Honda NSX

In 2005 Honda decided that they make enough exciting cars and stopped building the NSX sports car. It was a huge loss. Granted the Honda NSX didn't sell very well and was a tad expensive but it was one of the greatest cars ever built in the 1990's.
At the Detroit Motor Show earlier this year Honda (or Acura if you want) showed us how the second generation NSX will look like when it'll be launched in a couple of years. This new one may have a Honda V6 as the old one but it'll be joined with an electric motor or two. That apparently is the propulsion of a modern sports car. I don't like the hybrid nonesense but to please the emissions people they got to do it I guess.
The styling of the old car was descrete. It was built to make the driving experince like in no other car, utter balance. This new one - at least the concept - looks a bit flashier but still no where near a Zonda. I doubt the finished product will look like this, but be assured, it will please the driver.

Acura/Honda NSX second generation

Old Honda NSX after facelift

Most underrated sports car ever?

Future of motoring

I saw this car today and I wondered is it a good thing to buy one instead of any other (I hate using this term) green car.

Chevrolet Volt

Yes it's a Chevrolet Volt or Holden Volt or Opel Ampera or Vauxhall Ampera depending on in which part of the world you live in. It's a hybrid. But compared to any other hybrid the batteries aren't there just for extra power. The electric motor is the primary power plant and not the 1.4 litre petrol engine. That makes it much more different to any other hybrid cars. It has a competitive range of a normal petrol car of about 500 km. But that's that about the specs. Here are some problems. It doesn't ride very well, it looks wrong somehow and for a family saloon it costs considerably more than any other cars in this size-class.
The car is innovative I'll grant that and cars like this will get better in time. But if you want a car that is economical why not buy a VW Polo BlueGT or any Ford Focus Ecoboost. I guess you buy this car not for its numbers - all though they are impressive - but for what it represents in the development of eco cars. Is this the first useable semi-electric car for today’s world?

Opel Ampera

Here are some cars that a "green" driver should consider. Cars that do exactly the same job as the Volt/Ampera but are far less expensive. And i mean, far less expensive.

VW Polo BlueGT

Ford Focus 1.0 EcoBoost

Volvo C30 DRIVe (or the entire DRIVe range)

Bugatti Veyron pictures

The Bugatti Veyron

The best car in the world? Don't know but at least it is the fastest production car in the world.

All of them RS Audi's

I'm just getting this out there.
Audi has gone completely insane with the RS-line that they've got going on. Almost every car Audi makes has an RS model. When Audi decided to make the RS2 in the 90's it was the ultimate Audi to buy. But now Audi makes the RS1, RS3, RS4, RS5, RS6 and the TT RS. That's many powerful and expensive Audi's for rich people to buy. And now in just a short span of time Audi has threaten to make two more RS loonies. They are the RS7 and the RS Q3.
The RS1 was not really a shocker because a year or so earlier Audi made the RS3 but the two new ones are just... no. Why do we people need an RS Q3, why? I reckon it will cost so much that if someone is thinking of buying one why not buy the RS3 instead which i reckon will be superior to the mad Q3. And what about the RS7. Apparently it wasn't enough to have the S7 or the S8. I get it that the RS7 will be competing with the CLS 63 Merc but still, it's not necessary.
Don't get me wrong I'm a huge Audi fan but this just is too much. So, if you want a special Audi, forget the RS badge and go for an ABT badge instead.

Audi RS6

Audi RS4

Audi TT RS

Audi RS7

RS Q3

Audi A6 ABT

Audi RS2

Mazda6, 2013 edition

The competition for the mid-ranged saloon of the year has gotten off to a great start with the new 3rd generation Mazda 6.  It’s a bit, taller, wider and longer than the outgoing Mazda 6, but most importantly it has been fitted with many non-interesting electrical gizmos. The new Mazda 6 has something called SkyActive technology which increases all the important things i.e. fuel economy and engine power and torque. It’s also fitted with i-ELOOP which harnesses energy that is created while braking. I don’t know how it works but at least the name is fun to say, i-ELOOP. Of course the new Mazda 6 has plenty to offer in safety as well, Mazda Radar Cruise Control (MRCC) for instance. As for the choice of engines there are petrol and diesels of which the top of the range model is a 2.5 litre petrol developing 189 HP.

 

What about the styling? In a not so distance past (in 2011 in fact) Mazda revealed the Takeri concept and said; this is going to be the next Mazda 6. I thought; Wow! Yeah, right”. And look at it now. It looks pretty much the same as the stunning Takeri concept which makes it still stunning. It’s one of the first cars I’ve seen that looks the same as the sneak peak concept. Mazda obviously has styled it to have the presence of a Japanese fighting fish, with sporty, aggressive and smooth good looks. Many cars from this D-segment have become good looking but I think this is the best looking of them all.  

Mazda 6 estate

Mazda 6 interior

Mazda 6 saloon

Mazda Takeri concept for comparison

German hot hatches

German hot hatches are the best kind of hot hatches and now there are going to be two more. Last year Mercedes-Benz launched the new A-class and already then there was a rumor going around that the people at AMG would be going to get their hands on it. And they have. So welcome everyone to the cheapest, and in my oppinion the oddest, AMG Merc yet. The Mercedes-Benz A45 AMG.
And directly to the numbers beacuse that's the thing AMG always impresses with. The A45 has a 2.0-litre turbocharged engine developing an astounding 360 horesepower. All that power is going to all four wheels with Merc's 4matic system. And that's why i think it's an odd AMG. No massive V8. No wheel spinning action beacuse of the four wheel drive. It almost seems grown up, until you notice all the traditional AMG aerodymaic lunacy.

The other new german pocket rocket is the new Audi S3. It shares the same body as the new generation Audi A3 but obviously with some flared wheel arches and alot of S3 badges. As for the engine it's also 2.0-litre and turbocharged. But with 300 HP it's obviously a bit less powerful than the hottest small Audi the RS3 but let us not call it slow as it gets from 0-100 kph in a bit over 5 seconds. It also has Audi's Quattro four wheel drive system which is a given. And what about the styling? It hasn't changed much in appearence to the outgoing A3 so it still looks boring and conservitive as a german mid-ranged car should look.

So these two cars are quite evenly matched. The S3 is less expensive than the mad Mercedes but it still packs alot of punch. So? Which one do you want? The accountant or the accountants dog?

Mercedes-Benz A45 AMG

Audi S3

Godzilla

Why the Nissan GT-R is great.
I’m constantly pestered by my friend about my love for the GT-R even if I never have or probably never will own or even drive one. There are only a few cars in your lifetime that you spend your valuable time in class dreaming of instead of listening to the professor talking about his bath sponge or something.

It all began for me with the Skyline R32 the first of the GT-Rs. I saw it on the telly in a cartoon being driven by an awesome anti-hero, for me he was the coolest guy ever and so the car was the coolest ever. Later in life I decided to look into it and found out that there were quite a few of GT-Rs around and that they were quite popular especially in japan where they are regarded as gods.

They have the road and track pedigree equal of any European super car. All other cars in the same performance range are miles from the GT-R in terms of value to money, you simply can’t go faster cheaper. This does not mean low quality…no... the opposite. Every detail from the body to the engine is crafted to perfection, the whole body is crafted to move wind to the spoiler and every engine is handmade! Of course some sacrifices are made to keep the price from going to the skies but these are small and really irrelevant to the overall experience.

It has recently gotten a huge amount of hate dropped on it, people think it’s boring and no fun. Too mechanical, too quiet, it has no soul and all that. If you think that then I have news for you: this car is not for you! This car is for people like me who get a boner from science and technology. It is about perfection being anal about every little detail to perfection, every detail is crafted to perfection; that is what the GT-R is about.

Call me a fanboy if you want. I do not care. The Nissan GT-R is one of the greatest cars of the 2000s and one for the ages. It is a mark for other companies to strive towards and view as an example of greatness.

R32. R33, R34

And the Nissan GT-R (R35)

-Jontsuy

TheSeatHeaters favourite new cars of 2012

When this car first came out in 2004 I thought it was one of the most useless cars ever made and that the manufacturer just had too much money on their hands. I'm obviously talking about the Mercedes-Benz CLS. It was just a more expensive and flashier E-class. But after that other big car manufacturers have copied the idea of a four-door coupé from Mercedes and made something that competes directly at it, e.g., the Audi A7. Then Mercedes decided that they'd had enough and produced the new and improved CLS in 2011 and in 2012 this: Mercedes-Benz CLS Shooting Brake. 
At first I thought they've made the same mistake again as with the original CLS, it's completely pointless. But when I saw it for real in a showroom and sat in it I completely understood the point. It was big, brash and in especially in matte silver it was pretty. The shooting brake isn't even much more expensive than the normal CLS. Which makes me wonder, why anyone would buy a normal Mercedes-Benz CLS when you could have something really special?

Normal CLS for comparison

Mercedes-Benz CLS Shooting Brake

Best supercar of the year in my mind was not the new Pagani or the imposing Lamborghini Aventador it is more mainstream. The Ferrari F12 Berlinetta.

The F12 has the same 6.3 litre V12 as the Ferrari FF developing 730 hp but without the awefully hideous body of the FF. The F12 has sometype of elegance to it I don't know what else to say of it's looks. It's the best Looking front-engined Ferrari since the 365 GTB or simply known as the Ferrari Daytona. That body combined with the most powerful engine Ferrari has ever made for a road legal car is a symphony of power, beauty and excellence.

Ferrari F12 Berlinetta

The Toyota GT86 and Subaru BRZ (if you didn't know they're the same car). As a powerplant they have a 2.0 liter, 200 horsepower boxer engine and rear wheel drive.
When I saw this car the first time I gasped and thought that's the best looking Toyota/Subaru ever. It looks like it's built with beauty in mind which is something I never thought I'd be saying about a car coming from Japan, the land of boring, cheap and reliable family hatchbacks. But hey! It's a new drift car from Japan. Something the Celica should have always been. 

Toyota GT86

 -tgmatti

 

In the past year there have been launched many cars that are worthy on being named on this puny blog, the new BMW 6-series and the Lamborghini Aventador springs immediately to mind. But some affordable cars like the all important seventh edition of the VW Golf was launched late last year. So all in all, a very eventful year was 2012 for the car manufacturers. And now we are going to mark some of our favourite new cars of the past year. 

Lamborghini Aventador LP700-4

Volkswagen Golf mkVII

-TheSeatHeater

Hello all! And welcome to TheSeatHeater! And yes, with all them capital letters.

This blog will be all about cars. Well, what we actually mean with "all" is everything we find interesting about cars. There shall be many wonderful pictures of cars and interesting car news.
And to proove that there is a rather beautiful picture of this rather white Audi R8.

Audi R8

-TheSeatHeater