Ahead of its expected debut at the Beijing Auto Show later this month, several shots have appeared online showing a fully uncovered (and quite handsome) Buick Excelle. In case you’re wondering why you might care about a Chinese market Buick, well, it’s because the Excelle is slated to arrive in North America next year – possibly badged as the Verano.

We’re really liking the front-end design – just like on the larger LaCrosse, but the rear end isn’t doing anything for us. As for the rather basic looking interior, expect somewhat of an upgrade for the U.S version, as it will have to at least be a slight step above the Cruze – which is already quite nice.

Slotting in under the new Regal model, the Excelle is based on the same chassis as the Opel Astra – making it a sister car to the Chevy Cruze. That being said, its easy to surmise that the base engine is likely to be the 1.4-liter turbocharged Ecotec motor with 138-hp, while a larger 1.6-liter turbocharged motor (currently used in the Opel Astra Hatch) will make 180-hp. Recent spy photos of an Excelle GT also raised speculation that the car might be offered in high-end GS trim when it arrive in the U.S. with the Regal’s 2.0-liter turbocharged 4-cylinder making 220-hp and 258 ft-lbs of torque.

GALLERY: Buick Excelle Spy Photos

[Source: Autohome.com.cn via Carscoop]

BMW has announced it will expand the current 5 Series Gran Turismo lineup by offering the new luxury hatchback with its xDrive all-wheel drive system. All current models offered will be available with xDrive, including the 535i and 550i offered in North America, as well as Euro-spec models like the 530d and 535d.

No pricing for the xDrive option has been announced, but it is expected to add roughly $3,000 to the price of the 5 Series GT, which currently retails for $56,000 for the 535i and $63,900 for the 550i model. The announcement really shouldn’t come as a surprise, as the car rides on a chassis similar to the one used for the 7 Series, which BMW also recently announced will be offered as an all-wheel drive version. Plus, the 5 Series GT is aimed at being a more functional luxury machine, slotting in somewhere between a traditional sedan and a crossover or SUV.

The 550i xDrive GT will be available in June, with the 535i xDrive GT hitting the market in September. BMW claims an impressive 5.4 second time to 62 mph with the 550i xDrive GT.

In addition, BMW has also said it will offer xDrive on the new 740d model in markets where it is currently available.

The new 5 Series GT xDrive will debut at the Beijing Auto Show at the end of the month.

GALLERY: BMW 5 Series xDrive GT

See the official release after the jump:

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Many months after the debut of the E63 AMG, Mercedes has released a new promo video of the super sedan and it’s not the sort of scenic driving B-roll we expected. Instead, the whole video is shot on a race track, in the wet and those rear tires almost never have any traction. Any why not, with a rear-drive setup and a massive 6.2-liter V8 engine that makes an incredible 518-hp and 465 ft-lbs of torque?

We’re big fans of the E63 – and of the whole segment in general.

See the video after the jump of hit the link below to see our review of the E63

Mercedes-Benz E63 AMG Review

GALLERY: Mercedes E63 AMG

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Chevy has just teased two pictures of the upcoming Camaro Convertible on its official Facebook page. The two pics (front and back) show a mostly unchanged vehicle from the original concept – as we expected.

No new details are available, but there’s not much to tell. We expect both V6 and V8 options, including the big 426-hp SS. Both automatic and manual transmissions should be offered (not that they’ll sell many stick-shifts). As for the top, it’ll be a soft top, which should help keep the weight gain to a minimum. Still, with the Camaro already a heft player, expect a cub weight of around 4,300 lbs – if not more.

Chevy is set to put the Camaro Convertible into production early in 2011 and if you listed carefully you can actually hear the fleet buyers at rental car agencies opening their wallets.

GALLERY: Chevy Camaro Convertible Teased

[Source: Facebook]

Improved suspension and tire technology allows us to fit increasingly bigger wheels on our cars. The average wheel size in the 1960′s was 14-inches, but today, 19-inch wheels and bigger seem to be the standard, especially for Luxury and Sports cars. Couple an expensive, large alloy wheel with a low-profile tire, and you’ve got an expensive repair bill if you fall victim to one of the Northeast’s millions of potholes. But should the state have to pay that bill for you?

In the case of Michigan in 2009, the state only said “yes” once, to Julio Zacks. One guy, and a 1992 Camry (on factory 15s). The Detroit Free Press is reporting that Zacks is the only person to receive any financial reimbursement from the state of Michigan last year, and the amount reimbursed ($999.99) doesn’t even cover the whole repair cost. In fact, documents obtained by the Freep show that between 2005 and 2009, Michigan only paid out 18 claims, for a total of $7,700. Considering Michigan’s horrible road conditions and their 9,700 miles of pavement, We’d bet a bunch of people got screwed.

This author has personal experience in this area, as his 2006 MINI Cooper JCW came with factory 18-inch wheels (a $3,500 option), all four of which became bent over the next few years. Unfortunately (very unfortunately) the $500 “Wheel and Tire Warranty” was deemed to only apply if the wheel ceased to hold air – which they miraculously did not. By the time the fourth one bent, on a heavily trafficked area on I-95 South near the CT/NY border, it was time for action. In New York, like in Zach’s State of Michigan (and many other states), you have to prove that the state knew about the pothole, and didn’t repair it, for at least 30 days. A report was filed on the 28th day the State of NY fixed the pothole – leaving this distraught owner to shell out $557 for a replacement wheel and tire – for the fourth time.

Julio Zacks, we bow to you.

Source: [Detroit Free Press]

In case you’ve been living under a rock for the last 15 years, and have never heard of John Hennessey or his dream of scaring the crap out of anyone brave enough to get into the passenger seat of one of his cars, here’s a quick rundown. He makes fast cars faster. Much Faster. So much faster that if you bring him your Cadillac CTS-V, he’ll give it back to you with so much power that when you drop the hammer, OnStar will think you’ve been rear-ended. What then, if you bring him a 1,900 lb. Lotus Elise?

Well, We’ll tell you. First he’ll re-build the car so it’s about a foot longer in the tail. He’ll have to do that, because the Toyota-sourced 4-banger is getting thrown in the garbage, replaced with the GM LS9 (aka. Corvette ZR1 Engine), producing 725-hp in “baseline” form, and up to 1,200-hp in twin-turbo versions. This car weighs 2,400 lbs. Anyone do the math here? Anywhere between 2 and 4 pounds per horsepower, depending on the engine. For the record, the Bugatti Veyron lugs around 4.54 pounds per horsepower. Bring your own death wish, people.

[Source: Hennessey]

And now, a video of the Venom GT testing in the U.K. after the jump:

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All forms of motorsports – take note! Formula Drift, in association with YoParts.com has successfully launched the first ever full live streaming of their events to the world. Other sanctioning bodies have tried this in the past, but with hardly any sort of success. Needless to say when they first told us about Driftstream 2010 we were a little skeptical. Instead of jumping the gun and making a post, we decided to check it out ourselves during this past weekend’s event, then report on the quality. The verdict? Read on:

We first logged onto the Driftstream website during qualifying on Friday and were pleasantly surprised on how smooth and surprisingly lag free the video was. It was as close to real-time as we could get without driving the 40 miles to Long Beach, California. The video commentary was nicely done, and the production gets two thumbs up from us by keeping the viewer up to date with standings, points and results.

For those that are unable to attend the Formula Drift 2010 events out of their range, Driftstream is a fantastic way to catch it all. Adding to the experience, there are thousands of other fans chatting it up on the site at the same time.

We’ll admit that there’s absolutely no substitute to inhaling tire smoke and seeing the cars up close and personal, but this is by far the best second option we’ve been able to get our hands on and best of all – it’s free! We hope other forms of sanctioning bodies take notes on what Formula Drift done.

If you missed Formula Drift’s season opener at Long Beach, California, head on over to the Live Stream channel now to watch a recap of the entire event. Don’t forget to stay tuned for the next event at Road Atlanta on May 7-8th, 2010. And again, all events will be streamed live so follow Formula DRIFT’s schedule and catch all the action this season, no matter where you are.

[Source: DRIFTSTREAM 2010]

GTHaus, manufacturers and distributors of Meisterschaft exhausts systems, designed and built a widebody E92 BMW M3 to showcase their brand and products. Meisterschaft has had huge success over the last years designing, developing and building high quality exhaust systems for popular sport-luxury cars such as the Nissan GT-R and the BMW M3.

There’s no better way to garner attention to your brand than with a show-stopper like this. It might not be everyone’s cup of tea, but there’s no arguing the quality and attention to detail on the build. Anyone that has ever been involved with building a custom widebody for any chassis knows the difficulty with making it work from bumper to bumper. The project is clearly modeled after the ALMS GT BMWs with a race-inspired look.

The car sports a custom set of Savini wheels, but definitely could use a more aggressive fitment or a lower stance to really complete the race look. Rumor has it that the car has undergone some more transformations, so we’ll be keeping our eyes out for the updated look.

[Source: Luxury4Play]

GALERY: GTHaus / Meisterschaft Widebody E92 BMW M3

Acura has announced a recall for all ZDX luxury crossover models citing a potential safety concern with the airbags. No complains have been made but Honda found an issue with the passenger-side airbag during a manufacturing quality check. According to Honda/Acura, the dashboard material on the passenger side may have been cut improperly potentially causing the passenger-size airbag to deploy improperly. Honda says roughly two percent of vehicles could have this defect.

Luckily for Acura, the recall doesn’t affect many cars as the ZDX is a niche-market vehicle. Since it’s launch in December, Acura has sold just 1,850 ZDX models.

Owners will be notified by Acura, or can call Honda’s hotline at (800) 382-2238.

[Source: AutoWeek]

Spring means it’s time for the classic car activities to begin once again. Shows, cruises, racing and swap meets all start to spring up. Among the biggest and most attended spectacles in the US are those organized by Carlisle Events, held at the Carlisle Fairgrounds, Carlisle, PA. The first event of the year, Spring Carlisle, runs from April 21-25.

Whether you’re a veteran of the automotive hobby or wet behind ears, Spring Carlisle gives an unbridled opportunity when it comes to scoring parts and even complete cars. The swap meet annually attracts more than 8,000 venders, selling everything from the latest in speed equipment, to hard to find, marque specific restoration parts and automotive memorabilia. Besides this swap meet, and another in the fall, Carlisle Events also host niche specific gatherings through the year, including the Import/Kit Car Nationals, Corvettes at Carlisle, Chryslers at Carlisle, Ford Nationals, GM Nationals; Truck nationals and Carlisle Bike Fest. For more information on the Spring Carlisle swap meet and other events, visit www.carsatcarlisle.com

[Source: Old Cars Weekly]