The Hyundai Genesis Coupe 2.0T (the R-Spec model in particular) was built to appeal to buyers who like to modify their vehicles. One of the top tuners in the United States, AMS Performance, has begun developing performance parts for the Genesis Coupe 2.0T – a car that until now has been mostly ignored by the tuning industry. Among the first products they’ve released for the 2.0T is a front mount intercooler kit, a direct bolt-on solution that increases internal airflow by 60%.

Combined with AMS’s soon to be released turbo kit and the requisite fuel system upgrades, Genesis Coupe 2.0T owners can look forward to a serious increase in horsepower, one that should allow them to give Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution X and Subaru Impreza WRX STI owners a run for their money.

We’re excited to see a reputable tuner getting started on a Genesis Coupe project car, as this Hyundai has a lot of potential and in 2.0T form bringing back rear-drive performance at a lower price point.

We’ll be sure to report back when AMS is “done” with the 2.0T build-up and we encourage you to follow the full development process by AMS, detailed on their blog.

See after the jump for a few extra pics of the new(and upcoming) parts:

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When somebody introduces himself as “Mick Alebon, Senior Production Manager, Leather and Seats Centre of Excellence,” you better sit up straight and listen to what he’s got to say.

As part of a series of preview videos supporting the all-new Bentley Mulsanne, Alebon takes viewers on a tour of the handcrafted materials and craftsmanship that are found in the car.

For example, the wood lacquer is applied in five coats…and is left for three days in order to properly cure.

We can’t say much more about the process — it should be seen to be believed. Click over the jump for the video and feel free to browse the galleries below:

GALLERY: Bentley Mulsanne at Pebble Beach

GALLERY: Bentley Mulsanne Debut in Frankfurt

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It sounds too good to be true…but it isn’t. As part of a new PR campaign for BMW faithful in the Munich area, you can book a tour of the historical city in one of the company’s museum cars.

Sure, they’re chauffeur-driven. But you’ve got the choice of various 1930s BMWs, including 326 and 335 convertibles — as well as a 1950s-era 502 “Baroque Angel.”

You’ll get your money’s worth, too: the route is three hours long (!), starts at the BMW Museum, continues to a tour of BMW Welt, then the 3-Series factory, then a tour of the company’s historic vehicle collection.

After a short break, the chauffeur drives you around town…then to BMW’s flagship showroom for a champagne reception.

They’re even so generous to include a certificate of participation, a gift box, a BMW museum ticket and guide. It’s only €90 (~$120 U.S./CAD) per person. Compare that with a Ring Taxi ride, at €195 ($264 U.S./CAD) per lap. Ouch.

Dates are available to book throughout this year. Call +49 (0)1802-118822 for more details.

Are you financially liable for statements made on Facebook and Twitter? Kalamazoo, Michigan’s T&J Towing says yes, by filing a $750,000 lawsuit against a college student for libel and defamation of character. Autoblog reports that the student, Justin Kurtz, simply started up the Facebook group, “Kalamazoo Residents Against T&J Towing,” after sharing stories with others in his area that T&J had been towing cars inappropriately from legal parking spaces. Kurtz invited others to join the Facebook group and share their stories. Many have, and after browsing the page’s wall, it doesn’t seem like Kalamazoo residents have many nice things to say about T&J Towing.

T&J management filed the suit, which strangely includes an exact dollar amount (libel suits rarely specify a figure), citing loss of revenue, which brings up to two points:

First, it a company really loses $750,000 in two months because of a Facebook Group, then every time a business screws with anyone, you should start a Facebook Group for (or against) that cause.

Second, towing companies are one of the few industries with totally involuntary customers. Sure, you “may” have to park illegally first in order to deal with a tow company, but how often is your car on a tow truck because you want it to be? Odds are, never. So why would a bunch of people talking smack on the internet have anything to do with loss of revenue? As long as the owners of those lots, the people requesting cars get towed are happy, why would the “victims” complaining about it cause loss of revenue?

As a legal professor explains in the video below, T&J has to prove that the libelous statements originated from Kurtz and that they aren’t true in order to win this case, but they probably just want to scare people away from talking smack on the internet, showing that they aren’t afraid to sue you for it.

[Source: Autoblog]

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Rhys Millen will once again head to Pikes Peak this year, in the hopes of setting a new world record. The Rhys Millen Racing (RMR) team is currently building a special vehicle for the uphill climb, called the RMR Hyundai Genesis PM580, which will compete in Unlimited class and use all-wheel drive. Hyundai has released a single teaser image (above).

The current world record hold is Nobuhiro “Monster” Tajima, who ran a 10:01.41 on the 12.42-mile course in an extremely modified Suzuki back in 2007. Tajima’s time bested the standing world’ record of 10:04.06, set in 1994 by Rhys’ father Rod Millen.

“Breaking into the 9′s has been a dream and desire of mine for the last 10 years,” said Rhys Millen “I finally have the team, support and infrastructure to put in a serious effort to go after the world record. The main focus is to be the fastest car up the hill, slay the Monster and get the record back in the family name, the Millen name.”

Last year Millen ran a 12:09.397 in the rear-wheel drive Time Attack Class. That might not sound all that impressive, but he was essentially using his drift car and did manage to beat his nearest competitor by 1 minute, 23 seconds and besting even his own previous time by 22 seconds.

The Pikes Peak Hill Climb, which takes place annually on Pikes Peak in Colorado Springs, Colorado, starts at an elevation of 9,300 feet and finishes at an elevation of 14,110 feet – where the air is so think drivers’ reaction times begin to slow and their race car engines lose 30 percent of their power. Drivers drift around 156 corners, nearly missing guard rails and trees, while avoiding cliffs with 2,000-foot drop-offs.

Rhys Millen Racing will officially debut the car on April 19th, with this year’s event taking place on June 27th.

See the official release and a teaser video after the jump:

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The last time we posted a “Coolest Thing You Will watch Today” video, it was of the Pagani Zonda. We’ll admit, a guy making sound effects through a plastic tube doesn’t quite have the same supercar appeal, but we bet you’ll watch this video of a guy making Honda VTEC sounds over and over – especially if you ever dreamed of dropping a B16 in your EF, or ripping tak in an S2000.

Keep watching and the guy with the VTEC skillz (yup, gotta use a z) even does some impressive blow-off valve sounds. Somebody call Hasselhoff cuz America’s Got Talent (Is that show even on any more)?

[Source: FarmofMinds]

With the Fiat 500 (Cinquecento) set to go into production at the end of this year, Chrysler is already working to drum-up interest in the car and the demographic they’re targeting isn’t surprising – it’s women. But not just any women, but well-off women interested in the finer things in life – like the sort of clothes they sell at Trender, a fashionable women’s clothing store in Brigmingham, Michigan. As the YouTube video below shows (and explains), recently the store just so happened to be holding an event (focusing on Italian clothing) when a Chrysler rep arrived with a cute little fiat 500. Coincidence? We think not.

The ladies all seem to love the car, as we expect they would. After all, the Fiat 500, at least initially, will be the next New Beetle or MINI Cooper. Heck, there are even a few gents taking interest in the cuddly-cute Cinquecento.

Fiat has set up a website to promote the car and create a place where those interested can get more info. There are even links to newly set-up Facebook, Youtube and Twitter accounts for the Fiat 500.

See the video after the jump and visit the new Fiat USA website here:

CiaoFiat

Let’s just hope they bring over the high-powered Abarth model as well.

[Source: InsideLine]

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Ford has just announced in a glowing new press release that it is the number one automaker is Europe for the month of March. Can that really be true? What about Volkswagen, Fiat and Peugeot? Last time we were in Europe we didn’t see all that many Fords. Well, as it turns out our friends over at TTAC has similar skepticism and decided to do a little research, only to uncover that Ford’s public relations department seems to be playing fast and loose with the semantics of the issue.

TTAC staff went and looked for the March European Automobile Manufacturers Association (also known as ACEA) numbers for March, but they hadn’t been tallied yet. Still, taking a look at February’s numbers it’s easy to see what Ford has done.

In February Volkswagen topped the list with a 20.4 percent market share. In second place was PSA Group with 14.9 percent and then Renault with 11 percent. Ford is listed as fourth with 10 percent. Now Ford is claiming a total of 192,500 vehicles sold in March, an impressive 16.1 percent increase. But even then, 16.1 percent of 10 percent market share won’t get you anywhere close to VW’s dominant 20 percent. So what’s goong on here.

Simple, Ford is sticking its numbers up against VW’s numbers, not VW Group’s numbers. And if you recall, VW owns not only Audi, but also Seat and Skoda and Porsche and Lamborghini and Bentley and… well, you get the point.

Now some might argue that as Ford is really just one brand in Europe (if you exclude Volvo) then the comparison is a fair one. Regardless, we thought this overly glowing press release deserved a little “perspective.”

[Source: Ford and TTAC]

Official release after the jump:

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The Nissan R35 GT-R is making a whole lot of news these days with aftermarket tuners really starting to make Porsche’s Nürburgring nemesis into something even more amazing. After conquering every twisted-track in the world, in true American fashion, different U.S.-tuners are turning the Japanese sports car into a straight line bullet. Late in March, AMS shattered the 9-second barrier with their GT-R, and much like everything else in drag racing, the record continues to fall as other tuners and builders come out of the woodwork with their projects.

Ever since GReddy/TRUST of Japan gave the world a scare by filing bankruptcy in late 2008, GReddy USA has been working diligently in ensuring the aftermarket that they’re here to stay and will be better than ever. They’ve stepped up all their research, design and development, ushering new parts to the market that prove to be better than the competition. Their latest result is a collaboration project with SP Engineering, one of many famed Southern California tuners. For close to 15 years, SP Engineering has been producing and building some of the world’s fastest and nicest cars from tuned Supras to Lamborghinis. Now they’re settling out for yet another record.

On April 13th, 2010, a pair of Nissan GT-Rs built and tuned by SP Engineering headed out to Arizona’s Speedworld Drag Strip. Battling blistering track temperatures of 120-degrees Fahrenheit, the pair of GT-Rs not only mustered 9-second passes, but set records. SP Engineering’s own GT-R stopped the clock at 9.62 @ 149.80 mph while one of their customer’s, Hing, wasn’t far behind with a 9.84 @ 148.40 mph. Both vehicles sport GReddy’s TD06SH 20G turbo kit upgrade that comes complete with a Type-2 intercooler kit and blow-off valve kit. The black GT-R setting the new quarter mile record has a built motor with CP Pistons and Carillo Rods and a collection of TiTek exhaust parts. Hing’s GT-R, in a contrasting white, sports GReddy’s new exhaust parts that are titanium and coming soon to the market. Both vehicles set their personal bests on C16 fuel.

Eugene over at SP Engineering has informed us that they plan on upgrading the GT-R monster motors with GReddy’s upcoming 4.0L “STROKE HER” kit along with some headwork. We’ll definitely be keeping an eye on these two GT-Rs along with the others that are certainly going to be stepping up to the plate. We might not be too far off from an 8-second pass from a completely streetable Nissan GT-R! Check out the video after the break.

[Source: NAGTROC]

GALLERY: SP Engineering Record Setting Nissan GT-Rs

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Mazda is being forced to stop selling the RX-8 model in Europe next year due to the car’s inability to meet new Euro-5 emissions standards. Adapting the unique rotary engine used in the RX-8 would be both too costly and time consuming considering the low volume sales of the car in Europe.

That being said, the RX-8 will then take at least a two year hiatus, as a successor isn’t planned to arrive until 2013. Mazda will also have to keep in mind that come 2014, new Euro-6 standards come into effect that make the old Euro-5 rules look like a Dickensian industrial revolution.

With the next-gen still far off, it’s not surprising that Mazda has yet to release any details on the new RX-8, but rumors have suggested anything from an upgrade to a more high-powered RX-7 successor, to a complete elimination.

[Source: Auto Motor und Sport via TTAC]