We noticed cool prototypes from the producer final yr, however these designs fill a commuter-shaped gap in its lineup.
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This Unique Cold War-Era Soviet Tank Was The First Laser Tank
The 1K17 was one of many many prototypes the Soviet Union inbuilt its quest for a “Self-propelled Laser Complex” (SLK). The idea was initially proposed within the Seventies and early Eighties with the event of the 1K11 Stilet. The Luch Central Design Bureau, below the management of Gen. Dmitry Ustinov, engineered two prototypes to ship round 1982. The 1K11 advanced had a laser emitter atop a tracked chassis.
After the Stilet was the “Sangvin” (Sanguine). This prototype utilized the chassis of the ZSU-23-4 Shilka self-propelled anti-air gun. The weapons had been eliminated and changed with a single laser emitter to disable the sensors and optics of fight plane. While there may be restricted take a look at knowledge accessible right this moment, quite a few sources counsel that at ranges of 5 to 6 miles, the Sanguine might go away a helicopter inoperable.
The most superior SLK arrived in 1989, within the type of the 1K17 Szhatie, however so did the top of the Soviet Union. However, the Russian navy powered forward, Assembled in December 1990 and trialed till 1992, the Szhatie demonstrated promising outcomes throughout testing. However, regardless of the success of the trials, the 1K17 by no means entered full-scale manufacturing or service.
[Featured image by Vitaly V. Kuzmin via Wikimedia Commons | Cropped and scaled | CC BY-SA 4.0]
FIA WEC at Imola, IMSA at Long Beach: BMW M Hybrid V8 faces an eventful double-header weekend.
Imola/Long Beach. Four BMW M Hybrid V8s, two continents. The BMW M Motorsport LMDh prototypes are dealing with an intense racing weekend. While BMW M Team WRT competes at Imola (ITA) with two Hypercars within the FIA World Endurance Championship (FIA WEC) for the second race of the season, BMW M Team RLL is aiming for the season’s first podium within the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship (IMSA sequence) at Long Beach (USA). The BMW M4 GT3 is concentrating on the rostrum in each Italy and California.
FIA WEC: BMW M Team WRT competes at Imola.
At the 6 Hours of Imola, the FIA WEC is making its first European cease this yr. BMW M Motorsport engineers and BMW M Team WRT have analysed the difficult season opener in Qatar with the 2 BMW M Hybrid V8s over the previous weeks and have labored intensively to enhance the automotive. Behind the wheel of automotive #15 are Raffaele Marciello (SUI), Dries Vanthoor (BEL), and Marco Wittmann (GER). The sister automotive, the #20 BMW M Hybrid V8, is shared by Robin Frijns (NED), René Rast (GER), and Sheldon van der Linde (RSA).
In the LMGT3 class, Team WRT made a powerful impression in Qatar, with the #46 BMW M4 GT3 narrowly lacking the rostrum on the opener. At Imola, the crew will likely be carried by a particular tailwind; Valentino Rossi (ITA) begins his dwelling race, with the Imola monitor being lower than two hours’ drive from his birthplace Urbino (ITA). The 45-year-old Italian will be a part of Ahmad Al Harthy (OMA) and BMW M works driver Maxime Martin (BEL) for the 6 Hours of Imola. Driven by quite a few Tifosi anticipated alongside the monitor, the native hero and his team-mates are aiming for a podium end. In the sister automotive, the #31 BMW M4 GT3, BMW M works driver Augusto Farfus (BRA), Sean Gelael (INA), and Darren Leung (GBR) will take turns.
The Imola race begins on Sunday at 13:00 CEST.
IMSA sequence: Street circuit at Long Beach as a great omen.
Two BMW M Hybrid V8s are additionally required within the IMSA sequence this coming weekend. BMW M Team RLL begins with good recollections on the Long Beach avenue circuit. Last yr, Connor De Phillippi (USA) and Nick Yelloly (GBR) celebrated second place on the rostrum within the #25 BMW M Hybrid V8. Philipp Eng (AUT) and Augusto Farfus (BRA) accomplished the robust group outcome within the GTP class with a fourth place.
With the momentum from 2023 outcomes, the group and drivers wish to underline the robust efficiency of the BMW M Hybrid V8 from the primary two weekends of the present yr and at last reward themselves with the primary podium within the third race of the IMSA season. As final yr, De Phillippi and Yelloly begin within the #25 BMW M Hybrid V8. Eng shares the sister #24 automotive this yr with Jesse Krohn (FIN).
In the GTD class, BMW M Motorsport groups additionally look again on a formidable historical past at Long Beach. Paul Miller Racing triumphed final yr with the #1 BMW M4 GT3. In 2024, Turner Motorsport sends a BMW M4 GT3 onto the three.167-kilometre monitor. BMW M works driver Robby Foley and Patrick Gallagher (each USA) enter the 100-minute dash race with automotive #96. The shortest race of the season – alongside the Detroit Grand Prix – begins on Saturday at 16:35 native time (22:35 CEST).
Statement earlier than the races at Imola and Long Beach:
Andreas Roos (Head of BMW M Motorsport): “We are facing the first race weekend where we are competing with the BMW M Hybrid V8 at two major events on two continents simultaneously. We are competing on the biggest stages of prototype racing against top-notch competition. It’s spectacular and exactly the challenge we’ve been looking forward to since BMW M Motorsport’s entry into the LMDh category was confirmed. At the FIA WEC opener in Qatar, we realised that we need to improve significantly to compete at the level we expect of ourselves in the world championship. We have worked hard over the past weeks and expect to be able to make the first progress at Imola. In the IMSA series, we experienced one of our strongest races at Long Beach in 2023. With second and fourth places, we were very close to our first victory with the BMW M Hybrid V8. Now we hope that we can fight for the lead again this time and thus convert the speed we have already shown at Daytona and Sebring into top results. Both in the FIA WEC and in the IMSA series, we are also very well positioned with the BMW M4 GT3. I expect our teams to have a chance of winning in both racing series.”
Marco Wittmann (BMW M Team WRT, #15 BMW M Hybrid V8): “I am really looking forward to competing in the FIA WEC again this weekend. Italy is a beautiful country. I like the ambiance, the food, and the people – so I’m really looking forward to it. Imola is a very historic racetrack that I know from DTM. In 2022, I made it to the podium there, so I have good memories. We have conducted some tests and simulator sessions since the opener in Qatar and hopefully will make a step forward.”
Maxime Martin (Team WRT, #46 BMW M4 GT3): “It will be a special weekend for us because it’s Valentino’s home race in the FIA WEC. I therefore expect it to be very crowded, and I anticipate many spectators with high expectations at the track. Our first race in Qatar was really solid with a fourth-place finish. We will try to improve our package and aim for the podium. That would be a good result, also in terms of the world championship. I know the track and am confident that Ahmad, Valentino, and I will be competitive. I’m really looking forward to it.”
Philipp Eng (BMW M Team RLL, #24 BMW M Hybrid V8): “I am really looking forward to the race at Long Beach. It’s a very cool track for the first sprint race of the season. Last year we had a strong race here. We have developed the car in a good direction, and the result of the 12h Sebring did not fully reflect our performance. We have made some adjustments, and I am confident that we can achieve a top result.”
The 2025 Nissan Kicks Finally Gets All-Wheel Drive
When we first noticed camouflaged prototypes of the next-generation Nissan Kicks in July 2023, we knew vital adjustments had been coming to Nissan’s small crossover. Now, the covers are lifted and we’re handled to a really symmetrical design that is a little bit greater and packs an incredible punch. Say hey to the 2025 Nissan Kicks.
Right away, you will discover Nissan’s signature V-Motion grille is gone. In reality, there is not a single reference to V-Motion anyplace within the Kicks press launch. Look carefully on the new face, nevertheless, and you will see vestiges of the previous design language. The openings on the bladed grille slant inwards, culminating in a ridge atop the fascia. At the highest, slender headlights additionally angle downwards on the internal edges. It’s a really clear, squarish look that extends rearward with a excessive, straight beltline.
Things are a bit extra fascinating on the again. Nissan retains the floating roof motif with an accessible two-tone look, and the Kicks “kink” within the pillar remains to be there too. It provides solution to a much less blocky rear gate with outstanding vertical taillights mounted excessive on the corners. Overall, it is a very totally different look in comparison with the outgoing Kicks. The new model has a bigger, extra upright look.
It’s not simply an look, both. Nissan says the 2025 Kicks is larger, although actual specs aren’t accessible but. We’re advised there’s simply over an inch extra shoulder room for entrance and rear passengers, with these within the again getting slightly below an additional inch for knees. With the rear seats up you get 30 extra cubic ft of cargo area, or 60 extra cubes with them folded. Nissan says the area is best-in-class, and the rear opening area of 40.3 inches can also be listed as best-in-class.
Space actually issues in a small SUV, however we suspect occupants might be extra within the Kicks’ digital improve. The new inside is radically totally different due to a pair of show screens for the motive force middle infotainment system. That middle display screen measures as much as 12.3 inches, with a 7-inch display screen put in as normal. It controls an array of tech that features non-obligatory 360-degree surround-view cameras and an accessible Bose 10-speaker sound system. Wireless Apple CarPlay and Android Auto are constructed into the system.
Underneath all of it, you will discover a new 2.0-liter four-cylinder engine making 141 horsepower and 140 pound-feet of torque, managed by a CVT. And for the primary time, you may ship that energy to all 4 wheels with Nissan’s Intelligent All-Wheel Drive system. Thus outfitted, Nissan provides a snow mode that’s designed particularly for all-paw efficiency on slippery surfaces.
Further aiding drivers are options equivalent to automated emergency braking, rear cross-traffic alert, rear automated braking, and lane departure warnings, all a part of Nissan’s standard-issue Safety Shield 360 System. Step as much as the SR trim and you will get ProPilot that provides steering help. Nissan is eager to say that is additionally a primary for the Kicks.
How a lot will all this price? Nissan is not prepared to debate pricing however guarantees data will come earlier than the on-sale date later this summer season. For reference, the 2024 Kicks begins at $22,440, together with the vacation spot charge. With the hefty design adjustments and energy enhance, it is secure to imagine the 2025 Kicks will begin someplace within the mid-$20,000 vary.
Porsche Macan EV Gets Augmented-Reality HUD And Up To Three Screens
The all-electric Porsche Macan is coming. We’ve seen numerous prototypes out and about during the last 12 months, and we have even driven the performance SUV, albeit in preproduction kind with the sprint coated up. Now, we lastly get to see the Macan EV’s cabin absolutely uncovered.
The inside reveal comes amid a slathering of techno-speak on the electrical Macan’s platform and powertrain, a lot of which stays conveniently imprecise. We already know concerning the twin motor structure that can generate “approximately” 600 horsepower with assist from a lithium-ion battery pack of “around 100 kWh.” We know concerning the rear-wheel steering, which turns reverse the entrance wheels under 50 mph for higher maneuverability and parallel above that threshold for extra stability.
As for the inside, we caught a glimpse of the screen-heavy structure in spy pictures however now we are able to verify as much as three screens, plus the non-compulsory heads-up show infused with augmented actuality. That system turns the windshield right into a type of fourth display, displaying options like flip arrows or distances to automobiles in entrance. Looking by means of the glass, the projected photos seem to embody an area reaching over 30 ft in entrance, stretching 87 inches. Porsche says it is one the most important heads-up shows at present out there.
Not non-compulsory is the 12.6-inch curved digital show for the motive force. The middle infotainment display is 10.9 inches and operates in full HD, and an non-compulsory passenger show additionally measures 10.9 inches. The non-compulsory display permits the passenger to function a number of automobile techniques that may in any other case require the motive force to cease, reminiscent of sure navigation options or video streaming.
And there’s lots to mess around with. The Macan’s system is Android-based and might be up to date by means of the Porsche App Centre with a plethora of packages like Spotify, YouTube, and even WebEx. There are additionally video games, the Home Assistant smartphone app, and month-to-month map updates that ought to preserve the nav system buzzing. If, nevertheless, you favor Android Auto or Apple CarPlay to Porsche’s in-house programming, that is nonetheless out there right here. The Macan will even add Apple’s map or Google Maps to the motive force show as a part of the mixing.
There’s nonetheless extra to return relating to the Macan EV’s cabin. We nonetheless have but to set our eyes on the remainder of the inside, which means there’s nonetheless questions on issues like seating and cupboard space. Porsche says the Macan could have a launch date in early 2024, so we can’t have to attend for much longer for more information.
The Reason Why Car Manufacturers Still Use Clay Models When Developing A New Vehicle
Creating small-scale clay prototypes is a fairly simple process of shaping foam, covering it with clay, and then meticulously adding and carving the mold until it’s finished. Once the appearance based on the designers’ initial sketches is narrowed down, the larger version is made. Full-scale clay models work on a similar principle but are larger and more intricate.
Usually, a rough interior frame or skeleton is constructed using metal and then filled with foam, followed by a several-inch layer of clay on the exterior. Sculptors and designers then meticulously work on the exterior, making a multitude of changes—some significant, some almost imperceptible—until it looks the way they want. This process involves thorough inspection and further adjustments until the model is considered finished.
In some cases, a surface may need to be reshaped, requiring the addition and smoothing of more clay into the model’s contours. Other times, a line or curve may be slightly off, and sculptors will carefully remove the excess material. Overall, the journey from concept sketch to full production can take several years, with a significant portion devoted to the ongoing refinement of clay models.
Toyota’s New TRD Package For The Tundra Gives It More Power
The 2023 SEMA Show is packed with custom cars and prototypes from automakers that you can’t buy, unless you want to get individual parts and make your own. Toyota has some of that with concepts like the new X-Runner and FJ Bruiser, but there’s also a truck you can buy straight from the automaker. Say hello to the 2024 Tundra equipped with an optional TRD Performance Package.
What does one get with this $3,400 option? Toyota adds special TRD badging, a snazzy exhaust tip, and 32 extra horses under the hood. That’s accomplished mechanically with upgraded dual intakes and a new exhaust, both of which provide better airflow. A new engine tune optimizes the changes, though you’ll need to run premium fuel as a result. Toyota also tweaks the throttle for “a sporty and powerful driving feel.”
The result is 421 horsepower using the standard twin-turbocharged 3.4-liter i-Force engine. Torque remains the same at 479 pound-feet, but peak twist hits 400 RPM sooner. The i-Force Max engine rises to 469 hp, a notable figure as it surpasses all trucks in the US save for the bonkers Ram 1500 TRX and Ford F-150 Raptor R. And it’s not a dealer-installed setup – Toyota offers it from the factory with a full standard vehicle warranty.
“We wanted to build on the excitement of the new Tundra platform and the twin-turbo engine – which already makes monster horsepower and torque – to develop this performance package,” said Jakin Wilson, senior engineering manager for Toyota Motor North America.
VW Golf GTI Might Have More Power and Keep Manual Transmission in Early 2024
Prototype versions of the refreshed Volkswagen Golf have been seen undergoing testing for several months. However, it wasn’t until the start of October that the GTI variant was first revealed. According to a recent report from British magazine Autocar, the updated Grand Tourer Injection (GTI) model will reportedly be available in early 2024 with a number of significant changes. The most notable of these changes is said to be an upgraded turbocharged 2.0-liter gasoline engine that will generate more power than the current 241 horsepower.
This shouldn’t come as a big surprise since Volkswagen has been offering more powerful versions of the Golf GTI in Europe for many years. A relevant example is the Clubsport model, which boasts a hefty 296 horsepower. It manages to differentiate itself from the more powerful R model by offering less power and a front-wheel-drive layout. According to Autocar, it is speculated that the regular GTI could receive a 20 horsepower boost, taking it up to 261 horsepower to match the 2.0 TSI engine found in the 2024 Passat and Tiguan models (which are not available in the US).
![Chevy Corvette ZR1 Drops Heavy Camo As Development Moves To Nurburgring [UPDATE]](https://i3.wp.com/cdn.motor1.com/images/mgl/6ZNeYG/s1/chevrolet-corvette-zr1-c8-spy-photo-from-nurburgring.jpg?w=672&resize=672,372&ssl=1 "Chevy Corvette ZR1 Drops Heavy Camo As Development Moves To Nurburgring [UPDATE]")
Chevy Corvette ZR1 Drops Heavy Camo As Development Moves To Nurburgring [UPDATE]
Update: Added 21 additional spy photos to a new photo gallery showing C8 Corvette ZR1 prototypes in action at the Nurburgring.
The next-generation Chevrolet Corvette in ZR1 trim hasn’t exactly been a secret so far. We’ve already seen several heavily camouflaged prototypes testing in different locations around the United States. However, it seems that the automaker is now moving the development to the Old Continent. At least two different prototypes were recently caught testing on the famous Nurburgring race track.
![Watch Next-Gen Audi SQ5, S5 Avant Prototypes Testing In Colorado [UPDATE]](https://i3.wp.com/cdn.motor1.com/images/mgl/y2pPo7/s1/three-prototypes-audi-in-colorado.jpg?w=672&resize=672,372&ssl=1 "Watch Next-Gen Audi SQ5, S5 Avant Prototypes Testing In Colorado [UPDATE]")
Watch Next-Gen Audi SQ5, S5 Avant Prototypes Testing In Colorado [UPDATE]
Update: Motor1.com readers Mark Brady and Steve Blendermann also caught Audi SQ5 prototypes in the mountains.
Their images are shared here with permission; we can clearly see quad exhaust outlets at the rear. A side view also offers a good look at the wheels shod with low-profile tires. Thanks for the photos, Mark and Steve!
Photo Credits: Mark Brandy and Steve Blendermann
Audi is currently testing three vehicles at high altitude in the Colorado Mountains. These vehicles appear to be the next-generation SQ5 and possibly two examples of the new S5 Avant. TFL Now managed to capture footage of the three cars leaving a hotel and entering the interstate. All three vehicles feature quad exhausts, with two on each side, which indicates that they are all S variants.
The gallery below shows the Audi SQ5 being tested in Europe. In the video, the front of the vehicle being tested in the Colorado Mountains is not shown clearly, but they share similarities in terms of profile and rear design. One of the main similarities is the sharp taillights.