Auto-Tech HQ

Last week, BMW released details and photos of the new M3 GTS.  The street legal and track-bred, super-coupe is propelled by the hot 4.4-liter V8 (with slightly increased HP)  and a lightweight body.  We have seen pictures, and read the details, but now lets take a look at the two new videos of this beast ripping through the track.

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g7wh2FixhXs&feature=player_embedded

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tCzDOpVasHM&feature=player_embedded

Looks like Audi maybe hiding something from us.  Based on some latest reports from a Volkswagen and Audi tuner APR , a 2010 Audi S4 may have much more power than advertised.  APR has put this new S4 on their AWD-dyno and discovered that instead of the 333 hp and 325 TQ Audi is claiming on the paper, they pulled 331 hp and 336 pound-feet of torque at the wheels!  A typical AWD car has about 20-25% drive train power loss, so calculating that in to the equation, the actual crank output of the S4 is roughly 400 horsepower and torque.  This is a very old trick that companies like BMW have been doing to lower the premiums on the car insurance, which is a good thing for us .  None the less, this is definitely some good news for the owners and future buyers of the all new 2010 Audi S4.

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Source: Quattro World

Lotus Cars USA announced today that there is now a Lotus Performance Kit available for the Elise and the Exige models.
 
Lotus owners can now get a Lotus-made performance kit with a warranty for the Elise and Exige models. The supercharger kits come with the same supercharger and intake manifold unit as is used by the production Elise SC and can be installed on any Elise/Exige with a Toyota 2ZZ-GE engine. The kit also comes with new high-flow fuel injectors and a reprogrammed ECU, which increases horsepower from 189 to 218, and torque from 133 pound-feet to 155.
 
The increased maximum torque is also now available at 5000 rpm as opposed to the customary 6000 rpm. The new performance kits are now available at Lotus Dealers in the U.S. and in Canada. Pricing information has yet to be released.

Source:  Car

The new Audi S4 has been around in Europe only for a little while, but the tuners at MTM are not wasting any time tweaking is already.  Audi’s new supercharged 333-hp 3.0-liter V6 has some potential.  So far with only a revised ECU map, MTM was able to coax pull 430 HP (crank) out of the supercharged V6 which is 97 HP more than stock form and puts the torque at 380 Lb-ft.  According to MTM, the 0-60 time is decreased from 5.2 to 4.6 seconds.  

The price for this kit goes for 2,491 euros ($3,500 USD), which is a little steep for just a revised ECU, but some might argue about that.

Source:  MTM

So you need something for the family but do not want to sattle for a miniva, well Honda and Mugen have something or you.  Thanks to Mugen a new 2010 Honda Stream may be exectly what you need to satisfy your sporty urge and take care of the family need.  The Mugen tuner has developed a full line of interior, exterior, aero, performance, handling and cosmetic parts for this utility vehicle.  As for the mods, you get typical stuff like spoilers, wheels, performance air filter and TypeT touring brake pads.  A sport suspension for your minivan, maybe?

Source: Mugen

Mitsubishi Came out with something that needed to fill the gap between the standard FQ-300 and the the FQ-400, so they came out with FQ-330.  Mitsubishi Evo FQ-330 delivers an additional 29 hp up from standard Evo’s 300 hp, and an additional 22 lb-ft. of torque.   0-60 mph drops 0.3 seconds the standard cars 4.7-second.  The power change is accomplished by reworked intake, high-flow down-pipe, exhaust, and an ECU re-mapping.  FQ-330 is equipped with Mitsubishi’s new six-speed Twin-Clutch Sports Shift Transmission (TC-SST), and the whole packages carries and additional £3,000 which puts it at £35,999.  An of course we will not going to see it here in US (again).

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As if the standard version of new 2009 Cadillac CTS-V was not enough, Hennessey tuner introduces several upgrade paths to a bigger badder Caddy.

They present you with four versions of upgrades, V-600, V650, V-700, and finally Vtt-V800, which by the way stands for Twin Turbo 800 HP monster.

I will not go in to the details of each model and what it includes, But I will just give you a list of one:

The Vtt-V800 Model:

Power:

And here is a little vide to go along with it (unfortunately its only V600):