Infiniti Canada is joining forces with Bearfoot Bistro and Masquerave raise awareness of water-related issues and to help raise funds for ONE DROP’s initiatives in developing countries.

Bearfoot Bistro’s Masquerave is a famous renowned culinary extravaganza that takes place in Whistler on November 12, and Infiniti is donating the Infiniti G37 Anniversary Art Project Vehicle that will be auctioned off at the event. Proceeds will go to ONE DROP, a charity launched by Guy Laliberté, founder of Cirque du Soleil.

To celebrate Infiniti’s 20th anniversary and the 25th anniversary of Cirque du Soleil in 2009, the Art Project Vehicle was brought to life. Adorned with Montreal artist Heidi Taillefer’s unique designs, it took more than 300 hours and over one month of hand-painting to fill this striking canvas.

“Celebrating 20 years of Infiniti was an important milestone and we wanted to do something truly unique and representative of the Infiniti brand to commemorate it,” said Wendy Durward, Director of Infiniti Canada. “Both Infiniti and Cirque du Soleil celebrated important anniversaries and it was incredible to be able to collaborate on a unique and special project such as this. We are proud that the car, this work of art, will have further meaning in that it will help support an incredible cause.”

If you’re interested in going to this event, tickets to Masquerave cost $295 plus tax and service, and are available at www.bearfootbistro.com.

What are you doing for your winter vacation this year? We’ve got a great idea – test drive the new Porsche 911 first-hand through extreme conditions in some of the most exotic locales from across the world.

The Porsche Driving Experience’s new winter training courses will take beginners and expert drivers through their paces on South African coastal roads all the way to the snow fields of northern Finland. Just like the Camp4 Canada courses in Quebec, participants, with the guidance of skilled instructors, can ramp up their driving skills in the Porsche 911 while working on their driving style.

For the Finland route, you’ll take on icy but controlled conditions through three progressive proficiency levels – Precision, Performance and Master. On the South African Porsche tour, you’ll drive from Cape Town and make your way through the Garden Route and the inland game reserves – this is truly a unique experience with an amazing car, and it’s sure to be a winter vacation you won’t soon forget.

Head over to the Porsche Driving Experience website to learn more and check out all of the courses available.

Mazda has just released teaser images of two of its 2011 SEMA Show cars, both of which we desperately wish were heading to production. No details have been released, but the names of each car reveal the most important features.

Up first is the MX-5 Spyder, sporting a Porsche Boxster Spyder style soft-top roof designed to cut as much weight as possible. That one piece is a big hint that the Spyder model is designed to be an ultra-light version of the already light (2,500 lb) roadster. Other upgrades visible from the lone photo include some wheel and brake modifications, as well as some aerodynamic tweaks.

The second SEMA Show creation is the Mazda2 Turbo. While it’s not known how much power this little car makes, with the factory model already plenty of fun with just 100-hp, a healthy dose of extra thrust certainly won’t hurt. And as is obvious from the photo, the car will come complete with an extensive list of modifications, from a lowering kit and bodywork, to wheels and tires.

Look for detailed photos with AutGuide’s 2011 SEMA Show Coverage starting here November 1st.

GALLERY: Mazda 2011 SEMA Show Cars

Tribe Agency will be unveiling their Fiat 500 Alpha Bravo project at this year’s SEMA Show at the Meguiar’s Car Crazy Corral. For now, we’re treated to a render of the project which looks to feature a custom wrap by Wraptivo/Meguiar’s sporting a two-tone black and army green finish. Up top is a custom Inno sports rack while the Fiat 500 gets a menacing stance thanks to Air Lift. On all four corners are 6015-T6 forged wheels paired with Falken rubber.

The theme of the build was to transform the Fiat from an economy car to an extreme sports-based, all-terrain, fully-equipped action vehicle. While we’re not sure a Fiat 500 could ever be prepared for all-terrain travel, the project does do a great job in inspiring people to think outside the box on the Italian subcompact.

[Source: Fatlace]

It seems that pickup trucks with “rugged outdoors” themes are becoming increasingly popular. Ram has released the Outdoorsman and more recently the Mossy Oak Edition as production specialty trucks, while General Motors is now taking a stab with this, the Chevy Silverado HD based “Realtree.”

Unlike the Ram offerings, for now at least, the GM truck is purely a showpiece, built for this year’s SEMA show, however, it hints at what could possibly materialize down the road and certainly follows a similar theme to the Mossy Oak.

Standard kit on this SEMA show stopper, includes custom Champagne Metallic exterior paint emblazoned with Realtree graphics, while inside, one finds Dark Cocoa finished leather seating with Blaze Orange stitching and camouflage piping, plus a smattering of Realtree AP accents throughout the cabin. Retractable running boards provide easy entry/exit without compromising ground clearance.

In keeping with the rugged outdoors theme, the Realtree 4×4 rides on 35-inch off road tires and 18-inch wheels, plus boasts a custom rear cap for storing hunting and fishing gear, as well as one-off front bumper and winch, for dealing with sticky situations.

Naturally, a truck of this stature needs a torque monster under the hood to cope with the extremes mother nature can throw at mankind and the Realtree sports GM’s 6.6-liter Duramax Diesel rated at 397 horsepower and a whopping 765 lb-ft of torque, coupled to an Allison six-speed automatic transmission.

According to Tony Truelove, marketing manager for Chevy trucks the [Realtree] “is a celebration of the seven-year partnership between Chevrolet and Realtree Outfitters. It’s only natural to combine the dependable, long-lasting Silverado HD with Realtree, the best gear for the outdoors,” said Tony Truelove, marketing manager for Chevrolet pickups. “Like all great outdoor gear, the Silverado Realtree Concept is designed to get the job done and;  look sharp while doing it.”

Just as BMW has begun drumming up attention with the release of their new 3-series, Audi quickly answered back with their A4 update for the 2013 model year.

Since the A4 is Audi’s best selling model, it is important to be evolutionary, rather than too revolutionary, in design. While Audi has made updates to every surface including the headlight and taillight treatment, front fascia, bumpers, and hood, the A4 remains readily familiar.

As for the interior, trim pieces are further refined and Audi has also improved user-friendliness on their MMI infotainment system.

Perhaps the greatest change for the new A4 is the addition of the A4 Allroad wagon. Available for the European market will be a selection of six turbodiesels and four petrol engines. For the North American market, we expect the 211-hp 2.0 liter turbocharged four as well as the Audi S4 spec 333 horsepower 3.0 liter supercharged six.

Quattro continues to be available across the line. Transmission options include the six speed manual, a dual clutch auto, as well as a CVT available for A4′s in front wheel drive trim.

Audi will release the new A4 and S4 in North America during the summer of 2012 as a 2013 model.

GALLERY: 2013 Audi A4 line-up

If you’re looking for a good reason not to speed, this is it. Thanks to the inquisitive minds at Fifth Gear we now know the absolutely devastating result of what a 120-mph crash would look like.

Part of an ongoing series looking at crash tests and the safety of modern vehicles the team of eloquently-voiced Brits decided to see what would happen if a Ford Focus crashed into a concrete block at 120-mph – triple the speed of modern crash test procedures. The results are both shocking and terrifying.

Watch the video after the jump:

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In the world of motorsports, it’s nearly impossible for a new team to come out of the box and be competitive. So what is a novice group that is looking for success to do? Simple, partner with one of the most successful teams in the sport.

That is exactly what Toyota is doing by partnering up with ORECA Racing Group to take victory at the 2012 24 Hours of Le Mans.

Toyota has attempted a win at Le Mans before, but that very expensive effort bared no fruit. Having learned that they need help, the Japanese automaker has gone on to recruit the French team ORECA Racing, which has been competing at Le Mans for the past 35-years and have achieved the top podium step in each form of racing it has ever competed in.

At the announcement of this partnership, ORECA Racing’s President Hugues de Chaunac said; “It’s a very big day for ORECA. To be chosen by Toyota Motorsport GmbH is a huge reward for the work we’ve done in recent years. ORECA has proven its worth at the highest level of endurance racing, winning the 12 Hours of Sebring in 2011 and finishing three straight times in the top 5 at the 24 Hours of Le Mans. Thanks to its know-how, ORECA now has the opportunity to work with the biggest automobile manufacturer, and on a project that’s particularly interesting. We are proud to support Toyota Motorsport GmbH in this challenge and we’re looking forward to an exciting future.”

Toyota will provide the new hybrid-racing powertrain, while ORECA develops a new chassis to compete in the LMP1 class. Next year’s Le Mans will be the 80th installment of this race and will be held on June 16-17.

While many other automakers, including Japanese and American manufacturers, have taken a bit of a battering in recent years due to economic uncertainty and natural disasters, Hyundai and Kia have been bucking the trend, reporting steady gains in market share, particularly in entry level segments, where their vehicles have proved appealing to cost conscious buyers.

However, despite steady gains, primarily at the expense of U.S. and Japanese rivals, the South Korean duo is expected to see demand tapering off due to limited manufacturing supply. That said, both brands plan on achieving combined global sales of 7 million units next year, up from more than 6.5 million in 2011, which also marked a record total.

“We expect to reach (the target) should we run our factories at full capacity,” stated Hyundai president Chung Jin-haeng in a news interview with Reuters, though he did add mention that actual sales target number has not yet been finalized.

However some industry analysts, such as Suh Sung-moon at Korea Investment and Securities, believe that Hyundai and Kia’s own estimates of 2012 sales are conservative and both companies could easily surpass these totals in the first half of the year.

“I expect Hyundai and Kia will be able to achieve sales of 7.2 million vehicles next year, with Hyundai’s China plant starting production and Kia introducing a third shift at its Slovakia plant,”  Sung-moon stated.

If achieved, and Toyota continues its spiral downward, Hyundai could potentially move into third place among global automakers, ousting the Japanese giant.

[Source: Automotive News]

Dying to know what the production Toyota FT-86 will look like? Here’s the closest look yet.

These scanned images are from a Modellista brochure; Modellista being an in-house tuning arm of Toyota. That said, it’s not the production version that will debut at the upcoming Tokyo Motor Show, but a modified version of the car, sporting an aero kit and several other accessories.

By the looks of it, the car will stay close to the original concept, though the rend end seems to have changed more significantly. Inside, the brochure photos show what appears to be a high-grip seating surface with impressive red stitching on black seats. Other highlights include a push-button ignition and a redline of around 7500 rpm.

When it does debut at the Tokyo Auto Show in just over a month’s time, the car is expected to make roughly 200-hp from a direct-injection 4-cylinder boxer engine. More recent reports indicate that the FT-86 will have the lowest center of gravity of any production car and a curb weight of around 2,500 lbs.

GALLERY: Toyota FT-86 Modellista Brochure

[Source: 7Tune]

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