new cars model 2008
00 2008 Bentley Brooklands
Interesting that in the literature for the new Bentley Brooklands, a limited-edition, even-more-upscale version of the Arnage, there’s little mention of the last Bentley Brooklands, a sedan sold from 1992 to 1997 that replaced the Mulsanne as the marque’s flagship.
Of course, this was a moderately dark period at Bentley, before the Volkswagen takeover in 1998, when, from a distance, the Great Unwashed couldn’t tell much difference between a Bentley Brooklands and a Rolls-Royce Silver Seraph.
This time around, the Bentley Brooklands is a coupe, a “stylish, four-seat, grand touring coupe,” says the company, that is debuting at the Geneva auto show. The Brooklands is, Bentley insists, more than an Azure hardtop. This would probably be a good time to get your order in for a Brooklands, as 550 will be hand-assembled. Not 551, no matter how much you beg, Bentley says. Expect yours in about a year. Price is likely to be about $400,000.
Decidedly old-school—at least compared with the undeniably new-school Continental Flying Spur, GT, and GTC, which are powered by a 552-hp twin-turbocharged W-12—there’s a 6.8-liter V-8 (412 cubic inches, if you’re really old school) under the hood of the Bentley Brooklands, also twin-turbocharged, pumping out a sobering 523 horsepower, and a “prodigious” (Bentley’s word, and who are we to argue?) 774 pound-feet of torque. It is the most powerful V-8 Bentley has produced. Big oval, chrome-tipped dual-exhaust outlets leave no doubt as to what just passed your Mini Moke
Of course, this was a moderately dark period at Bentley, before the Volkswagen takeover in 1998, when, from a distance, the Great Unwashed couldn’t tell much difference between a Bentley Brooklands and a Rolls-Royce Silver Seraph.
This time around, the Bentley Brooklands is a coupe, a “stylish, four-seat, grand touring coupe,” says the company, that is debuting at the Geneva auto show. The Brooklands is, Bentley insists, more than an Azure hardtop. This would probably be a good time to get your order in for a Brooklands, as 550 will be hand-assembled. Not 551, no matter how much you beg, Bentley says. Expect yours in about a year. Price is likely to be about $400,000.
Decidedly old-school—at least compared with the undeniably new-school Continental Flying Spur, GT, and GTC, which are powered by a 552-hp twin-turbocharged W-12—there’s a 6.8-liter V-8 (412 cubic inches, if you’re really old school) under the hood of the Bentley Brooklands, also twin-turbocharged, pumping out a sobering 523 horsepower, and a “prodigious” (Bentley’s word, and who are we to argue?) 774 pound-feet of torque. It is the most powerful V-8 Bentley has produced. Big oval, chrome-tipped dual-exhaust outlets leave no doubt as to what just passed your Mini Moke
002008 Mercedes-Benz CLK63 AMG 
What does a niche-market manufacturer do when the niche it has carved becomes surprisingly full of eager customers? Carve another one, of course, and raise the ante. Mercedes-Benz’s performance arm, AMG—with about 45 percent of its 20,000-unit annual production destined for the U.S.—is cleverly diversifying its range into various categories and levels of performance and trim.
Hence, AMG’s Black Series version of its CLK63 hot-rod coupe. Patterned, it’s said, on the CLK63 used as a safety car at Formula 1 races, the Black Series is immediately identifiable by its aggressive air-scoop-rich front end and muscular wheel arches. The carbon-fiber ducts you see on the front fascia sides are the real thing—from a material and functional standpoint—as is the tail spoiler.
Critics have described the standard CLK coupe, with its soft, generic look, as a bit of a girl’s car. Not the CLK63 Black Series. There’s more than a hint of the company’s DTM (German Touring Car Championship) CLK race car in this vehicle’s appearance, what with its prominent front apron and rear diffuser, 19-inch forged alloys, and extroverted dual-exhaust tailpipes. The beast fairly screams high performance from every angle.
Hence, AMG’s Black Series version of its CLK63 hot-rod coupe. Patterned, it’s said, on the CLK63 used as a safety car at Formula 1 races, the Black Series is immediately identifiable by its aggressive air-scoop-rich front end and muscular wheel arches. The carbon-fiber ducts you see on the front fascia sides are the real thing—from a material and functional standpoint—as is the tail spoiler.
Critics have described the standard CLK coupe, with its soft, generic look, as a bit of a girl’s car. Not the CLK63 Black Series. There’s more than a hint of the company’s DTM (German Touring Car Championship) CLK race car in this vehicle’s appearance, what with its prominent front apron and rear diffuser, 19-inch forged alloys, and extroverted dual-exhaust tailpipes. The beast fairly screams high performance from every angle.
002008 Maserati Quattroporte Sport GT S
We’re not big fans of calling cars “sexy,” but if any one marque’s cars truly deserve the designation, it’s those produced by Maserati. Besides beauty, however, Maseratis have always possessed something else: a sporting pedigree born of the brand’s amazing race cars of the 1920s through ’50s.
The Quattroporte Sport GT S continues in that tradition. Maserati says the new four-door represents “the ultimate sporting expression of Maserati’s flagship model,” as it goes one step beyond the previously released
The GT S uses the same 4.2-liter V-8 and six-speed automatic transmission as does the rest of the Quattroporte lineup.
The Quattroporte Sport GT S continues in that tradition. Maserati says the new four-door represents “the ultimate sporting expression of Maserati’s flagship model,” as it goes one step beyond the previously released
The GT S uses the same 4.2-liter V-8 and six-speed automatic transmission as does the rest of the Quattroporte lineup.
With the powertrain unchanged, it’s the GT S’s revised suspension and brakes that provide the extra spiciness. The suspension has been tuned to what Maser claims is a “racing setup,” with new springs and shocks lowering the ride height by 0.4 inch in the front and 1.0 inch at the rear. The Brembo brakes utilize cross-drilled, aluminum-and-iron composite discs all around and new six-piston calipers up front.
The GT S remains breathtakingly good-looking, of course, but gains some menace with a black chrome mesh grille, blacked-out window trim, and body-color door handles in place of chrome.
Sinister 20-inch, seven-spoke wheels are also added. Inside, the instrument panel goes to carbon fiber and rear passengers get more supportive seats.
The GT S remains breathtakingly good-looking, of course, but gains some menace with a black chrome mesh grille, blacked-out window trim, and body-color door handles in place of chrome.
Sinister 20-inch, seven-spoke wheels are also added. Inside, the instrument panel goes to carbon fiber and rear passengers get more supportive seats.
002008 Audi A5 and S5
Look out, BMW 3-series coupe, Infiniti G37 coupe, and Mercedes-Benz CLK, the 2008 Audi A5 and Audi S5 are poised to make their debuts later this year. Derived from the next-generation A4 platform, dubbed B8, the A5 and S5 coupes have just two doors—go figure—bucking the silly four-door-coupe trend that marketers at other manufacturers have dreamed up recently. By year’s end, the A4 cabriolet is expected to defer to a convertible version of the A5, and there’s even talk of a five-door A5 “spaceback” model sometime thereafter.
The four-seat A5 will have a 3.2-liter FSI (direct injection) V-6. We expect a rating of at least 260 horsepower in U.S. trim. The engine also will be pushed farther behind the front wheels for a more favorable weight distribution. (Rejoice! The next A4 is sure to boost its skidpad numbers.) Although diesel and four-cylinder engines will be offered in Europe, the 3.2-liter is the sole U.S. powerplant. Initially, six-speed manual and continuously variable transmissions (with eight nominal ratios in manual mode) will be offered. U.S. specifications aren’t yet finalized, but we expect front-wheel drive will be standard and all-wheel drive will be optional. As in all recently redesigned and new Audis, power distribution in all-wheel-drive A5 and S5 models will be rear-biased with a nominal 40/60 split.
The S5 will get the same 4.2-liter V-8 found under the hood of the S4 and S4 Avant, updated with direct injection, as found in the current A8, and rated at 354 horsepower. The S5 will route power through a six-speed manual transmission to standard all-wheel drive. The current S4 offers a conventional automatic transmission as an option, and the lack of that option on the S5 lends credence to the rumor that a new sequential manual is in the works. The A5/S5 line would be the first from the brand to mate a dual-clutch sequential manual transmission to a longitudinally mounted engine. Such a transmission also would have to be far more robust than the current sequential manual, which hasn’t been mated to anything more powerful than a 250-hp V-6.
Although the A5's styling isn't terribly original, we can find little fault with it—the latest Audi is pretty stunning. As with every other Audi, the A5 wears the corporate single-frame grille. The detailing in the lighting, particularly the optional LED daytime running lamps, recalls the Audi R8 supercar. The upper-body coke-bottle sculpting also reminds us of the R8, although the lower-body rise is a TT-ism. Somewhat surprising, however, are the formal, notched roofline and the thick C-pillars. The rear end reminds some of us of the 3-series coupe, only executed with considerably more elegance. The S5 packs a bit more visual punch in the form of an egg-crate grille insert, a lower stance, a more pronounced integrated trunklid spoiler, and wide-set quad pipes in place of the lesser A5’s duals.
The interior, as expected, is swank. The photos clearly show lots of aluminum trim, Audi-typical gauges, and what appear to be comfortable and supportive sport front seats (but we’ll have to wait until we climb in back to see if we can say the same about the rears). An electronic parking brake and a push-button ignition system will also be standard. And, of course, the capable but complex MMI is there to serve and confuse.
We also wouldn’t be surprised if an RS 5 appeared sometime during the 2009 model year with the RS4’s direct-injected 4.2-liter V-8 with 420 horsepower.
The A5 will be priced between the A4 and A6, so you will be able to scoop one up for between $35,000 and $40,000. Pricing of the forthcoming S5 is less clear, but we expect it to be in the low-$50,000 range to slightly undercut the 400-hp 2008 BMW M3. Oddly enough, the S5 goes on sale first, this October, while the A5 doesn't make its way here until spring 2008. But one thing is certain: Audi’s new coupe will give empty nesters another alluring option.
The four-seat A5 will have a 3.2-liter FSI (direct injection) V-6. We expect a rating of at least 260 horsepower in U.S. trim. The engine also will be pushed farther behind the front wheels for a more favorable weight distribution. (Rejoice! The next A4 is sure to boost its skidpad numbers.) Although diesel and four-cylinder engines will be offered in Europe, the 3.2-liter is the sole U.S. powerplant. Initially, six-speed manual and continuously variable transmissions (with eight nominal ratios in manual mode) will be offered. U.S. specifications aren’t yet finalized, but we expect front-wheel drive will be standard and all-wheel drive will be optional. As in all recently redesigned and new Audis, power distribution in all-wheel-drive A5 and S5 models will be rear-biased with a nominal 40/60 split.
The S5 will get the same 4.2-liter V-8 found under the hood of the S4 and S4 Avant, updated with direct injection, as found in the current A8, and rated at 354 horsepower. The S5 will route power through a six-speed manual transmission to standard all-wheel drive. The current S4 offers a conventional automatic transmission as an option, and the lack of that option on the S5 lends credence to the rumor that a new sequential manual is in the works. The A5/S5 line would be the first from the brand to mate a dual-clutch sequential manual transmission to a longitudinally mounted engine. Such a transmission also would have to be far more robust than the current sequential manual, which hasn’t been mated to anything more powerful than a 250-hp V-6.
Although the A5's styling isn't terribly original, we can find little fault with it—the latest Audi is pretty stunning. As with every other Audi, the A5 wears the corporate single-frame grille. The detailing in the lighting, particularly the optional LED daytime running lamps, recalls the Audi R8 supercar. The upper-body coke-bottle sculpting also reminds us of the R8, although the lower-body rise is a TT-ism. Somewhat surprising, however, are the formal, notched roofline and the thick C-pillars. The rear end reminds some of us of the 3-series coupe, only executed with considerably more elegance. The S5 packs a bit more visual punch in the form of an egg-crate grille insert, a lower stance, a more pronounced integrated trunklid spoiler, and wide-set quad pipes in place of the lesser A5’s duals.
The interior, as expected, is swank. The photos clearly show lots of aluminum trim, Audi-typical gauges, and what appear to be comfortable and supportive sport front seats (but we’ll have to wait until we climb in back to see if we can say the same about the rears). An electronic parking brake and a push-button ignition system will also be standard. And, of course, the capable but complex MMI is there to serve and confuse.
We also wouldn’t be surprised if an RS 5 appeared sometime during the 2009 model year with the RS4’s direct-injected 4.2-liter V-8 with 420 horsepower.
The A5 will be priced between the A4 and A6, so you will be able to scoop one up for between $35,000 and $40,000. Pricing of the forthcoming S5 is less clear, but we expect it to be in the low-$50,000 range to slightly undercut the 400-hp 2008 BMW M3. Oddly enough, the S5 goes on sale first, this October, while the A5 doesn't make its way here until spring 2008. But one thing is certain: Audi’s new coupe will give empty nesters another alluring option.
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