The current 6.1L HEMI has been the heart and soul of Chrysler’s SRT-8 line since 2006. It packs 425-horsepower and 420-lbs/tq. and pulls like a hammer. Over the last four years we’ve also heard about Chrysler’s 6.4 liter HEMI and those of us with SRT’s have literally been drooling at the mouth in the hopes that this engine would find itself in the new upcoming crop of SRT-8 models. The engine, as of November and according to Ram trucks chief Fred Diaz, was originally supposed to appear in Ram’s heavy-duty trucks. Now however things seemed to have changed as Joe Veltri, Chrysler VP of product development stated that the new engine was designed not for heavy hauling, but for performance and will indeed be the mill of choice for hopeful SRT-8 owners.

The next stage of Kia’s transformation from design also-ran to serious contender will kick off at the New York Auto Show in few weeks. After launching the Forte sedan and Koup, the new Sorento and, most recently, the Sportage, Kia’s new design language is being applied to the Optima. The all-new 2011 Kia Optima is longer, wider and lower than the car it replaces although we don’t know by how much. While it’s not as aggressive as the sketches released a few weeks ago, this Optima is certainly a huge step forward.

We don’t have any mechanical details yet, but we’d guess that the Optima shares a lot under the skin with the new Hyundai Sonata. Nor would we be at all surprised to learn that the Optima won’t have a V6 engine option this time around. Instead, it’ll probably use the same direct-injected 2.4-liter inline-four found in the Sonata. The turbocharged and hybrid variants may follow as well.

Just as the new sixth-generation BMW 5 Series sedan goes on sale in Europe, a new station wagon variant has been unveiled. Like past editions of the 5 Series Touring, this one is essentially the same as the sedan, only with the roof extending straight back to enclose a substantially larger cargo area.

All of the fancy new technology that we’ve already seen in the 5 Series Gran Turismo and sedan is carried over into the Touring. That includes the driver assistance systems like the surround-view cameras and parking assist. Underhood, BMW’s twin-turbo 4.4-liter V8 won’t be available at launch, but a selection of gas and diesel four- and six cylinder engines will be offered. The range-topping 535i is powered by the new 300-horsepower 3.0-liter N55 twin-scroll turbo direct-injected inline-six.

Single-turbo versions of the 2.0-liter inline-four and 3.0-liter inline-six diesels are also available with 184 hp and 245 hp respectively. The four-cylinder 520d Touring gets an EU combined fuel economy rating of 45.2 miles per gallon (U.S.) with the 530d also scoring an impressive 36.8 mpg. 

Simply handsome!

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While there’s still no word on whether Fiat/Chrysler will bring an electric version of the retro-metro 500 to market, it appears that someone else will. Atomik Cars has taken the 500 Abarth and made it meaner and cleaner. The new company’s aim is to deliver a zero-emission vehicle that blends supercar performance with city car packaging. Atomik’s motto is “Anticipating the future.” It may well have succeeded.

With output from its AC brushless synchronous motors reportedly equivalent to that of a 300 horsepower engine, the Atomik 500 slingshots to 60 mph in 5.6 seconds. It has lithium iron phosphate (LiFePO4) batteries in unknown quantity, a ceramic heating system to warm its passengers and a “Peltier A/C module w/o gas” to cool them. More details will forthcoming as its April debut at Top Marques Monaco draws near, but we can tell you that its rarity is all but guaranteed: only around 50 copies will be available for purchase.

Remember Proton’s Wira based Arena “pick-up truck”? I still see some traders putting the Arena to good use and it has carved out a niche for itself in Australia, where it’s called Jumbuck. Here’s one car with a similar concept from Peugeot, and it’s called the Hoggar.

The Hoggar is made for the South American market, and is based on the domestic 207. However, the 207 in question is not the same car that competes in Europe’s supermini class, but a 206 with a changed cabin and redesigned to look like the “big mouthed” 207. The Hoggar has a payload of about 742 kg.

Peugeot’s small pick-up will be launched in Brazil in May and will come with two engine options: a 1.4-litre and a 1.6-litre, both with flex-fuel technology. Flex-fuel cars can run on gasoline, ethanol or a mixture of the two. In Brazil, ethanol made mostly from sugar cane makes up 25% of the E25 fuel that’s sold in pumps. Unfortunately, not all countries benefit from biofuel.

The new Honda CR-Z has only been on sale in Japan for two weeks, and already the automaker has received over 7,000 orders for the small hybrid. This represents about 60 percent of the 12,000 units that Honda anticipated to sell domestically in the hatch’s first year of production. If this trend continues, Honda may have to ramp up production of the CR-Z in Japan to meet the high demand.

The CR-Z’s fortunes in other markets will be every bit as interesting to watch, of course. Some question whether Honda’s idea of a sports hybrid that takes just under 10 seconds to hit 60 miles per hour might not be what the doctor ordered, especially when paired with surprisingly disappointing fuel economy figures. Of course, that’s largely just what the online enthusiast community is saying at the moment, and not necessarily any indication of the car’s eventual marketplace success whatsoever.

We sincerely hope that the new CR-Z carries the torch in a way that does not appear to be conveyed by these early performance numbers. Either way, watching the CR-Z’s long-term sales prospects both at home and in other markets will be far more important to the model’s fortunes than an early sales boom in Japan and pre-launch online skepticism.

Have you heard of VÄTH before? I haven’t, but you’ll definately hear its latest creation when it zooms by. As if the Mercedes-Benz SLK55 AMG’s 355 bhp and 510 Nm isn’t enough for such a small roadster, the Hösbach based tuner has enlarged the capacity of the V8 to 5.8-litres (hence the V58 name) and plonked in a supercharger! The end result is an insane 565 bhp and 770 Nm of torque.

Upgrades include sports pistons, sports distribution shafts, exhaust manifolds, high-grade steel catalysts, sports exhaust silencers, polished cylinder heads, a sports air filter and a long-stroke crankshaft. Together with ECU tuning, the V58’s new top speed is 310 km/h. At 30,785 euros, it’s not cheap though. A locking differential a “home-produced and patented” fuel cooler is optional.

This SLK sits on a user adjustable sports suspension which lowers the car from 20 mm to 65 mm, while the brake upgrade kit brings six-piston calipers with 378 mm discs. 19-inch wheels with 235/35 front tyres and 275/30 rears complete the package.

The exterior mods don’t look too over the top, although the removal of the big three pointed star leaves an empty round hole, and the LED strips sit uncomfortably near to the foglamps, looking very much like an afterthought. The V58’s lower body gets carbon add ons including a rear diffuser. Unsurprisingly, more carbon appears in the cabin.

GMC, the “Professional Grade” truck maker under the General Motors umbrella, isn’t finished adding luxe touches to its Heavy Duty series of Sierra pickup trucks. Just yesterday, GMC rolled out a brand-new Denali version of the HD pickem-up truck, but later this year at launch it will be available only as a crew-cab, four-wheel drive, single-rear wheel, three-quarter-ton model.

Before the end of the year, though, GMC will begin spreading the Denali love down its entire line-up of heavy haulers, and PickupTrucks.com is reporting that the dual-rear wheel dually chassis will be included. Naturally, a choice of either the 6.0-liter gasoline-powered V8 or the torque-tastic 6.6-liter Duramax diesel V8 will be the biggest choice at the time of purchase, followed by the buyers selection of either black, gray or white. Pricing has not yet been announced.

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Undoubtadly that  the GT-R is a desirable beast, but what Nissan is doing with it for next year is pure stolidity.  Godzilla will receives a few minor tweaks for 2011, including some minor suspension tuning, a double clear coat on its front and rear fascias, new rear cooling ducts and – wait for it – slightly darker wheel center caps than on the 2010 model that is pictured. Additionally, the 2011 GT-R – henceforth only available in Premium trim – gets more standard features, including auto on/off headlamps, speed-sensitive windshield wipers, Bluetooth, a USB iPod interface and XM NavWeather and NavTraffic. All of this can be yours for $85,060 (*including $1000 destination charge), which represents an increase of $1,020 over the 2010 GT-R Premium. Curiously, spokesperson Darryll Harrison said that the automaker can’t confirm a limited production volume.

We’ve seen before cases of very limited, exclusive, tweaked-but-not-tweaked cars with little additional features that added big money to the price but this GT-R is testing your hand. 1000 bucks for darker wheel center caps?

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