Keeping up with current auto news isn’t always easy – just keeping up with general current events can be quite demanding these days. I know that at a certain point, for me, some of that news simply becomes white noise as information overload sets in and I have to spend some time watching videos of moose in the Alaskan wilderness or cats doing cat things. With so much information being thrown at us all the time, it can be easy to miss out on something particularly interesting (there are only so many hours in the day for cat videos!).
Here now, are five things that might have gotten by you as you made your way through the week. There’s a little something for everyone here, whether you like a homegrown Chevy or an exotic Lamborghini. So take a moment to catch up and enjoy!
#1 – The Lamborghini “Hypercar” Teaser
Let’s start off with something you don’t see every day: a revolutionary Lamborghini! I assume you don’t see a lot of Lamborghinis on your morning commute, but maybe you do – either way, the legendary automaker has hinted at something new. An Instagram post made by Lamborghini on August 22nd teased a new vehicle with the caption, “Something new is on the way. Can’t wait to see it? Just open your eyes to the future.”
The image doesn’t really give us much to go off – just a silhouette, a glowing Lamborghini emblem, and a pair of Y-shaped LED headlamps. It’s worth mentioning that this silhouette and light design are strikingly similar to a concept car that Lamborghini showed off a couple of years ago: a high-performance EV car that they developed in conjunction with MIT. For a Lamborghini EV to exist and deliver on the kind of performance you’d expect, some serious technological innovations would be necessary – so the implication here is quite exciting.
Does this mean that their concept is about to become a reality? It’s hard to say – at the very least it seems clear that some design elements were copied from the Terzo Millennio (the name of that EV performance concept car). Fortunately, we won’t have to wait very long to find out. The Instagram post included #IAA2019, which refers to the International Motor Show to be held in Germany starting on Thursday, September 12th!
#2 – The 2022 Chevy Corvette C8 Z06 Rumors
Time to go from a Lamborghini tease to rumors about what Chevrolet might be cooking up. While I’m still more than impressed by the reality of the 2020 Chevy Corvette and its mid-engine design, a lot of folks are already looking toward the future and wondering what else we’re going to see with this vehicle. In particular, there are rumors swirling about what we might get on an eventual Z06 model of the all-new Corvette.
The word going around is that it will be released for 2022, giving the baseline edition a year or two in the spotlight, and offer all the ultra-high-performance features you would probably expect from a Z06. Of specific note is the rumor that it will feature a twin-turbo V8 engine informed by the one found in the Cadillac CT6-V. This engine, if these stories are correct, would produce 800hp and more than 700 lb-ft of torque for performance that would simply blow everything else away.
The 2020 Chevy Corvette is going to be released with an eight-speed dual-clutch automatic transmission, and we might find that in the rumored 2022 Corvette Z06. There’s also the possibility of a manual transmission in the ultra-performance Z06, but I personally don’t think that seems likely. I predict something like a 10-speed dual-clutch automatic to really highlight the performance of the Z06, while keeping it consistent with the core driving experience of the all-new Corvette.
#3 – The Volkswagen ID Buggy Concept EV
First revealed a few months ago at the Geneva Motor Show, a concept EV dune buggy from Volkswagen has been in the headlines for adding a fun new twist to off-road driving. The press has recently been allowed to try out this slick buggy and its electric powertrain to see how it handles and feel what it has to offer. And so far, everyone has loved it – enjoying not only its simple and fun design but also the power it brings to the table.
The 62-kilowatt-hour battery in the ID Buggy has enough power to let you go about 150 miles based on testing by European officials. That battery puts out about 200 hp and more than 200 lb-ft of torque, which means it has plenty of energy for navigating dunes and just plain having fun. With 9 inches of clearance, 18-inch wheels, and a waterproof body, the ID Buggy is clearly designed for going off-road and tackling pretty much anything you find along the way.
At the moment, the ID Buggy is just a concept EV that has been shown off and tested a bit here and there. However, the word is that Volkswagen may be seriously considering a production model, and it seems likely that these press events have been to test the waters a bit. Since car-enthusiasts and bystanders alike seem excited by the ID Buggy, I wouldn’t be at all surprised if we see something very much like it coming from VW into showrooms in the next couple years.
#4 – The 2020 Audi RS6 Avant is Coming to the US
Wagon-style vehicles have long had a pretty bad reputation here in the US – we‘ve seen them as family cars that don’t really offer much beyond room for squawking kids and loading up for a trip to the beach. That’s been changing a bit recently, however, with hatchbacks reinvigorating the market for something with more room than a sedan, but taking up less space than an SUV. In the not-too-distant future, we’re going to get something even more: a performance wagon.
Audi recently announced that the RS6 Avant is going to get an American release. What is the RS6 Avant? Well, it’s a wagon with a beast of an engine: a 4.0L twin-turbo mild-hybrid V8 engine that provides up to 592 hp and 590 lb-ft of torque. Seriously! That’s way more power than a lot of large SUVs end up with, which lets this rad wagon go from 0 to 60 in less than 4.0 seconds. You can reach 124 mph with the RS6 Avant from a rest in only 12 seconds.
So if you’re interested in a wagon but want something with more power to it than you’ve come to expect, then this is definitely good news. Unfortunately, we don’t know when, exactly, Audi will be releasing this beauty here in North America, or how much it will cost, but we do know it’s on its way. Read more about this exciting news on Autoblog.
#5 – The Company Toyota Would Like to Partner With
Some of Toyota’s best work comes when they partner with another company; the revamped Toyota Supra, for example, came from a partnership with BMW. That same partnership also gave us the BMW Z4, so these things go both ways. The result of such partnerships is always the same: we win and get something exciting and new.
When recently asked which company he would most like to partner with next, particularly to develop a new sports car and perhaps even revive the MR2, Tetsuya Tada (he is the chief engineer on the Supra) responded with a simple word: “Porsche!”
Does that mean we’re going to see a new Toyota-Porsche partnership and a reinvigorated MR2? Probably not any time soon, or at least there’s no real evidence for it. But now we know what he’s thinking and what might (maybe?) one day come to be.
