When developing the LFA, Lexus engineers went to great lengths, partnering with craftsmen at the Yamaha music division to tune the engine note with musical precision. To demonstrate this incredible feat of engineering required a feat of engineering in itself. Lexus partnered with two university physicists, a team of sound experts and professional racecar driver Scott Pruett to take on a seemingly impossible challenge—break a champagne glass using the sound of the LFA engine.

Volvo conducted a Pan-European behavioral experiment, disguised as a launch party for the all-new Volvo S60 to find out. The Naughty City Study appointed Paris as the naughty capital of Europe.

“I observed people’s behavior during all five events, and the Parisians clearly came out as the most self-centered, natural exhibitionists. The Parisians were flirting and posturing, making an effort to be caught by the cameras. They disrespectfully walked over arranged flowerbeds, and they sang naughty songs out loud in our karaoke car. It was quite lovely to see them act out their naughtiness”, says Dr Katarina Graffman who has been traveling together with Lykke Li and Face Hunter around Europe with the Volvo Subject60 tour hitting Berlin, London, Milan, Paris and Madrid. (more…)

Fellas, we need to dig deep into our predatory/ cave-mannish instincts! What do we all want this summer? Summers fling aka SEX. Women want it too, trust me.  But in order to get the girl, we need to set the trap.  With that said,  what’s a better trap than a nice ride?

Trap 1: Rolls Royce Drop Head Coupe

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In conjunction with Elton John’s AIDS Foundation White Tie and Tiara Ball, world renowned artist Damien Hirst produced a special one off version of the A1 by German automaker Audi, marking the eight consecutive year the company has participated in this event. Putting Hirst’s popular spin paint technique to work, the car featured a special candyfloss pink paint job, selling at auction for 420,000 euros, along with a 1.80-meter high spin painting on canvas. The vehicle model in particular won’t see a release in the UK until November 2010, marking the most exclusive donation that Audi has ever given away.

Shell recently commissioned a full size, transparent version of a Nissan 370Z to demonstrate their new Helix Ultra line of engine oil. The design team copied all 2000+ parts of the car, and enlarged the engine to roughly two times the original size to film the flow of oil through the mechanically functional engine. Take a look at the video to see the car in action.

Via PSFK

BMW announced that the 17th Art Car created by Jeff Koons will race at the 24 Hours of Le Mans in France, June 12-13, 2010. Koons’ canvas is a BMW M3 GT2, which was homologated to compete at this year’s running of the world’s most famous endurance race. The concept car will be unveiled at the Centre Pompidou in Paris on June 1, 2010.

As part of his creative process, the artist collected images of race cars and graphics, vibrant colors and speed. He layered them into a digital collage depicting his sources of inspiration. The resulting graphic conceived by Koons – evocative of power, motion and light and rendered in the artist’s signature saturated hues on a black ground set against the car’s silver interior – will impart a dynamic appearance to the race car even when it’s standing still. (more…)

The Porsche Panamera has been dismantled and reassembled by Russian tuners TopCar.  They call their modified Panamera the “Stingray”. The exterior features a new front bumper, carbon fiber hood, skirts, and rear 2-part spoiler, bumper, and diffuser.  Finishing trim includes tail lamp covers and carbon fiber look windows reveal moldings.  TopCar claims the aerodynamics are significantly improved over the stock vehicle with these changes.

Its interior uses carbon trim with checkerboard look.  Combined with the perforated, quilted Nappa leather the interior features many different patterns.  The Engine has been re-tuned to produce 542hp, though these changes were not detailed.  A new exhaust was also installed. (more…)

While the Bugatti 16C Galibier was winning rave reviews, at the Geneva Motor Show, a potential competitor was silently stalking in the background. It was the Quant, a concept jointly-developed by NLV Solar and Koenigsegg.

Set to be production ready next year, the Quant was designed to prove “cutting-edge supercars can combine speed, comfort and enjoyment with environmental integrity.” It features two different battery systems (“a long-life metal-air battery or a rechargeable redox flow cell”), four torque-vectoring electric motors, a full carbon fiber chassis, and a revolutionary thin-film coated photovoltaic body.
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At the Geneva Auto Show, Lotus announced that eight special edition “Naomi for Haiti Evoras” have raised over 1.4 million Euros at auction.

Designed by Donato Coco, with input from Naomi Campbell, the Evoras were auctioned at the Fashion for Relief charity event.  All proceeds were donated to the White Ribbon Alliance, an organization that will be assisting in rebuilding the healthcare system in Haiti.

With all the negativity surrounding Naomi over the last few years, its good to see she has a heart.

More images after the jump (more…)

At the Detroit Auto show this year nay vehicles were debuted.  Nonetheless, Chrysler’s announcement to bring an electric versions of the Fiat 500 to the US market in 2012 was…(in the words of our Vice President), A Big Fucking Deal.

The US edition will undergo further development at Chrysler HQ in Auburn Hills, Michigan.  Engineering Executive Scott Kunselman said “The Fiat 500 is a small, lightweight platform perfect for integrating electric-vehicle technology.  The alliance with Fiat presented new opportunities to merge Chrysler Group engineering knowledge with new platforms.”

Details about the cars performance, power, range and recharge time were not disclosed in Detroit.  US pricing of the Fiat 500EV will be announced closer to the vehicles launch date, but the company says it “will be competitive with similar electric vehicles in the market.”  Let’s just hope that means cheaper than the Chevy Volt or Mini Cooper.

More images after the jump (more…)