La Dolce Veloce

According to AutoWeek, Volkswagen is going to start selling a twincharged version of its Golf in Europe. For those of you not familiar with this, it’s when you use both a supercharger AND a turbocharger on the same motor. The supercharger is usually there to provide good torque in the low to mid range, while the turbo helps increase power at higher rpms. Enthusiasts should note that rather than use this combination to get gobs of power (as is usually done), it appears VW is doing this to optimize fuel economy. They’re starting out with a 1.4 liter motor, though it’ll be producing a very respectable 199 lb-ft of torque (170hp)! Eventually, we might see a more performance-oriented 2.0 liter twincharged motor producing 240hp, though hopefully mated to an all wheel drive system. VW has not yet decided whether to import this to the US.

As far as I can tell, this concept is nothing more than a design exercise by a London design agency called Phénomène. This modern interpretation of the Lancia Stratos would be powered by a mid mounted V8, and be built from carbon fiber and aluminum. In other words, expensive. More pictures after the link.
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Well, I was wrong about Alfa Romeo showing off its Spider concept at Concorso Italiano. If you ask me, they really let down a lot of Alfa Romeo fans by not bringing this car to that event, where there was a huge gathering of a dwindling supply of US Alfa fans. Instead, they debuted the car at Sunday’s Concours D’Elegance in Pebble Beach. No word on when, or even if, the car will be produced (though don’t expect it anytime sooner than 2008). More pictures after the link.
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PistonHeads has a nice article on the new Lotus Circuit Car (official name is not yet announced), the latest in a new breed of track day supercars (such as the Ariel Atom). No new news, but more pictures and some quotes from the designers.

Of particular interest are, first of all, the chassis – the side rails are not cut down at the doors like in the Elise as, well, there ARE no doors in this version. This should improve rigidity. Second, they managed to squeeze the intercooler into the space that would otherwise be occupied by a trunk on a standard Elise.

The upcoming Frankfurt auto show this September is shaping up to be quite an event. The latest car rumored to be debuting there is the Evo X from Mitsubishi. It’ll be available in four door, five door, and wagon versions, with engine options from 320 to 400hp, depending on the model. Look for it to arrive in 2007; read more about it here, at AutoExpress.

I’ve uploaded a bunch of pictures from Concorso Italiano. Since I don’t yet have a gallery up and running on LaDolceVeloce, I stuck them in the gallery on another site of mine, EliseInfo.com. Click here to see the album.

At Concorso Italiano, representing the company I’ve helped found, Pressure Drop (no, we don’t make car parts), was my magnetic blue Lotus Elise decked out in a few tasefully placed Pressure Drop logos.

I’ll have more picture from the show posted soon.