LA Auto Show ‘09 – Highlights

LA Auto Show ‘09 – Porsche Boxster Spyder

LA Auto Show ‘09 – Yokohama Motorsports Orange Oil Compound

Lamborghini Knows Who’s Naughty and Nice

Lamborghini is known for making powerful, exotic, lust inducing supercars. They are however lesser known for their candle making prowess. That may change after this holiday season with the recent release of these Gallardo LP 550-2 Valntino Balboni themed gift sets. You can buy that special someone a set of three ornaments, $83US, a set of two candles with Lambo logos for $65US or even a pack of Holiday cards with envelopes.

No word on whether these candles are guaranteed to stay lit at 200mph, but we would recommend against using them to freshen the interior of your Gallardo. The calender however, may come in handy while you are counting down the days until you get your license back from previous 200mph attempts.

Rap Star – Lorinser shows its recent E-Class creation

The new Mercedes E Class has been celebrated as one of the most classy, handsome and understated designs in years. As usual, it didn’t take long for tuners to change that. For those who want to look more like they belong in a rap video or the parking lot of an NFL training camp, tuner Lorinser has released photos of their latest E Class treatment for the W212 chassis. We will admit, we really like the more aggressive front bumper and the rear diffuser, but after that, we would leave it stock. Lorinser may be going for the DTM Racecar look with the vented front fenders, but it instead, screams boy racer. Now that every Civic, Integra and Scion is sporting this look, I think it’s time to let it go. Same goes for the 1990s throw-back boxed side skirts with the vent in back. I don’t car if it is functional, which I doubt, it looks ridiculous and dated.

Pumping Iron – Sharkwerks adds more muscle to the GT3 RS

We love turbo cars. For quick and easy power, economy and power to weight ratio, there is nothing like them. However, for psychic levels of throttle response, sound and overall driving enjoyment, there is no replacement for a well-built naturally aspirated engine. A Porsche GT3RS in stock form is already one of the best naturally aspirated cars on the planet. Getting 415hp out of a streetable 3.6-liters a few years ago would have been nothing short of a miracle, even for a tuner. For it to come with a factory warranty was the work of dark forces.

Sharkwerks Tuning in Fremont California know that your average enthusiast has a very short memory. For those no longer impressed with a mere 415hp, they are offering a 3.9-liter conversion for GT3 and GT3 RS’s to take them to an astounding 500hp.

VF Engineering – Keep that old R8 a little longer

I know a lot of you R8 owners out there are losing sleep wondering if you will need to trade in that old V8 when the V10s start hitting dealerships. The thought of sitting at a stoplight and someone pulling up with a faster Audi just eats away at your very being. Well fear not fans of the one up-manship game, VF-Engineering has just the thing for you. It is not a prosthetic two-cylinder bolt on addition, it’s better.

VF-Engineering has been mastering the art of force feeding German power plants for 15 years. Originating in the UK, VF’s R&D facility in located in sunny Southern California, apparently wet English roads could no longer handle all the power they were creating. They made their name creating supercharger kits for the e46 M3 and MK4 R32. They later moved into turbo kits for the VW and Audi 2.0t and both MK4 and MK5 R32s. Lately they have been moving up to even larger engines focusing on supercharger kits for the new e90 M3 V8 as well as the V8s in both the S4 and RS4.

Heal Thyself – Can VW Dealers Fix Customer Service Issues

I have been told I have a slightly irrational love of Volkswagens. I love their cars, believe in their core values and hopefully, will be a life long customer. I am however no fan boy. I will be the first to acknowledge VW’s few faults and shortcomings. As their biggest fan, I may also be their biggest critic.

The biggest complaint I have ever had with VW isn’t directly their fault. VW dealerships are generally some of the worst in the business. Taking a car in for service quickly turns into a test of one’s patience and restraint. The problem just seems to escalate when you add in factors like performance modifications or little things like expecting them to actually fix the car correctly the first time.

Abarth 500 R3T – Big Thrills, Small Bills

All of us here at MOTORLUST have had our fingers crossed for the last two years hoping that the Fiat 500 will eventually make its way to the United States. We keep getting teased with on again off again news from Chrysler about the viability of the car. We wonder how much longer Chrysler will be around and if there is any other way the car can get here. Please don’t tell us we are going to have to sit in a Chrysler dealership while waiting for an oil change or maintenance work.

This latest press release has us thinking that we might just be willing to put up with 1970s era waiting rooms to get our 500. Abarth has just released photos and specs of the 500 R3T Rally Car. It has been homologated to run in the R3T group, which is classified as forced induction cars with less than 1600cc displacement. It is a stepping stone for many young drivers but is also popular with teams of lower budgets, who still want big levels of competition.

Frankfurt auto show 2009: the light of the charge brigade

Please make it stop. Ever since the Mercedes-Benz CLS, car makers have taken to chopping the rooflines of their sedans and calling them four-door coupes. Guys, they’re not coupes. By definition, coupes have two doors. What you’re making are sedans with varying degrees of rear head- and legroom that range from barely adequate to what’s-the-point.

At least it looks as if Americans won’t be sent into fits of pedantry by the Audi A5 Sportback, because as handsome as this four-door-plus-hatch version of Ingolstadt’s lovely A5 is, Audi of America isn’t too fired up about bringing it Stateside.