New Audi R8 Spyder features in Iron Man 2

As in the first movie, Robert Downey Jr’s character of Iron Man drives an Audi. This time around though he is in the sporting new Audi R8 Spyder. With the character of Tony Stark being a flamboyant playboy, he needed a car that would fit his image and style and yet also provide the technology and performance that he would naturally be accustomed to as a brilliant scientist. The new Audi R8 Spyder was a perfect match, and throughout the movie the character of Tony Stark is seen behind the wheel of this Audi supercar.

New Audi R8 Spyder in the limelight

Branding in movies is nothing new for some of the top car manufacturers and is becoming more and more common. The massive exposure and positive association that these car brands get from major Hollywood movies is huge. Possibly the most prominent example being that of the James Bond movies and the various cars that the character has driven. From Aston Martin cars in the early versions, to BMW cars in the Pierce Brosnan era, all the way around back to Aston Martin in the latest films in the series.

Its great to see such major car brands associating with big Hollywood movies, it can only be positive for both brands as they both garner huge exposure.

New Porsche Panamera 4 Makes World Debut

Porsche have chosen the Auto China Beijing 2010 motor show to debut their new Porsche Panamera 4. The new Porsche Panamera 4 will be available this year in May. The Panamera 4 has been designed to be a cross-over between sportiness and practical every day driving.

New Porsche Panamera 4 – Features

The new Porsche Panamera 4 comes with a 3.6 litre V6 direct fuel injection engine capable of 300 hp. The Panamera 4 has active all-wheel drive and are somewhat economical at just 10 litres of fuel per 100km. The new Porsche Panamera 4 comes with many new advancements and technologies, including an auto start-stop function which will further reduce emissions and increase its economical running.

Land Rover Range Rover voted Russian Car of the Year

At the recent ‘Car of the Year’ awards held in Russia, the 2010 Land Rover Range Rover won the ‘Best full size off-road vehicle’. These awards are the Russian variation of the the popular ‘Car of the Year’ competition that happens in many different countries around the world.

Land Rover Range Rover popular in Russia

The award is voted for by over 1.5 million Russian car owners after various models have been nominated as best in their category.

Look out for a full ‘Car of the year’ writeup coming in the next week, noting how the system works, as well as many of the previous winners.

Toyota Land Cruiser recall won’t affect South Africa

Continuing from their previous car recall program, Toyota has now begun recalling additional vehicles. The Global recall program will effect the Toyota Prado, Toyota Land Cruiser and Lexus GX 460, as mentioned in a previous post.

This recall however will have no effect on South African Land Cruisers or Prado models, as they are right hand drive models and it is only the left hand drive models that are in need of the recall. The recall is to fix an issue with the left hand drive models, there is an issue with their Vehicle Stability Control (VSC) under certain conditions.

The reason is because the right hand drive models have different weight distribution.

2010 Lexus GX 460 Recall Announced

Lexus seems to now be facing a similar situation to Toyota with their recent accelerator issues forcing them into a mass vehicle recall. Lexus, who are a division of Toyota, seem to have the issues on a much smaller scale though. Only the 2010 Lexus GX 460 is affected, so it should be a lot easier to handle and effect far fewer people.

Throttle problem for 2010 Lexus GX 460

The issue with the 2010 Lexus GX 460 is with the “Throttle-lift off” and as the problem was identified, the vehicle was taken out of the salesroom floor and intensive investigations conducted regarding the issue. The issue has now been identified and a solution created. Lexus has now started a voluntary recall program for all 2010 Lexus GX 460 models.

Anyone who brings their Lexus in for the recall program will be issued with a courtesy car during that period. Anyone who has any questions regarding this recall should contact their local Lexus dealership.

New Audi A1 Iphone game available

Say hello to the the new Audi A1 Iphone game. There seems to have been a trend of late where the big car brands have accompanied the release of one of their new models with an Iphone game. This was done previously by Volkswagen with their Scirocco game which was launched when the car came onto the market. These games provide great publicity for the brand and are impressive forward-thinking new channels of advertising.

New Audi A1 game is fun and interactive

Whats really nice about these kind of games is that they are free to download from the Itunes store. While there are a ton of free apps already available on the Itunes store, they are usually quite simple and have not had much development go into them. This is where the big car brands games come in. They obviously have huge budgets for advertising and can supplement the development costs quite easily from the exposure these games generate.

The new Audi A1 game is no exception. The game comes with great soundtracks which change depending on the level. The driver needs to drive the new Audi A1 through various levels, collecting extra points as they go. There will also be a highscore table accessible online and you will be able to share your scores through Facebook and Twitter. Also included in the game, as one would expect, is the option to subscribe to Audi’s newsletter, to further increase their exposure.

2011 BMW X5 xDrive35i details released

The details have finally been released on the new 2011 BMW X5 xDrive35i. The 2011 BMW X5 however is somewhat underwhelming in it’s changes from the 2010 X5. There are obviously improvements but nothing to write home about, or even to make you feel bad for owning one of the older X5 models.

2011 BMW X5 offers lots of choice

The 2011 BMW X5 comes with an automatic 8 speed transmission as standard along with four-wheel drive. There are a number of different engines variants available and these include the:

xDrive50i – V8 Petrol engine with TwinPower turbo, 300kW
xDrive35i – 6 cylinder petrol engine with TwinPower turbo, 225kW
xDrive40d – 6 cylinder diesel engine with TwinPower turbo, 22kW
xDrive30d – 6 cylinder diesel engine with Turbo charger, 180kW

The X535i drives 0-100km/h in just 6.8 seconds with a top speed of 235km/h. The average fuel consumption clocks in at just 10.1 litres/100km and a CO2 emissions level of just 236 grams/km.

Looks wise, the new 2011 BMW X5 xDrive35i remains much the same as its 2010 predecessor, with only minor changes being made. These changes though are almost not noticeable, and all the major differences coming under the hood, as listed in the number of engine variants.

The 2011 BMW X5 xDrive35i goes on sale in May 2011.

New Ford Fiesta is best selling car in Europe

The new Ford Fiesta continues its great sales figures with another strong month in Europe. The month of March proved to be a successful one for Ford as their Fiesta became the best selling car in Europe, added to that was the news that the Fiesta is the best selling car in Europe for the first quarter of 2010.

New Ford Fiesta is a worldwide favorite

Since the Ford Fiesta went on sale 18 months ago, Ford have sold 750 000 units around the world. What is more impressive is how the Fiesta has shut out the Volkswagen Golf with greater sales figures in Europe. In March, the Ford Fiesta out-sold the Volkswagen Golf by almost 11 800 units. A truly impressive statistic based on just how popular the VW Golf and Polo models are around the world.

2010 BMW Motorrad GS Trophy

The BMW Motorrad GS Trophy held in Tunisia was a great success in 2008 with participants coming from all around Europe and America. The 2010 GS Trophy hopes to be just as successful and continue the spirit of having fun and getting back to nature.

BMW Motorrad GS Trophy to excite audiences

The event will be held from November the 13th – 21st in South Africa, Swaziland and Mozambique. Teams from around the world have already planned tryouts to find the best riding team to take on the 2010 GS Trophy.

The American team were the winners of the trophy back in 2008. This year however, with various qualifying rounds the standard should be a lot higher. The event will see amateur off-road riders from across the globe competing and showing their skills at the 2010 BMW Motorrad GS Trophy.

Toyota Hilux documents Iceland Volcano

The harsh terrain of Iceland’s Eyjafjallajokul volcano is some of the most unforgiving in the world. However when the volcano erupts and the world’s focus turns to the volcano, it needs to be documented and scientists need to be able to monitor it. This is where the Toyota Hilux comes into it’s own. Having a reputation of being almost indestructible, thanks in large to Top Gear who tried unsuccessfully to destroy it, the Hilux was the perfect choice to get up close to the volcano.

Toyota Hilux perfect for rough terrain

The crew arrived a few hours before the volcano errupted. The Toyota Hilux’s that were used were custom spec’d from the same ones that were used in the Arctic. Funnily enough the conditions were quite similar, so the trucks had already been tested for such terrain. Their ability to traverse this kind of terrain is in large thanks to their massive 38 inch tires.