Hamann Rolls-Royce Phantom

With seemingly ever luxury automaker under the sun going after BMW's coveted balance between sport and luxury, it's a little ironic that BMW's own uber-luxury marque is the one to focus purely on cushioned comfort. But not everyone wants that out of their Rolls-Royce, or so Hamann is evidently betting. The German tuning firm has tweaked everything from Bimmer crossovers to Ferrari supercars and everything in between, but has now turned its attention to the Rolls-Royce Phantom range.

Few details are available at this point, but from what we can tell, Hamann has treated the Phantom saloon and Drophead Coupe to a set of 23" rims in case the standard 21" wheels weren't big enough, apparently ditching the self-righting emblem hubs in the process. A power boost is also said to be in the mix, bringing the 6.75-liter V12's output up from 460 horsepower to a more stately 535, and torque up from 720 newton-meters (531 lb-ft) to 835 Nm (615 lb-ft). With the electronic limiter removed, the Hamann-tuned Phantoms are said to be good for 300 km/h (187 mph), to be controlled from the plush interior via a specially-crafted sports steering wheel.


[Source: Autoblog.nl]

2010 Corvette Grand Sport to start at $55,720?

If the introduction of the ZR1 into the Corvette lineup has made the base model look a bit dull, the Grand Sport package more than fills the aesthetic gap between the models. The Grand Sport package includes Stingray-like gills aft of the front wheels, unique rims and Z06 brakes. Unique suspension tuning reportedly nets a 0-60 time that goes from 4.2 seconds on the base coupe to 4.0 seconds in its updated configuration.

Corvette Blogger is reporting what it says is official Grand Sport package pricing, and the bottom line isn't as tough to swallow as some may have envisioned. The Bowtie fanboy site lists Grand Sport pricing at $55,720 for the coupe and $59,530 for the convertible. That's a not-inconsequential $6,205 bump for the coupe and $5,360 for the droptop. The Grand Sport package essentially obviates the need for the $1,695 Z51 package, however, so you're basically looking at $3,500-$4,500 for the retuned suspension, widebody stance, Z06 brakes, improved 0-60 mph times, and aeshetic and exclusivity benefits, which doesn't strike us as a bad deal.

[Source: Corvette Blogger]