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Comedian extraordinaire Dave Chappelle theorized on his Comedy Central show that everything looks better in slow motion. We’d be inclined to agree, especially after watching this video of a Ford Mustang doing a burnout. No doubt there are burnout videos with better cars or more smoke, but the slow motion effect combined with a soundtrack from Smashing Pumpkins makes this one of the coolest burnout videos we’ve ever seen. Follow the jump to watch the unhurried destruction of tire tread.

[Source: YouTube via MustangBlog.com]

In South Korea, economics trumps justice. Chung Mong-koo, the head of Hyundai who recently received a suspended sentence for embezzling and bribes has — along with 341,000 other businessmen, bureaucrats, and politicians — been given a full pardon.

President Lee Myung-bak, who said he was “personally against” the decision, decided to issue the pardons anyway. Mong-koo wasn’t even in jail, but apparently the convicted and jailed businessmen were “having problems doing business overseas.” Go figure.

So on Liberation Day, in hopes that “businessmen would take the lead in reviving the economy by creating jobs through active investment and exploring markets abroad,” the bad guys got gifts even better than walking papers. In South Korea, crime does pay… if you have good business sense.

[Source: Reuters]

They have got to be kidding. Another SLR derivative? Before the Mercedes-McLaren supercar speeds off into the horizon, it will have spawned no less than six different versions - including the original coupe, the Roadster, 722, 722 GT, the upcoming “Speedster”, and this latest variant - if the latest reports are to be believed. We would have thought that the spied Speedster version would have been the last, but then spy shots surface of what appears to be a 722 Roadster.

This undisguised vehicle carries all the visual cues of the 722 edition coupe: the dark grey 19″ forged alloys hiding red brake calipers over oversized discs, plus the carbon fiber lip spoiler and darkened taillight clusters. The convertible can be expected to carry the same 650-hp supercharged V8 as the 722 coupe, only with the nifty hard-soft top from the roadster. By the state of readiness evident from these spy shots, we’d venture that the 722 Roadster will appear before the Speedster. And we trust that will be the end of the SLR… until someone says otherwise, of course.

[Source: World Car Fans]

According to Steve St. Angelo, a VP at Toyota North America, a healthy Detroit 3 is good for Toyota. While that may sound a bit odd or even patronizing, St. Angelo notes that the U.S. supplier base is working for both the Americans and Japanese. If one of their big clients like GM or Ford is in trouble, the effect to the supplier will in turn affect Toyota. What’s more, the U.S. economy is closely tied in with the success of the automakers in Detroit and a depressed economy can only serve to hurt Toyota’s U.S. sales numbers, a fact that is surely apparent when you glance at our By The Numbers posts over the past few months. Toyota’s sales are still relatively strong, enough so that it has passed Ford to become America’s second largest automaker and is currently knocking on GM’s door (and giving them a spinning leg hook belly-to-back suplex) to take over the role as number one. So while a defeated member of the Detroit 3 may be bad for Toyota, a wounded one might be OK.

[Source: The Detroit News]

Click above to view the Ferrari FXX Evoluzione in hi-res

We’re not quite sure to make of this, but apparently of the 29 hand-selected participants from the Ferrari FXX development program, only three opted (or were deemed worthy) to continue with the even more exclusive FXX Evoluzione.

The progression of the previous initiative revolves around an even more extreme derivative of the Enzo. The FXX Evoluzione, as we reported back in October of last year, features a heavily revised variable aerodynamics package and advanced electronics, channeling 860 horsepower from the developmental supercar’s 6.3-liter V12 with its atmospheric 9500 rpm redline. Of the three FXX Evoluziones made, two are heading to Hong Kong, with the remaining third example being presented to an unspecified European client.

Click to view the Alfa 159 in hi-res from Geneva ‘08

The Alfa Romeo 159 may be one of the most beautiful sedans on the market, but that hasn’t been enough to make the model a sales success. As we learned after driving the new MiTo, Alfa isn’t satisfied any longer to glide by on its name and looks alone, and so has started work on the replacement for the 159 even though the current model was only introduced in 2005.

The main reason attributed to the 159’s poor market performance has been its dynamic performance, inhibited by an overweight chassis designed by Saab during Fiat’s partnership with GM. Its successor is tipped to be based on the same platform as the upcoming 149, however, which still means front-wheel-drive. With the numeric designation running out of room to grow, the 159 replacement is widely reported to revive the classic Giulia nameplate, with styling cues borrowed from the curvaceous 8C instead of the angular Brera. Sources suggest that the new sedan, anticipated for debut in 2010, is being developed specifically with the American market in mind.

Click above to view more of the Dimora Natalia SLS 2

Of all the bits of vaporware out there that never seem to get any closer to reality, the DiMora has to be one of our favorites. The sheer ambition of it all involves independently developing and producing a $2 million super-sedan that would, we’re sure, make the likes of Bugatti and Maybach seem downright ordinary. But first it would have to actually get built, and all we’ve seen to date are computer images and announcements on component and technical partnerships.

The latest to join the immaterial spec sheet of the fictitious DiMora Natalia SLS 2 (don’t ask what happened to the SLS 1) is Barotex. The Californian company is developing a new material, similar to carbon fiber, but made out of volcanic rock. Complementing the Volcano V16 engine that would power the Natalia were it ever to be built, Barotex offers lightweight yet extremely rigid and flame-retardant construction. As for which seems more fantastic – the DiMora itself or the lava-based fiber that would form its body and frame – we’ll leave that up to you. Press release after the jump.

Click for a hi-res gallery of the BMW 6 Edition Sport

BMW has responded to customer demand for a tauter 6 Series by announcing the availability of a new Edition Sport trim level for the grand tourer. While the new Competition Package offers a host of modifications for the M6, the Edition Sport follows along the same lines for the rest of the 6 Series range, including both coupe and convertible models.

The package includes a restyled hood and new lightweight 19″ alloys, plus stiffer anti-roll bars and the anti-roll stabilization system borrowed from the M division. Brushed aluminum trim for the cabin and fog lights also form part of the Edition Sport, along with a couple of new colors. The 650i Edition Sport also benefits from a new exhaust system. Pricing and availability have not yet been announced for the US market, but the package commands a £1500-2000 premium in the UK. While we wait for word, you can check out the British press release after the jump and the gallery of high-resolution images below.

Click above to watch the 80 in 40 streaming live

When Damon asked if he could take two days off from blogging to do a cross-country road trip with his buddies, I wanted to break the news to him gently that it takes more than two days to drive across the U.S. of A. Then he told me his buddies were Davey G. Johnson and Alex Roy, the current record holder for doing a transcontinental run in 30 hours and 4 minutes, and that their transportation would be Roy’s own BMW M5 “Team Polizei” car. Their plan is to travel the entire length of Interstate 80 from the George Washington Bridge in NYC to the Bay Bridge in San Francisco and then own down to Monterey for this weekend’s events surrounding the Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance. The pace will be a little slower than Roy’s record run, with 40 hours being the target time from start to finish.

Of course, I released Damon from his blogging bonds and wished him well in his duties as co-driver. The trio began their trip this morning and are streaming a live feed of their journey on Roy’s blog, Gumball144.com, as we speak. I just watched them pass a Doritos truck in Pennsylvania. (Be aware that the feed will go dark sometimes as their EVDO card hits an area without reception, and keep your volume down as they like to drive with the windows open.) Damon will be reporting on his experience over the next two days, so keep an eye out to learn what it’s like to road trip with professionals.

UPDATE 1: Just to clarify, they are not racing across the country and don’t care much if they miss arriving in California within 40 hours. They have also not been pulled over or “busted” as some commenters believe.
UPDATE 2: Damon’s behind the wheel!

[Source: Gumball144.com]

After more than a year of speculation, and even a leaked sketch, we finally have our first spy shots confirming that Audi is developing an open-air version of its R8 supercar. And just to sweeten the deal, the test mule spied is all but completely undisguised.

While nomenclature has yet to be confirmed – possibly using the Targa, Convertible, Cabrio, Roadster or Spider tags – the shots confirm that the convertible supercar will employ a fabric roof. Power is expected to carry over from the 420-hp FSI V8 coupe, but the presence of wider tailpipes on this test mule indicate that the highly-anticipated V10 is likely to appear in the roadster, as well. The car is expected to make its debut next March at the Geneva Motor Show show in Switzerland.

[Source: NextAutos]

Click above for high-res pics of the 2008 Toyota Highlander from our review

Up to this point, all Highlanders destined for the U.S. have been built in Japan. Toyota had planned to start building a new, redesigned Highlander in late 2009 at its plant in Tupelo, Mississippi, a factory that is still under construction, but the rapidly slumping SUV market prompted it to postpone the vehicle’s redesign to 2010. Things change quickly in this business, however, and because its plant in Princeton, Indiana that builds the full-size Tundra is now sitting idle, Toyota has decided to use that capacity to start building the Highlander in the fall of 2009. The Tupelo plant, meanwhile, will instead start building the Prius here in the U.S. when its construction is completed in 2010. All this flip flopping of production can be done because of the flexible manufacturing that was built into each of Toyota’s plants, and the positive end result is that its workers can keep working rather than sitting at home without a paycheck.

[Source: Automotive News - sub. req'd]

Click on the image above for our high-res 2008 Cadillac STS gallery

It may be the end of the Big Cadillac. Not only has General Motors put plans for a DTS/STS replacement on the back burner, but apparently the flame is close to being extinguished as consumers are demanding smaller and more fuel efficient vehicles. Cadillac’s banner year was 1954 (the year Elvis was driving a pink ‘54 model). Back then, the big Caddys represented wealth and success (and gas was only $.25 per gallon). Today, a 4,000-pound super-sized sedan averaging 15 mpg in the city cycle doesn’t bode well with anyone. With plans for their replacement on hold, and the rumor that the DTS/STS my be combined into one new vehicle unconfirmed, GM is focusing on coupe and wagon versions of the CTS and smaller and more fuel efficient SUVs. For the record, we don’t consider the just-announced $71,000 2009 Escalade Hybrid smaller and more efficient….

Click above for a high-res gallery of the Lotus Exige 270E Tri-Fuel

Lotus Engineering has been hard at work developing new engine technologies that allow the use of sustainable alcohol fuels. It’s recent Exige 270E Tri-Fuel concept showed that the British firm knows how to make an engine run on various fuels, including gasoline, ethanol and methanol. In fact, the 270E Tri-Fuel concept was the most powerful Exige ever conceived by the Hethel-based company and made its highest power output using synthetic methanol fuel. Lotus has started a new research project called the OMNIVORE engine — cleverly indicating that it will run on anything — that uses a single cylinder with direct injection and a variable compression ratio in order to maximize power and efficiency while running on various alcohol fuels. The higher octane rating of alcohol fuels will allow the engine to run with higher compression, thereby offering more power, while also toning itself down to run on lower-grade fuels as well. Read the press release after the break for more details.

These are precarious times for European design studios and coachbuilders, with some of the biggest names in the business facing potential closure. Not even Pininfarina is immune, and the storied Italian studio cannot afford to miss a beat. That’s why, only days since the tragic death of its CEO Andrea Pininfarina, the company has already announced his successor.

Rather than hiring from outside, control of the carrozzeria will pass to Paolo Pininfarina, brother of the late Andrea, son of Sergio and grandson of founder Batista “Pinin” Farina. He is shown here attending the funeral for his brother that took place just yesterday. As we reported earlier today, the company is scheduled to unveil its first new vehicle since the tragedy next week at Pebble Beach: the Rolls-Royce Hyperion .

[Source: Automotive News Europe – subs. req'd, Photo by Vittorio Zunino Celotto/Getty]

Click above for gallery of the Glue-On Brembos in a variety of colors

Poseurs, take note: you can finally corral all that imaginary power your Hyundai Elantra SRT8 isn’t making underhood. Eric Hsu at JDM Insider’s Beyond the Dyno blog came across what’ll doubtless be the latest trend to show up on M-badged Plymouth Breezes everywhere: bogus, glue-on brake caliper covers that give you the high-performance Brembo look while perfectly maintaining your fakemobile’s incomprehensible lameness. When it comes to things that suck, innovation knows no bounds.