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Story and Photos by Jack Baruth

Eighty-two thousand dollars. Three hundred cars to be available. No reasonable discussion of the Audi’s new-to-these-shores RS4 Cabriolet is going to be possible without first addressing those rather shocking numbers, so we might as well take care of it right away. The droptop RS4 is going to be a very rare car. Not rare in the Acura RL sense, which is merely another way of saying “unwanted”, but rare in the deliberately-limited-production sense. It will be rarer in the United States than any number of well-known supercars, from the Ferrari 430 to Audi’s own R8. A discreet inquiry to our hometown Audi dealership indicated that there was simply no chance of acquiring one; the allocation had been sold long before the first car was built. Audi’s decision to import this car in these quantities amounts less to a serious assault on the upmarket-convertible segment and more to a friendly tip of the cap to the most fervent members of the marque’s wealthier cognoscenti.

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Anyone who hasn’t been living in a cave these last couple of years should know by now that 2008 will be the year the American muscle car returns to glory. While we’re still salivating over the thought of a big rumbly V8 in a retro body shell, Dodge has revealed pricing for the numbered, limited-edition, lineup topping SRT8 model at a very reasonable $37,995 (though we know that dealer markups on these will probably put these models in the $50k or higher pricerange).

The Challenger SRT8 will be available in three colors; black, silver or that beautiful Hemi orange shown on the concept back in 2006. If you want one, hurry down to your dealer as the order bank opens on December 3rd. The production Challenger will be unveiled at the 2008 Chicago Auto Show in February.

Full press release after the jump…
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Story and Photos by Jack Baruth

Call us unfortunate; we missed the official press introduction of Bentley’s not-entirely-new-for-2008 Continental GT Speed. In doing so, we threw away a chance to drive the car around Spain at the kind of astonishing velocities the Spanish police are reportedly happy to permit. Perhaps we missed a bit more besides, judging from the suspiciously dreamy reviews given the car by The Press As A Whole. There may have been wine, and cigars, and even Bentley-branded vinyl windbreakers. A lack of complimentary windbreakers (in the sense that they were free, not in the sense that they would, in any way, flatter the wearer’s appearance) would not stop us from obtaining this vital story for Dubspeed Driven readers, however. We’d simply pose as Bentley customers and attend one of the customer preview events held across the country, perhaps sneaking in a quick test drive in the process. And so it was that, after driving onto the grounds of a small Ohio airport, showing our credentials, and walking into the private jet hangar rented for the occasion, we came face-to-face with The Ice Sculpture. This massive item of hilariously poor taste had been carefully fashioned into a winged “B”, all the better to shock, we suppose. For what seemed like minutes, we stood and started at it in disbelief.

“It’s an ice sculpture,” said a helpful Bentley salesperson.

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Our friend George over at Fourtitude published an article today that gives us a glimpse into what Audi has planned for the 2008 Detroit Auto Show (North American International Auto Show). While Detroit may seem like an unlikely place for Audi to show some big performance concepts, remember that the NAIAS is the largest auto show in the biggest automotive market in the world. With that in mind, it makes sense for Audi to strut their stuff and show the world they are ready to play in the performance segment.

The first performance offering Audi will unveil is an R8-based concept, which Fourtitude speculates will probably be a convertible model powered by a V10 engine. We all know that V10 rumors have been flying around as long as the R8 project has been in development, so it’s only a matter of time. I personally would like to see a V12 TDI version though.

The next performance offering Audi is showing will be the production version of the upcoming TTS. Relatively undisguised photos of the TTS have been circulating for the last month or so, and shows the direction Audi is headed with their design. The front bumper appears to take on the same bucktoothy appearance that was first shown on the Cross Cabriolet quattro Concept in LA.

One thing that still hasn’t been made certain to us yet is exactly what powertrain the TTS will recieve, although we all seem to be in agreement that the tweaked 2.0TFSI engine out of the European S3 would make the most sense.

Stay tuned as we are headed to frosty Detroit in January to cover the show in full for all 5 of you that read the site.

Source: Fourtitude: Detroit Preview: TTS and Performance Concept Car Planned

Post and Podcast by Kasey Kagawa

Yes, we’re back, with what I consider to be a pretty solid podcast. This one brings us news of the Ralliart Lancer, more product cuts from the Big Three, the Canadian Auto Worker’s Union shows us how big their balls are, I insult Motor Trend’s Car of the Year choice, the FIA restores my faith in humanity, and McLaren wine, all of this and more on this hard-fought episode of Dubspeed Radio. If you would like to make sure that what happened last week never happens again, please send check or money order to dubspeedradio@gmail.com. Now get your friends together, and let us enjoy and give thanks for the great bounty of automotive news adequacy that is Dubspeed Radio.

 

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Story and Photos by Jack Baruth

Quick – what was the most important Ford Thunderbird of all time? Most younger enthusiasts aren’t likely to get too worked up about this question, for the same reasons the Pebble Beach crowd refuses to care too much about the absolutely obvious distinction between an Integra GS and an Integra GS-R, but believe us, there are people who have an opinion about this. Most of those people will tell you that the 1955, 1956, and 1957 T-Birds are the ones that really mattered. They were the cars to take the Ford fight right back to the Corvette, the cars to which a generation aspired, the car which was immortalized in the song “Fun, Fun, Fun”… no, wait.

More S5 goodness including a video of a lap around Infineon Raceway after the jump…

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Post by Kasey Kagawa

Ah, life. Sometimes, it’s full of daffodils, candy, easy money and attractive women. But life can also be harsh. Harsh like 80-grit sandpaper coated in cayenne pepper extract and rubbed in your eyeballs. Right now, it’s more sandpapery for those of us at Dubspeed Towers. The two forces of College and Dubspeed have fought a mighty battle this day, but in the Rock/Paper/Scissors game of life, College fights dirty. College throws Shotgun, and thus wins. Therefore, there will be no Dubspeed Radio this week. Although, most of what happened this week was at the LA Auto Show, so listen to those again if you really need your fix. Or show it to your friends. Or leave recordings in places that people congregate, like little gifts. If you feel sorry for us, send us letters of encouragement to dubspeedradio@gmail.com. Or hate mail. We’re desperate for attention over here in our little corner of the Internet. It’s dark here, and I’m lonely.

Post and Podcast by Kasey Kagawa

And that, ladies and gentlemen, is what we call that. Welcome to the second half, well, more like the last third of Dubspeed Radio’s coverage of the Los Angeles International Auto Show. After a few little news bits at the beginning, we get the US debut of the Lancer Evolution X and the Subaru Impreza STI, and Lotus debuts two cars, some model updates, and reveals the future of the brand. Well, at least for the next five years. Also, your humble broadcaster passes judgment on the whole beautiful mess that is the Los Angeles International Auto Show. Pull up a chair next to the wireless, pour yourself a glass of scotch, light up a nice cigar, and enjoy.

 

 Dubspeed Radio 11/15/07 [5:28m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

Post and Podcast by Kasey Kagawa

Yes, we’re at the Los Angeles International Auto Show, and we will be bringing you decidedly not-live coverage both nights of the press days. Today is the big one, with most of the manufacturers doing their presentations today. I’m tired. I might put more up here, but I might not. Still, this is a quality episode filled with real, Honest-To-God EXCLUSIVE INFO on the Nissan GT-R. Listen and learn!

 

 Dubspeed Radio 11/14/07 [9:33m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

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With alternative fuel and going green being a big focus of this year’s LA Auto Show, Chevrolet has unvieled the latest in their strong line of Hybrid vehicles, the Silverado Hybrid. Chevrolet says the truck will go on sale in North America in late 2008, and uses GM’s 2-Mode Hybrid technology that is found in the new Tahoe Hybrid that goes on sale very soon.

The Silverado Hybrid gets it’s gasoline power from a 6.0L V-8 and a new Electrically Variable Transmission (EVT). On the electric side of things, the Silverado Hybrid utilizes GM’s EVT and 300-volt nickle-metal hydride battery. This system allows the Silverado to drive up to 30 mph on electric power alone.

GM has not released any economy numbers yet, but the Tahoe Hybrid shows a 50-percent improvement in city fuel economy over the gasoline powered Tahoe. Anything that produces real world results like this is great in our book, as long as the cost of the hybrid system doesn’t negate the fuel savings.