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The brand new Land Rover DC100 Sport was unveiled at the Frankfurt Motor Show this week. The DC100 Sport was a surprise reveal alongside the much anticipated DC100 and is oneof two concepts that the Land Rover team have confirmed will be put into production for 2015. Both were revealed to gauge public interest and gather feedback to give Land Rover an idea of which direction to go in for 2015 to avoid rushing into a replacement.

In comparison to the silver three door 4X4 DC100 demonstrating ‘capability and versatility’, the DC100 Sport isan open-air pick-up version in bright yellow-orange and is described as an active expression of freedom and leisure.

Under the hood, both concepts use 2.0-litre four-cylinder engines driving all four wheels through a stop/start-equipped eight-speed automatic. However, while the DC100 has a diesel engine, the DC100 Sport has a petrol engine.

Both concepts have a new automatic terrain response system that automatically sets all the driver assist systems sensing the wheel travel, wheelslip, the texture of the ground and a sonar depth-sounder for driving through rivers.

Volvo is currently working on the expansion of its C30 range with this new four-door V30. The V30 is expected to rival the Audi A3 and recently revamped BMW 1 Series hatchback.

The V30 will launch either along side or after the next-generation C30. The V30 shows off a more family friendly designed vehicle – In front, there are smaller and more sharper headlamps that better mimic what we see on the S60and at the rear the tailamp design is more shapely while still incorporating Volvo’s signature lighting scheme.

The V30 is expected to debut in late 2012 or early 2013.

source: autoblog.com

A Top Gear “India Special” episode that was broadcast twice over the Christmas period has angered the world’s second largest country who claim that the show had given a “disgusting” portrayal of their country.

During the episode host Jeremy Clarkson was filmed interviewing localswhile operating a trouser press in his boxer shorts and with a Jaguar XJS with a lavatory fixed to the boot. The Telegraph has reported that now the Indian High Commission in London has formally complained to the BBC, accusing its producers of deceiving them over the nature of the programme, which was jokingly billed as a trade mission but instead presented a stereotypical and unfavourable image of the country.

In a letter sent to the Top Gear producer, officials at the High Commission condemned the latest broadcast as tasteless and accused the BBC of breaching undertakings about the filming. The letter copied to BBC’s director general, Mark Thompson stated that I write this to convey our deep disappointment over the documentary for its content and the tone of the presentation. You are clearly in breach of the agreement that you had entered into, completely negating our constructive and proactive facilitation.

Mr Vaz, the chairman of the Home Affairs select committee, said there was now a risk that damage could be done to important trade relations with India.

A BBC spokesperson said that the broadcaster would respond to the India High Commission “in due course”.

This is the latest in a string of controversial incidences by Top Gear presenters -last month the BBC had to apologise after Clarkson told viewers that striking workers should be shot with other apologies earlier last year to Mexico when co-presenter Richard Hammond insulted Mexicans by comparing them to a Mexican sports car.In the past few days Clarkson has also caused bewilderment in China for making tasteless comments in his newspaper column about the Morecambe Bay cockle picking tragedy in which 23 Chinese migrant workers died.

Source: The Telegraph

For far too long the American market has enjoyed Toyota’s retro 4×4, which to be perfectly honest is the only Jeep-like vehicle that has caught my attention in a long time.Sensing that perhaps South Africans might be interested in a solid offroad vehicle with great street-cred, they’ve just launched it here. Yesterday in fact. We’ve got all the details and pictures here:

With styling cues from the original FJ40, such as the white roof, single round headlights and even sporting an original TOYOTA badge, the FJ cruiser is here to make you nostalgic for Land Cruisers of old.

With solid Land Cruiser underpinnings, the FJ is a serious 4×4, as opposed to a not-s0-serious 4×4 designed for the horrors of shopping centre car parks and climbing the curb at your daughter’s hockey game.

Four variants are available at launch, all sporting a 4.0 litre V6 petrol engine. Let’s get technical for a minute here.The powerplant is good for a rather massive 200kW (at 5600rpm) and 380Nm (at 4400rpm). With Toyota’s clever iVVTi (Intelligent Variable Valve Timing) operating all 24 valves, torque and power is spread nicelyacrossthe rev range.

In normal road mode, power is sent to the rears. Selecting 4×4 mode will send power to all four wheels through the transfer box, through the five-speed automatic transmission.The five speed auto box is equipped with Toyotas AI Shift control with Flex Lock-Up, which measures road conditions, power requirements and driver inputs to adjust gear selection and gear changes to best deliver on driver intentions. Of course, low range is available. What did you expect?

Angles are important when offroading, apparently. You’ve got 34 degrees upfront, a breakover angle of 29 degrees and a departure angle of 30 degrees. Translation: you can drive up and down steep things. Ground clearance is 245mm on the FJ’s standard 17inch wheels and rubber.

We’ll be driving the FJ soon and let you know what we think of it. Prices below followed by a gallery.

Prices for the full range of Toyota FJ Cruiser in South Africa

FJ Cruiser: R435500

FJ Desert Cruiser: R450400

Nudge bar with mounted driving lamps, all weather carpets, tow bar, rock rails, and Desert badges Limited Edtion in Sandstorm colour.

FJ Trail Cruiser: R451700

Roof rack with integrated driving lamps, black spare wheel cover, tow bar, all weather carpets and Trail badges Limited Edition in Grey Metallic colour.

FJ Sport Cruiser: R457300

Raven black model with leather seats, chrome detailing on bumper, high mounted air intake, door handles, side mirrors, radiator grille, carpet set, FJ scuff plates and Sport badges.

For all our BMW fans out there, we have for you the latest rendering of the of the 2012 BMW 7-Series facelift.

The 2012 version comes up with a redesigned front bumper with integrated LED day timers. There will be slight changes to the headlights too. Further, the turn signals are added to the side mirrors.

The front fascia of the variant is likely to be in line with the recently released 2012 1-Series.

Introduced in 1977, 7 Series is BMW’s flagship car and is only available as a sedan or extended-length limousine. The 7 Series traditionally introduces technologies and an exterior design theme before they trickle down to smaller sedans in BMW’s lineup.

Stay tuned.

(via WCF)