"There's no other facility in the world like this. You can accomplish more in one lap around the 'Ring than you can running probably a dozen tracks in the U.S." says David Mikels, energy and powertrain integration engineer for the Cadillac ATS.
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After acquiring a Zakspeed Racing Dodge Viper GTS-R in 2010, the current owner of the 1998 model turned to Heurich Classics, a Germany company that specializes in the maintenance, repair and optimization of vintage and classic cars.
The owner had two very special requests for Heurich Classics: recreate the looks of the Hasseroder Viper GTS-R that won the 24 hours of Nürburgring endurance race in 1999 and at the same time, make it completely street legal.
The German firm started out by eliminating, replacing, adding or modifying certain components of the Viper GTS-R to allow it to achieve road-legal status in Europe.
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The rejuvenated wreath and crest brand stresses that all engineers working on the upcoming ATS were "handpicked based on their roles in developing other top Cadillacs" and "how well they can drive and evaluate cars on grueling test tracks".
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According to the person who shot the clip, Lexus raced the car just before this past weekend’s 24-hour Nurburgring endurance race kicked off.
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The Porsche 911 GT3 RSR first led the race at Saturday evening, at 23:25, and then its drivers held on to it for the following 16 hours and 35 minutes, or 108 laps.
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The buyer was furniture designer and Aston Martin enthusiast David Linley, who paid £100,000 ($160,000), which was handed over to Toyota which can better direct it to charities providing aid to victims of the recent earthquakes and Tsunami that devastated Japan.
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The special edition model combines the body style of the M3 sedan with technology from the M3 GTS coupe, topped off with the use of carbon-fibre reinforced plastic (CFRP) to further reduce the car’s weight.
BMW said the M3 CRT represents the worldwide debut of a new production process for carbon-fibre reinforced plastic components in the automotive industry, adding that we will see the same materials on the upcoming i3 EV hatchback and i8 hybrid sports coupe, due to enter volume production in 2013.
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The lap time is 20 seconds faster than the previous-best Z06 lap time, recorded in 2005, and just 3 seconds behind the 638-horsepower 2012 ZR1, a video of which you can see in our previous posting here.
However, GM noted that in 2005, the Z06 was timed from a standing start instead of the rolling start technique used on the latest Z06 and ZR1 models.
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And, what’s more, its public debut will be in one of the most demanding endurance races of the world, the Nürburgring 24 hours at the legendary Nordschleife, the place which Jackie Stewart has famously christened “the Green Hell”.
The MINI JCW Endurance is powered by a tuned version of the standard 4-cylinder, 1.6-litre engine that features a twin-scroll turbocharger as well as direct injection.
For this year, the organizers have changed the rules, restricting the flat six’s output to 448 hp which is directed to the rear wheels. But the hybrid system that features two electric motors driving the front wheels adds another 200 hp.
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Now the time has come for Toyota to unwrap its successor in the form of the GRMN SPORTS HYBRID Concept II that will receive both its public and racing debut at this weekend’s highly anticipated 39th Nürburgring 24-hour endurance race in Germany.
The name “GRMN” stands for GAZOO Racing tuned by Meister of Nürburgring, in honor of the late Hiromu Naruse (1944-2010), the Toyota chief test driver and head of the GAZOO Racing team who died in an accident last summer driving a prototype of the Lexus LFA Nurburgring Edition in Germany.
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Based on the existing V12 Vantage chassis, the concept model was designed by Italian coachbuilder Zagato to celebrate its partnership with Aston Martin in the 50th anniversary year of the DB4GT Zagato. The prototype received its public debut at the Concorso D’Eleganza at Villa D’Este in May this year, winning the Design award for Concepts and Prototypes.
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The 265-horsepower strong special edition posted a lap time of 8 minutes and 7.97 seconds in the hands of Renault test driver Laurent Hurgon, smashing the previous record for a front-wheel drive model held by the older generation Mégane RS R26.R by nine seconds. Buckle up, sit tight and enjoy the record run in the video after the break.
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The 265-horsepower version of the Megane RS completed a full lap around the Nürburgring racetrack in 8 minutes and 7.97 seconds beating the time of the previous generation Mégane Renaultsport R26.R by 9 seconds. In comparison, the now obsolete 305HP Ford Focus RS posted a lap time of 8 minutes and 26 seconds in the summer of 2009.
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Having already revealed the mainstream models of the new and rather sporty looking in a VW Scirocco kind of way GTC, the Astra’s engineers turned their focus on the fastest and most powerful version of the series, which will look a lot like the original concept seen at last year’s Paris Motor Show.
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If you don’t want to hear or see the antics of the presenters in the beginning of the clip, fast-forward the video a minute or two to go straight to the part where the magazine’s test driver Dmitry Sokolov laps the Nurburgring. And yes, that's a Porsche 911 -possibly from the GT series- that Sokolov is about to attack. Watch the video directly on Youtube by clicking this link as Sokolov's page does not allow embedding on external sites.
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The 638-horsepower ZR-1 fitted with the optional Michelin Pilot Sport Cup Zero Pressure tires recorded a lap time of 7:19.63, improving the previous Corvette-best recorded time in 2008 by more than six seconds (7:26.40) and beating the 2012MY Nissan GT-R’s most recent run -allegedly in less than ideal conditions though- by close to five-seconds (7:24.22).
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However, that’s about all Renault is willing to reveal for now so we’ll have to wait and see what kind of upgrades the car will feature and if a power boost and / or a weight reduction and chassis enhancements are part of the package.
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