Playboy Crowns the Hottest Cars of 2008

Which cars will be turning heads on the street this year? According to Playboy’s "2008 Cars of the Year," a high-performance hybrid surges past competitors, a European import squeezes to the top, and a luxury carmaker provides one of the most fuel efficient and affordable vehicles on the road.

The selected cars were chosen by an expert team of automotive writers who traveled the world and test drove every new model hitting the showroom floor this year. The vehicles were taken on the sharpest turns, most challenging curves, and the steepest hills to properly separate the superlative from the mediocre.

And the winners are:

PLAYBOY’S 2008 CAR OF THE YEAR: Audi R8
BEST LUXURY SPORTS COUPE: Maserati GranTurismo
SMARTEST PURCHASE: Smart Fortwo
BEST SUV: Land Rover LR2
BEST CROSSOVER: Buick Enclave CXL
BEST CONVERTIBLE: BMW 335i
BEST EARTH-DAY CAR: Mercedes-Benz E320 Bluetec
BEST PINT-SIZE PERFORMANCE: Volvo C30

Audi wins two "red dot design awards"

This year, AUDI AG has won two prestigious “red dot awards: communication design” in the category of dialog marketing. Design Zentrum Nordrhein Westfalen in Essen paid tribute yesterday to Audi’s creative agency gingco.net for the outstanding design of the Audi mailings.

The awards were made for the mailing campaigns for the presales phase of the Audi A5 and Audi S5, and for the market launch of the Audi R8. In its A5 mailing, Audi said goodbye to its customary catalog format, surprising readers with a high-quality, semi-transparent photo folder. What was so convincing about the Audi R8 mailing was an innovatively folded box containing an elaborately designed brochure about the super sports car.

“Audi is the leading automobile brand when it comes to design – in choosing an Audi, you’re choosing the utmost in design quality,” says Peter Zieten, Head of Communication Germany at AUDI AG. “We are pursuing the high demands that we place upon design and the language of form in all aspects of brand management. Winning two 2007 red dot awards once again demonstrates that we are setting the standard in brand communication,” stresses Zieten.

The red dot design award is one of the most prestigious honors on the worldwide design scene and has been given since 1955 by the Design Center in Essen to reward innovative, quality design. This year, the jury of twelve international design experts received over 7,000 entries from 34 countries in the categories of “red dot award: product design,” “red dot award: communication design” and “red dot award: design concept.” The winners and their clients will be featured in the “red dot communication design yearbook 2007/2008” and presented at a special exhibition to be held at the red dot design museum in Essen

Honda Fit pases Toyota Corolla

In Japan.

But, it may be a sign of things to come elsewhere.

The Honda Fit has passed the Toyota Corolla as the best-seller in Japan, with Fit sales increasing by more than 100% in November over the previous year level. To this point, the Corolla had been the top-seller in Japan for over a year. But, its sales dropped 10% last month.

Despite that, the Fit was the only Honda that cracked the top ten in Japanese domestic sales, with 8 of the other top spots taken by Toyota and one by Nissan.

In the United States version, the Fit is a 109 hp 1.5 liter minicar that starts at $13,950, which includes side curtain airbags and a “sport” model for $15,270.

Hummer H3 Black Edition

The iconic HUMMER offering for Europe will be enhanced with the introduction of a new, exclusive, all-black HUMMER H3 which combines stunning style and excellent value with extras worth € 5.000,- fitted as standard. Just 50 examples will be offered and will go on sale by the end of this year. As with all HUMMERs sold through the official European importer the vehicles come with a four-year, 100,000 km warranty and European Roadside Assistance programme.

The H3 Black Edition is based on the premium H3 Adventure automatic model and combines a lustrous black exterior and plush black leather interior with a full collection of matt black accessories, including a matt black grille, tubular assist steps, roof crossbars, lockable fuel door, door handles, mirrors and black powder-coated wheels.

Twenty five of the H3 Black Edition models will additionally feature the large electric sliding sunroof which has proved a popular option. Among the array of standard interior fittings is a fully integrated Kenwood HUMMER Navigation system.


The value to the customer of the extras fitted as standard is approximately € 6.150,- including VAT. Yet the H3 Black Edition will carry a price tag only € 1.250,- higher than a Adventure edition on which it is based – resulting in a customer saving of € 4.900,-. (Calculation based on German pricing. Consumer price may vary in case of different VAT rules).

The HUMMER H3 Black Edition is designed to do much more than make fifty lucky customers across Europe feel very happy. It is another example of the HUMMER spirit that promotes the iconic design, but also makes it clear that, with H3 prices starting at € 49.950,-, the HUMMER H3 is much greater value than many think.

The H3 Black Edition is one of a series of exciting initiatives created by Kroymans HUMMER Europe, the European importer of HUMMER vehicles. The organization, situated at Breukelen in the Netherlands, has been combined with a strong new European dealer network with more than 40 outlets, reflecting the rapid growth of the HUMMER brand in Europe as well as in America. The new central organization provides yet more benefits for HUMMER customers

2008 Toyota Land Cruiser V8

The new Land Cruiser V8, Toyota’s top of the range model, is to make soon its debut on the European market. This eighth generation retains all the world-beating off-road capability of its predecessors but adds more refinement, comfort and superior driving quality.

Land Cruiser chief engineer, Sadayoshi Koyari, explains the development theme of this new generation as follow: “For more than 50 years now three key words have been the basis of each generation of Land Cruiser: strength, durability and reliability. Therefore, rather than opting for revolutionary change, we decided to carry on the sense of trust in the Land Cruiser as the basic concept. With the latest generation we had to recognise the loyalty of Land Cruiser customers by providing a vehicle that will not betray their trust.”

Built on a completely redesigned platform with a body-on-frame design, the length of the new model has been increased to 4950mm while the wheelbase has been kept to 2850 mm. The height varies between 1865mm and 1910mm depending on the suspension featured on the model, the width of the model is reaching 1970mm.



The new Land Cruiser will be available with a brand new 4.5 D-4D V8 diesel engine, combined with a new 6 speed automatic transmission, which develops an impressive 650 Nm from 1600 to 2800 rpm and 286 hp at 3600 rpm. This diesel engine has a fuel consumption of 10,2 L/100km, a 4% improvement versus the outgoing 4.2 TD L6 engine, based on the European combined cycle.

The model will be also available with an improved 4.7 VVT-i V8 petrol engine, combined with a 5 speed automatic transmission, which develops 445 Nm at 3400 rpm and 288 hp at 5400 rpm. This petrol engine has a fuel consumption of 14.4 L/100km, a 12% improvement, based on the European combined cycle. Both engines are fully compliant with Euro IV emissions regulations.

Advanced new technologies to make new Land Cruiser V8 a genuine, go-anywhere off-road vehicle include:


The world first Crawl Control system, available in combination with the petrol engine, which automatically controls the engine and the brakes to maintain a very low speed, avoiding spinning and locking. The driver only needs to steer the vehicle when driving in extreme off-road situations.
The world first 4-Wheel Active Height Control and Adaptive Variable Suspension (4W AHC & AVS)*, which links all four wheels’ suspension system for the first time and also provides a new spring rate control system.
The European first Kinetic Dynamic Suspension System (KDSS), which actively operates the front and rear stabiliser bars based on a pair of hydraulic control cylinders.
A newly developed centre Torsen® Limited Slip Differential (LSD).
The new model will feature a wide range of advanced safety features like the newly developed Multi Terrain Anti-lock Brake System, the Vehicle Stability Control, the Electronic Brake-force Distribution and 14 Airbags.

The new Land Cruiser V8 will be unveiled in Europe at the St-Petersburg Motor Show (Russia) on October 24th. Sales of the model are starting today in Japan while the European sales start will be as of December 2007.

New Agila arrives at showrooms in April

Low emissions and an affordable price tag mean Vauxhall’s New Agila is set to be hot in the city when it arrives in showrooms in April. Available to order from early next year, the compact but flexible newcomer benefits from tax-busting CO2 figures of just 120g/km on both the entry-level petrol and diesel engines, meaning it will fall into VED Band B – the cost of a tax disc being just £35 a year!

Adding to its affordability, Agila will cost from only £7,595 when it arrives. Three trim levels will be on offer, all with impressive levels of standard equipment, plus the added advantage of the car’s incredibly versatile interior layout.

Small enough to be manoeuvrable into tight parking spaces, but with five doors and five full-size seats with three-point belts as standard, Agila benefits from enough luggage space to rival cars in the class above, providing plenty of room for the busiest of lifestyles.

The clever design allows for plenty of storage space inside and the tall roofline provides an airy, spacious feel. It also allows a high seating position, making it easy to get in and out of the Agila and ensure good visibility even in heavy urban traffic.




For those occasions when owners need to carry furniture rather than friends, the rear seat backs can be folded down to create a completely flat load floor on all but the entry-level model. In total the new Agila has a luggage capacity of 1050 litres – among the best in this sector.

To complement the dynamic looks and all-new chassis, the Agila will offer three new engines and an automatic gearbox will be available for the first time. Petrol units include a 1.0-litre three-cylinder unit developing 65PS and an 85PS 1.2, the latter of which will be available with optional automatic transmission. Vauxhall’s award-winning 1.3CDTi diesel will also be on offer, delivering excellent performance from its 75PS while sipping fuel.

Top Gear: Bugatti Veyron Against Eurofighter