Aston Martin DBR9

Aston Martin Racing has revealed further details of its all-new DBR9 that will spearhead the marque's return to international motor racing in 2005.

This new GT racing car, which is based on the latest Aston Martin production sports car, DB9, is being prepared by Aston Martin Racing's partners, Prodrive, based at Banbury, UK. Prodrive is responsible for the design, development and management of the DBR9 racing programme.

The first DBR9 is being prepared now and will compete during 2005 in selected international sports car events, including Le Mans 24 Hours. Three Aston Martin Racing Works teams will then be appointed to compete in major international sports cars series. These will be independent teams each racing two DBR9s with the full factory support of Aston Martin Racing. Aston Martin Racing will also make a very limited number of DBR9 racing cars available to selected customers. These cars will be prepared to the same specification as the Works cars.

"The design of DB9 lends itself to be translated perfectly into the DBR9 race car," said Jeremy Main, Aston Martin's Director of Product Development & Motorsport. "While DBR9 has been planned for outright performance, every surface sculpture and design detail has been developed to the same high standards as our road cars." Power for the DB9 comes from a 450bhp all-alloy, 48-valve, 6.0-litre V12 engine which gives it a top speed of more than 180mph (300kph). The DB9 is offered with a six-speed automatic or a six-speed manual transmission. The DBR9 will naturally be far more powerful than the DB9.

Read more »

Aston Martin unveils Centenary Edition

Billed by Aston Martin as the “ultimate GT car,” this bespoke version of the luxury coupe will be available worldwide, though only 100 vehicles will be built. The company has also announced that similar centenary editions of the V8 Vantage, DB9 and Rapide are in the offing.

The main appeal of the Centenary Edition Vanquish is aesthetic. The interior is dominated by black leather with silver stitching previously only available in the One-77 hypercar, and there’s special silver embroidery of the Aston Martin wings in the head restraints. Going further with the motif, there’s also solid sterling silver sill plaques individually numbered with an Aston Martin hallmark.

According to Aston Martin, the purchaser also gets a presentation box containing two glass keys with leather key pouches that match the interior leather, solid silver cuff links featuring the Aston Martin script, a solid silver Rollerball pen, a pair of Bang & Olufsen headphones and a silver polishing cloth to buff up the badges and plaques.

The company notes that some specification details will vary from market by market, but they’ll all enjoy a special Centenary Edition paint finish, which adds an average of 18 hours to the painting process that already takes more than 50 hours to complete. This bespoke process involves building up a graduated finish by adding special “tinters” to create the darker inner color and is applied by hand with a “special mini-jet spray gun.”

Aston Martin Design Director Marek Reichman said that the paint job was almost like a makeup chart. “The team has looked closely at the individual contour lines of each of the cars to determine not only the right colors and shades, but also to create a template by which the paint changes from dark to light and where the graduated effect sits.”

Even without the special paint job and the silver cuff links the Vanquish isn't anything to sneeze at. The body is of bonded aluminum, magnesium alloy and carbon fiber composites and the engine is a 48-valve 5.9 liter V12 with independent quad variable camshaft timing punching 565 bhp (421 kW) and 457 ft lb (620 Nm) of torque. It does 0 to 100 km/h (62 mph) in 4.1 seconds, on the way to a maximum speed of 183 mph (295 km/h). There’s also a six-speed touchtronic 2 automatic gearbox, limited-slip differential, and electronically controlled rack and pinion power-assisted steering.

The suspension is a lightweight aluminum front subframe with hollow castings and front independent double wishbone incorporating anti-dive geometry, coil springs, anti-roll bar and monotube adaptive dampers. In the rear, there are independent double wishbones with anti-squat and anti-lift geometry. These are backed up by a three-stage adjustable adaptive damping system with normal, sport and track modes and ventilated carbon ceramic disc brakes front and rear with an anti-lock braking system.

The Centenary Edition Vanquish is now available for orders. The price has not been mentioned, but when the company is handing out goodie bags with sterling silver accessories in them, it is definitely not going to be cheap.

The video below is Aston Martin's introduction to the Centenary Edition Vanquish.

Read more »

Mercedes-Benz new entry level CLA-Class

Mercedes is touting its new CLA-Class as "a real Mercedes. But not as you know it." The new mid-size four-door coupe is designed to bring the three points into a new demographic of garages, broadening Mercedes' appeal to a younger generation of buyer. The CLA is essentially a baby CLS, which Mercedes says is Germany's best-selling luxury car. The four-door, based on last year's Concept Style Coupe, was revealed at a preview event on the night before this year's North American International Auto Show.

"We aim to reach new target groups with the CLA – including those who never wanted to drive a Mercedes," said Dr Joachim Schmidt, executive vice president Mercedes-Benz cars, sales and marketing, in a statement.

Mercedes pins those hopes on sporty styling that it refers to as "rebel" and "avant-garde." Like the Style Coupe concept, the CLA has a sporty flair defined by a sloped profile and interplay between concave and convex surfaces. Three distinct lines carved across the flanks team together to give the car a sophisticated, dynamic look.

Meanwhile, the rear quarter and its subtle haunches are designed to convey a sense of power to the eye, letting you know the CLA is ready to burst forward when rallied into action. The panoramic sunroof that connects front and rear windshields is available as an option.

The CLA-Class's flowing curves pay off with a drag coefficient of 0.23, which Mercedes says is the lowest of any series-production vehicle. Those airflow characteristics should ensure that the 208-hp, 2.0-liter turbocharged four-cylinder will be able to deliver riveting performance while getting the most out of the gas in the tank. The engine is mated to a seven-speed dual-clutch transmission and available with a 4MATIC permanent all-wheel-drive system.

Mercedes uses a combination of McPherson strut suspension up front, independent multi-link suspension in back, electromechanical power steering, and flexible decoupling of the rear axle sub-frame to give the youthful CLA buyer a ride that should be lively and spry.

The CLA-Class comes standard with safety assistance systems, including the Attention Assist drowsiness detection and radar-based Collision Prevention Assist with adaptive Brake Assist. Other technologies like Blind Spot Assist and Lane Keeping Assist can be added optionally.

The CLA supports the connected lifestyle with Mercedes' mbrace2 connectivity platform that connects to the cloud for apps and concierge services. The car will also include Mercedes' new Apple Siri integration. A 5.8-inch display and Bluetooth come standard, and the optional 7-inch display with the Multimedia package brings the COMAND system with hard-drive navigation, voice control, an SD card slot, an in-dash 6-disc CD/DVD changer, a 10 GB music register, a rear-view camera and SiriusXM Traffic & Weather.

The CLA will become the entry point for the Mercedes-Benz brand when it goes on sale in September 2013 (4MATIC version in 2014), and Mercedes describes the price point as "unexpected." It will reveal just how unexpected in a Super Bowl commercial next month.

Read more »