Auto Unleashed

Posted: 05 Feb 2009 02:39 PM PST

Today, the French carmaker has announced the new Renault Clio, which they hope will follow the success of its predecessor, the Clio III, which won the Car of the Year award three years ago, in 2006. The new Clio is heavily influenced by the new Megane, especially the front part (the headlamps and broad grille in the lower part of the new front bumper).

Along with the new Clio, Renault will also introduce a GT version, which features a more aggressive frontal styling, a gloss black grille, extended side sills, twin exhaust tailpipes and lip spoiler, and will be available in an exclusive Malta Blue body color. Another new Clio feature will be Renault’s latest fully integrated GPS navigation, Carminat TomTom, which features a 5.8 inch color display, updateable navigation with traffic, safety camera locations and speed limit information.

The new Renault Clio will make its world debut next month at the Geneva Motor Show and it’s scheduled to go on sale in the UK in May 2009.

More photos after the jump.

Photo Gallery: The new Renault Clio

The “perfectus” Mercedes McLaren SLR 722 by ASMA Design

Posted: 05 Feb 2009 08:43 AM PST

ASMA Perfectus Mercedes McLaren SLR 722 Tuning

In what must be the most non-modest press release ever, German company ASMA Design, specialized in Mercedes Benz tuning program, announced their latest product, the ‘Perfectus’ Mercedes McLaren SLR 722. The company managed to squeeze 50 hp more from the 5.4 liter V8, so the Perfectus delivers 700 hp (525 kW) and a max of 885 Nm of torque at 3,300 rpm. Powered by this engine, the car sprints from 0 to 100 km/h (62 mph) in 3.5 seconds, reaches a top speed of 348 km/h (216 mph) and ‘drinks’ 19.8 liters of petrol per 100 km (11.8 US mpg).

No mention about how much this would cost, but we assume it ain’t pretty. And now here are a few quotes from the press release, which is, like we said before, really interesting (in not such a good way): “But, as these stunning pictures can only prove, Erturul ASMA has taken the McLaren to entirely new levels of automotive theatre. In fact, thanks to Perfectus, you can forget about the world of top-end tuning here on Earth, and now, and only now, think in terms of an awesome new age of carbon customization” or “Only Erturul ASMA can make and prove his claims of perfection, but he must also apologize… apologize to all the owners of standard SLRs everywhere, for there can be only one Perfectus.”

Check out more photos of the car after the jump.

Photo Gallery: Mercedes McLaren SLR 722 based ASMA Perfectus