Scoop: All-New 2014 Subaru Forester Busted Out in the Open!

While Subaru put up a shadowy teaser of the next iteration of the Forester on its Japanese website, and not too long after we shared scans from the car's Japanese Domestic Market (JDM) brochure, the first real-life images of the compact crossover hit the net.

It’s not hard to see that Subaru didn't want to alienate buyers of one of its most popular global models when it came to design, as the new Forester looks like a more modern, or evolutionary, if you prefer, interpretation of the current model.

Besides the more forceful face incorporating Subaru's latest grille design, the high-riding, station wagon gains some new styling cues, the most notable of which concern the more prominent wheel arches and heavily sculpted door sills, the addition of a small quarter window up front and new door mounted mirrors.

Read more »

Spy Shots: Next Generation of BMW's Twin-Turbo X5 M SUV

Only a day after we showed you a video of BMW's "super" SUV doing the rounds on the Nürburgring, our man with the photographic lens caught another prototype affording us a motionless view of the next X5 M.

But how do we know for sure that this is indeed the "M" model and not one of the lower powered versions of the F15 (that's BMW's internal code for the next X5)?

Well, the large alloy wheels draped in extra beefy low profile tires, along with the huge brake discs and mainly, the twin tailpipes on both corners of the rear diffuser, are all typical traits of BMW's M series of models.

Read more »

U Spy: New Rolls Royce Ghost Coupe Filmed Lapping the Nürburgring

Thanks to CarScoop reader and Nürburgring dweller Timo S., we now have the first ever action footage of Rolls Royce's upcoming Ghost-based coupe, the production name of which, remains a tightly guarded secret for now.

The spy video affords us a look at how Goodwood's new Flying Lady tackles the corners and straights of the Nürburgring Nordschleife track at speeds and angles you don't normally see a Rolls Royce model.

Read more »

Spied: New BMW M6 Gran Coupe Nabbed without any Camouflage

The performance edition of BMW's new 6-Series Gran Coupe has been captured "naked" in the Bavarian firm's factory while the car was on a lift for service. The photo was posted on Twitter by a Dutch BMW dealer called "BMW De Beier"

From this angle, we can see the new M6 Gran Coupe's large alloy wheels with brake discs to match along with other traditional "M" cues such as the mirrors, sculpted side skirts and fender vents.

If we're not mistaken, there's also another M6 Gran Coupe finished in black parked behind the silver car on the hoist.

Read more »

Scoop: 2015 BMW X5 M Prototype Pushed Hard on the Nürburgring

It takes a lot of work and many dedicated people to create any type of vehicle that is to be sold to the public, but trying out some cars can be a little bit more enjoying than others, even if we are talking about an SUV.

Unlike their arbeitskolleges at Mercedes-Benz's AMG department who had an unfortunate mishap earlier today with the SLS GT AMG…Toast Edition, BMW's M people were able to keep the upcoming X5 M under control while pushing the performance crossover to its limits on the Nordschleife.

Read more »

Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG Black Edition Prototype Burns to the Ground on the 'Ring

What could have been a follow up on Monday's news on the sighting of another prototype of Mercedes-Benz's SLS AMG Black Series Edition took a…toastier twist today as the German firm's test car ended up on a guardrail while running on the Nürburgring race track and burned to the ground.

There's not a lot of information about the incident at this time, though, we do know that both the driver and his passenger abandoned the vehicle uninjured before it was engulfed in flames.

The bits and pieces of the SLS AMG Black Series Edition that are scatted on the ground along with the positioning of the car suggest that drive may have lost control smashing into the guardrail with the Gullwing coupe's rear end.

Read more »

Spy Shots: 2015 Mercedes-Benz C63 AMG Sports Sedan will Likely get Twin-Turbo V8

The go-faster crew at Mercedes-Benz's AMG division has its hands full these days with an army of new models including the BMW M3-rivaling C63 AMG edition of the upcoming W205 series that will replace the current C-Class.

The next C63 AMG, scheduled for a release within the next 18 months, was captured by our spy photographers running a few hot laps on the Nürburgring track. The camouflaged test car featured slightly wider fenders and bigger brakes than its lesser siblings.

Read more »

U Spy: A 2014 Bentley Continental Flying Spur in a Mercedes-Benz S-Class Costume

When not trying out cars like the V10-powered Lexus LFA at Silverstone, CarScoop reader Jean-Luc C. is as observant as a hawk. While on his way to work, Jean-Luc spotted an odd-looking Bentley and was quick enough to snap some quick spy shots for us with his cell phone.

"I took these shots on my way into work on the M6 (About 15 miles away from the Bentley Factory in Crewe)," he told us.

"It looked like a Continental Flying Spur - but a lot of tape and a terrible S-Class grille taped to the front. It is obviously something under cover being tested - But what?"

Read more »

Scoop: Lexus Caught Testing Third Special LF-A Called the AD-X with a Very Porsche Like Livery

We have to admit, Lexus has us somewhat baffled lately with its special LF-A prototypes roaming the famed Nürburgring test track.

As you may very well remember, over the past few months, our spies have nabbed two unique test cars, including a teal-colored model with black stripes and the "AD-A" inscription on the front fenders, followed by a green LFA, again with black stripes but with an "AD-B" label right behind the front wheel arches.

Now, we have a third (!) prototype, this one painted in a white color scheme with red accents on the body and wheels that brings to mind the Porsche 911 Carrera RS. It's named the LFA AD-X.

Read more »

Scoop: 2014 Mercedes-Benz E63 AMG Shows its Sharper Face on the 'Ring

Here's our first glimpse of the redesigned 2014 model Mercedes-Benz E63 AMG that will make its debut alongside the rest of the facelifted E-Class family, including the regular saloons, Estate, Convertible and Coupe models, early next year with sales to follow in spring.

The common denominator of these models is the smoother and more contemporary lines of the body, something mainly achieved through the replacement of the quartet of headlights with two single units and the scraping of the "Ponton" style rear fenders rear.

Read more »

Spy Shots: Swanky Rolls Royce Ghost Coupe Visits the 'Ring for Some High Speed Laps

The Nürburgring track is one of the last places you would expect to see a Rolls Royce, but if the rumors turn out to be true, the new Ghost-based Coupe may feel at home even here.

You see, the new two-door model, the name of which remains a mystery for now, is said to be the sportiest, fastest and best handling model ever to wear the "Spirit of Ecstasy" ornament on its hood.

While utilizing the platform and mechanical hardware of the Ghost sedan, itself related to the BMW 7-Series, the new Coupe will benefit from a shorter chassis with several upgrades including sportier suspension, brake and steering systems as well as a tuned version of the saloon's 6.6-liter twin turbo V12 engine believed to produce 600-horses or more.

Read more »

Scoop: What's Audi Doing with This Modified R8 GT on the Nürburgring?

Earlier today, our man with the long lens photographed what he described as a "strange looking" Audi R8 GT performing some test runs on the Nürburgring Nordschleife racetrack.

The reason why the test car captured our spy photographer's attention is that, while based on the hardcore 2012 R8 GT of which only 333 units are to be made, it featured some visible upgrades, but not of the sort seen on the recently facelifted R8 series.

Read more »

Spied: All-New 2013 Skoda Octavia will Share Platform and Engines with New Golf 7

After eight years in the market, it's time for Skoda's successful family notchback to slowly give its place to a brand new Octavia that will make its world premiere sometime next year, either at the Geneva Salon in March or at the Frankfurt Motor Show later on in September.

For the first time, our scoop shooters seized a prototype of the production Octavia Mk3 as the Czech firm's engineers were performing high-speed tests at the Nürburgring track in Germany.

Evidently, it's not east to tell what's going on under the psychedelic-themed camouflage, but we can see that the third generation of Skoda's bread and butter model has a more athletic shape than the current Octavia with a lower front end and a sleeker roofline.

We cannot be completely sure from these images, but it is likely that the new model will keep the Octavia's traditional notchback styling that disguises a hatch tailgate.

Read more »

Scoop: Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG's Darker and More Sinister Black Edition Sibling Shows its Face

We've lost track of the number of SLS AMG Black Series Edition test cars spied over the past year or so, and as it appears, Mercedes-Benz is still not done developing the hottest production version of its 'Gull-wing' coupe.

Now, for the first time, we have captured the Black Edition without its face covered in camouflage, revealing the design changes and details such as the lip spoiler and the aerodynamic canards on the corners of the bumper.

This particular prototype was also fitted with a large fixed wing on the boot, something absent from the previous test models.

Read more »

Spy Shots: All-New 2014 Infiniti G Sports Sedan Appears in its Production Outfit

The last time our scoop photographers caught up with Infiniti engineers, they were driving a test mule of the next generation G sedan outfitted with the body of the current model.

Those days are gone as Infiniti is now trying out prototypes of the new G series with its production body, albeit camouflaged under a network of plastic wraps.

Nevertheless, we can make out several details such as the crescent-cut C-pillar that we’ve already seen on several concept as well as production models from Infiniti like the JX crossover, and the "angrier" face with the marque's new signature grille and stretched headlamps.

Read more »

Scoop: Mercedes-Benz Takes Out GLA 'Baby' SUV Test Car for a Walk

In July, Daimler Chief Executive Dieter Zetsche confirmed that Mercedes-Benz has green lighted the development of a new 'baby' SUV based on the new A-Class' MFA (Mercedes Front-Wheel Drive Architecture) hardware to slot right under the GLK, and now, we have the first photos of the German firm's prototype model.

While in some ways different from the A-Class in the sense that the car in these pictures rides higher and features much wider fenders and pronounced shoulders, it also sports a very similar body to the five-door hatchback, which point to a hybrid test mule and as such, the shape and styling is far from final.

Read more »

Spied: Volkswagen Filmed Trying Out XL1 Diesel-Electric Hybrid

The XL1 is Volkswagen's vision of a plug-in hybrid car that returns an amazingly low combined fuel consumption of 0.9lt/100km, equal to 261 mpg US and 313 mpg UK, or to be precise, MPGe (Miles per gallon gasoline equivalent) since this figure includes the use of both the internal combustion engine and the battery.

The two-seater model was presented as a concept last year and is now heading for very limited run production starting from next year - if all goes according to plan. VW's engineers were filmed in Spain completing new tests with the car as they prepare for its introduction.

Read more »

The New Faces of CarScoop's 2015 Ford Mustang, Allegedly Tweaked to Resemble the Real Thing

Not too long ago, CarScoop's design guru Josh Byrnes gazed into his "crystal ball", as he said, to see what the future holds for the next generation of the Ford Mustang by offering his own interpretation of the pony car's styling.

Josh's speculative take blended the shape and styling elements of the retro-penned fifth generation model (both the original and the facelifted versions) with hints from Ford's modern design language as displayed in cars like the production Taurus and the conceptual Evos.

Several sites and forums quickly picked up the rendering with readers touching up our original design (we can assure you, none of them asked us), some of whom lightly modded the rendering with new elements like the headlamps based on what they heard from owners who rated the next Mustang at a recent consumer clinic.

Read more »

Scoop: Aston Martin Rapide Sports Saloon Goes Under the Knife

Aston Martin seems to be following Porsche's evolutionary example not only in terms of design, but also in other areas by constantly tweaking, upgrading and adding new editions to its existing range of models.

After the recent presentations of the new Vanquish coupe and the refined 2013MY DB9 series, the British automaker has turned its attention to the Rapide sedan that was captured by our scoop photographers with barely any camouflage.

We previously reported that Aston Martin was readying a peppier "S" version of its luxury sports saloon, which we believe still holds true, but we now know that the regular Rapide will also benefit from a light makeover.

Read more »

Spy Shots: Smart Engineers Put ForFour Test Mule on the Road

We will not blame you for thinking that this prototype looks more like an amusing effort to create a long-wheelbase version of the Renault Twingo since that's what the body suggests, but what you see here is said to be a test mule for Smart's second take on the ForFour theme.

You may remember that our spies recently caught up with Smart engineers trying out a shorter mule for the next ForTwo, again using body parts from the Renault Twingo.

The reasoning behind this move is that Daimler and Renault are co-developing a new chassis and mechanical components for use in both the Smart cars and the next Twingo as part of their extended partnership.

Read more »