Hurst is no stranger to offering up special edition Mopars. The 1970 Chrysler 300 Hurst packed a 440ci “TNT” V8 with 375 horsepower, as well as a fiberglass hood and trunk, Satin Tan leather interior, and a Spinnaker-White paint scheme with gold trim. Ok, that was almost 40 years ago, but Hurst is still going strong and planning to renew its Mopar connection with a limited edition Dodge Challenger that’ll make its debut at SEMA this year. The Hurst Challenger will be available in four trim levels and include features like a supercharger system good for 500 horsepower, 5-spoke Hurst alloy wheels, and a “Pistol-Grip” Hurst shifter. Pricing will start at a $10,000 premium over the stock Challenger and could go as high as $20,000 for the top level model. Follow the jump for the press release from Hurst.

Gallery: 2009 Hurst Dodge Challenger SRT8

New Ford EcoBoost 3.5L V6 engine smiles for the cameraPosted Aug 27th 2008 at 8:26PM by Sebastian Blanco

Filed under: Emerging Technologies, Ford, AutoblogGreen Exclusive

A prototype of Ford’s 3.5L EcoBoost engine. Click to enhuge.When Ford announced the EcoBoost idea at this year’s Detroit Auto Show, the main message was that this was a reasonable technology that could be implemented soon, would save people money by improving fuel economy without decreasing performance and that the improved engines would be paired with lighter cars to emphasize the fuel savings. Oh, and then there’s that easy-to-remember tag line that its a V6 with the power of a V8. Ford is moving full steam ahead with the EcoBoost project and will install the first production engines in the 2009 Lincoln MKS. Thus far, there have been hundreds of test engines built at the Dearborn testing facility and these have spent countless hours (well, we’re dealing with engineers here, so these hours were probably actually counted) on the track and dynamometers. Ford is inviting journalists to Dearborn this week to get a close-up view of the EcoBoost technology and AutoblogGreen got to spend a few hours talking to the team and bolting a few parts to the test subject.Read on after the jump for more.Gallery: Ford EcoBoost 3.5L

2008 Suzuki Grand Vitara First Steer

- by Alborz Fallah

It’s not very often that I’m willing to get up at  6:00am to go for a drive, in fact it’s not often that I’m willing to get up at 6:00am for anything. But Suzuki’s invitation to central and northern Australia to drive the new Grand Vitara was an offer worth waking up early for.

Our journey took three days and involved everything from private jets at a cost of $4000 an hour to helicopters, a camel (more on the dromedary later) and of course, driving Suzuki’s flagship model across hundreds of kilometres of desert and four-wheel drive tracks in the Northern Territory.

Day 1:

Whoever invented the snooze button on alarms was obviously an extreme optimist, ‘another 10 minutes won’t kill …’

Sure enough as I arrived at Suzuki headquarters near Brisbane airport, my fellow motoring journalists (all three of them) and Suzuki staff were all ready to roll.

Ten minutes later a taxicab arrived and rushed us to a private hanger on the outskirts of Brisbane airport. Secretly, I was hoping what ever plane Suzuki had acquired for the trip had at least two engines and that they weren’t the BMW emblem kind.

Thankfully Suzuki had full intentions of getting us to Ayers Rock/Ularu in one piece, which meant we’d a Cessna Citation Bravo, the world’s most popular midsize business jet.

Despite the two Pratt & Whitney Canada PW530 engines strapped on for good measure, a headwind plagued us, which meant a two-and-a-half hour flight to Charleton, stop and refuel and then another two hour flight to Ayers Rock.

At a cost of $4000 an hour flying time plus $600 a day for each crew member, this wasn’t a cheap flight by any means. Eventually though, we arrived at Ayers Rock airstrip and headed for the Desert Gardens hotel.

Here we were greeted by a few other journalists from Australia and New Zealand, plus a huge team of Suzuki engineers and designers and to our surprise, Mr Toshihiro (Ted) Suzuki, the son of the current Suzuki boss and a descendent of company founder Michio Suzuki.

Having met the local wildlife - everything from small lizards to massive lizards and even a few Dingos - it was time to get serious.

Suzuki may be a relatively small brand in Australia, with only about two per cent market share, but in total, the Japanese manufacturer sold 2,405,000 units globally last year and in terms of volume, sits fourth in the Japanese rankings, behind Toyota, Honda and Nissan. Putting it ahead of the likes of Mitsubishi and Subaru.

The release of the third generation Grand Vitara marks 20 years of production for the popular SUV. Suzuki lays claim to the Vitara having invented the compact SUV segment, as it had no direct rivals back in 1988.

The massivegest changes to the new model are by no means visible from the outside, design-wise, a new grille and wider fog lamps are about the most noticeable upgrades, as well as LED turn signal lamps.

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We’re not terribly surprised that the Dodge Viper ACR has apparently made it around the famed German racing circuit faster than pretty much anything else you’ll find on a dealer’s lot. After all, the ACR is a race car, as evidenced by the video that Motor Trend has posted. The most venomous Viper has done the deed in 7:22, fast enough to make grown men cry. To this blogger, the Viper is dead gorgeous, even with that yucky-but-functional rear wing on the ACR, and it definitely carries the spirit of hairy-chested cars of yore. The shifter wobbles around horrendously when the driver kisses the rev limiter a few times, and there even appears to be a flubbed shift near the end, so the ACR may have faster laps left in it. We’re waiting on confirmation on whether or not this is an official lap, but it’s certainly creating a stir, and the Viper wants to know, V-Spec who? Thanks for the tip, Rob.[Source: Viper Alley] Thanks for the tip, Rob!video of run at MotorTrend

A pure-bred Audi R8 engineered exclusively for motorsport to world competition standards is generally a sight relegated to bedroom walls, but believe or not - this animal is for public consumption.

For the first time ever, Audi Sport will offer a race spec sports R8 developed specifically for private customer use in the form of the new R8 GT3.

Named for its competition class not to be mistaken with its Porsche brethren, the R8 GT3 conforms to all official race regulations meaning any average Joe millionaire can enter numerous national and international race series from the showroom.

“Ever since the R8 was unveiled we’ve been inundated with enquiries about a race version. With the Audi R8 we’ll offer customers a racing sportscar equipped with high-calibre technology and the typical Audi qualities, but which is nevertheless easy to handle.” explains Head of Audi Motorsport Dr Wolfgang Ullrich.

However with the prohibition of all-wheel drive, the R8 GT3 instead uses a rear-drive setup through a newly developed six-speed sequential sports gearbox.

Power is anticipateed to be north of 375kW from its mid-mounted naturally-aspirated V8 engine lifted from the road-going version.

Its race-bred looks are both wild and functional, with an exaggerated adaptation of the standard R8 kit giving the GT3 the down force it needs for competitive track use.

The interior has been stripped out and fitted with Recaro race bucket seats and a raft of safety features which wouldn’t seem out of place in any elite racing championship.

The logistics and factory space required for the AUDI AG customer programme will be created over the next few months in Ingolstadt, Neckarsulm and Györ, with the first models available to customers by mid-2009.

Click above for high-res gallery of the 2009 Dodge Journey R/TThe 2009 Dodge Journey carries the size and shape of a typical crossover, and it has seating for seven and all the amenities you could possibly ask for at $30,000. On paper, the Journey has a plenty of things in its favor, yet we’d our doubts. First off, it looks a lot like the Dodge Caravan, which works against the Journey when think abouting that many crossover purchaseers want to avoid the minivan stigma. It’s also based on the less than impressive Chrysler Sebring platform, which we’ve found to be just awful. Then there’s Chrysler’s corporate 3.5L engine, which is less powerful, refined and efficient than similarly sized engines from its competition. Chrysler’s recent track record for cars that are less than class competitive also lent support to our notion that the Journey might be a letdown. Regardless, we tried to clear our minds of these things when the Journey arrived for a week-long stay in the Autoblog Garage. Hit the jump to see how Chrysler’s new crossover fared.

Gallery: In the Autoblog Garage: 2009 Dodge Journey R/T

The McLaren P11 will still be powered by a 6.2-liter Mercedes AMG unit, but nobody knows yet what the car that goes around the engine is going to look like. Frank Stephenson, recently of Fiat fame, has been given instructions to finishly redesign the car when he starts at McLaren. However, he can’t take up the position at McLaren until he finishes his “gardening leave,” a mandatory vacation between sensitive jobs that aims to prevent employees from taking their inside knowledge with them. McLaren says that the car will not look anything like the sketches that made the rounds last year. That’s not such a bad thing — while a good looking car, the sketches were uninspiring and a bit derivative. We anticipate that the man who has had a hand in everything from the BMW X5 and MINI to the Ferrari F430, Maserati Quattroporte and MC12 probably has a few good ideas left lying around. Unfortunately, the arrival of the P11 has been pushed back a year due to the redesign, to probably mid-to-late 2010.[Source: Autocar]

Ludwig Willisch, the new M Division boss has denied reports of a range of new performance M models, including the next generation CSL based on the current E92 M3.

This news comes after speculation surrouding a reincarnated flagship M1 supercar based on the Homage concept was also denied, along with any hope of a new addition to the M range based on the current 1 Series.

As is tradition, the latest M3 CSL - for Coupe, Sport, Lightweight - was to boast a stripped-out, race-hardened interior with a healthy power boost to the newly introduced V8 engine.

“Based on current numbers, there’s most likely insufficient demand for the M3 CSL.” said Willisch.

This decision by BMW arises from a new corporate direction towards greener cars, with greater emphasis placed on hybrids and alternative fuel technology.

Source: CARmagazine

Click above to see the Kia Soul in a kaleidoscope of colorsWe’ve seen plenty early pics of the upcoming Kia Soul, but only a few in any of the available production colors. No longer. Kia-World has managed to snag what appears to be some leaked official shots of the upcoming mini ‘ute in all its production hues. We think there’s a good chance that the Soul will fill a boxy void left when the last-gen Scion xB was lost as Toyota’s entry-level brand went upmarket. Take a gander at the gallery below as Kia bares its Soul in Green Tea Latte, Cocktail Orange, Java Brown, Tomato Red, Moonlight Blue, Black Soul, and Clear White. Also available, though not officially shown as of yet, will be Blue Stone, Titanium Silver, Vanilla Shake and Bright Silver. That’s a lot of choices, which is a good thing since purchaseers in this segment historically like to individualize their whips. The production model should debut at the Paris Motor Show in October and go on sale in the U.S. next April in all of its technicolor glory.

Gallery: Kia Soul Colors

Ferrari has experienced flourishing sales this July, despite a significant decline in the market sector - edging out its main competitor, Porsche in the sales stake.

Surprisingly for the Italian legend, these figures were calculated by VFACTS - meaning the prancing horse has achieved this success in Australian showrooms rather than overseas markets.

In a period which saw sales in the ultra-performance market - usually dominated by the German outfit - drop by 39 percent, Ferrari boasted an amazing 37 percent sales increase.

“The Porsche 911 is the traditional sales benchmark in this category, something it achieves with a wide range of models and versions covering a broad spectrum of the market,” says Kevin Wall, General Manager of the Australian Ferrari importer, European Automotive Imports.

This achievement is underlined by the fact that Ferrari competes with a far more focussed range of models at the top of the price spectrum, and must contend with increasing demand and Ferrari’s ability to supply.

Between them, Ferrari and Maserati took more than 35 per cent share of the top market sector, showing that Australian car purchaseers are being increasingly enamoured with the style, exclusivity and performance of the leading Italian car marques.