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The 2009 Shelby GT500KR features a 540 hp 5.4-liter supercharged V8 engine with a Ford Racing Power Upgrade Pack, short-throw shifter and unique suspension tuning, while the exterior features unique carbon composite hood, wheels, and unique striping.
The GT500 is built at AutoAlliance International Inc., in Flat Rock, Michigan and from there, the cars are shipped to the Shelby Automobile facility in Las Vegas, where a Ford Racing Performance Pack, exhaust system and short-throw shifter are installed. Ford said that the first 2009 Shelby GT500KR Mustangs will be delivered this spring.
Under the hood, the new Renault Laguna GT will be offered with both petrol and diesel powerplants. The diesel version will be powered by a 2.0 dCi engine, producing 180hp (131kW) at 3,750rpm and peak torque of 400Nm from 2,000rpm. Powered by this engine, the Laguna accelerates from 0 to 100 km/h (62 mph) in 8.5 seconds, has an estimated fuel consumption of just 6.5 litres/100km and 172 g/km CO2 emissions.
The petrol version is powered by a sport version of the 2.0 liter 16-valve engine, which produces 205hp (150kW) at 5,000rpm and peak torque of 300Nm from 3,000rpm. The acceleration from 0 to 100 km/h (62 mph) is made in 7.8 seconds, the estimated fuel consumption is 8.2 litres/100km and 194 g/km CO2 emissions.
Developed by Renault and Renault Sport Technologies, the Laguna GT uses the Active Drive chassis with four-wheel steering. The car is fitted with a sensor on the steering column that sends steering wheel angle information via the CAN network to the 4WD control unit, located behind the rear axle. The 4WD control unit also inputs vehicle speed from the ESP/ABS unit. This makes the car very easy to handle in town and agile on winding roads.
On the exterior, the new Renault Laguna GT looks very sporty, with the long plunging bonnet, new lateral air-intakes, aerodynamic sills, twin tailpipe, gloss black wing mirrors, smoked rear lamps and it rides on Celsium wheels equipped with 225/45 18-inch special Bridgestone Potenza tyres, a Formula One spin-off. On the inside, the Laguna GT is also very sporty, with the exclusive GT logo embossed on the light grey alcantara of the front seatbacks, special three-spoke leather sports steering wheel with grey stitching, cross-drilled aluminium pedal, sports gearshift lever knob, dark charcoal Riviera leather upholstery with reinforced lateral support.
Specially developed for the Indian market, it seems that the base 1.3 liter petrol model (with power steering and air conditioning, but no stereo, for example) will be priced somewhere around Rs 4.5 lakh ($11,000), while the 1.3 liter diesel version will be priced at Rs 5.2 lakh ($12,900).
The reason for this action is that the Tesla Roadster’s components are sourced abroad and a lot of the construction is being done in Hethel, England. And with the dollar getting very weak compared to the Euro, selling the car to Europe as fast as possible will provide the company a better balance between income and cost currencies.
Still, considering that all the 900 models that’ll be produced this year are already taken, Europe will see its first Tesla Roadster next year. We don’t know yet what countries will get the car first, but InnovationBeat says that, because of the tax incentives offered on low-emission vechiles, Norway and Sweden are favorites.
Though production started last week, Tesla is currently building just one car per week and will keep it like this for a month or two. “We’re doing intensive quality control along the way,” Siry said “We’ll ramp it up to two a week, then five a week. That’s normal. You only ramp up one you’re satisfied everything is up to quality.”
Priced at $98,000, Tesla hopes to produce and sell about 1,800 units next year and they also plan on presenting a four-doors sedan in 2010.
Currently, Hyundai provides Accent hybrid models to government agencies as pilot projects and plans on starting mass production with the compact-sized LPG model, the Elantra LPI (Liqufied Petroleum Injection) hybrid, a car that uses both Liquefied Petroleum Gas and electricity. Hyundai also started development for mass producing Fuel Cell Electric Vehicles (FCEV) strating from 2012.
Initially, the plan was for the Audi Q7 Hybrid to be available in the U.S. early next year, but they cancelled that, because, with the current weak US dollar, this won’t be profitable anymore. And considering that the US is the world’s largest auto market, we’re sure Audi thought very good before taking this decision. Johan de Nysschen, Executive Vice President in charge of Audi of America, Inc, in an interview for Automotive News, said that, given the current situation, it will be “very hard to make the numbers work. We will not do the hybrid Q7 as a conventional product offering”.
However, don’t be dissapointed, because, even though the Q7 Hybrid won’t be available, Audi won’t do the same with the upcoming Q5, which will debut at the Beijing Motor Show and will be available in the US in a hybrid version starting next year.
Now, after the insurance paper work has been finished, all the cars, which were stockpiled in the Portland port, will be drained, stripped of tires and fed to a vehicle-gobbling machine. With the capacity of smashing 200 vehicles per hour, the machine is expected to return about 2,900 of steel and what will be left of the Mazda's will be processed into fence posts, wire rods and reinforcing bars.
Of course, taking into consideration the vast proportions of the process, even though it doesn’t own the cars anymore, Mazda will supervise the whole operation, to make sure no car ‘escapes’ the process.
Almost half of the cars were Mazda 3 and a quarter him was Mazda CX7. The car was originally unloaded in the Vancouver port, Tacoma and Hueneme.