La Dolce Veloce

A New Zealand company is about to unveil their new road going supercar. Powered by a 450hp BMW V8 and weighing less than 1200kg, performance is sure to be phenomenal. You can read more about it at the company’s website. Production of about 100 cars per year will start in 2006. Naturally, don’t expect this car to be imported to the US.

Due to be released in 2008, this sedan is a welcome addition to the Porsche family. Little is known about the details (and I suspect this photo is really nothing more than clever Photoshop work), but there are rumors that Porsche is working with Volkswagen on a new rear wheel drive platform they’d share (much like they did with the Cayenne and Toureg).

A four door MINI is apparently on the way, though I couldn’t find out when it’d hit the showroom floors and I’d this rumor is not yet confirmed. The British magazine AutoExpress is showing a picture of this on the cover of their latest issue, and claim to have pictures of the interior as well (I don’t have the mag handy to verify this). It wouldn’t be surprising if this is true, as it’s been known for a while that MINI wants to expand their model lineup. Adding rear doors and lengthening the wheelbase is a good way to do this, you end up with a functional family car for those that want something hip and fun to drive.

AutoExpress has some pictures of the newest VW Passat. It’s a very nice evolution of the design, much more so than the new Jetta.

The automobile has been around a century or so, long enough that you’d think we’d have figured out how to run motor oil through those engines reliably. However, in the past decade, a problem has been cropping up at several car makers (Toyota, VW, Audi, and Saab have admitted guilt, though others are likely guilty as well). More and more owners these days are suffering engine failure due to excessive sludge buildup in the oil passages (and the resulting oil starvation that can occure). Why is this? Automakers usually claim that it’s due to the oil not being changed on schedule, yet it appears to be more than that, it’s related to the design of modern engines instead. In Toyota’s case, it seems it may be related to the PCV valve, of all things. The problem is not limited to just small engines though – the Dodge Durango appears to have similar sludge problems. I think the best thing a person could do would be to use synthetic oil, as it’s less likely (if at all) to form any sludge in the first place. Read more about this over at AutoWeek.

A UDO (Unidentified Driving Object) was caught on (digital) film in Dickinson, Texas recently. I’m not really sure what this is, but the aggressive styling is eye-catching (an opinion shared by all the bystanders in that image!). The complete lack of a rear bumper makes this most likely a kit car. Does anyone out there know what this is?

This link has details of a very nice installation of a Mac Mini in a GTi. It’s the first completed project I’ve heard of, though I know many others are working on similar setups.