Skoda isn’t exactly one of the marquees that you immediately associate to “cool” cars but that doesn’t stop the Czech automaker to attempt to make some.

Check out these hardcore versions of the Fabia and the Octavia which get “cool” sounding RS+ designations. Skoda previously developed souped up version with the vRS badge but the + means these cars pack just a bit more.

The Fabia RS+ is based on the Fabia S2000 that competes in the IRC rally championship. The car gets black tinted headlights, a blacked-out girlle with black spoilers front and back. New air vents also accentuate the hood.

Inside, the Fabia RS+ gets sports seats and a color scheme to match the two-tone grey and lime green exterior. Not too hot on that color combination though.

THe Octavia RS+ boasts the same package as the Fabia.

Ferrari’s not alien to the use of carbon fiber. They’ve used it to most of their higher tier cars like the F50 and the Enzo. However, the company’s not keen on using the material fleet-wide.

This comes as an announcement from Ferrari boss Amedeo Felisa. While rivals McLaren, Mercedes, Lambo, and BMW preparing to use the material extensively, Ferrari’s taking the conservative route.

“We will only use carbonfibre on very special cars which have a very low rate of production and which are not for everyday use, such as the new Enzo,” Felisa said.

According to Felisa, the long-term use of carbon fiber on vehicles has yet to be known. Felisa wants Ferrari to maintain its fleet’s repair-ability by sticking to more conventional materials.

“The fact is that nobody today has a real understanding of what happens if you damage a carbonfibre structure,” says Felisa.

Ferrari’s quite busy in developing new cars for the next five years. One of the more eagerly anticipated cars will be the next Ferrari Enzo.

Company boss Amedeo Felisa hinted on a few details in an interview with Autocar. Felisa said that the new Enzo will most likely pack a twin-turbo V8 when it comes out in 2012. Ferrari has been experimenting on turbo-charging, making it their crusade to solve turbo lag.

“There are no plans for a six-cylinder engine today,” Felisa said. “Ferrari will not build a six-cylinder engine until customer attitudes towards smaller engines change.”

Ferrari’s also “forced” to experiment with hybrid technology with increasing legislation for better economy. Felisa claims that their work on hybrids is largely to protect their use of the V12. Hybrids are sought to augment the efficiency of their V8s and V10s.

TechArt’s not letting up with Porsche tuning packages. They made quite the stunner with the Panamera, now here’s their take on the new 911 Turbo.

TechArt offers two tuning packages for the 911 Turbo.

The first tuning package ups the power to 562 hp thanks to a revised ECu and air filter. That allows the car to zip from 62 mph from standstill in just 3.2 seconds and blow past 200 mph.

The second tuning package increases the total hp to as much as 612 hp thanks to new manifolds, exhaust, and a new ECU. 0-62 mph time is trimmed down to 2.9 seconds and can go all the way up to 207 mph.

No more teaser images this time. Fiat’s finally unveiled the new small car that’s going to be slotted in between the Panda and the Grand Punto.

The Uno will be powered by a choice between two engines. A 1.0L engine that dishes out 73 bhp runs on alcohol and a larger 1.4L engine churns out 88 bhp when running on alcohol and 85 bhp when running on gasoline. Power is delivered to the front wheels through a five-speed manual.

The car’s only 3.77m long and 1.64m wide. The car gets stylings from the Panda but has sleeker lines. The front grille and bumper are also redesigned to make the Uno look unique on its own.

The pictures are of the pseudo-SUV Uno known as the “Way.” The new Uno will be produced at the firm’s plant in Brazil.

Source: Autocar

Why can’t people realize that CUVs are simply sporty-looking people movers? They won’t go off-road and they’re too stiff for city driving.

The overcrowded CUV market, however, shows that people haven’t really gotten wise at this. The appeal, I think is the idea of having a smaller and more economical vehicle that packs the same “safety” as an SUV.

For BMW, that market segment is quite profitable, moving 80,000 X6s since its launch. Now, the company is taking a look at offering an even smaller vehicle to be slot in below the X6.

Currently rumored to be the X4, the car is expected to share the same platform as the upcoming X3 but will share the same styling as the X4.

Dr. Ulrich Bez is quite proud with what his boys have done with the Aston Martin One-77 supercar.

Now, despite the German influence to the car, Aston Martin as a marquee is still as British as Bovril. So there’s no fitting place to showcase the One-77 on the prowl in city streets other than London.

Here’s the One-77 making its first public outing in the UK as part of the supercar run from London to Silverstone. The event’s to promote the FIA GT1 World Championship.

If you’ve forgotten what monster Aston Martin the One-77 is, then let us go through some key details. The car’s powered by a massive 7.0L V12 that dishes out 700 bhp. Initial tests were able to push the car past 220 mph.

Only 77 cars will be made and are priced above the Veyron at £1.2 million.

Audi’s got some really good publicity mileage from the Iron Man 2 movie so it’s not really a bad time to showcase this souped up Audi R8.

The car’s dubbed the Audi R8 GT and that GT designation means that this car’s pretty bad ass. The car packs the larger V10 engine and is slapped on a stiffer chassis.

Audi engineers have integrated some of the learnings they got from the R8 LMS racer. The car’s aero package is also revised to make the car even sleaker. The car’s also put on a diet to improve performance.

The GT is set to slug it out with the more hardcore versions of other supercars such as the Lambo Gallardo Superleggera and the Porsche 911 GT3. Only 333 of these R8 GTs will be built.

Here’s Lotus at it again. By “it” we mean experimenting on lightweightedness. There’s no doubt that Lotus has come up with wondrous cars thanks to their belief in lightweightedness.

Now check out how they plan to make even passenger cars lightweight. This here’s a lightweight concept based on the Toyota Venza. Keep in mind that the Venza’s a mid-sized crossover.

The Lotus engineers aims to reduce the total weight of the car by 38% while keeping impact on costs at +3% by 2020. Less weight on the car increases its power-to-weight ratio thus decreasing engine load making it more efficient. Lotus claims that it can reduce fuel consumption by as much as 23%.

Part of the lightweight strategy is to use just 211 parts and use a mix of lightweight materials such as aluminum, magnesium, composite, and steel compared to the Venza’s pure steel construction.

Bentley’s not done yet. While Mercedes is slowly easing out the Maybach brand, Bentley will stay on in the ultraluxury market segment.

Bentley’s updating its fleet as well. With the Arnage slowly being eased out, the future of the Azure convertible goes with it.

Good thing is, as the new Mulsanne sedan takes over the mantle of the Arnage, a new convertible based on the Mulsanne will keep the Continental GT as Bentley’s drop tops.

The convertible is most likely to keep the Azure monicker. It is also set to pack the same 6.8L twin-turbo V8 found in the Mulsanne.

With 505 hp, the car would be able to go from 0 to 60 mph in 5-ish seconds. That’s quite impressive given the mammoth weight of the Bentley plus the structural reinforcements commonly added to convertibles.