Auto For Speed

The success of the popular Hamster advertising campaign that promoted the Soul in the U.S. in 2010 inspired Kia to launch a new special edition model of its boxy crossover model. Previewed by the Hamstar concept at the 2011 SEMA show, the red and black 2011 Hamstar is the sixth special edition Soul. The car sports unique exterior graphics and interior refinements, including a 315-watt audio system with pulsing speaker lights.

The limited-edition Hamstar Soul is based on the Soul+ trim level and wears custom Hamstar artwork, including a black star graphic with the signature Hamstar script logo on the hood and the tailgate, plus matte black stripes on the sides. It also gets body colored bumpers, fog lights, a rear spoiler, black 18-inch alloy wheels with silver edges, black fender vents with integrated turn signal indicator and a matte black fuel door.

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Are you into the shape of 1950s and 60s Porsches like the 356, but just feel like joining classic car clubs full of people wearing tweed, or just can’t be bothered to put up with all the maintenance? There’s a new modern alternative, and we just loved the look of this beast, so we brought it to your attention.

It’s called the PGO Cevennes Ultimate Black, and it’s just like the original, only better in every way. The maker boasts that his creation is an ingenious mix between a traditional line, a modern look and a sporty style.

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Some companies really know how to celebrate. Take AstonMartin and Zagato, for example. The iconic British sports car maker and the legendary Italian coachbuilder will mark the 50th anniversary of their first collaboration with a brand new study.

To honor their first joint project, the 1961 DB4GT Zagato, the two companies developed the Aston Martin V12 Zagato, a race car study that will be unveiled on May 21 at the Villa D’Este Concorsod’Eleganza in Italy, where it will compete against the Ferrari Superamerica 45. But this elegant and dramatic coupe was not built for classy Concours d’Elegance events alone, as it will actually race at the Nurburgring 24 Hour event on June 25-26.

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For some people, there is no such thing as too much horsepower. The more the better, even if we’re talking about a compact sedan like the Mercedes-Benz C63 AMG that leaves Stuttgart’s factory with a 6.2-liter V8 engine cranking out 457-horsepower and 600 Nm (442 lb-ft)of peak torque.

In the case of German tuning firm Kubatech, the answer to the C63 AMG’s horsepower problem was a Stage 3 performance kit that includes a new ECU from Mcchip-dkr along with a complete sports exhaust system from Cargraphic, which help bump output to 583HP and 692 Nm (510 lb-ft).

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For once, the hype and the rumors surrounding a car or project proved to be is as cool as it sounded, as Honda has revealed the first pics of the MUGEN version of the CR-Z hybrid. Unfortunately, the project is ongoing, so we can’t tell you to much about it, but the first tests have shown a lot of promise, especially from the performance point of view… as well as fuel consumption. We would have gotten away with perfection, were it not for those tree-hugging kids and their dog.

Early tests with a prototype car based on a standard CR-Z and a mid-tune engine have resulted in 0-60mph (0-98 km/h) times around that of the Civic Type R, thanks in part to the magic of supercharging. That’s all that Honda said, so we had to digg deeper to find out that translates to an acceleration in the mid six-second range.

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