ZR1 Sedan: Hennessey releases 600-800 hp packages for 2009 Cadillac CTS-V

As far as we can tell, John Hennessey and his crew have somehow warped time and space to create the 36-hour workday. With all the products the Texas-based tuner is coming out with, there's no other explanation. So in addition to creating the 705-hp Corvette ZR700, 715-hp GTR700 and a duo of force-fed Camaros, Hennessey has decided to tackle the 2009 Cadillac CTS-V – and in the process created a four-door ZR1.

The team is releasing four complete packages for Caddy's M5-fighter, ranging from a 610 hp version all the way to a twin-turbocharged 800 hp variant. You can check out each package, including horsepower, torque, mods and performance times, along with corresponding videos, after the jump. And we've also got a gallery of the fire-breathing CTS-V below.

V600 - 610 HP Upgrade

Power:

• 610 hp @ 6,000 rpm
• 605 lb-ft torque @ 4,400 rpm

Performance:

• 0-60: 3.7 sec.
• 1/4 mile: 11.8 @ 122 mph
• Top Speed: 195 mph (6-speed)

Includes:

• K&N Air Filter Element
• Supercharger Pulley Upgrade & Belt
• Engine Management Software Upgrade
• Supercharger Pulley (14 psi) & Snout Upgrade

V650 - 650 HP

Power:

• 650 hp @ 6,200 rpm
• 641 lb-ft torque @ 3,400 rpm

Includes:

• 4 inch Cold Air Induction System
• Supercharger Pulley & Snout Upgrade
• Engine Management Software Upgrade
• Long Tube 1 7/8 inch Stainless Steel Headers
• 3 inch Stainless Mid Pipes
• 3 inch Stainless X-Pipe
• High Flow Catalytic Converters
• Intercooler Heat Exchanger System Upgrade
• Hennessey Embroidered Head Rests
• Serial Numbered Dash Plaque
• Serial Numbered Plaque in Engine Compartment

V700 - 700 hp

Power:

• 700 hp @ 6,300 rpm
• 701 lb-ft torque @ 3,400 rpm

Performance:

• 0-60 mph: 3.1 sec. *
• 1/4 Mile: 10.9 @ 129 mph *
• Top Speed: 211 mph (with 6-speed transmission)

*with optional 20 inch HRE wheel upgrade & 305/45-20 Nitto drag radial tires.

Includes:

• 4 inch Cold Air Induction System
• Supercharger Pulley & Snout Upgrade
• Engine Management Software Upgrade
• Long Tube 1 7/8 inch Stainless Steel Headers
• 3 inch Stainless Mid Pipes
• High Flow Catalytic Converters
• Intercooler Heat Exchanger System Upgrade
• V700 Camshaft Upgrade
• V700 High Flow Cylinder Heads
• Hennessey Embroidered Head Rests
• Serial Numbered Dash Plaque
• Serial Numbered Plaque in Engine Compartment

V800 (Twin Turbo Upgrade) - 800 HP

Power:

• 800 hp @ 6,200 rpm @ 15 psi
• 780 lb-ft torque @ 4,400 rpm

Includes:

• Custom Twin Turbo System
• Twin Ball Bearing Turbos
• External Wastegates
• Blow-Off Valves
• Fuel System Upgrade
• Upgraded Injectors
• Engine Management Software Upgrade
• Corsa Stainless Steel Catback Exhaust System
• 3 inch Stainless Mid Pipes
• 3 inch Stainless X-Pipe
• High Flow Cylinder Heads
• Camshaft Upgrade

New Car Porsche upgrades factory racing 911 GT3 RSR

Porsche has updated one of its three factory racing 911s, the GT3 RSR, for the new model year with a number of enhancements designed to ensure it continues a successful GT2 series run.

On the outside Porsche made significant changes to the bodywork to ensure the GT3 RSR is more aerodynamic and has more even downforce front and rear. The changes include new air outlet slots to allow for an optional air-conditioning system and more adjustment on the rear wing to modify the handling for the conditions. Also improved is a “weight optimised” brake system and the installation of lighter wiring harness compared to the previous model.

Underneath the hood are more improvements, with the legendary six-cylinder Porsche boxer engine getting a capacity upgrade from 3.8 to 4.0L. Due to a reduction in the size of air restrictors for the 2009 season, the new RSR produces 450hp (compared to 465hp for last year’s model) and a maximum torque of 430Nm. Despite the lower horsepower figures, Porsche claims the 2009 model is easier to drive because the engine produces a higher output at lower rev levels throughout the range and a better torque curve.

Inside the racing cockpit is a new display that tells drivers when the best time is to change gears. Although Porsche did not go in to specifics about this, it looks similar to the system used in the Ferrari F430 and 599GTB supercars. As you can see from this gallery picture, the interior is completely stripped bare compared to a standard 911 and comes with the usual assortment of race-specific buttons.

The cost for a racing 911 is mind-boggling when compared to a standard 911. The RSR, for example, costs €380,000, which is around US$500,000 at today’s exchange rates, well above the price of a 911 GT2 at $200,000.

2009 Porsche 911 GT3 RSR Wallpaper

The 11 Most Depressing Moments Of The 2009 Detroit Auto Show

Just because we had fun at the Detroit Auto Show doesn't mean there weren't somber moments. In fact, most moments were. Here are the 11 most depressing moments from the 2009 Detroit Auto Show.

11.) Reporters Asking Us For Jobs

While working at Jalopnik may seem like a dream job, we're sometimes treated as a curiosity by print journalists who don't understand how the web works. Not this year. The sheer number of people asking, and the flood of resumes into Wert's inbox sort of harshed our buzz.

10.) The Lack Of A Firehouse

If you want to understand the sheer impact the Carpocalypse has had on the world, consider the fact the Firehouse bar is no more. For those unaware, the "Firehouse" was a real firehouse converted by Chrysler each year into a bar where they'd pay for free drinks and food for journalists. It was a fun afterparty. The kind of place you can have Dr. Z pour you a beer or Motor Trend Editor-in-Chief Angus McKenzie lecture you on the new media landscape for an hour. The Post's "Hacks n' Flacks" BYOB (Buy Your Own Beer) after-party, while fun, just wasn't quite the same.

9.) Swag And Press Releases

Any journalist worth his or her salt could walk out of an auto show with three or four-hundred USB flash drives and lots of toys. Back in the good ol' days of, you know, last year, automakers would pass out unnecessarily ornate press packs filled with USB drives on keychains and leather-bound press releases. This year they were back to pieces of paper and discs. The nicest USB drive we received was from BYD, which promptly corrupted the files we loaded on it (no joke).

8.) Cheap Floor Space

The lack of certain automakers meant companies like Revenge were no longer relegated to Michigan Hall in Cobo's basement. The reason this is so sad is it makes it seem like DUB cars are on the same level as the new offerings from Chrysler. Well... come to think of it.

7.) Chrysler

Chrysler President Jim Press used part of his press conference to explain why Chrysler would resurrect itself and how great a job the company has done in firing people. Seriously, they laid off like thousands of people. That makes them awesome how? But that's just Jim, the rest of the company was even worse. Like Cubs fans convinced this will be their year, Chrysler's need to convince everyone they have a future with cars like the 200C EV Concept is just depressing. This is especially true when you consider they didn't have the requisite cash to mount their logo without almost killing someone.

6.) GM's Fake Rally

GM built a fake card-carrying rally with employees around their reveal on Sunday morning of the Detroit Auto Show. You know it's bad when you look around and realize they couldn't even get enough employees together to make the rally look impressive.

5.) The Plight Of Male Booth Professionals

Since they had nothing to reveal, Lamborghini merely trotted out their typical team of hot booth professionals to pose in front of their cars. They held a press conference to do this and we, like others, took lots of photos. We felt awful for the male model as the sound of shutters clicking drastically declined when he walked on the platform. Sorry, guy who looks vaguely like a taller Mark Rufallo.

4.) Alcohol Consumption-to-New Product Ratio

There were a number of reveals this year, but not of new product. Most were concept cars of the pie-in-the-sky variety. The absence of new product on the show floor was made up for by automaker booze. Normally, we expect that type of thing in the after-hours, but this year that was cut back in favor of allowing cheaper offerings on the show floor in even greater quantities.

3.) Michigan Hall Basement Smell

Though it gave us a chance to drive the Ford Escape Plug-In Hybrid, the electric test track in the basement smelled awful. Was it the cars? No. Was it the Wayne State Formula SAE team? No. Actually, it was the mulch. The smell was so intolerable indoors, the VW booth above was forced to run their air conditioning to blow the smell out. That caused the air conditioning units to drip water into the basement, onto the track where it ran off into the mulch — thus causing the smell to become worse. By the end of the press preview, the Volkswagen booth was smelling like the inside of an abandoned Westfalia camper.

2.) Tuesday

Tuesday is usually a down day for the show, reserved for non-product press conferences and demonstrations. This year there was so little to report on we ended up in a two-way battle with dozens of auto reporters to get to the Tesla press conference and then again to get to Senator Bob Corker. Seriously, ou'd have thought Elon Musk and Corker were both Bono. Neither needs the added ego boost.

1.) Dead People

On the first night of the show we went out to a restaurant near Cobo to grab some food and do some work. We wandered out around 11 pm and noticed flashing police lights. We have to thank the jerk who said "Don't mind him, he's dead" and made us turn to see the lifeless body lying in the cold Detroit street because we'd have otherwise not noticed. We told the interns he was "sleeping" just to make sure they didn't go home with nightmares. Instead, we did.

Source : http://jalopnik.com/

2009 Detroit Auto Show winners and losers

In the midst of one of the toughest years the car industry has had to face and government loan programs getting underway, the 2009 Detroit Auto Show was set to be a touchy dance with public sentiment.

In the end the expectations proved true, and the restrained and carefully orchestrated displays focused on real-world practicality, or failing that, on future technology that could lead to practical applications for hybrid and electric vehicles.

So which carmakers succeeded and which failed? Which cars were winners and which losers? We have the straight truth fresh from the show floor.

Winners:
Fisker, for its Karma production sedan and Karma S convertible concept. Stunning design and impressive performance figures put these cars at the head of the pack of the new breed of hybrids. Marrying Ferrari-level styling with similar promise of performance (403hp from twin electric motors) is a feat not even Tesla Motors can claim to have achieved.

Audi, for the production-ready but still seductively styled Sportback Concept, and the R8 V10 that proves the horsepower wars aren't yet over. Competitors had best keep an eye out, and challengers will have their work cut out for them.

General Motors, for its trio of production-ready vehicles and the Converj Concept. Pairing the E-Flex powertrain with one of the most daring and yet attractive applications of the Cadillac design language, the Converj offers both hope for a truly profitable plug-in electric hybrid and a new interpretation of ecological luxury. The Equinox, LaCrosse and SRX likewise offer new hope for the success of the product-led revival at GM.

Toyota, for a new Prius that moves its look somewhat upscale while managing to improve on its already impressive technical capabilities. More powerful, more fuel efficient and more attractive is a package anyone can get behind. Now if only gas prices were in the right range, Toyota would have a hard time keeping them in stock.

Jaguar, for the XKR and XF-R. Keeping up with the Joneses is an especially difficult task if your Joneses are BMW, Mercedes, Audi and Lexus. Doing it on a shoestring budget, under new ownership and during the economic shipwreck that was 2008: truly impressive. The designs of the new cars speak for themselves, and should fare Jaguar well as it works to re-imagine itself and its role in the industry.

Losers:
Lincoln, for the MKT. Put simply, it is both ugly and an answer to a question asked by no one. Beyond the odd proportions and lackluster details of the MKT, however, the Focus-based C Concept is similarly bewildering: where did this come from, and why?

Subaru, for the Legacy Concept. Ugly in a vein that's sadly familiar thanks to the likes of the 2008 Impreza and any number of previous Subaru concepts. Unlike the WRX STI, however, it's unlikely that any degree of mechanical awesomeness will be able to bail out the gasping and flailing Legacy Concept.

Chrysler, for the ENVI trio of electric vehicles that smacks of about as much reality as a unicorn tea-party. While the design of the 200C is undeniably strong and forward-looking, it's also too little, too late, and wrapped around an 'EV' platform, reduces all hope of production to the realm of fantasy.

Lexus, for the HS250h. Outshone by the new Prius in terms of both performance and looks, the new HS could nonetheless prove a hit with smug and superior Hollywood types - itself a factor militating against its success in our eyes.

And finally, Mercedes, for soft-launching the E-Class in Detroit, but off the show floor. If it's too cool to rub shoulders with the best America and Japan have to offer, why not wait for Geneva? And even if it were launched properly in Detroit, its reception would almost certainly have been stronger and more positive nearer to its homeland. Two strikes for strategy, and one for design, Mercedes is out for this inning.

Withholding judgment:
Ford, for its all-new Taurus. A strong new design - though with an odd bit here and there - bodes well for the revival of a modern American classic. On the other hand, only the market will prove if Ford got the mix right when sales figures start to trickle in. On the fence about both design and market position - especially in relation to Lincoln's similarly-sized offerings - we'll withhold judgment until we see how the car fares with the public.

Gallery: 2009 Detroit Auto Show Winners and Losers

EPA docs confirm 2009 Mitsubishi Lancer Sportback coming in GTS and Ralliart trims

Any chance we get to grill a Mitsubishi PR person about the 2009 Lancer Sportback, our questioning inevitably centers on whether the five-door will be packing the Lancer Ralliart's turbocharged, all-wheel-drivetrain. At the New York Auto Show, we were told that the Sportback would "probably" carry the Ralliart's 237-hp, turbocharged inline-four and Evo IX-derived AWD system, but nobody from Mitsubishi would confirmed it.

Some snooping at the Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA) website reveals that Mitsubishi has already filed with the Feds for three different drivetrains for the 2009 hatch, including the GTS' 2.4-liter four-pot attached to either a CVT or five-speed manual, and a 2.0-liter DOHC turbo equipped with an "Automatic (S6)." The automatic in question is almost assuredly the six-speed twin-clutch (TC-SST) gearbox available on the Ralliart. For those of you unable to get around the recently redesigned 2009 Subaru Impreza WRX hatch's shape, a credible contender has arrived, and it should be hitting dealers this spring.