Reports from sources within Volkswagen has revealed intents to replace its less popular 2.5-liter five-cylinder engine for a new 1.8-liter turbo four-cylinder engine.

This smaller turbocharged engine is based on the staple 2.0 liter turbo engine found in the GTI, and are already found in Volkwagen’s European offerings. Producing 158-hp and 185 lb-ft of torque, the new 1.8 is capable of 33-mpg on the highway when placed in a manual VW Jetta.

While the figure falls significantly short of the Chevrolet Cruze Eco’s 42 mpg, Volkswagen can still benefit from the use of the engine as its 2.0 FSI origins can allow the company manufacturing efficiency and allot the assembly of both engines under one facility.

[Source: Car&Driver]

There are custom cars… and then there are custom classic cars. This 1955 Chevrolet Bel Air is by far one of the nicest resto-projects we’ve ever set our eyes on, blending classic Chevy styling with modern Chevy power. With an LS6 small-block Chevy engine under the hood that’s been stroked to 383-ci, this ’55 Bel Air packs 520-hp and 531 lb-ft of torque.

The vehicle’s original body has been restored using a two-tone GM paint scheme with Arctic White and Light Tarnished Silver chosen to show off the classic’s straight lines and tight panel gaps. The powerplant underneath the hood was built by Superior Automotive Engineering with an extremely high 11.54:1 compression ratio. Bolt-ons include Dominator Street Rods dual snorkel intake pipes, Ron Davis aluminum radiator, and a Street and Performance air filter. Inside the engine, Comp Cams’ Extreme RPM High Lift camshaft provides plenty of extra horsepower while the Eagle forged steel crank turns Eagle connecting rods and push forged JE pistons. The port and polished heads have been completely rebuilt with Serdi valves, Comp Cams roller rockers, Comp Cams beehive springs and Comp Cams titanium retainers.

For chassis and suspension modifications, this Bel Air sports a Classic Performance Products front suspension which includes custom reinforced control arms, two-inch drop spindles, one-inch sway bar, Bilstein gas-charged shocks and a custom reinforced Borgeson 605 steering box. Classic Performance Products also supplied the four-wheel disc brakes that sit behind Schott’s two-piece forged billet Velocity wheels wrapped with Nitto rubber.

Lastly, Elegance Interiors reupholstered four Lexus seats with high quality, two-tone leather. Asking price? $109,900 – not too shabby considering it only has 3,523-miles on the odometer.

GALLERY: LS6-Powered 1955 Chevrolet Bel Air

Check out a video highlighting this custom 1955 Chevrolet Bel Air below.

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Given all the buzz surrounding this year’s LA Auto Show, there was perhaps one thing that was seemingly overlooked; that being the ambitious plans by CODA Automotive to make its electric sedan a seriously viable proposition to the likes of mainstream passenger cars, at least when it comes to driving in So Cal.

The car, which is based on a rather workaday model sourced from China, the Pininfarina styled (yes really) Hafei Saibo, features an electric driveline with a 34 kW lithium-ion iron phosphate battery system and a 6.6 kW onboard charger. This is said to provide a greater range than comparable all-electric vehicles currently on the market (some 150 miles, which CODA says is five-times the distance of the average daily commute), plus reduced charging times. The 6.6 kW unit will take approximately four hours to deliver a 100 mile charge).

In addition, CODA is backing its $39,900 2012 model year sedan (federal tax savings and California rebates knock approximately 10 large off the sticker), with a 100,000 mile, 10-year warranty on the battery pack, currently besting those offered by the likes of Mitsubishi and Nissan.

Furthermore, at the 2011 LA Auto Show, where the company had a number of its CODA sedans on display, it also announced that it’s partnering with GE Energy to market and distribute the GE WattStation EV charging unit alongside the cars at  the same retail locations.

The idea is to provide a one-stop shopping experience for would-be CODA buyers as well as boosting the vehicle’s potential market appeal.

“We’re excited to be the first car company in the US to be working with [GE Energy] to support consumers as they enter the EV world,” declared Phil Murtagh, CEO of CODA Holdings.

Luis Ramirez, CEO of GE Energy Industry Solutions, added ” this milestone is another step in GE’s journey to lead the future of global electrification. As demand for the [GE WattStation] continues to exceed our expectations, bringing our products closer to the customer will help accelerate the adoption of EVs.”

The GE WattStation is a Level 2 charging device, designed to shorten the time it takes to re-charge the car, currently one of the biggest obstacles facing all-electric vehicles.

GALLERY: Coda EV

Porsche announced at the LA Auto Show that it will be opening a new facility Carson, California, intended to become a “center of excellence for vehicle and human performance education from track experiences and driver training to car culture events”.

This California based Porsche Experience Center will be the second one built in North America, the first Porsche Experience Center being located at Porsche’s North American HQ at Atlanta Georgia. Globally, there are three others located at UK’s legendary Silverstone Circuit, at Leipzig, Germany, and at Shanghai, China.

The 51 acre facility will include a paved racing circuit, off-road testing area, low friction skidpad, as well as a restaurant and a center for meetings that can accommodate car clubs, corporate clients, and other special groups. Finally, to expand their passion for precision and performance beyond automobiles, Porsche will offer a Porsche Human Performance Center, a sport science lab that aims at maximizing personal fitness, wellness, and athletic performance.

BMW’s new 3-Series is poised to hit showroom floors shortly, and sometime in the near future a diesel model will join the 328 and 335 sedans in the North American market. There’s no exact timeframe or official release from BMW in regards to a diesel model, but a company insider has confirmed that one will be coming… just when is unknown.

It’s not a huge surprise that BMW wasn’t immediate on announcing a diesel option, given its new ActiveHybrid 3 that it surely wants to push to the public. The outgoing 3-Series’ 335d packed a 3.0L diesel inline-six with 265-hp and 425 lb-ft of torque. The assumption though is that the 3.0L won’t be finding its way into the new model, but perhaps a 2.0L four-cylinder diesel with 181-hp and 280 lb-ft of torque from the European 320d.

GALLERY: 2013 BMW 3 Series

[Source: Car and Driver]

The way to a girl’s heart is through expensive automobiles – at least, that’s what Justin Bieber is betting on. In an attempt to impress his girlfriend Selena Gomez, the Canadian singer dropped more than $160,000 on a customized Range Rover.

The Range Rover, a ‘Project Kahn’ car, comes with an $80,000 sound system, leather interior, modified paintwork and a Cosworth engine.

“Justin loves his motors even though he’s barely old enough to drive”, a source told The Sun newspaper. “His girlfriend Selena Gomez will be well impressed with his latest. It’s the business.”

Bieber’s new ride is being shipped from Bradford, West Yorkshire, which is in Northern England to his LA home. The ‘Project Kahn’ operation boasts a star-studded clientele, which have included England soccer star Wayne Rooney and TV star Katie Price.

[Source: Toronto Star]

Discuss this story at EvoqueForum.com

White or red just not cutting it for your 517-hp Mercedes C63 AMG Black Series? Need something a little more flashy and attention grabbing? You’re in luck, with Mercedes announcing the C63 AMG Black Series will also be available in a new Solar Beam color choice, which looks to be a brilliant pearlescent shade of yellow.

Few details have been provided but pictures of the car from a drive event at Laguna Seca were posted on the Mercedes-Benz Canada Facebook page. It surely looks much more aggressive than its red and white counterparts and a nice touch are the contrasting black wheels and carbon fiber accents. Too bad this didn’t come out earlier, Bumblebee could have been a much cooler, Solar Beam Benz.

GALLERY: Solar Beam Mercedes-Benz C63 AMG Black Series

How’s this for an incentive – buy an apartment, get a BMW thrown in to the deal. Sounds pretty sweet, and a city in China is doing just that in hopes of giving its real estate sector a jump start.

In Wenzhou, China, the house prices have fallen dramatically, and one real estate developer is giving apartment buyers at a new residential complex a BMW. The deal is only available to the first 150 buyers, so interested new home shoppers will have to jump on the promotion sooner rather than later. In terms of money spent, the BMWs cost the developer Rmb 300,000, which equates to about 10 per cent of the price for an apartment. We don’t know which BMW model buyers will receive, but a free BMW is always a sweet deal.

The BMW incentive is a telling sign of China’s real estate market. And Chinese developers don’t want to cut prices on their products, so instead they have started throwing in extras, such as extra garden plots, Louis Vuitton handbags, cruise vacations and cars.

Do you think the North American real estate market should offer similar incentives to sell property? Would you buy a house or condo if a BMW or any car was thrown into the deal? Let us know in the comments section below.

[Source: Financial Times]

TrueCar, Inc. subsidiary, ALG, has announced the top spots for this year’s 13th Annual Residual Value Awards for mainstream and luxury brands with Subaru and Lexus taking honors respectively. According to historic data, vehicles from Japan have won 11 out of the overall 21 ALG awards, which is more than half of the honors. For Subaru, this will be its third consecutive Mainstream Brand Residual Value Award. For Lexus, this is its return to glory after last receiving the Luxury Brand Residual Value Award in 2007.

“The consistently high quality of Subaru products, and the brand’s ability to remain progressive and practical in their redesigns, continue to draw fiercely loyal customers,” said ALG rep Raj Sundaram. “With high sales, Subaru consistently has low incentives and fleet sales, which have enhanced the brand’s used value and helped it hold on to the top spot among mainstream brands again this year.” For Lexus, Sundaram continues, “Lexus has fully bounced back from its recent challenges, proving that it is one of the strongest brands. The brand is extending its reach with exciting and affordable new models like the CT 200h, while continuing to provide great luxury and value across the lineup. Lexus’ reputation for value and customer service is also key to its dominance among luxury brands.”

The judging and nomination process is based on educated projections of the current 2012 vehicle offerings’ segment competition, historical vehicle performance and industry trends. Those vehicles expected to retain the highest percentage of its original value within their category after a three-year period are awarded. According to Sundaram, “Residual value is a great indicator of brand strength which in turn contributes to greater sales and profitability. We have seen a strong focus this year on producing high-quality products with great pricing and packaging delivering real value for vehicle buyers.”

Taking home the most segment awards is Audi, with an award for A6 for the Luxury Car category, A5 for the Luxury Sports Car category, and the Q7 for the Luxury Fullsize Utility Vehicle category. Range Rover brought home top Luxury Compact Utility for the debut of its Range Rover Evoque and a seventh consecutive award for the Luxury Midsize Utility Category was awarded to its Range Rover Sport. Domestic automakers have strong results for its trucks as well. The Jeep Wrangler wins the Compact Utility Vehicle Segment and the GMC Acadia is awarded best of the Fullsize Utility category. Toyota finished off the truck segment for awards given to its pickup trucks. Toyota Tacoma wins the Midsize Pickup category and the Tundra earns honors for the Fullsize Pickup category.

Passenger cars awarded include the Hyundai Elantra for the Mid-compact Car category, Mazdaspeed 3 for the Sporty Car category, Mercedes-Benz C-Class for Near Luxury Car category and Nissan Maxima for Full Size Car.

Get the full rundown of all the awards here and shop for your next car at AutoGuide’s extensive new car section here.

10. Chevrolet Spark

Just a few years ago picking a Top 10 Cars list from the LA Auto Show would have been a simple task, with few world premieres and most of the vehicles on display having already been revealed at some overseas venue. That’s no longer the case, with over 20 global debuts this year. So with a sizable list to choose from, the AutoGuide team sat down at the end of the two media days of press conferences to determine the most exciting, most interesting and most important reveals of the show. And here they are:

From the Fiat 500 to the Smart fortwo and Scion iQ, the mini car segment continues to grow in North America. Not wanting to pass this segment by, Chevrolet has entered the fray with a tiny car of its own, the Spark. Sized down from even the new Sonic sub-compact it still has a livable amount of space and comes powered by an ultra-small 1.2-liter 4-cylinder engine making just 85-hp. Thankfully it weighs just 2,300 lbs, so acceleration, shouldn’t be terrible.

Notable features on this car include a standard 7-inch screen with Chevy’s new MyLink system and Bluetooth. Plus, power windows, air conditioning and 10 airbags come standard.

GALLERY: Chevrolet Spark