the Sport sedan coming in at $37,865, it can easily be considered one of the least expensive luxury sport sedans available today.


The G37's 328 hp and 269 lb-ft of torque come from its 3.7-liter normally aspirated V-6 engine. A six-speed manual is the sole transmission option for the Sport sedan. Eighteen-inch five-spoke wheels come standard on the Sport model. Four-piston calipers grab fourteen-inch rotors in the front, whereas two-piston calipers slow 13.8-inch discs in the back. The rear wheels spin harmoniously with the help of a viscous limited-slip differential, and a sport-tuned suspension aids spirited driving maneuvers.

Dual-zone automatic climate control helps keep all occupants comfortable, while leather seating throughout not only adds to the comfort level but also eases the task of cleaning crumbs. Family sing-alongs are sure to be fun with the standard ten-speaker Bose audio system. Audio can be piped to the Bose system either through the iPod connector or via the G37's streaming Bluetooth capabilities. The two gigabytes of onboard storage can house a significant amount of music, too. Infiniti's Advanced Air Bag System adjusts inflation rates for the front air bags depending on crash severity. EPA fuel economy numbers indicate that the G37 Sport sedan should be able to attain 17 mpg city and 25 mpg highway. The G37 Sport sedan leads the $30,000 to $40,000 pack in luxury, sporty feel, and above all family friendliness. ...
source by automobilemag

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FEATURES: Eight Great Volkswagen-Italdesign Collaborations(1995)

1995 Lamborghini Cala

Talk about déjà-vu. Eight years before Italdesign was hired to design the Lamborghini Gallardo, a smaller, more affordable Lamborghini, it was hired to design the Cala -- a smaller, more affordable Lamborghini.

Lamborghini's portfolio was bolstered with the 1990 launch of the Diablo, but the company had no replacement for the less-expensive Jalpa, which died in 1988. At the time, parent firm Chrysler saw no need to replace it, but that mentality shifted once the Indonesian Megatech consortium took over in 1994. A less-expensive Lamborghini -- perhaps one utilizing a V-10 -- was seen as key to introducing new customers to the brand and expanding the company's marketshare.


Megatech wasted little time -- the L140 program was launched soon after it bought the company, and early prototypes (which closely resembled Diablos) were shown to dealers that November. The public would have its first look at the car come March of 1995, when Italdesign unveiled the Cala at the 1995 Geneva motor show. Lamborghini executives hinted the car was a preview of the new "baby Lambo," and even let some journalists drive the functioning show car on the open road.

Sadly, the project never came to fruition. After the Indonesian owners ran into a number of legal, fiscal, and political troubles, Lamborghini was sold to Audi, and the Cala was shelved. Executives, however, still saw value in a smaller Lamborghini, and ultimately pushed for the addition of the Gallardo to the portfolio. A wise decision, as it's now the brand's most popular product.

...next page >>
source by automobi

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Audi Sound Engineers Place 62 Speakers into a Q7

After orchestrating the design and installation of some pretty far-out Bang & Olufsen sound systems into vehicles like the R8, A8, and Q7, you'd think Audi's sound engineers would be perfectly content. Not so. In fact, in pursuit of the perfect sound, some engineers within the company have created their dream sound system, which involves stuffing 62 speakers into a Q7.



The venture, dubbed the Audi Sound Project, is the pet project of infotainment development engineer Peter Gleim. His goal -- to focus on wave field synthesis -- sounds like a scientist's fantasy, but is actually quite impressive. The object is to recreate a sound wave with several sources (i.e. speakers) placed closely together. Each speaker is controlled separately, so the signal can be delayed and staggered, allowing the listener to hear an exact reproduction of the original sound. Better yet, the sound is produced in an identical fashion for each seating position.

"We can simulate any wave front," Gleim said in a release. "With stereo, we can generate a sound as if the two speakers were located far outside the car. We can also add any desired spatial impression computationally -- not as a sound effect, but as a mathematically precise simulation."

Gleim's team managed to cram all 62 speakers, baffles, and amplifiers into the Q7, but its interior looks anything but normal. The ASP system includes five tweeters, five subwoofers, and 52 midrange speakers, all connected to a large power amplifier. Speakers are integrated into the dashboard, pillars, door panels -- virtually anywhere engineers could find space. Three separate PCs are needed to control both the amplifier and the entire speaker array.

"Our goal was to show what is technically feasible; to explore the limits," said Denis Credé, head of Audi's sound development. "What we are learning will be integrated into the sound systems of tomorrow. It's like with racing: A lot of what is first tried out on the race tracks of this world later shows up in modified in production vehicles. The Audi Sound Concept project is like racing for sound systems."

We imagine both packaging and cost are two major hurdles in pushing the ASC into production. On that later note, adding the 14-speaker Bang & Olufsen system in an A8 or Q7 adds roughly $6300. We suspect that figure would grow exponentially for a 62-speaker system.
We're fans of excellent sound systems, but aren't always convinced they're worth the investment. What say you -- when shopping for a car, is the sound system an important component, or do you skip that option box?

Source: Audi

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