Cars in the Fast Lane

The Gaydon design center unveiled Aston Martin’s V12 Vantage RS Concept, which accelerates 0-62 mph/h in 4.0 sec.  Unveiled at the opening of their design center in Gaydon, Ulrich Bez told onlookers the 600 horsepower concept car reaches 160 kmh in about 8.5 seconds.  The Vantage reaches peak horsepower (600 hp) at 6250rpm, while 509 ft-lb of torque (690Nm) comes at 5000rpm.

With the ‘08 Motorsports season approaching, Porsche has upped the hp to 420 bhp from 400 for it’s 911 GT3 Cup.  It has the 3.6-litre six-cylinder boxer engine developed in Weissach and is also based on the street-legal GT3.

The competition Porsche is around 40lbs lighter  and weighs about 2530lbs, making it an extremely light and agile contender.

The new Skyline GTR $70,000-plus sports car powered by a 473-hp, 3.8-liter V-6 teamed with a six-speed automatic. It’s got a 0-62 time of only 3.5 seconds and only 1500 are expected to be sold in the US in the first year.

Originally, Nissan was going to try to stop people from selling their GTRs in the first year or risk voiding the warranty, but decided it wouldn’t be fair to people who really had to sell their cars. This means that people will try to buy and sell the GTR for profit.

They are also expecting to counsel dealers on pricing, but are powerless to stop dealers from marking up the cost of the car, because it’s an extremely hyped up car and in the fast year out is very desirable.

I remember talking with one of the Ritz Carlton’s valet managers and he was telling me that one of his favorite cars was the Audi R8. “It’s a rocket,” he said.

0-60 in 4.4 secs?

Top speed of 187 mph?

Surely, there is no doubt.

The R8 is based off the Lamborghini Gallardo, because Audi basically owns it. 15% of the R8 is shared with the Gallardo, including the chassis and tranny.

The Audi R8 is has a 4.2 L V8 (located in the middle) that pumps out 420 hp, the same engine seen in the Audi RS4. The base price in the US is $109,000 for the 6-speed manual version. The R8 has a dry weight of 3439 lbs.

It’s rumored to have a 6.2 liter engine pumping out 500hp from a V8 engine. It’s also believed to have fenders made from carbon fiber, which many supercars use to reduce weight.