These are the first official photographs of Jaguar’s long-awaited XFR sports sedan that is due to make its worldwide debut at this week’s Detroit motor show. The first pics of the car made their initial ‘premiere’ on a video shown on the Polish website Moto.Pl. Aimed squarely at the BMW M5, Audi RS6 and the Mercedes-Benz E63 AMG, this wild cat comes with a supercharged V8 engine delivering 510HP and a more aggressive design in and out with details that hint but do not shout at the car’s performance.
At the heart of the new XFR we find an all new 5.0-litre AJ-V8 Gen III engine fitted with a sixth-generation, Roots-type twin vortex system (TVS) supercharger. It produces an output of 510HP between 6,000-6,500 rpm and 625Nm (461 lb.ft) of torque from 2,500-5,500 rpm. Compared to its supercharged 4.2-litre V8 predecessor, power has increased by 23 percent and torque has increased by 12 percent

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Assuming the 2010 Chevy Camaro ever makes it to production, Hennessey is ready with a stonkin’ 705 HP supercharged upgrade kit ready to hoover up $109,000 of your dollars.

No matter how the new Camaro ends up, that’s a huge pile of tithing for a mullet-mobile. If you’re happy with a monster supercharged mill, carbon brakes, carbon fiber bits and pieces and epic badassery, it may be worth it, but otherwise, wow. Click HERE for a full resolution image, and all the details lurk below.

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This weird looking sports car is the W3 Triposto and it’s the work of Canadian engineer Clyde Kwok and his son Hugh, a race car driver. Their company, Wingho Auto, builds the W3 Triposto using a Porsche 911 as a donor car. Clyde and Hugh prefer early 1990’s 911s modifying the 3.6-liter boxer engine to produce 300HP, but the Canadian duo can work with more modern 911s as well. According to the company, the three-seater (the driver sits in the centre) can achieve a top speed in excess of 300km/h (187 mph).

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Last month we learned that Honda had canceled plans to build a new V10-powered replacement replacement for its departed NSX sports car. Now, AutoCar is reporting that several other vehicle programs at Honda have fallen victim to the new economic and environmental reality. In addition to the NSX, Acura was due to get a new rear wheel drive platform and V8 engine for its sedans so they could better compete with products from BMW and Mercedes as well as Infiniti and Lexus. The new architecture and engine are now on ice.
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 For the engineering crew at Lotus, building transportation devices that are not sports cars is nothing new. Back in the early 90s they put their knowledge of lightweight materials and aerodynamics together to create a race bicycle that tore up the velodrome at the Olympics, not to mention wild soap box racers. The latest project is a three ski snow speeder that will be used in an Antarctic expedition next November to raise awareness of climate change. The Concept Ice Vehicle (CIV) is powered by a two cylinder BMW bike engine converted to E85 operation and turning a propeller that pushes the vehicle across the ice and snow at up to 84 mph. The CIV will be used to scout for crevasses in the ice. When the voids are found the GPS coordinates will be sent back to the rest of the team to warn them before anyone falls in.

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BMW’s supercar icon, the M1, blew out the candles at the Concorso d’Eleganza at Villa d’Este this weekend. In honor of the car’s thirtieth birthday, BMW rolled out the new BMW M1 Homage, a concept/design study that pays tribute to the original M1 and shows what could be possible if BMW were to produce a new mid-engined sports car. Follow the jump for the breakdown.

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Other Japanese automakers must be green with envy at Nissan’s current success with the sports car genre. Tuners on the other hand, salivate each time the Japanese car maker is mentioned. Branew is one such tuner. Also based in Japan, Branew plans to launch a very comprehensive tuning kit for the new Nissan 370Z at the Tokyo Auto Salon in a couple of weeks’ time.

Branew developed a new sports exhaust for the car, reprogrammed the standard 332hp 3.7-litre V6’s ECU, upgraded its brake system and added a new sports suspension kit. Carbon fibre exterior kit includes front spoiler, side steps, rear spoiler, a rear air diffuser and a rear wing. Multi-spoke alloy wheels will be offered in various sizes for that final touch of performance.

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