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Filed under: Coupes, Sports/GTs, Rolls-Royce, First Drive

Click the image above for a hi-res gallery of the Rolls-Royce Phantom Coupe

We were lucky enough to ride in the concept car two years ago, when the now Phantom Coupe was called the 101EX. Our words that day were “You have to build this car.” And we’ve been waiting ever since the end of that sentence for this day to come. It was evident even as a concept that no other coup

Filed under: Coupes, Supercars, Nissan

Click above to view our large gallery of the 2009 Nissan GT-R.

Back in the late sixties, automakers sometimes purposely under-reported the true horsepower that their solid-lifter, over-cammed and over-carburetor’d monster V8 engines actually delivered. More recently, some manufacturers have overestimated the real power of their vehicles, which has led some to distrust factory horsepower numbers. Owners of the uber-impressive Nissan GT-R have been wondering if they’ve been lied to regarding real horsepower figures too. But in this case they may actually be getting more than the 480 horses that they had bargained for. In fact, after considering that the coupe is capable of hitting 123 miles per hour in the quarter mile and the fact that it weighs roughly four-thousand pounds, the New York Times Wheels blog estimates that the GT-R really makes 550-580 horsepower at the crank.

While we are certain that the rabid horsepower wars and the debate over the GT-R’s true power as compared to its rivals will rage on, NYT’s estimates are actually pretty much in line with what Motor Trend got after putting the Nissan supercar on the dyno, and that’s a figure that really can’t be argued with. Thanks for the tip, Pete!

[Source: NY Times Wheels]

Filed under: Ford, Volvo, Renault

As Ford reportedly prepares to offload Volvo and dismantle the last remaining vestiges of its once proud Premier Automotive Group, reports indicate that discussions were, once again, held with Renault.

The French automaker was tipped as a potential buyer when Jaguar was on the table, expressing interest in acquiring a luxury brand (and evidently forgetting it had Infiniti up its sleeve). Along with Chinese automakers, Renault has reportedly been in on-again, off-again discussions with Ford over the sale of Volvo as well, though Ford insists that its Swedish subsidiary is not for sale.

[Source: Automotive News - subs. req’d]

Filed under: Marketing/Advertising, Videos, Hatchbacks, Volkswagen

Many actors loan out their famous faces to make some extra coin in foreign markets without over saturating their image here in the States. Huge screen tough guy Sylvester Stallone is no different, and since he hasn’t had a good financially successful picture since Demolition Man, he was probably pretty excited when Volkswagen of Brazil came calling. Following the jump are two VW commercials for the VW Gol hatchback. The first one is a minute and a half long, and features a Rambo-style helicopter vs. sub-Polo Gol battle royale. And the second one involves a group of curious onlookers honing in on the Gol as it sits parked on the side of the road. Both ads feature a rough-looking Stallone showing up at the end, and even though he only utters a few words, a Portuguese-speaking dub is needed. Hillarious, and kind of sad at the same time. Thanks for the tip, Carlos!

[Source: Argentina Autoblog]

Continue reading VIDEO: Sylvester Stallone shilling for VW in Brazil

Filed under: Motorsports, Sports/GTs, Euro, Supercars, Audi

Click for hi-res gallery of the Audi R8 DTM safety car

Audi has announced that its superlative R8 sportscar will serve as the safety vehicle for the ever-popular DTM touring automobile championship, having also served in the same capacity for the recently-concluded 24 Hours of Le Mans. Audi’s performance division quattro GmbH prepared a pair of R8s for the German racing series – with the second serving as a “racing taxi” – but noted that, “because the R8 possesses the genes of a perfect sports car”, little in the way of modification for duty was required.

The pair of R8 support cars made its debut at the Norisring Speed Weekend yesterday, where Mercedes-Benz beat out the new Audi A4 DTM with a 1-2 finish. Follow the jump for the press release and click on the thumbnails below for our high-resolution image gallery.

[Source: Audi Motorsport]

Continue reading Audi R8 debuts as DTM safety vehicle