2009 Ford KA: Official Details and High-Res Image Gallery

At 00:01 Greenwich Mean Time (GMT) Ford officially lifted the veil over its all-new KA. We are aware that the embargo was breached earlier today, but these are the first high-resolution photos of Ford's new city car that will make its global debut at the 2008 Paris Motor Show in October. Moreover, we have additional images of the 2009 KA that you can check out right after the jump. As we told you in our previous post on the new KA, Ford did not...

2009 Mitsubishi Lancer Ralliart 237Hp Priced at $26,490

The long-awaited Mitsubishi Lancer Ralliart will arrive at U.S. dealerships with a base price of $26,490. Essentially a toned down and less powerful EVO X, the Lancer Ralliart comes equipped with a 237 HP 2.0-liter turbo engine teamed exclusively with a twin-clutch semi-auto transmission and a full-time 4WD driveline featuring Mitsubishi's Active Center Differential (ACD) unit. The Lancer Ralliart is also equipped with a front helical and rear mechanical...

U.S. Government Owns 642,233 Cars - Drivers Get Paid Up to $90,000 a Year!

Seems like we’re not the only ones obsessed with automobiles, so is the U.S. government as it owns a staggering 642,233 cars. And if that’s not enough to raise an eyebrow or two, then this will; according to General Services Administration data obtained and analyzed by The Associated Press (AP), the operating costs of those vehicles that include maintenance, leases and fuel cost taxpayers $3.4 billion last year! The report from AP notes that while...

Hello Kitty Motorcycle Leather Suit

Under normal circumstances, motorcycle leather suits are worn to protect the rider, however, if someone went out wearing a Hello Kitty suit like the one pictured above, we wouldn’t be so sure that he’d return home in one piece… Fortunately, as you can see in the picture after the jump, the Hello Kitty suit seems to be the work of a talented photoshop artist. -Continued Via: Kittyhell , Suit: Spartan Leathers...

Video: Nissan GT-R vs Lamborghini Murcielago LP640

Some folks in Japan – or at least we think it’s in Japan, if not feel free to correct us- drag raced a Nissan GT-R against the almighty Lamborghini Murcielago. We won’t tell you who crossed the finish line first, but we must mention that the two supercars weren’t drag raced from standstill but from a running start. -Video after the jump Via: Autoblog.nl...

Special Edition Hyundai i30 in Red, Blue or White

The first ever special edition version of the i30 promises to bring a little colour to Hyundai’s UK dealerships as it will be available in three exclusive colours - Crystal White, Ember Red and Indigo Blue – that have never been seen before on the subcompact hatch. Colours aside, the special edition i30 also gets a factory-fitted electric sunroof, 16-inch alloy wheels and new door mirrors first seen on the i30 Estate model. All of the i30 SE (Special...

2009 Ford KA to be officially Revealed on Friday – See it on CarScoop

When the clock strikes 12:00 am tonight (that’s Friday, August 1st), Ford will take the wraps off the 2009 KA revealing the first photos of its highly anticipated minicar that’s scheduled to make its global debut at the Paris Motor Show in early October. Since we’ve already seen the front quarter view of the Fiat 500 based KA –no thanks to U.K. sourced leak, what remains to be seen is the rear-end of the car and of course, the interior. Unless...

2009 Kia Sportage SUV Gets Mild Facelift and New 2.0L Diesel

Kia has revised its compact-sized Sportage SUV with exterior and interior styling tweaks along with the addition of a new turbo diesel engine. For the 2009 model year, the Sportage gets a reworked front end with a modified bumper, new headlights and a different grille while at the back, the only significant change are the restyled tail-lamps. All of the design changes are inspired from Kia’s latest production and concept cars. Though we don’t have...

Most Unusual Items Left in Rental Cars

It doesn’t matter if it’s a hotel room or rental car; however hard they try, people always manage to forget something behind. But while a CD or a pair of sunglasses is nothing out of the ordinary, leaving a false leg or a… cooked sausage behind the engine of a rental car is unusual to say the least. After surveying its UK branches, Europcar came up with a list of the strangest items found in the back of returned vans and cars. The items range from...

Video: BMW F1 Mechanic Gets Electro Shock

A member of the BMW Sauber F1 team received one hell of a shock when the squad’s test driver Christian Klien pulled into the pits in the modified F1.07C after a test run at Jerez. As soon as the mechanic touched the F1 car that was equipped with the experimental Kinetic Energy Recovery System (KERS) he received an electric shock that knocked him off his feet –literally. Luckily, the mechanic didn’t sustain any serious injuries. “During testing of...

Toyota Starts Construction of Second Indian Plant

Toyota Motor Corporation or TMC for short held an official ceremony on Thursday (July 31, 2008) to mark the beginning of construction of its second plant on the outskirts of Bangalore in India's Karnataka State. The new plant is scheduled to have an annual production capacity of 100,000 passenger vehicles (including a new compact vehicle) when it begins operation in 20...

New Mazda3 to be Revealed in L.A. this November

A report from British magazine Autocar citing company insiders in Japan supports that the all-new Mazda3 will make its world premiere in sedan form at the Los Angeles Motor Show in November, while the five-door hatchback 3 will be launched at the Bologna Show in Italy in December. This means the Mazda’s new sporty compact car should arrive in European and Japanese dealerships in the first quarter of 2009, with the U.S. and other international markets...

2009 Subaru Impreza WRX 265HP & Impreza 2.5 GT: Official Details & High-Res Photos

Understandably, those who bought a 2008 Impreza WRX 224HP aren’t going to be feeling happy with the Japanese automaker this morning as Subaru confirmed earlier reports (see here) by revealing that the 2009 Impreza WRX gets a significant power boost, a retuned suspension and to top it all, a series of STI design tweaks. Since the 2009 WRX will be offered exclusively with a 5-speed manual, Subaru renamed 2008 WRX 224HP with the 4-speed auto transmission...

2009 Porsche 911 Carrera Coupe & Cabriolet Promotional Video

Porsche always manages to come up with some really cool promotional videos for its sports cars and this one, featuring the facelifted 911 Carrera and Carrera S Coupe / Cabriolet models, is no exception. Follow the jump to watch the video or click here for details and photos of the revised Carrera, here for the 4WD Carrera 4 and here for the glass-roofed Targa. -Continued...

What’s Your Favorite Production Rally Car?

A lucky friend in Germany just bought a used Toyota Celica GT-Four Carlos Sainz and it made us wonder what production rally car we’d like to see in our dream garage. Since we wanted to keep it realistic, we sorted out any specialty cars like the Lancia Stratos HF and narrowed it down to two vehicles: the Lancia Delta HF Integrale (given that only a handful of Club Italias were produced, we’d take the Evoluzione II Martini 5/6) and the Mitsubishi...