Although the Porsche Boxster and Cayman are built right next door in Finland, in neighboring Norway, the sportscars are subject to heavy tariffs due to their relatively high engine output. But according to reports from inside the Scandinavian country, the local importer has found a solution that apparently manages to bring down the price without consequence.

The Norwegian specifications for the entry-level Porsches show that the Boxster produces just 211 horsepower – a significant drop from its 255hp stock spec – while the Cayman is down to the same from 265. The benefit is that by coming in under the cap, the Porsches receive significant tax cuts: the 211hp Boxster saves the equivalent of over $15k, while the 211hp Cayman saves nearly $19k. You'd have to figure that these horsepower cuts, while financially advantageous, would have a negative effect on the cars' performance, but according to the chart, acceleration figures and top speeds remain the same: 0-100 km/h in 5.9 seconds for the Boxster and 5.8 for the Cayman, topping out at 263 and 265 km/h respectively.

Assuming the numbers don't lie, clearly something is rotten in the state of Norway.



[Source: BilNorge.no via WCF]

TAG Heuer is no stranger to the car world. They've been crafting driving watches for nearly 150 years and sponsor more racing drivers than you can shake a titanium-alloy rod at. Although the watchmaker has long since been sold to LVMH (which in turn nearly acquired Aston Martin a few years back), TAG partnered with Porsche to develop F1 racing engines in the 1980s for McLaren, in which the company still owns a stake. So it should hardly come as a great surprise that following the watchmaker's foray into the mobile phone market, they've teamed up with an exclusive sportscar manufacturer for a special edition.

The Meridiist Automobili Lamborghini is a quad-band GSM world phone packing 2 gigs of memory, a 2 megapixel camera, an unprecedented 28-day standby/7-hour talk time capacity, stereo Bluetooth and all the bells and whistles you could expect. The case is crafted from 316L stainless steel, coated in black titanium carbide, with a display screen made of 60.5-karat scratch-proof sapphire crystal. And naturally, it's emblazoned with Lambo logos front and back.

Taking aim squarely at Vertu's automotive-inspired luxury cellphones, only 1,963 examples of the Meridiist Lamborghini will be offered, in tribute to the year Ferrucio started selling sportscars. So don't expect to find them for sale down at your local phone shack, particularly since they'll only be available through Lamborghini dealers and select TAG Heuer retailers.



[Source: TAG Heuer and Lamborghini]

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The buck's got to stop somewhere. Toyota has been pouring in hundreds of millions of dollars into its Formula One racing program for seven years now and has little to show for it. Now after both Honda and BMW have mothballed their F1 teams, Toyota has confirmed longstanding speculation by doing the same.

The announcement was not expected for another few days, but with rumors persisting, the Japanese automaker appears to have moved things forward with a press conference held by Akio Toyoda. The president of the Toyota Motor Corporation expressed his gratitude to the team and offered his apologies to those affected by the decision, but revealed that the company could no longer justify supporting the program.

Among the hundreds of personnel the move now leaves stranded, the three racing drivers which the team fielded this season – Timo Glock, Jarno Trulli and Kamui Kobayashi – will now be looking for new race seats with other teams, the latter facing the difficult prospect (despite his impressive performance) of finding a drive without the patronage of a Japanese company, of which exactly zero remain following the departure of Toyota, Honda and Bridgestone. Meanwhile, the team's withdrawal leaves an open slot on the grid next season, potentially to be filled by a BMW-less Sauber team. And with all the resources Toyota has poured into the team, it would not be unrealistic to expect another outfit to step in and acquire its extensive racing operations based in Cologne, Germany.

Follow the jump to read the press release and the full statement from Akio Toyoda.

[Source: Toyota | Image: Mark Thompson/Getty]

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It isn't every day that Aston Martin comes out with a new car. And this isn't one of them, because the production version of the Rapide four-door saloon came out over a month ago already. But considering that the British sportscar-maker got by – just fine, thank you very much – on what essentially boiled down to a two-car line-up for several years, we'll gladly run with it a little longer. Because there are few cars on the road that are as sumptuously crafted or lustily styled as an Aston. And this is their first sedan in decades. So take a deep breath, poor yourself a dry martini, click on the thumbnails below, and take a stroll through the mega gallery of high-resolution images that Aston has released purely for your viewing enjoyment. We particularly like this one, which shows the high-dollar super saloon being used as an actual family car.



[Source: Aston Martin]

No three letters get Bimmer fans as riled up as CSL. The initials have historically been applied to lightweight, performance-focused versions of BMW's most extreme machinery. But while BMW isn't currently offering any CSL models for public consumption, the emergence of an M5 CSL and spy shots of a potential M3 CSL have Munich's followers frothing at the mouth.

The former turned out to be a one-of-a-kind special. But details on the latter are beginning to circulate, and they look promising. Firstly, sources suggest that the model won't wear the CSL designation at all, and instead be labeled either M3 GT or M3 GT4 Street, in reference to the homologated racing version.

First, the good stuff: the engine is tipped to be tuned in the neighborhood of 450 horsepower, give or take, driven exclusively through the 7-speed dual clutch transmission with no manual expected to be on offer. Stopping power is anticipated to come from Brembo 6-piston calipers up front and 4-pots in the rear gripping slotted steel discs, and while carbon-ceramics may be on the options list, the jury's still out on when BMW will roll out the production version of its F1-derived Kinetic Energy Recovery System, a.k.a. regenerative braking. Recaro buckets and the removal of the rear seats should help the M3 GT (or whatever it will be called) shed some 220 lbs of weight, sitting 25mm lower on BBS alloys mounted to a Sachs suspension with standard roll bars.

The prototype is said to have already lapped the Nurburgring in 7:40, with testing still underway in France. Targeting the Porsche 911 GT3, the hard-core M3 will be extremely limited in production – possibly as few as 25 examples annually – available directly from BMW Motorsport but certified for road use – at a price point hovering around 110,000 euros ($172k). Unfortunately, the signs suggest that it won't be making the transatlantic voyage Stateside. Thanks to Tim for the tip!

[Source: M3Post.com]

Microsoft has been in the car business for years, supplying specialized infotainment systems to automakers like Ford and Fiat. But the door swings both ways as a handful of automakers have released special theme packages for the new Windows 7 operating system.

So far Infiniti, Porsche, Ferrari and Ducati have all created custom themes for Windows 7, including desktop wallpapers, slide shows, screen savers and color schemes. Of course, automakers aren't the only companies taking part, with themes also available from Coca-Cola and Pepsi, the upcoming film Avatar, as well as Microsoft's own brands Bing, Gears of War and Zune. Follow the link to check out the growing selection, but unless you've got Windows 7 that's as close as you can get.

[Source: Microsoft]

Bridgestone has participated in Formula One since 1997 and has acted as the sole official tire supplier to the entire series for the past two seasons. But at the end of next year, its contract with the FIA and Formula One Management will expire, and the Japanese rubber company has announced that it does not intend to renew.

The withdrawal of Bridgestone means that F1 will need to look to another tire company to supply high-tech rubber to the growing grid of racers in the series. While the series could go back to the way it was a few years ago with different tire companies supplying different teams, they're more likely to seek out a single official replacement for Bridgestone, which meanwhile continues its participation in the GP2 series and in MotoGP as official tire partner. Details in the press release after the jump.

[Source: Bridgestone | Image: Robert Cianflone/Getty]

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Television coverage of Formula One grands prix typically end with an aerial shot of the podium and the fans beneath it, a panorama usually dominated by the tifosi passing a giant Scuderia Ferrari flag over the crowd. That view may have been largely absent with the void of Ferrari victories this season, but if you were watching the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix this past weekend you might have noticed something even bigger: the site of Ferrari World, the new theme park being constructed adjacent to the marina circuit on Yas Island.

The park can easily be picked out from the air, housed in a giant red roof that sports a 200-foot-tall Ferrari logo, the largest ever made. With doors set to open in the new year, details are now being released while work is underway on the attractions that will be included in the 200,000 square meters (over two million square feet) of indoor space dedicated to the park.

Among the 20+ rides that will be housed in the largest indoor park on earth will be the world's fastest roller coaster, a g-force drop tower breaching the 150-foot-high red steel roof to extend over 200 feet into the sky, racing simulators, karting and a flume ride through a giant Ferrari engine. Of course there will be plenty of hospitality and shopping to go along with the rides, more of which you can read about in the press release after the jump.



[Source: Ferrari World Abu Dhabi]

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After initially announcing the project back in 2006, Mercedes-Benz finally lived up to anticipation when it unveiled its new top-of-the-line SLS AMG at the Frankfurt Motor Show. But despite the supercar's superlative performance figures, the stock SLS is emerging as only the tip of the proverbial iceberg. In addition to an upcoming all-electric version and anticipated roadster, reports are popping up again to confirm that the German automaker is indeed working on a Black Series version that will take the car's performance to the edge of the envelope.

The report in Autocar equates the difference between the existing SLS and the upcoming Black edition to the distance bridged from the Corvette Z06 to the ZR1. That's some standard to live up to, but if reports prove accurate, the SLS AMG Black Series should be up to the task. Whereas the stock SLS offers 563 horsepower and 479 lb-ft of torque from its 6.2-liter V8, the Black version is tipped to produce upwards of 600 hp and more than 500 lb-ft of twist from the same engine, tweaked with a larger air manifold, higher compression, new camshafts, a mechanical locking diff and more.

Driving through the same 7-speed dual-clutch transmission and coupled to a revised aerodynamics package and aggressive weight-reduction program, the SLS Black is tipped to drop the stock 0-62 time down from 3.8 seconds to below 3.5 seconds and boost the top speed from 195 to 208 miles per hour. A commensurate 50% price hike to around £155k (~$250k) would put the SLS AMG Black Series on par with the Ferrari 599 GTB Fiorano with the HGTE handling package, set to hit the scene some time around 2013.



[Source: Autocar]

In the luxury segment, Acura has always been a bit of a lost puppy: Tempting to bring home and full of rewards to the owner who does, but never quite sure of where it is or where it's supposed to be. Over the past few years, Acura dealerships across North America – at the behest of Acura itself – have spent big bucks constructing glitzy new showrooms in anticipation of new products coming down the pipeline that would be capable of competing with other big luxury marques. But those heavily-invested franchises may find themselves holding their hats as the premium Honda division is changing its course again, and in the interim will be delaying significant model launches.

Part of the shift in strategy for Acura – which still markets exclusively in North America and China – is to put the final nail in the coffin for a rear-drive platform and V8 engines, two components seen as vital for going toe-to-toe with the European brands. Instead, Acura will reportedly focus on a more sensible approach to luxury vehicles during a "low-growth period" of new models, returning to the entry-level luxury segment to combat the likes of the BMW 1 Series and Audi A3, along with luxury hybrids. But it'll take the Japanese automaker a good few years to remake itself, and in the meantime sales are likely to continue declining as the TSX sport wagon (nee Honda Accord Tourer) and the new ZDX crossover (low-volume models both) hold down the fort as the only new arrivals in the pipeline.



[Source: Automotive News – sub. req'd]