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Porsche Begins Testing Ultra Fuel Efficient Super Car – 2014 Porsche 918 Spyder

Porsche started testing the 2014 918 Spyder at secret locations and recently released photos and final specs for the ultra-high performance hybrid super car.

With a price tag around $850,000 – this car is setting a new set of standards standards with a predicted top speed of 202 miles per hour – and a maximum fuel efficiency of 78 miles per gallon.

Development is now in the late stages, and Porsche claims production will begin in September. Porsche also confirmed that the first customers will receive their car in 2013.

 

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Bentley Mulsanne Executive Interior

Whether sending a few emails, catching up with the markets and the news headlines or just relaxing with your favorite film, this hi-tech specification offers everything you’ll need. For some, social media updates on Twitter or Facebook are essential; whilst for others it’s more about working on the move. Whatever connectivity you desire, The Bentley vision of ‘online luxury’ is realized here.

Bentley Mulsanne Executive Interior

Commissioning a Bentley Mulsanne always starts with an almost infinite choice of colors, materials and specifications. The Executive Interior continues this theme by offering a choice of specifications that can be selected to tailor the technology to your wishes.

Read more about the Bentley Mulsanne from BentleyMotors.com

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Bugatti – Over 100 Years Of Passion and Performance

With his youthful character, Ettore Bugatti seemed eccentric to many; but nearly always stood out from his contemporaries with his youthful air, and for dressing in unconventional and expensive suits.  The era of the automobile had just begun and the race was on; businesses starting, growing and engineering and building their first motor vehicles.

Bugatti was creating and perfecting an automobile of exclusive performance and beauty, without formal engineering or technical education, at a very young age considering others designing in the growing automotive world.  Pioneers like Daimler and Maybach were already well into their forties, and formally trained as engineers. Today, we might say that Ettore Bugatti was cutting edge.

ettore-bugatti-1898

Ettore Bugatti followed his dreams with much persistence, and others often evaluated his designs for technical feasibility. The end result, however, was always a perfectly proportioned automobile, both ‘technically feasible’ and aesthetically incomparable.

Bugatti took the greatest invention of the early 20th century, the automobile, and fused with it a distinctive artistry and beauty, luxury, and technical performance.  Certainly, a masterpiece such as a Bugatti automobile, each produced by hand, would require quite an impressive cost to produce.  Ettore Bugatti was never concerned with these economic details, and never opted for the more efficient, cost-effective production methods of the emerging industrial manufacturing. He was more interested in the final product – that it was a perfect coupling of performance and aesthetics.

Bugatti was constantly testing his own technical innovation on the roads and racetracks. He would often adjust the technical specifications or look for a mechanical solution, but often only after one of his cars failed to take first place. Unlike his competitors, Ettore Bugatti was not willing to compromise the overall aesthetics of the Bugatti vehicle (including the engine itself) for some sort of ‘edge’ on speed.

What makes the brand so fascinating and exclusive – is that it’s still here today, and is still the combination of passion, technology, performance and beauty – that it was when it was first conceived by Ettore Bugatti. Because he was never concerned with the cost, and because he never compromised his vision for the end result, he often found his brand in economic difficulty. Still, Ettore Bugatti consistently found ways to keep the dreams alive, and made ends meet with other jobs throughout his career. Bugatti build airplane engines, and also developed and built carriages for the French railway. This large project played a large role in he and his 800 employees surviving the Great Depression and worldwide economic crisis preceding World War II.  The fundamental values of the Bugatti brand – artistry, beauty, performance and technical innovation – are alive today in the sleek designs of the Bugatti automobiles –  as they were 100 years ago.

Bugatti celebrated their one hundredth anniversary in 2011.

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The Lotus F1 Team Joins Forces With Linkin Park To Fire Up Passion Of Music and Formula 1

Lotus F1 Team and Linkin Park have joined forces for the 2012 Monaco Grand Prix to create ‘Linkin Park GP’ — bringing together the adrenaline of Formula 1 and the passion of rock music in a ground breaking digital experience for the first time in history. Featuring Linkin Park’s latest hit single ‘Burn it Down’ and Lotus F1 Team’s stunning E20 car, this unique, world-first creation celebrates the team’s 500th Formula 1 Grand Prix and the release of the band’s 5th studio album ‘Living Things’. Linkin Park GP is available on iTunes as a free download from Thursday 24th May 2012.

To learn more about Lotus F1 Racing and the Lotus F1 Team, including news on Kimi Räikkönen, Romain Grosjean, and the rest of the Lotus F1 Team family – click here.

 

From Team Lotus YouTube Channel

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2012 Texas Rangers – Park Place Dealerships – Triple Play Event

Park Place Dealerships is proud to once again be the title presenter of the Texas Rangers Triple Play event set for May 27th at the Hilton Anatole Dallas.  The Texas Rangers Baseball Foundation is dedicated to improving the lives of children in need within our community, and provides funding for youth in crisis, youth health initiatives, youth baseball programs, and youth education.  This event serves as their largest fundraiser each year. The theme this year is “Escape to the Hamptons.”  The reception begins at 6:30 p.m. followed by dinner, the program, and then ‘game shows.’  The entire Texas Rangers team will be in attendance and there will be silent and live auctions. Ian and Tess Kinsler and Michael Young and Cristina-Barbosa Young are the hosts for the evening and Fox Sports Southwest’s Emily Jones will be the Mistress of Ceremonies.

To reserve tables or individual tickets, contact the Foundation at (817) 436-5933 or tripleplay@texasrangers.com. Click here fore the full press release on Texas Rangers.com.

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Park Place Service Using RFID Tags and Technology to Enhance Client Experience

By Terry Box, Dallas News

Few cars go unnoticed on the busy service drive at Park Place Motorcars.

A couple of years ago, the Dallas Mercedes-Benz and Porsche dealership began attaching RFID tags, similar to TollTags, to new and used vehicles. Monitors on the service drive read the tags as customers pull in.

“When you arrive, it alerts your service adviser that you are here, tells the adviser what service you’re scheduled for and brings up your service history — all in a few seconds,” said Tony Carimi, director of operations at Park Place Dealerships.

The technology revolution that blew through showrooms more than a decade ago — ushering in Internet car sales — is now roaring through service department back shops.

Service advisors are trading pens and clipboards for iPads, while technicians tune cars with laptops. Devices embedded in service drives check tires on cars entering the dealership for wear and alignment.

Meanwhile, technicians use iPads to photograph worn parts on a vehicle, emailing the pictures to customers so they can decide whether to fix them.

Read the full article on DallasNews.com

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World’s Fastest Hybrid Semi Truck – Volvo’s Mean Green

Volvo’s Mean Green Hybrid Semi truck proved victorious in setting a new land speed record (subject to Fédération Internationale de l’Automobile, or FIA recognition) at the Historic Wendover Airfield in Utah (just a short drive from the famous Bonneville Salt Flats) last month. The Swedish Viking Speed Records Team led by racing driver Boije Ovebrink set two land speed racing world records; piloting the Volvo Hybrid Semi Truck “Mean Green” to an average speed of 236.577 km/h (147.002 mph) through the Flying Kilometer (2/3 mile) and ran 153.252 km/h (95.245 mph) from a standstill over the same Kilometer.

Mean Green features a highly tuned Volvo D16 engine cranking out 1900 horsepower and an electric motor good for 200 horsepower and an amazing 885 lb-ft. of torque to bump the combined power total to nearly 5,000 lb-ft.

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The Bentley Continental GTC 6.0 Litre W12

Taking cues from its 6.0 litre W12 GT coupe sibling, the Continental GTC builds on the highly successful foundation of the previous cabriolet, which premiered in 2006. Bentley’s design and engineering teams have improved virtually every aspect of the iconic convertible with an uncompromising focus on quality.

While the original Continental GTC was elegant and understated, the sharper radii and assertive stance of the new model deliver a more contemporary and muscular presence. Advanced manufacturing techniques produce aluminium front wings without the need for seams or welds creating the look and feel of a coachbuilt car. Twenty-inch wheels are now standard with three styles of 21-inch wheel, a first for GTC, available as an option, reinforcing the distinctive, sporting stance of the new Bentley.

The four-seater luxury convertible features a new, even more spacious and sumptuous hand-crafted cabin, with soft-touch leather hides, an extensive range of wood veneers, cool-touch metals and deep-pile carpets. There are 17 standard soft-touch leather hide colours with six colour split combinations, complemented by a range of seven veneers, all produced by Bentley’s talented craftsmen and women.

The GTC’s renowned coupe-like refinement is also enhanced. The tailored, multi-layered fabric hood is complemented by acoustic glass and under-body panels, for optimum noise isolation.

Superb everyday practicality for a luxury convertible was a hallmark of the original GTC and much valued by its customers. The cabin of the GTC is even more practical, with additional rear legroom, new storage solutions and innovative features such as touch-screen infotainment, automatic seat-belt presenters and a Bentley-designed Neck Warmer for comfortable roof-down motoring whatever the temperature.

A wider track, front and rear, sharper steering and retuned suspension provide a more exhilarating and class-leading drive. Bentley’s advanced all-wheel drive system features a new 40:60 rear torque bias (compared with 50:50 of the original GTC) minimising understeer during hard cornering and allowing the spirited driver to manage the car’s line and balance via precise throttle control.

This compelling dynamic package is combined with a more powerful 6.0-litre, twin-turbocharged W12 engine as well as a new QuickShift transmission enabling faster gear changes than ever before. Power output is raised from 560 PS to 575 PS (567 bhp / 423 kW) and the famed Bentley ‘wave of torque’ has been increased by a further 50 Nm to 700 Nm (516 lb ft).

“The GTC has always been the most emotional model in the Continental range and a showcase for Bentley design. With its tailored soft top, the GTC is a pure British convertible true to those classic Bentleys of the past. However, the technology, performance and overall design excellence invested in this model means that we are now writing a new chapter for the Bentley convertible driver.”  Wolfgang Dürheimer, Chairman and Chief Executive, Bentley Motors.

Read Full Release From Bentley Media