Abarth 695 Maserati Edition



How much would you pay for a dinky little Fiat 500? Would you give up the chance to get the keys to a brand-new a BMW Z4, a well-equipped Nissan 370Z, a sublime little Lotus Elise, or even an entry-level SLK? Well that's exactly what the sales people at Abarth are hoping; as they've just announced that the Abarth 695 Maserati Edition is going up for sale at a higher price than every one of those cars. In Europe anyway.

The Abarth 695 Maserati Edition is a limited edition vehicle. Just 499 will be produced, and each one of the suckers customers who stumps up the cash will find themselves behind the wheel of a 180 horsepower hot hatch with a few Maserati-inspired badges and styling details. Continue




Quadrofoil – Electric Powered Hydrofoil



The Quadrofoil is the perfect example of intelligent engineering. It was created by three Slovenian designers who decided to take an entirely fresh approach to recreational watercraft design. Amazingly, despite the Quadrofoil’s complexity, the team managed to develop a prototype in only six months. The vessel made its debut at Slovenia’s Internautica exhibition last week.

Reaction to the prototype has been so positive that a production run of 100 for this year has already begun. Its ambitious creators hope to be manufacturing more than 10,000 per year from 2013. The fact the Quadrofoil is on offer for EUR 15,000 ($19,100) makes that goal seem plausible, as there’s nothing else quite like it and most brand-new recreational watercraft come with a comparable price tag. Continue




Unbelievable Motorcycle Save



Genki Hagata, a north-Californian rider competing in the AFM Clubman middleweight class, as well as the 750 Superbike class and the 600cc class, just pulled off one of the most unbelievable recoveries from a high-side ever caught on camera. The footage was taken from the perfect angle - a forward-facing GoPro camera mounted to the rear of the bike.

Hagata’s 'moment' occurred at the Infineon Raceway during Supersport qualifying last Saturday. In Hagata’s own words; "the things that happened are only believable because there is video evidence." Continue




SEAT Leon Super Copa



At the GTI Treffen event at Wörthersee in Austria, where each year European hot hatch fanatics gather to peruse each other’s vehicles, as well as current and future models from manufacturers (mainly those in the VAG group), SEAT are showing of six new cars.

SEAT’s show cars include the Ibiza Cupra Concept, the Ibiza FR and Leon Cupra R with additional accessories, a tuned Mii city car, and a pair of track vehicles; the Ibiza SC Trophy, and the awesome Leon Super Copa.

The SEAT Leon Super Copa (Super Cup in English) is based on the car used in the WTCC. Power comes from a turbocharged 2.0 litre engine which produces 296 horsepower and 250 lb-ft (340 Nm) of torque. The transmission is a six-speed DSG unit with a mechanically locking differential to the front wheels. Continue

1:5 Scale RC Mk1 Ford Escort Gets an Appropriate Sound Track RC vehicles are fun. Very fun. And scale RC vehicles can be even more fun. However the trademark whine of electric motors or buzzing of nitrous engines always take the edge off the realism. The dedicated hobbyists at Headquake decided to do something about that by synchronizing video footage of a 1:5 scale hand built Mk1 Ford Escort RC car with the soundtrack of the real car doing its thing around a rally stage. Continue Ten Cars That Got More Reliable With Age Just because something is newer doesn’t necessarily mean it's better. Vineyard owners and antiques dealers rely on the passage of time to make a living. But you'd assume something as important to everyday life, like the average family car, would, with each generation, get more reliable and less likely to require expensive maintenance. In an ideal world, you'd also hope that when the worst happens, newer vehicles would be easier and cheaper to fix thanks to more intelligent engineering solutions. But we all know that's not going to happen anytime soon! Continue Video: Russian Truck Driver Ejects Just Before Impact Ahh Putin-land - otherwise known as Russia - the land of ninja manhole covers and bonkers supercars. During the cold war both America and Russia developed high-tech military hardware at a frightening rate. One area it seems Russia was ahead, was in the fitting of ejector seats to commercial vehicles. Something which came in handy for this driver who was able to exit his vehicle milliseconds before impact. Continue Video: Riding the Boosters, Up and Down in 400 Seconds Have you ever wandered what the solid-fuel boosters of the space shuttle went through during their brief ascent into space? Well if you’re answer is yes then this video is for you. The clip is from the upcoming Special Edition Ascent: Commemorating Space Shuttle DVD/BluRay produced by NASA/Glenn. Continue