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Dacia Duster Revealed

Prices haven't been released yet but expect it to be very good value for money.

More great news from the country I live in, Romania, Dacia has revealed their road-going crossover : the Duster. After announcing that they will race it in the Trophee Andros with ace racing driver Alain Prost at the wheel, Dacia has now officially revealed their biggest car yet.

It’s also Dacia’s first ever crossover and a project quite thoroughly developed. Development started with the Duster Concept released earlier this year and then the surprise announcement of it going ice racing. The Duster will be available in two-wheel drive as well as four-wheel drive. You will be able to choose from the 108bhp 1.6-litre 16V petrol engine or 84bhp and 104bhp 1.5-litre diesels. Quite asthmatic indeed but this car isn’t meant to be sporty or fast, it’s just made to give you exactly what you’ve paid for. It’s also quite a big car at 4.31 metres long and 1.82 metres wide but don’t think that it will be rubbish off-road as a result. Dacia say that it’s a genuine off-roader when equiped with 4wd as it has 20cm of ground clearance, a 30 degree approach angle and a 35 degree departure angle.

Dacia hasn’t said yet if they will send this in the UK as Renault (the company that owns the Dacia brand) decided they won’t ship it to the UK. However, they stated that the fact remains a possibility and if it they were to start selling cars there, they would only offer the Sandero and the Duster, not the Logan.

The Duster surprises us with funky details like this carved boot lid, a thing you don't expect from a car made on a budget.

Tagged Dacia, Dacia Duster, Renault, Renault Group

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Audi A7 to be Launched in Moscow

The Audi A7 (Spy shot above) will likely be launched at the Moscow Motor Show in August 2010.

It will be a rival to the Mercedes-Benz CLS-Class. Sources suggest that the car will start at around $46,000.

All models are likely to have range-topping engines and AWD at first, but Audi is still deciding whether four or five seats will be standard.

Source: Autocar

Tagged 2010 Moscow International Motor Show, Audi, Audi A7, Moscow International Motor Show, Volkswagen Group

Auto Shows, Car Launches, Cars

Brand New Hyundai Tucson Revealed

Hyundai has revealed a brand new Tucson, following the same design as their new Sonata.

Tagged 2009 Los Angeles Auto Show, Hyundai, Hyundai Sonata, Hyundai Tucson, Los Angeles Auto Show

Auto Shows, Car Launches, Cars

Subaru unveils WRX STI Special Edition

Subaru has unveiled a Special Edition of their Impreza WRX STI at the LA Auto Show.

Tagged 2009 Los Angeles Auto Show, Los Angeles Auto Show, Subaru, Subaru Impreza, Subaru Impreza WRX, Subaru Impreza WRX STI, Subaru Impreza WRX STI spec C, Subaru Impreza WRX STI Special Edition, Subaru STI

Car Launches, Cars

Mitsubishi RVR Officially Rolled Out

Earlier I posted about pictures of a Mitsubishi crossover. This was supposedly called the Mitsubishi RVR. Well, Mitsubishi has now officially unveiled the car, and there are higher quality pictures now, albeit the same pictures.

It is indeed called the RVR. It will be launched in Japan next spring, and in Europe next summer. Autocar mentions nothing about North America.

It’s 4300mm long, and is based on the same platform as the Lancer. The car will use a 1.8L four-cylinder engine, and there will likely be a diesel option for Europe.

The car is part of Mitsubishi’s effort to move away from its image of big SUVs and establish itself as a maker of smaller, more efficient vehicles.

Source: Autocar

Tagged Mitsubishi, Mitsubishi Lancer

Car Launches, Cars

Infiniti reveals a car for those of us who feel a bit rich

Infinti has revealed a special edition of the FX called the FX Millionaire Edition. You can get the package on either the FX37 or the FX50, though I suspect the market this is aiming at will most likely prefer the FX50.

Tagged Infiniti, Infiniti FX

Auto Shows, Car Launches, Cars

Special edition Range Rover makes North American debut

Land Rover’s Autobiography Limited Edition of the Range Rover Sport has made its North American debut in LA.

Tagged 2009 Frankfurt Motor Show, 2009 Los Angeles Auto Show, Frankfurt Motor Show, Land Rover, Land Rover Range Rover, Land Rover Range Rover Sport, Los Angeles Auto Show

Car Launches, Cars, Technology

Hybrid Supercar Launched at LA Auto Show

Now, my general policy with hybrids is “AVOID”. There’s plenty of evidence to suggest that they aren’t any good, but people keep buying them, and it sickens me. This is a bit different from your average hybrid though. It’s called the Capstone CMT 380, and it’s got 96 lithium-ion batteries doing the electric power, but instead of an internal combustion engine working with it, you get a biodiesel-powered micro-turbine, essentially a jet engine.

Pardon the lack of pictures, as it’s hard to find a good picture of it, but I’ll try and compensate with some details. The car has an electronically limited top speed of 150mph, which isn’t much, but it accelerates from 0-60 in just 3.9 seconds, which should be plenty.

The range is 80 miles on the battery, and 500 miles with the turbine. Capstone claims emissions are “ultra-low”, but no exact figures are available.

Capstone usually makes micro-turbines to power office blocks, which is where they’ve gotten the turbine from. The car itself was designed by Richard Hilleman though, a video games millionaire.

They plan to make 10 to 15 cars, each at a price of about 285,000 USD. They will probably be sold in kit car form.

Sounds interesting, but I’m still not too convinced. There aren’t enough details on it to judge.

Source: Autocar

Tagged 2009 Los Angeles Auto Show, Los Angeles Auto Show

Auto Shows, Car Launches, Cars

Next generation Hyundai Sonata unveiled

Hyundai has unveiled its next generation Sonata at the Los Angeles Auto Show. It’s a very good looking car, a far cry from Hyundai’s original image of horrible, cheap cars. It has a Mercedes CLS style body, 4-doors in a coupe shape.