VW Scirocco by CSR Automotive

CSR Automotive has unveiled a new styling package for the Volkswagen Scirocco.

Designed to give the car an aggressive appearance, the body kit features a revised front fascia, extended side skirts, and a sporty rear bumper with an integrated diffuser. Other highlights include a tailgate-mounted spoiler, headlight masks, and a stainless steel sport exhaust system.

Customers can also order a foil wrap and 20-inch Schmidt Revolution wheels with faux carbon fiber accents and Toyo tires.

Mercedes-Benz CL 500 by VÄTH

German tuner VÄTH has announced a new conversion kit for the Mercedes-Benz CL 500 (C216).

Tuning begins under the hood with a power upgrade for the older 5.5 liter V8 engine that consists of an ECU remap, new sport camshafts, stainless-steel sport catalysts and new air filters. Output is now dialed up to 460 PS (338 kW / 454 bhp) and 600 (442 lb-ft) Nm of torque - up from the series' 388 PS (285 kW / 383 bhp).

[The new CL 500 BlueEfficiency comes with a twin-turbo 4.6 liter V8 delivering 435 PS (429 bhp / 320 kW) and 700 Nm (516 lb-ft) of torque.]

The speed limiter is also increased to 290 km/h (180 mph) and a sport exhaust system is fitted with stainless steel manifolds, catalytic converters and stainless steel rear silencer. VÄTH also adds coolers for the fuel and engine oil to improve efficiency and performance.

For the aerodynamic kit, the tuner adds a front spoiler lip, a rear diffuser and a trunk-lip spoiler all made of quality carbon.

Wheels and suspension also get an upgrading with the addition of 20-inch forged wheels wrapped in tires sized 245/30ZR20 at the front and 285/25ZR20 at the rear. A three-way adjustable suspension is fitted and a performance brake system is also part of the package.

For the interior, the German tuner offers carbon-fiber trims in classic black or multi-colored carbon. Several sport steering wheel variants are also available, a speedometer that reads up to 360 km/h is fitted and black suede mats with embroidered silver logos are provided.

#30DaysofBiking: Where The Rain Goes

It isn't actually raining when I leave home at 7:15 AM but it's been raining for minutes, days, weeks, and months before and the rain will surely find me before I find my way home. Sunshine is simpler, requiring less layers, less wool, less resolve but repetition and ritual can overcome inertia.

Inertia: the tendency to be inert.

But a body in motion tends to stay in motion. Calendars and clocks should remind us of the simple truth: a world turning, moving, not inert.

Momentum is what happens when Inertia gets up off the couch.

And so I'm out the door and down the stairs, bike in hand and then the bike is on the ground, the butt is on the bike, the wheels are turning because a damp choice has been made.

The damp world is in motion, water moves when given any chance. The river isn't resting in the bed today, it's moving the rocks around. Tomorrow never looks just like today and when I go where the rains go, I remember that.

Keep 'em rolling,

Kent "Mountain Turtle" Peterson

Issaquah WA USA

PETROL RON 97 NAIK LAGI 20 SEN - RM 2.70

Adakah ianya berita baik jika saya bercakap mengenai kenaikan harga petrol? Pasti semua orang akan mengeluh dan paling hebat pun mencaci. Tapi apakan daya, ianya kenyataan. Yang hairan kenapa negara yang mengeluarkan minyak masih menjual minyak dengan harga yang tinggi? Saya ambil contoh negara kita kaya dengan durian, di Jepun tiada durian. Jadi harga durian di Jepun lebih mahal jika dibandingkan dengan di Malaysia dan begitulah sebaliknya dengan harga petrol.

Saya tidak mahu fikir panjang lebar kerana anda sendiri pun sudah maklum mengenai perkara ini. Cuma saya nak bagitahu bahawa harga petrol RON 97 akan dinaikkan sebanyak 20 sen menjadikan harganya sekarang sebanyak RM 2.70 seliter. Hampir sama seperti zaman Pak Lah dahulu. Manakala harga petrol bagi RON 95 pula dikekalkan buat sementara ini.

Sekian sahaja berita 'baik' dari ProtonClub, terima kasih. Cheers....~

#30DaysofBiking: The Power of Gimmick & Repetition

I'm going to ride a bike every day in April. This isn't a big deal, it shouldn't be a big deal. I'm the guy who rides thousands of miles, right? Paris-Brest-Paris? Been there, done that. Great Divide Mountain Bike Route? Yeah, that too. 36 miles per day in bike commuting? Well, not any more...

You see, I walk to work these days. It's so close that walking is the best way to get there. I walk home for lunch. And often, on my days off, Christine and I walk everywhere we need to go. And sometimes, like this year, the weather in the Puget Sound area is exactly like an Oatmeal Comic.

As much as I love biking, and I do love biking and I still ride quite a bit, I'd fallen out of the habit. I'd ride, but I haven't been riding every day.

I miss my bike commute and I miss the repetition. The getting out there in all kinds of weather. I didn't need a kick in the pants, but I did need a nudge. A tiny, trivial nudge. A gimmick.

On Twitter, where a million droplets of nothing become something, I found that gimmick. It's called #30DaysofBiking. You can sign up here. It's easy, you just pledge to ride some (around the block counts) every day in the month of April. It's a gimmick.

But here's the thing. Gimmicks work. I found this out back when I was the Commuting guy for the Bicycle Alliance of Washington and in various conversations over the years with hard core bike geeks. A surprising number of passionate bikers got their start because of some gimmick like Bike to Work Day or some bike commute challenge. I refer to these things as gimmicks not to disparage them but because they don't seem essential to riding. But again, gimmicks like these work.

I think #30DaysofBiking works because it uses Jerry Seinfeld's Productivity Secret. Do something, every day. It'll become a habit.

So, I'm getting back in the habit. I've already been out riding today. Not far, but I was out and about. I rode to the bank. I saw a rabbit scoot off into the darkness. I saw the new spring lambs grazing in the shadow of the freeway. The rain this morning was light and my jacket is good. My lights work great. So do my legs and lungs. The bran muffin at the coffee shop tastes too good to possibly be good for me.

But the riding, I think that's good. I'll be out there, every day. What the heck, I'm going to post here, every day this month. At least a few words and at least one picture. #30DaysofBiking.

Keep 'em rolling,

Kent "Mountain Turtle" Peterson

Issaquah WA USA

April fool!

HERE'S proof that even the most sensible car companies have a sense of humour - a BMW M3 that's been given the Australian outback treatment!

BMW unveiled this pickup version of the M3 earlier today, presumably as an elaborate April Fool's Joke, as the fourth variant of its V8-powered star, which has already proven a hit with keen drivers as a saloon, coupe and convertible. However, this new version, which is the first ever M3 to come with a tow hitch, looks strangely similar to the small pickups popular in Australia, where they are affectionately referred to as “utes”.

BMW has said that despite its “unquestionable stand-out qualities” it will remain a one-off destined to be used as a workhouse for BMW's M Division, which makes M versions of the 1 Series, 3 Series, and 5 Series.

April Fuel! Protests

As pro-motoring activists who just love driving, we at Aberdeen Cars will be taking full part in April's fuel protests. Oh yes. There's nothing we like better than putting our foot down on the open road on our way to work or the shops. When we drive around Aberdeen, it's just like the TV car adverts: A beautifully gleaming brand-new car swooshes and swishes sure-footedly around deserted city streets in an aspirational modern city; a roadster carries a glamourous young couple round Bavarian switchback bends on a deserted mountain road; a 2.4 children family arrive laughing at the beach in their people carrier, the sun gleaming through a blue sky - driving round Aberdeen is exactly like that. We find it disgusting that through high taxes, speed limits, unessesary road closures and the like the government - in the pocket of the so-called "green lobby" - are doing everything they can to get us out of our beloved cars.

Bavarian Hairpin Roadster. "Vroooom".

So, to preserve our cherished way of life, to support all other beleaguered tax farmed motorists around the UK and to show big business and thus the government that drivers are a priority not a luxury, today, we'll be taking part in the "Petrol Price slash - make the joke on them" protest, which is a fuel boycott running today. The idea is that, to display our disgust at the governments paltry 1p drop in petrol duty, we all stop filling our tanks today - creating a loss of profit for the oil companies and forcing them to put pressure on the government to do something or other.

Next, over the weekend, the second leg of the protest will kick off, we will avoid all large shopping destinations which depend on the driver for trade - we will empty their out-of-town and intersection car parks and, instead, walk to the town centre or local shops.

Yes, this weekend of action will show the government that we have clout. If they don't listen to us, we'll just stop providing our vital economy-supporting driving-about-the-place service. We'll boycot petrol. We'll boycot destinations that need cars to get to them. We'll find an alternative, yes, we'll show them that there are alternatives to being tax-farmed at every turn! We'll walk! We'll cycle! We'll get the bus or train! Oh, wait. Hang on a minute...