2005 - 2011 Porsche 911 RS1 Street by LOMA

LOMA is best known for its work on the C6 Corvettes, but recently the German company has decided to turn its sights on Porsche. Because of the company’s location, all of the parts in the kit are made in Germany using carbon fiber, which is something a Porsche owner will prefer.

The 911 GT3 RSR is one of the most awesome Porsches ever built, but it’s not built to handle daily driving nor is it priced for the average Porsche buyer. To help satisfy your urge to own one, LOMA decided to make a kit to allow for you to turn your 997 into an RSR.

The 911 retains the stock engine that produces at least 325 horsepower, but LOMA offers a sports exhaust system to give the car more of a racecar soundtrack. The suspension and brakes also stay the same as the stock car, so the car doesn’t ride any lower than stock unless you decide to lower the car yourself.

Spy Shots: 2014 BMW M235i Caught Lapping Nurburgring

We have heard rumors about a possible M235i ever since BMW unveiled the M135i Concept at the 2012 Geneva Motor Show. Back then it was rumored that the production version would carry the same M135i nomenclature, but considering that BMW has changed its naming system, the two-door coupe version will be called M235i.

Until now, all we had were rumors and speculation, but today our spy photographers caught the M235i lapping the Nürburgring. As expected, the prototype is heavily camouflaged, but it is pretty obvious it will carry an aggressive exterior look similar to other M models.

Under the hood, rumors suggest we are going to see the same engine we saw in the M135i Concept, which is a straight-six-cylinder engine with M Performance Twin Power Turbo technology that puts down more than 300 horsepower. The model will also be equipped with a rear-wheel-drive layout and sports suspension setup.

2014 Chevrolet Corvette Stingray Indianapolis 500 Pace Car

Chevrolet Corvette served as an Indianapolis 500 pace car for the first time back in 1978 and Chevrolet has sent a total of 11 models to pace "The Greatest Spectacle in Racing." The 2013 model year will be the 12th time a Corvette model will pace Indianapolis, and as rumored two days ago, it will be the new Corvette Stingray.

The model will be equipped with the track-capable Z51 package, which adds a limited-slip differential for reduced under-steer while cornering, improved aerodynamics and ride tweaks to help it handle corners more effectively. The Stingray Pace Car is painted in a Laguna Blue Tintcoat exterior combined with official Indianapolis 500 graphics on the doors.

The technology features and powertrain will be identical to the standard version, except that the Pace Car will be equipped with track-mandated safety features and strobe lights.

Audi A9 Expected to Arrive in 2016

The long awaited Audi A9 has been in limbo for the past couple of years with Audi seemingly taking its time to unveil its new flagship sedan. And that’s after word spread out that the German automaker trademarked the A9 and S9 names last year.

But there appears to be a groundswell of movement in Ingolstadt these days and according to Auto Motor und Sport, the A9 is expected to be launched in 2016.

Circle those calendars, fellas.

The date of the A9’s launch has changed multiple times, but the latest timetable seems to point to a more concrete expectation as to when the luxury sedan finally comes out and smiles to the cameras.

Another interesting tidbit surrounding the A9 involves the platform it’s going to use, which apparently is the same one that will underpin the next-generation Q7. Now, that’s interesting, considering that the Q7 is a pretty large SUV.

2014 Mercedes-Benz E-Class by German Special Customs

The Mercedes E-Class is a luxury car normally reserved for suit-wearing, business types who know how to ride around in style. The car itself already sports a sleek and stylish design that underscores the class of its Mercedes badge.

But, and there’s always a but, the Mercedes E-Class isn’t exempt from aftermarket programs, especially if said aftermarket company can build a complementary kit that improves the luxury car’s looks while keeping its design spirit intact.

That’s where German Special Customs come into the picture. We’ve seen these fellas work on Mercedes models before, most recently on the 2013 CLS63 AMG.

This time around, it went to work on the E-Class, fitting it with an aggressive aerodynamic package that includes a plethora of new components, a lot of which were made from carbon fiber.

It certainly goes without saying the end product, judging by the photos GSC released, does remarkable justice to keeping the E-Class’ style going while adding a touch of panache to it.

Volkswagen Previews New Golf GTI Variant at the 2013 Wörthersee

Volkswagen Golf GTI W12

In the past few years Wörthersee expo-show brought us some of the coolest concepts from both Audi and Volkswagen. This year’s show seems to be no exception, as Audi has already announced the TT Ultra Quattro Concept and Volkswagen has just announced that it will unveil a hot concept that will preview a new Golf GTI.

Talking about the new concept, Volkswagen boss Dr Ulrich Hackenberg said that it won’t be as powerful as the Golf GTI W12 Concept we saw at the same show back in 2007, but it will be more realistic.

While he declined to offer any other details on the new concept, it is rumored that it will preview an extreme version of the GTI built to celebrate the model’s 40th anniversary, maybe called Edition 40 GTI? That name holds some water because when the model celebrated its 35th anniversary, VW unveiled the Golf GTI Edition 35

.

If the new model will follow the tradition of the previous model; it will be carry about 25 to 30 more horsepower and will feature a more aggressive body language.

Lamborghini Celebrating its 50th Anniversary with Grande Giro

Lamborghini was founded back in 1963 and by doing simple math you will see that 2013 marks the company’s 50th anniversary. 50 years on a market is a great reason to celebrate, and as far as we have seen, it will be quite a celebration.

Up to this point, Lamborghini has dropped the Veneno supercar and the Aventador LP720-4 50° Anniversario, and will continue with a "Grande Giro.” This "Grand Tour" will bring together a convoy of 350 Lamborghini super sports cars and will start on May 8th.

The "Giro" will start at Lombardia and will continue on to Toscana, Lazio, Umbria, Emilia Romagna, Forte dei Marmi, Grosseto, Roma, San Giustino Valdarno and will arrive in Bologna on May 10th. On the last day — May 11 — the convoy will depart again for Sant’Agata Bolognese.

An interesting fact: the 350 cars will measure about 4.5 km (2.8 miles) in length and will deliver more than 190,000 horsepower in total.

2015 Jaguar F-Type Coupe Revealed in Patent Drawings

Jaguar announced its intentions to release a coupe version of the F-Type once the roadster version hit the market. Until now, however, the car has never been spotted testing anywhere around the world, so we had to just trust Jaguar’s word.

Today, we can add some substance to Jag’s claim, as leaked patent drawings of the F-Type Coupe have made their way onto the Internet and they reveal the final design of the sports coupe. Not that it’s very hard to imagine how an F-Type Coupe would look like, since you are essentially slapping a fixed roof on top of the F-Type Roadster. Reports point toward everything else being borrowed from the roadster version, including the exterior look and the engine lineup.

The F-Type Coupe will arrive on the market sometime in 2014 and will be followed by a more powerful R version. A Sport Brake version has also been rumored, but we doubt we are ever going to see it.

Insurance Companies Want to "Plug in" to Your Driving Habits

Car insurance companies are always trying to find some way to better monitor your driving style and habits to help adjust their premiums accordingly. In fact, yours truly fell for the Progressive scam of plugging a small transmitter into the data port on my Mazdaspeed MX-5 with the promise that I could “save up to 30 percent.” Well, this little gadget sensed every time I tapped the brakes a little too hard or pushed my little turbocharged roadster into a corner just a little harder than usual, then it would beep and upload this information to the company.

Well, after noticing what this gizmo was up to, I quickly unplugged it and overnighted it to Progressive with a thanks-but-no-thanks letter. Well, now more insurance companies are getting into the tracking game with even more technology. In fact, State Farm has taken it a little further by installing an app on your Android 4.0 (or higher) smartphone. According to State Farm this app will collect “basic information about your driving,” but the insurance giant doesn’t offer a bit of info about what it will use this data for.

So, why would you allow your insurance company to track how, when and where you drive? Because they grease your palm, of course; State Farm is offering up a $50 gift card to the first 5,000 volunteers to give up their driving privacy and test the system. In fact, you don’t even have to be a State Farm customer to do this test and get the $50.

We say stay away from this deal and the insurance tracking devices altogether, regardless of how much they choose to offer you in return. Chances are that this information could potentially jack up your car insurance just because you park in a less-than-ideal area semi-frequently or brake a little harder than others. Plus, having your insurance company knowing what you’re up to at any given time is pretty dang scary.

What’s next, health insurance companies strapping devices on us to monitor our food intake and exercise?