Wimmer RS’ Colorful Mercedes-Benz C63 AMG Packs 601 Ponies

The standard Mercedes-Benz C63 AMG sedan with its 457HP 6.2-liter naturally aspirated V8 lump is by no means a slow car, but when it comes to the tuning industry, the more ponies under the hood, the merrier. Bypassing the colorful body wrap, which is optional anyway, German tuning firm Wimmer RS starts by upgrading the C63 AMG’s eight-cylinder engine.

The massaging includes a sports camshaft, reworked cylinder heads, a new manifold and down pipe, high flow catalytic converters and a reconfigured ECU that help nudge output from 457HP and 600Nm to 601HP and 720Nm (531 lb-ft) of peak torque. Wimmer RS also removes the electronic speed limiter allowing the modified C63 AMG to reach a maximum velocity of 329 km/h (204.6 mph). The engine conversion by Wimmer RS costs €19,900 or about US$26,700.

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2011 VW Jetta Recalled in the States Over Wiring Glitch

Volkswagen has announced a voluntary recall for its 2011 model year Jetta sedan in the USA due to a defect in the wiring system controlling the anti-theft alarm system and horn. The German company said that in some instances an electric short in the horn could, which in turn could cause the engine to stall, adding that no injuries or accidents have been reported as a result of this problem. Read more »

CSR Automotive Adds Some Aggression to VW Scirocco Coupe

If the Volkswagen Scirocco coupe doesn’t look wild enough for your taste, you may want to take a look at CSR Automotive’s aesthetic treatment. The exterior mods include a new honeycomb lower grille in a matte black finish, a front apron, headlamp trims, side skirts and a rear apron with a diffuser that houses the new exhaust outlets. There’s also a rear spoiler and a matte black foil wrap in a carbon fiber look that partially covers the hood and the roof, as well as the exterior mirrors. Read more »

SCOOP: 2012 BMW 1-Series Caught with Less Camouflage

As BMW is getting closer to launching the second generation of the 1-Series, more and more scantily disguised prototypes are being spotted out testing. These latest scoop pictures afford us our clearest view yet of the five-door hatchback version, not only because BMW has reduced the amount of swirly sheeting but also due to the fact that the cars appear to be final prototypes with production headlamps and tail lights.

As you can see, the Bavarian automaker sticks with the tradition of keeping a design for two generations before radically changing the styling. This means the next 1-Series hatchback takes an evolutionary styling step keeping the basic shape of the current model.

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Ford Sues Nissan Over Brazilian TV Ad that Ridicules the Focus for Being Overpriced [with Video]

Ford’s Brazilian arm has filed a criminal (!) lawsuit against the local division of Nissan for airing an aggressive TV commercial directed at the Focus sub-compact. To make a long story short, the parody-like ad points the finger at Ford for allegedly overpricing its Focus model.

The TV spot, which looks exactly like a rap video, shows two men dressed as Ford engineers living the big life with gold chains and rings, plenty of champagnes, and –the best part- an exotic assortment of sexy women in bikinis dancing around them. And oh, there’s also a silver Ford Focus on the background….

At the end, the commercial announces the price of Nissan’s Tiida sub-compact (sold as the Versa in the States), which in Brazil, costs around BR 3,000 or a little over US$1,800 less than Ford’s rivaling Focus.

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Patrick Motorsports Rebuilds a Rare Porsche 906

Hands up who doesn’t like the Porsche 906? Not many, I guess, and that’s rather unsurprising. The 906 was the last of Porsche’s street legal race cars, built to homologate the Group 4 racing category. Weighing in at a lithe 1,300 lb (580 kg), the 906 featured a body comprising a lightweight tubular space frame and unstressed fibreglass shell. Most were fitted with a 220 hp (164 kW) 2.0 L six that gave it a top speed of 170 mph (280 km/h).

And with its mid-engine enclosed by a Plexiglas cover and those oh-so-fashionable gullwing doors, the 906 looked like a prop out of a science fiction movie. A 1970s science fiction movie to be sure, but that’s neither here nor there.

Patrick Motorsports (PMC) of Phoenix, Arizona has recently completed an intensive restoration on one of these cars, of which only fifty were produced. The so-called, “Full Concourse Quality Restoration” of this 1966-built model included the chassis, sub frame, fibreglass body and exterior paint.

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VIDEO: When in New Zealand, Beware of the Most Annoying Mini in the World

Did you ever think about adding on some harmonicas to your car's bodywork? Of course not; you don't want people in your neighborhood to vandalize your car. The folks from Mini New Zealand, however, decided to stick 300 harmonicas on a Mini Clubman, just for the sake of a marketing campaign.

Once the job was finished, they created an interactive app on the local Mini website that allows visitors to combine the different sounds from the Mini Carmonica's adventures and create their own compositions. Creative marketing or the result of boredom? Who knows, but one thing's for sure; many of you will definitely turn off the sound after the first seconds of the video below…

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