2009 Maserati Quattroporte get facelift

After selling 15,000 units, Maserati is now offering a facelifted version of the Quattroporte. Looks wise the 2009 Maserati Quattroporte gets a new large grille with vertical slats like the GranTurismo. Rear lights have been updated with LEDs while side gets new under-door molding and new side mirrors.

The base 2009 Maserati Quattroporte gets the former 4.2L V8 producing 400-hp while the 2009 Quattroporte S gets the GranTurismo S’s new 4.7L V8 producing 430-hp. Both are mated to a 6-speed automatic transmission with ZF.

Inside the 2009 Quattroporte gets a new center console with controls grouped closely together along with a completely new navigation system with the new Maserati Multimedia System. Both models will go on sale in October.

source:egmcartech.com

Pontiac Solstice GXP

Pontiac claims 260 horsepower for now. The turbo Ecotec is capable of more -- much more -- and so the Solstice GXP targa coupe could be advertised at 300 horsepower or more some time after it arrives in showrooms early next year, posing a serious threat to the upcoming 2010 Nissan 370Z, which Pontiac lists as a competitor.

Two things: First, the extra horses, courtesy more turbo boost, intercooling and a new fuel rail, will be available in the GXP convertible, too, and only with the manual gearbox in either coupe or convertible (automatics will be stuck at 260). Second, that's still about 30 horses shy of the 370Z, if the Infiniti G37 is any guide. But the 3.7 is a V-6, of course.

The 300-horsepower Ecotec turbo is probably a short-term engine, as expected interim Corporate Average Fuel Economy standards before the 2020 rule aren't likely to be kind to such high output. The targa coupe also will come with the 173-horsepower, 2.4-liter Ecotec engine.

The car's hatch opens as the rear glass, only, making for better cargo space than the convertible, or about as much as a Mazda Miata's. That means there's no room for stowing the targa roof, so Pontiac plans to offer a folding cloth top for rain emergencies. Pontiac made only minor changes to the body, with a new taillamp assembly to flow more smoothly into the tapered roofline. Manufacturer's curb weight is up 31 pounds, to 2930 for the 2.4-liter and 3018 pounds for the GXP.

2009 Mitsubishi Lancer Sportback

The Mitsubishi Prototype-S concept just made its debut at the Geneva Motor Show and Mitsubishi has already announced the debut of the production version, the Lancer Sportback. The 2009 Mitsubishi Lancer Sportback and Sportback Ralliart will make their debut at the 2008 Paris Motor Show in October. The Mitsubishi Lancer Sportback will be introduced to the European market this fall. Pricing details will be announced closer to the launch date.

Power for the Lancer Sportback comes from a variety of engine choices including a 1.5L engine producing 108-hp, a 1.8L engine producing 141-hp and a 2.0L turbo diesel producing 138-hp. Mitsubishi’s new diesel engine will join the lineup in spring of 2009.

The Lancer Sportback Ralliart is powered by a 2.0L 4-cylinder turbocharged engine that produces a total of 237-hp with a peak torque of 253 lb-ft. Power is transferred to the wheels via Mitsubishi’s Twin Clutch SST transmission with an Active Center Differential.

(www.egmcartech.com)

Neon Lighting - Neon Undercar Kits

Neon lighting as in Neon Undercar kits surely give your car the cool look. You must have seen various cars sporting neon lights and have wondered what exactly is it and how it can project so many colors at one go. Neon Undercar kits are lights that designed in tubes and can be mounted under your car. You can even use them under a truck or on your motorcycle. Car owners to highlight the best feature of their car use them.

You might wonder why use neon lights when you can make do with simple headlights. Well, there are people who use their cars just as a mode of transport to take them from one area to another. However, others believe that the way they project their cars reveal their personality. Certain car owners are obsessed with their vehicles and treat them as an extension of their personality. Neon Undercar kits are available easily online and offline.


The neon lights are easy to install. Most of the kits come with an exhaustive installation manual. The instructions are easy to follow. You might need to do some drilling on the car body. There might be quite a lot of electrical work to be done, but all will depend on the Neon Undercar kit you choose. If you feel that it is too much complicated, then do not worry at all. Numerous custom shops are available, who are willing to do the work for you. You might have to pay a price, but you can be rest assured that they will get a good job done.

There are come issues with neon lights. For example, in certain places, authorities do not appreciate your using neon. Therefore, the best way to avoid paying fines is to have a separate switch to light them up. Avoid having the same switch for your headlights and your neon lights. You can so this, by running a power wire from the battery of your car to the operating switch of the kit. This will help you to bypass the wires meant for activating the main lights of your car. If you live in an area where the LED and neon lights are not allowed, then you must avoid using them. There is no point in inviting trouble unnecessarily.

Before you start with the process of installing Neon Lighting, you need to disconnect the negative battery cable and keep it at a place where it will not be able to touch the body of the vehicle. You must keep the installation manual handy. If you want your neon to light up by itself along with the headlights, then need to work with the wire under the dash near the steering. The wire will usually be Red or Yellow in color. It supplies the control switch with 12V power. The neon lights will light up along with the headlights, once you tap into the wire. If you want to control both the lights separately, then you can connect the power wire directly to the Positive side of the car battery. You can also connect to any 12V power wire from the dashboard.

Neon lighting or Neon Undercar kits can set your vehicle apart from other cars. They give your car a whole new look. The most frequent form of neon lighting is the underbody lights. Your car will get a swanky new look with very less investment. The neon adds a style to your car and the look of your car changes drastically.

By: carstuffoutlet

World Fastest Cars

Gas prices are up. The economy is down. For some, neither matters--all they want is to be able to drive faster than anyone else on the road, whatever the cost.And the cars that can deliver that promise are built solely for speed. They're not the kinds of cars that are particularly good for anything else, such as dropping off the kids at school (unless they're running exceptionally late that day) or picking up a carton of milk on the way home from work.

These cars reach obscene speeds in mere seconds, the same amount of time that normal cars need just to warm up. Just ask Tom duPont, publisher of duPont Registry, a gallery of fine automobiles.

"A Bugatti test driver took a $100 bill and plastered it on the dashboard," recalls duPont, who was invited to strap into the passenger seat for a demonstration drive. "He told me I could have it if I could grab it once we took off."

The French-made Bugatti Veyron races from 0 to 60 mph in 2.5 seconds and effortlessly cruises to a top speed of 253 mph. Most probably can't imagine what that feels like, but duPont learned firsthand.

"The car accelerates so fast that you can't touch [the $100 bill]," he said. "You can't move your hands.”

Even if duPont had managed to defy the laws of physics and become $100 richer, that wouldn't have afforded him a Bugatti Veyron or any of the other nine vehicles that made our list of the fastest cars in the world. DuPont cautions that superfast cars "aren't for the faint of heart financially or physically." The Veyron is the most expensive ultra-fast car on our list, with a price tag starting at $1.5 million.

But the Veyron is not the fastest car on the road, according to the Guinness Book of World Records. In March 2007 it tested the American-made SSC (Shelby Super Cars) Ultimate Aero and crowned it the Fastest Production Car in the world.

The $654,400 twin-turbocharged car boasts a top speed of 257 mph and goes from 0 to 60 in 2.78 seconds. Snagging this title marked a first for a U.S. auto manufacturer since the Ford GT40 claimed the Guinness record in 1967 with a top speed of 167 mph.

Rounding out the top five fastest cars are the $695,000 Swedish-made Koenigsegg CCX, top speed 250 mph; $595,450 American-made Saleen S7 Twin Turbo, top speed 248 mph; and the $700,000 British-made Bristol Fighter T, top speed 225 mph.

There are only a handful of these vehicles available in the world. Bugatti has said it will build a total of only 300 Veyrons since the model was introduced in 2005; Bristol custom-builds 20 Fighters each year.

Buyers who want these cars are placing their orders two years in advance, says Bassam Al-Farraj, founder and publisher of Rich Guy magazine. People who just can't wait that long will pay a premium, he says.

He adds, "I've seen people pay a million for the Ferrari Enzo," which is no longer in production but has a base manufacturer's suggested retail price of $670,000.

All of the cars on our list are street legal. So if you really do want to use one of them to cruise around town (or test the limits of how late in the morning you can leave for work), that's up to you. When researching which cars truly go fastest--with the automakers themselves , we excluded cars that are built and equipped for the sole purpose of racing on a track. We also excluded vehicles that are no longer in production.

If the wait is a bit too much to bear for one of the aforementioned cars and you are on a slightly tighter budget, you could check the second half of our fastest-cars list--some no less expensive, or more available. But you might get lucky.

They're the $741,000 Italian-made Pagani Zonda F, top speed 215 mph; $325,560 Netherlands-made Spyker C8 Double 12 S, top speed 215 mph; the $430,000 Italian-made Lamborghini Murcielago LP640, top speed 213 mph; $497,750 U.K.-made McLaren Mercedes SLR, top speed 206 mph; and the U.S.-made Silva GT3, which clocks in at 205 mph and sells for $75,000.

Would you ever purchase one of these cars, or are they just nice to look at? Add your thoughts in the Reader Comments section below.

Despite the high prices and lack of local roads on which one can actually drive these cars at their maximum speeds, demand for these luxury treats is heating up, says DuPont. Wealthy buyers in new markets like China are searching for expensive rewards for their newfound riches.

"Only the top 2% of the economic pyramid of the world are buying these cars," says duPont. "It is a reward for achieving personal success in life. There is new wealth emerging in developing countries, and they want the same luxury rewards."

And if any of those people happen to take you for a test drive, they may, with luck, put a $100 bill on the dashboard. Good luck grabbing it, but you're probably best off just enjoying the ride.

World Fastest Cars

Gas prices are up. The economy is down. For some, neither matters--all they want is to be able to drive faster than anyone else on the road, whatever the cost.And the cars that can deliver that promise are built solely for speed. They're not the kinds of cars that are particularly good for anything else, such as dropping off the kids at school (unless they're running exceptionally late that day) or picking up a carton of milk on the way home from work.

These cars reach obscene speeds in mere seconds, the same amount of time that normal cars need just to warm up. Just ask Tom duPont, publisher of duPont Registry, a gallery of fine automobiles.

"A Bugatti test driver took a $100 bill and plastered it on the dashboard," recalls duPont, who was invited to strap into the passenger seat for a demonstration drive. "He told me I could have it if I could grab it once we took off."

The French-made Bugatti Veyron races from 0 to 60 mph in 2.5 seconds and effortlessly cruises to a top speed of 253 mph. Most probably can't imagine what that feels like, but duPont learned firsthand.

"The car accelerates so fast that you can't touch [the $100 bill]," he said. "You can't move your hands.”

Even if duPont had managed to defy the laws of physics and become $100 richer, that wouldn't have afforded him a Bugatti Veyron or any of the other nine vehicles that made our list of the fastest cars in the world. DuPont cautions that superfast cars "aren't for the faint of heart financially or physically." The Veyron is the most expensive ultra-fast car on our list, with a price tag starting at $1.5 million.

But the Veyron is not the fastest car on the road, according to the Guinness Book of World Records. In March 2007 it tested the American-made SSC (Shelby Super Cars) Ultimate Aero and crowned it the Fastest Production Car in the world.

The $654,400 twin-turbocharged car boasts a top speed of 257 mph and goes from 0 to 60 in 2.78 seconds. Snagging this title marked a first for a U.S. auto manufacturer since the Ford GT40 claimed the Guinness record in 1967 with a top speed of 167 mph.

Rounding out the top five fastest cars are the $695,000 Swedish-made Koenigsegg CCX, top speed 250 mph; $595,450 American-made Saleen S7 Twin Turbo, top speed 248 mph; and the $700,000 British-made Bristol Fighter T, top speed 225 mph.

There are only a handful of these vehicles available in the world. Bugatti has said it will build a total of only 300 Veyrons since the model was introduced in 2005; Bristol custom-builds 20 Fighters each year.

Buyers who want these cars are placing their orders two years in advance, says Bassam Al-Farraj, founder and publisher of Rich Guy magazine. People who just can't wait that long will pay a premium, he says.

He adds, "I've seen people pay a million for the Ferrari Enzo," which is no longer in production but has a base manufacturer's suggested retail price of $670,000.

All of the cars on our list are street legal. So if you really do want to use one of them to cruise around town (or test the limits of how late in the morning you can leave for work), that's up to you. When researching which cars truly go fastest--with the automakers themselves , we excluded cars that are built and equipped for the sole purpose of racing on a track. We also excluded vehicles that are no longer in production.

If the wait is a bit too much to bear for one of the aforementioned cars and you are on a slightly tighter budget, you could check the second half of our fastest-cars list--some no less expensive, or more available. But you might get lucky.

They're the $741,000 Italian-made Pagani Zonda F, top speed 215 mph; $325,560 Netherlands-made Spyker C8 Double 12 S, top speed 215 mph; the $430,000 Italian-made Lamborghini Murcielago LP640, top speed 213 mph; $497,750 U.K.-made McLaren Mercedes SLR, top speed 206 mph; and the U.S.-made Silva GT3, which clocks in at 205 mph and sells for $75,000.

Would you ever purchase one of these cars, or are they just nice to look at? Add your thoughts in the Reader Comments section below.

Despite the high prices and lack of local roads on which one can actually drive these cars at their maximum speeds, demand for these luxury treats is heating up, says DuPont. Wealthy buyers in new markets like China are searching for expensive rewards for their newfound riches.

"Only the top 2% of the economic pyramid of the world are buying these cars," says duPont. "It is a reward for achieving personal success in life. There is new wealth emerging in developing countries, and they want the same luxury rewards."

And if any of those people happen to take you for a test drive, they may, with luck, put a $100 bill on the dashboard. Good luck grabbing it, but you're probably best off just enjoying the ride.