Specific to the DBS is a cross-car dashboard-supporting beam with new cast members at its nodes to improve stiffness and control steering-column shake. Unlike in the DB9, the rear subframe in the DBS is solidly mounted, and the trunk and door-frame apertures are lighter. To keep weight down, Aston engineers used carbon fiber for the hood, front fenders, and trunklid.
With 510 horsepower, the engine is Aston’s strongest, chiefly because of a new inlet manifold and new cylinder heads with better inlet-port design. But the torque peak is unchanged at 420 pound-feet. No one will complain because the 5.9-liter V-12 pushes the 3750-pound coupe around with real authority, making some of the world’s best automotive sound effects in the process.
Aston Martin DBS specifications
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Beyond the front grille treatment, the new 2008 Chevrolet Cobalt SS is visually identical to the 2005–2007 Cobalt SS Supercharged. The front and rear fascias, side sills, and now-optional huge wing all carry over unchanged, as does the regular Cobalt-based sheetmetal.
The SS Supercharged had to be discontinued because its blown four didn’t comply with emissions regulations for 2008. As a result, the new SS gets force-fed via an air-to-air intercooled turbocharger rather than the Eaton supercharger on the old car.
The new car puts 260 horsepower under your right foot, versus 205 in the SS Supercharged. Peak torque is an impressive 260 lb-ft, and it’s available from just 2000 rpm. Top speed is as high as 160 mph, so long as you forego that ginormous, drag-heavy optional spoiler.
New lower control arms, control-arm bushings, 30-percent-stiffer springs, and fat, 24mm front and rear solid anti-roll bars tighten up the suspension like a drum skin. The steering system’s rack, electronics, and tuning are all unique to the SS, as is the car’s pedal box, which has been optimized to provide better heel-toe downshifts.
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To the array of mind-boggling figures associated with the Bugatti Veyron—$1.5 million price, 253-mph top speed, 2.6-second 0-to-60 time—add a brain-busting abbreviation: Fbg. Never heard of Hermès? In addition to fine fashion accessories and home goods, Hermès is a maker of fine leather goods for people whose daddies don’t have to work for a living. Hermès is the perfect partner to create a bespoke interior for Bugatti’s low-orbit dreamship, shown at the 2008 Geneva auto show.
Not much is changed externally aside from the wheels and the coloring. What looks trendy tooling around town might translate into a deadly aerodynamic defect at 253 mph, and Bugatti owner Volkswagen’s Veyron development dollars have all been spent.
The Bugatti Veyron Fbg par Hermès goes on sale late in 2008, and the company says it will make one a month for the rest of the Veyron’s production run. This special edition surpasses even the naked Veyron Pur Sang’s roughly $2 million price and settles at €1.55 million, or approximately $2.4 million.
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This is basically the next-generation Ibiza,
SEAT’s answer to the Ford Fiesta, Fiat Grande Punto, and Opel Corsa.
SEAT’s brand positioning is sportier than most of its competitors, and the Bocanegra’s blacked-out front end looks as if it could swallow enough air to feed, say, an Audi V-12 TDI. But since that would go beyond the scope of the brand, the Bocanegra is powered by a far smaller engine: VW’s 1.4-liter four-cylinder TSI (direct-injection) twin-turbocharged engine mated to the recently introduced seven-speed “dry” dual-clutch transmission.
The exterior is accentuated by a prominent character line sloping down from the LED concept headlights over the front wheel arches past the B-pillar. This typical SEAT styling element first surfaced on the Altea minivan.
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This year’s Geneva auto show marks the first time Infiniti has unveiled a brand-new product outside its U.S. sales stronghold, as the exhibition plays host to the all-new 2009 Infiniti FX crossover.
Built on the prodigious FM platform—which also underpins the Nissan 350Z, the Infiniti G sedan and coupe, the Infiniti EX35 crossover, and the Infiniti M sedan—the FX will remain a five-seater and continue to wear rakish styling.
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