Sportec is headed for Geneva in a big way. The tuner will showcase the Sportec SPR1 M, a suspected hurricane of a car based on the Porsche “997″ 911 Turbo model. This is a seriously exclusive car in that only 10 will ever be produced. Sportec has rebuilt the car from the ground up using mainly carbon fiber thus ensuring an exceptional power-to-weight ratio. The power figure for the T80 M engine package itself is 858hp (631kW) and maximum torque is 880Nm. No performance figures are available yet but judging from the previous version of the car, the SPR1, fans are in for a real treat. The SPR1 made just over 800hp (588kW) and covered the 0 – 100km/h dash in 3 seconds, 0 – 200km/h in 8.6 seconds and 0 – 300km/h in 18.9 seconds. The SPR1 M is even more powerful and is very light. Therefore it should comfortably break the 3 second mark on that sprint as well as the other figures. Continue Reading

The Stimulus Program will benefit the poor first and foremost. President Obama signed the $787 billion economic stimulus bill into law on Tuesday, February 17, 2009. This historic rescue package is just one of a raft of recovery measures the new administration is introducing in an attempt to get the economy on its feet again as quickly as possible.

For sure, the stimulus package is the product of much compromise and wrangling in Congress, and it’s far from perfect. A lot of the infrastructure spending provisions will take months or even a year or two to implement, and might not start generating jobs, spending and other economic activity until the recession is already ending.

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After dropping from nearly $150 in the second half of 2008, the price of crude oil is still languishing at under $40 a barrel. The dramatic price falls we saw last year occurred for two reasons that just happened to coincide and make the situation even worse.

First, the price of oil had been rising relentlessly since 2007 on the back of increasing demand from China, India and other fast-expanding developing economies. After reaching the all-important $100 level for the first time ever in early 2008, crude oil advanced virtually without a pause, to peak at just under $150 a barrel in July 2008. After such a breathless climb, a price correction was inevitable.

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In December, luxury Italian watch brand Panerai will open a new boutique in New York City, its second stand-alone U.S. store (the other is in Los Angeles). Panerai has been on an expansion binge of late, with recently opened shops in Florence, Portofino, Hong Kong and Shanghai. In addition to the NYC store, openings are planned for Buenos Aires, Madrid, Qatar and Dubai. The furnishings in the Panerai Boutiques are inspired by the sea, as Panerai started out supplying instruments to the Royal Italian Navy. Teak and steel are the predominant materials employed in the shops’ nautical design, while furnishing details evoke diving suits and equipment, with porthole-shaped display panels recalling yacht fittings.

In the past few months we have heard nothing but bad news from the radio and new channels. We tend to wonder:

“When will this get better?”

We are facing a national recession and a global recession with no signs of recovery. We are faced with the greatest housing depression ever and are now about to break records for unemployment. Can it get worst?

Many believe that the small jump we recently experienced in home sales of 6% is an indication that the market had hit rock bottom and recovery is well underway. Unfortunately, that is not the case, the home market is directly linked to the employment rate coupled with the accessibility of credit. As long as the credit markets remain frozen and the unemployment rate keeps rising, the tragedy will continue. There has however been great indications that the stock market is near bottom and that consumer confidence might be near that bottom as well.

So where will go now…

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Introducing the new Aston Martin DBS convertible.

Aston Martin will take the wraps off its fastest ever production convertible at the Geneva motor show when the muscular 2010 Aston Martin DBS Volante makes its global debut.

The soft-top version of Aston’s beefy DBS will top 191 mph, the company says, and sprint from 0 to 62 mph in 4.3 seconds, figures that put the DBS Volante in the top echelon of open-top supercars.

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First they pulled the plug on the Viper, now all the high performance V- Series line is on the brinks of extinction. GM needs to refocus their plans as they are truly struggling. They have made some terrible choices in the past build some terrible quality cars. Now its all about to change according to them. They are ready for a change and want to survive and so they are changing their priorities quickly. Good move or another disaster?

General Motors, focusing on mainstream products in a battle to survive, has scrapped a unit that produced high-performance vehicles.

GM on Wednesday disbanded High Performance Vehicle Operations, which is based at the company’s suburban Detroit technical center, and redeployed its engineers, spokesman Vince Muniga said.

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