Filed under: Videos, Toys/Games

If you’ve been enjoying Forza 4 on your Xbox 360 but have been clamoring for some new cars to try out, you’ll want to mark February 7 on your calendar. That’s when Microsoft is releasing the new American Le Mans Series pack, complete with ten new cars in digital, downloadable format.

The February ALMS Pack includes some serious race machinery, including the Audi R18 TDI that reigns as current champion at the 24 Hours of Le Mans, the Mazda 787B that was the last Japanese car to win the race back in 1991, the new Panoz Abruzzi “Spirit of Le Mans”, and the iconic 1986 Audi Sport Quattro S1. Also included are the Platinum Motorsport Bentley Continental GT, Quinton “Rampage” Jackson’s Dodge Challenger SRT8, the 1992 Alfa Romeo 155 Q4 touring-car-for-the-road, the 1995 Ford Mustang Cobra R, the Holden HSV GTS and, for when a little hatchback is called for, the Volkswagen Polo GTI.

The downloadable content pack is included in the Forza Motorsport 4 Season Pass, or can be bought for 560 MS Points (worth $7). Check out the new additions in the video after the jump and the image gallery above.

Continue reading February ALMS Pack brings R18 and 787B to Forza 4 [w/video]

February ALMS Pack brings R18 and 787B to Forza 4 [w/video] originally appeared on Autoblog on Tue, 31 Jan 2012 19:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Filed under: Coupe, Performance, Etc., Europe, Alfa Romeo, Design/Style, Luxury

Yup. Someone has apparently taken it upon themselves to slather the slinkiest of Alfa Romeo models with the bright orange paint and stars and bars of the General Lee from The Dukes of Hazzard. Why? Because if you have enough cash to park an 8C Competizione in your expansive garage, you can paint it in whatever livery you damn well please. Details are scarce, but our source says the coupe is real, and it rocks the appropriate “01″ numbering on each door. We’re hoping there’s a horn capable of whistling Dixie under the hood as well, and we’ll award bonus points if the doors are welded shut and there’s a cage inside.

We’d love to know who ordered up this particular color combination. Our source, John S., says this photo was clicked near Balocco in Northern Italy (presumably adjacent to Alfa’s test track facility there), but for now, we’ll just content ourselves by wondering how you say “Daisy Duke” in Italian.

Did someone really order this Alfa Romeo 8C with a General Lee paint scheme? originally appeared on Autoblog on Mon, 30 Jan 2012 11:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Filed under: Motorsports, Mini, Middle East

It may not be a World Rally Championship event, but Mini is celebrating its first win at an international rally (at least its first such win of the modern era).

The event in question was the Qatar International Rally, a fully FIA-sanctioned event that kicks off the 2012 Middle East Rally Championship (MERC). Abdulaziz Al-Kuwari (with his brother Nasser as co-driver) edged out the competition by an impressive margin of 2:24.9 in the Mini Countryman JCW Super Production Car – the same vehicle that Prodrive fields in the WRC but with a smaller wing and restrictor plate, and similar to the X-Raid vehicle that recently won at Dakar.

Victory at the event was particularly meaningful for Prodrive, which got its start at the Qatar International Rally way back in 1984 to kick off the first MERC in the Rothmans Porsche 911 SC RS (pictured in the high-res image gallery below).

Continue reading Mini claims first international rally win

Mini claims first international rally win originally appeared on Autoblog on Tue, 31 Jan 2012 18:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Filed under: Budget, Sedan, Marketing/Advertising, Videos, Hatchback, Chevrolet

The Chevrolet Sonic has been busy lately – taking part in a host of adventurous activities like sky diving, bungee jumping, kickflipping, and making a music video. We’ve seen snippets of a lot of the extreme sports activities the Sonic hatch has been involved in, but we have yet to see the music video for OK Go and its song “Needing/Getting.” Chevy has just released a teaser to whet our appetites, however, as well as its latest full-length Sonic ad for the Super Bowl, both of which you can view after the jump.

The 60-second extreme sports spot is part of an onslaught of seven ads that Chevrolet will run before and during the game, and at least four of the brand’s ads will be devoted to the Sonic. Follow the jump to check out the new spot called “Stunt Anthem,” and if you like the song in the ad – The Fun’s “We Are Young” – you can download it here.

Continue reading Chevy Sonic teases Ok Go music video and extreme sports ads for Super Bowl

Chevy Sonic teases Ok Go music video and extreme sports ads for Super Bowl originally appeared on Autoblog on Tue, 31 Jan 2012 16:57:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Filed under: Performance, SUV, Crossover, Lamborghini, Rumormill, Luxury

It was hinted not long ago that Lamborghini would be bringing a couple of brand new baubles to the Geneva Motor Show. Speculation was that one would certainly be the Aventador Roadster, but the other was more difficult to predict – the standard cries being a production version of the Sesto Elemento, a new sedan or a crossover. Well, we still can’t be sure what else is coming to Geneva, but if the magazine scan at the Teamspeed forum can be believed – it comes from Italian mag Quattroroute – a new crossover will be heading our way shortly after the Switzerland expo.

According to the article, Lamborghini will be getting an SUV based on the Audi Q7 platform (just like sister-brand Bentley is expected to do), and it will be revealed at the Beijing Auto Show in April. The ostensible codename is LB 736, and while the official engine spec hasn’t been nailed down just yet, we hear it’ll be a V10 or electrically assisted V8 with somewhere around 700 horsepower.

The body is reportedly standard Lamborghini-issue aluminum and carbon fiber, with aims of a curb weight under 2,000 kilograms (4,400 pounds), and the completed project will go on sale in 2015. There’s a suggestion that it might also come to Geneva instead of Beijing, but since the image is a Photoshop – and, frankly, most of this is speculation – don’t be suprised if what we see now is not exactly what we ultimately get… whenever it debuts.

Lamborghini’s next model to be “LB 736″ SUV instead of Estoque? originally appeared on Autoblog on Tue, 31 Jan 2012 16:29:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Filed under: Car Buying, Chrysler, Ford, GM, Honda, Hyundai, Kia, Toyota

Domestic automakers have much to be happy about, with Chrysler, Ford and General Motors all gaining market share last year for the first time since 1988. Yet according to Bloomberg, 2012 won’t be as good to Detroit. Total sales are projected to grow from 12.8 million vehicles last year to 13.6 million, according to the report, but increasing competition from Korea and a Japanese recovery from the natural disasters of 2011 mean those extra sales aren’t likely headed to the Big Three.

The news agency spoke to five analysts, and predictions have the U.S. automakers losing 1.3 percentage points this year. The analysts estimate that GM will drop 0.6 of a percent, Ford will lose 0.5 percent, and Chrysler will be down 0.2 percent. Toyota is seen gaining 0.9 percent, with Honda grabbing an extra 0.5 percent, while Hyundai and Kia are only projected to see their combined market share improve by 0.01.

If all this comes true, GM would have the top market share in the U.S. at 19 percent, with Ford in second at 16.3 percent, followed by Toyota at 13.8 percent, Chrysler at 10.5 percent, and Honda at 9.5 percent.

Analysts: U.S. automakers will lose marketshare in 2012 originally appeared on Autoblog on Tue, 31 Jan 2012 16:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Filed under: Car Buying, Chrysler, Ford, GM, Honda, Hyundai, Kia, Toyota

Domestic automakers have much to be happy about, with Chrysler, Ford and General Motors all gaining market share last year for the first time since 1988. Yet according to Bloomberg, 2012 won’t be as good to Detroit. Total sales are projected to grow from 12.8 million vehicles last year to 13.6 million, according to the report, but increasing competition from Korea and a Japanese recovery from the natural disasters of 2011 mean those extra sales aren’t likely headed to the Big Three.

The news agency spoke to five analysts, and predictions have the U.S. automakers losing 1.3 percentage points this year. The analysts estimate that GM will drop 0.6 of a percent, Ford will lose 0.5 percent, and Chrysler will be down 0.2 percent. Toyota is seen gaining 0.9 percent, with Honda grabbing an extra 0.5 percent, while Hyundai and Kia are only projected to see their combined market share improve by 0.01.

If all this comes true, GM would have the top market share in the U.S. at 19 percent, with Ford in second at 16.3 percent, followed by Toyota at 13.8 percent, Chrysler at 10.5 percent, and Honda at 9.5 percent.

Analysts: U.S. automakers will lose marketshare in 2012 originally appeared on Autoblog on Tue, 31 Jan 2012 16:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Filed under: Sedan, Performance, Marketing/Advertising, Lexus, Luxury

Lexus has a redesigned GS that it truly believes can compete with the likes of the BMW 5 Series and Mercedes-Benz E-Class. So it’s going where the eyeballs are with its marketing, ponying up for the brand’s first-ever Super Bowl ad. Lexus’ commercial is just a 30-second spot, joining the likes of Acura, Audi, Cadillac and other brands buying time during the big game.

Lexus is calling its ad, “The Beast,” which calls to mind both President Obama’s limo and the 2009 documentary by Eric Bana. The actual spot, however, has a rather hackneyed sci-fi theme: A GS350 is locked up in a shipping container sized cage in a lab, and uses its new “Lexus spindle grille” to break free in a destructive orgy of CGI.

Click past the jump to watch the whole ad.

Continue reading 2013 Lexus GS unleashed in Super Bowl ad

2013 Lexus GS unleashed in Super Bowl ad originally appeared on Autoblog on Tue, 31 Jan 2012 15:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Filed under: Sedan, Performance, Marketing/Advertising, Lexus, Luxury

Lexus has a redesigned GS that it truly believes can compete with the likes of the BMW 5 Series and Mercedes-Benz E-Class. So it’s going where the eyeballs are with its marketing, ponying up for the brand’s first-ever Super Bowl ad. Lexus’ commercial is just a 30-second spot, joining the likes of Acura, Audi, Cadillac and other brands buying time during the big game.

Lexus is calling its ad, “The Beast,” which calls to mind both President Obama’s limo and the 2009 documentary by Eric Bana. The actual spot, however, has a rather hackneyed sci-fi theme: A GS350 is locked up in a shipping container sized cage in a lab, and uses its new “Lexus spindle grille” to break free in a destructive orgy of CGI.

Click past the jump to watch the whole ad.

Continue reading 2013 Lexus GS unleashed in Super Bowl ad

2013 Lexus GS unleashed in Super Bowl ad originally appeared on Autoblog on Tue, 31 Jan 2012 15:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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