Toyota Fortuner 3.0 MT launched at 21.5 lakh Rupees.

The long awaited SUV from the Toyota arsenal has finally been launched in India. August. For starters, the Fortuner has been launched with a 3.0 diesel engine and a 5-speed manual gearbox only. Toyota has surprised the competition with a killer price tag. Compared to soft-roaders like the CR-V, Captiva and the Outlander, the Fortuner is a true-blue SUV with all-wheel drive and a low range gearbox as standard. It is practical too with a usable set of third row seats. Going by Indian publics affinity for big SUV's with equally huge C-R-D-I powerplants the Fortuner looks likely to be headed for a great success story in India as well.

Here's an overveiw of how the Fortuner compares to its rivals(all prices, On-Road, Mumbai).

Toyota Fortuner:

3.0 MT - 21.5 lakhs, 3.0 litre 4-cyl D4-D Diesel, 168 bhp, 343 Nm, 7-seater.

Ford Endeavour (Current):

2.5 XLT 4x2 MT - 17.85 lakhs, 2.5 litre 4-cyl TDCi Diesel, 143 bhp, 330 Nm, 7-seater.

3.0 Thunder+ 4x4 MT- 20.5 lakhs, 3.0 litre 4-cyl TDCi Diesel, 154 bhp, 380 Nm, 7-seater.

Ford Endeavour Facelift (Incumbent):

2.5 XLT 4x2 MT - 18.85 lakhs(estimated), 2.5 litre 4-cyl TDCi Diesel, 143 bhp, 330 Nm, 7-seater.
3.0 Thunder+ 4x4 AT- 21.5 lakhs(estimated), 3.0 litre 4-cyl TDCi Diesel, 154 bhp, 380 Nm, 7-seater.

Honda CRV:

2.0 2WD MT - 25.96 lakhs, 2.0 litre 4-cyl iVTEC Petrol, 142 bhp, 190 Nm, 5-seater.

2.4 AWD MT - 27.63 lakhs, 2.4 litre 4-cyl iVTEC Petrol, 160 bhp, 218 Nm, 5-seater.

2.4 AWD MT - 28.48 lakhs, 2.4 litre 4-cyl iVTEC Petrol, 160 bhp, 218 Nm, 5-seater.

Chevrolet Captiva:

2.0 LT MT - 23.86 lakhs, 2 litre 4-cyl VCDi Diesel, 148 bhp, 320 Nm, 7-seater.

2.0 LTZ AT - 25.66 lakhs, 2 litre 4-cyl VCDiDiesel, 148 bhp, 320 Nm, 7-seater.

Mitsubishi Outlander:

2.4 MIVEC - 23.16lakhs, 2.4 litre 4-cyl MIVEC Petrol, 170 bhp, 225 Nm, 5-seater.

Mitsubishi Pajero:

SFX - 23.65 lakhs, 2.8 litre 4-cyl TDCi Diesel, 118 bhp, 290 Nm, 7-seater.

Bentley Mulsanne

What you see in the pics is the new Bentley Mulsanne that was unveiled at the Concours in Pebble Beach, California. The Mulsanne tag was earlier worn by the predecessor of the Arnage, which will be replaced by the new Mulsanne in 2010. The 'Mulsanne' name is derived from the 'Mulsanne Straight', the fastest straight at Le Mans, where Bentley has recorded five historic victories. The Arnage been around, largely unchanged, since 1998 and was getting a bit long in the tooth.

The new Mulsanne is a clean sheet design, developed on Bentley's new platform specifically developed for this car. It looks like a modern Bentley, as contemporary as the Continental albeit with design cues from the Arnage. The Mulsanne will be built with exquisite detailing with each car taking 400 hours to build of which 200 will be consumed by hand-building tasks.
Power comes from a 6.75 litre V8 with over 500 bhp capable of hurtling the car to 300Kph.
Bentley is planning to sell around 700 Mulsannes a year, priced at around £200,000 (1.6 Crores exclusive of taxes).

New Indica Vista Ignis variant with 1.4 petrol engine

Expected Launch: September 2009
Expected Price: 4.5 to 5.5 lakhs (On-Road)
The Indica Vista hasn't done as well as expected in the market thanks largely to customers not having faith in the Tata brand. So Tata has decided to give the Vista a new lease of life by plonking in Fiat's 1.4 litre petrol power-plant from the Grande Punto. The Vista currently comes with a 1.2 litre engine variant which is a tad underpowered for the car. It was introduced just to keep the car inside government's skewed excise cut parameters for cars with petrol engines smaller than 1.2 litres. The Ignis will be the only Indica variant which wont be eligible for the excise cut driving up its price.

The 1.4 litre engine is good for 90 bhp and 115 Nm of toque. Expect the price to slightly undercut the Swift petrol by 10-20,000 rupees. At that price the Vista will be a sensible alternative to the Swift thanks to better (much better) space and practicality, drivability and value. The engine being a Fiat unit, it will also be as reliable. The top-of the range Aura variant is loaded to gill with a 2-DIN stereo with bluetooth connectivity, steering mounted controls, electronically adjustable mirrors, chunky 175 section 14 inch tyres and last but not the least ABS and 2 airbags.

Devon GTX to attempt the Nurburgring record

Fed up of all the criticism that Yanks don't make a good handling car, the Americans have decided to teach a thing or two to their European brethren by attempting to lay claim to the holy grail of handling, the Nurburgring-Nordschleife lap record in this car.
What you see here is the Devon GTX in its final production spec. It looks like the Ferrari 599 GTB from some angles and the Alfa 8C Competizione from some others. However it might well be one up on both of them in some ways. It is a proper Supercar with a bespoke interior replete with gull-wing doors n all. It borrows the humongous V10 from the Dodge Viper, tuned to develop upwards of 650 horses.

Devon's attempts are not to be taken lightly though, just last week the GTX lapped Laguna Seca in a record breaking 1m35.075s. Currently, 'the king of the 'ring' record is held by the Radical SR8 which did it in 6m55s.

Ford Endeavour Face-lift

What you see here is the face-lifted face of the Endeavour, which will be here by august end. It gets a fresh new nose and some cosmetic accoutrements. In my opinion the new front end doesn't have the rugged charm of the old one and doesn't complement the Endy's otherwise 'vanilla' lines.
The Endeavour has been the best selling premium SUV for quite some time now and I suppose it is mostly thanks to its rugged looks. Messing with its looks seems to be a big risk, especially considering that Ford has got a good thing going.
It will be interesting to see whether Ford manages to hold on to the top spot once the Fortuner hits our shores.

Porsche 911 Turbo 2010 - First pictures out!

These are the first pictures of the new Porsche 911 Turbo which is the fastest, sharpest and the most brutal 911 to have seen the light of the day. the Ferraris, Lamborghinis and the GT-Rs of the world have a new scare!

The new car will feature a twin-turbo direct injection 3.8-litre flat six engine. The engine, picked basically from the Carrera S has revised variable-vane twin turbochargers to increase responsiveness and power. The result is a 20bhp boost in power, which is now rated at 493bhp.

According to Porsche sources, the new cars will have a more playful character compared with the outgoing version with power biased more towards the rear wheels. A six-speed manual gearbox is standard and a seven-speed dual-clutch PDK is optional. The gear ratios have been revised and the clutches are larger when compared with the other 911s.

Also, as a first, the 911 gets proper paddle shifters, replacing the flawed button shifters to change gears in PDK models. The paddle shifters come at no extra cost. The new 911 turbo now does a 0-100km/h sprint in a super quick 3.4 seconds, about 0.3 seconds quicker than the older version. The top speed too has increased by 2mph to 194mph.

Stay tuned for more pictures, wallpapers and news on the new 911 Turbo

2010 Maruti Suzuki Swift

The Swift has become a volume player for Suzuki not only in India, but across the entire globe! The Japanese giant has now decided to breath a hint of fresh air into this model by giving it its second facelift. Seen here are the spy shots of the new Swift on test. Expect the car to be a combination of rakish and curvaceous body lines in various sections of the design. The headlights and tailights will retain the same outer shape, however the internal arrangement of the bulbs and refelctor elements will be significantly different and will hint towards a sporty design. The new Swift will be shown in flesh at the upcoming 2010 Auto Expo.

Pics Source: Diablomotor