When the ActiveHybrid X6 and ActiveHybrid 7-Series were unveiled on BMW’s press site simultaneously a few days ago, only the 7-Series had beauty footage accompanying its press pack. The X6 hybrid not have any video, until now that is.

Watch the video after the jump.

Basically the car gets a whole new look that still carries cues from the Viper, and its 8.4 liter V10 sounds exactly like the motor in the Viper, except it puts out 650 horsepower instead of the 600 in the Viper. Not a particularly high-revving engine either, with peak power coming out at 6,100rpm. Funky high-tech twin clutch gearbox? Nope, you get a 6-speed manual, which Devon says is track-proven.

Devon says the 8.4 liter V10 uses two valves per cylinder, variable valve timing, a coil-on-plug ignition system with “platinum tip spark plugs”, and more. I can’t really find much enthusiasm about the specs list after reading about the kinds of stuff that BMW does with their M engines. The company goes on to talk about the diameter of their exhaust tubing – exactly like how a tuner in Sunway would be recommending a custom aftermarket exhaust system spec to a potential customer.

The Bentley Mulsanne had been heralded as the “New Grand Bentley” in a teaser campaign leading up to this unveiling, and is inspired by the 1930s Bentley 8-litre. For now we only know what the Mulsanne looks like, but for whats under the hood as well as any other trickeries that Bentley have up their sleeves, we’ll have to wait for the Frankfurt show. Too bad they didn’t have anything up their sleeves with the design, as I feel it isn’t particularly interesting.

The Mulsanne will replace the Arnage as Bentley’s ultimate flagship. We have no photos of the interior yet thus far but Bentley says the interior is hand-crafted and takes a total of 40 labour hours to produce. They’re planning to sell about 700 units this year.

There is a circuit called the Circuit de la Sarthe in France used in the sports car endurance race 24 Hours of Le Mans. The road features the long straight Ligne Droite des Hunaudières leading to Mulsanne, making a tight right hand turn before the entrance of the village itself. The famous straightaway is often called the Mulsanne Straight, and the original Bentley Mulsanne that was launched in 1980 was named after this.

Now what does that mean for Malaysians? Will Tan Chong bring in the GT-R here officially too, complete with a proper manufacturer warranty? Hopefully yes, but if not, at least Malaysian owners will probably be able to settle any issues with their cars at an official GT-R-trained Nissan service center (Tan Chong Bukit Timah Road) in Singapore. The other benefit of being an official import is that the car’s menu systems are all in English and it does not have a speed limiter.

For now if you still want a Nissan sportscar with an official manufacturer warranty you can check out the recently launched Nissan 370Z. Only 0.1 liters difference in displacement but oh what a difference the two turbos and the all-wheel drive makes!

numbers this is likely based on the version of the 4.2 V8 found in the Audi Q7 instead of the high-revving version in the Audi RS4 and Audi R8. This engine can be mated to either a Getrag 6-speed manual or a ZF 6-speed automatic. More photos available after the jump.

The new Lexus C-Premium is rumoured to be called the Lexus CT, since the Japanese luxury car maker trademarked that name not too long ago. The names trademarked were the CT 200h, the CT 300h and the CT 400h. The h suffix on all the model names seems to indicate this new hatchback might be hybrid-only.

Look after the jump for some renderings by resident “automotive manipulator” Theophilus Chin on how the new Lexus hatchback might look like.

It looks small but the Kia Venga is actually bigger than a Hyundai i20 – its got a wheelbase of 2,615mm thats a whole lot longer compared to the i20’s 2,525mm wheelbase. The previous generation Kia Carens/Rondo had a wheelbase of 2560mm but with the latest generation (called the Citra II Rondo in Malaysia) it used the Optima’s platform and grew to a massive 2,700mm.

This definitely makes some space for a smaller MPV to be slotted in under the new Rondo. The Kia Venga is 4,068mm long and 1,600mm tall. Like most new Kia designs it looks pretty alright, nothing to hate about it, though I think that Schreyer grille isn’t really working that great on that Fiat Bravo-like nose. But the rest of the car is quite cute.

Kia claims the Kia Venga offers C-segment space in a B-segment footprint, and hopefully price. It will feature a 1.4 liter gasoline engine or a 1.6 liter turbodiesel engine at launch, putting out 75 PS and 115 PS respectively.

Both engines will be fitted standard with ISG (Idle Stop & Go) technology which auto-stops your car engine when your car stops, and restarts it automatically when it is time to move again, useful during traffic jams or stop lights. Optional is a tilt-and-slide all-glass panoramic roof.

The production Kia Venga will be shown to the public at the Frankfurt show in September, and more photos will probably be released then. For now, check out 4 initial photos released by Kia after the jump.

Under the hood (at the front) is a version of the 1.6 liter BMW-PSA Prince engine, this time producing 200 horsepower at 5,800rpm, taking the car from 0 to 100km/h in 7.6 seconds thanks to its 255Nm of torque from 1,700rpm. That’s not a whole load of torque and 7.6 seconds isn’t exactly blistering speed, but because the RCZ is small with an interior thats designed to “wrap around” the driver cozily, the speeds might seem faster than they really are, so this will help add to the fun factor.

Of course less powerful engines are also available. A 156hp version of the 1.6 liter Prince engine is also available, and like the 200hp version it is mated to a 6-speed manual. But there will be a 6-speed auto coming soon in summer 2010 – a welcome addition to the Peugeot family as they’ve been making do with 4-speed automatics for a long time now, while BMW has been mating the Prince engine to 6-speed autos for a long time.

Of course there must be a diesel option – a 2.0 liter HDi FAP engine with 163hp, also mated to a 6-speed manual. This is the torqueiest engine option with 340Nm available at 2,000rpm. The diesel engine fuel consumption is rated at 52.3 mpg on the combined cycle.

The Peugoet RCZ rides on the same platform as the 308 and uses MacPherson struts at the front and a torsion beam at the rear. The platform has been modified to suit the RCZ’s sporty intentions – ride height has been lowered by 20mm, center of gravity lower by 40mm, front track widened by 54mm and rear track widened by 72mm. The 200hp engine version has an additional lower anti-roll bar to help with the handling. Peugeot did not use an electric power steering system on the RCZ – it sticks to a hydraulic system which usually offers better response.

The RCZ will go on sale in Spring 2010. You can probably expect Nasim to bring it in sometime in the future as a CBU model and in classic Nasim style, it will probably undercut the 2.0 TFSI Audi TT in terms of pricing, offering a nice alternative.

To make a booking you have to place a US$5,000 booking fee that is refundable but that means US$5 million in Tesla’s hands right now. The base model will cost US$49,900 after a tax credit because of the car’s zero emissions. The tax credit is quite substantial at US$7,500.

Tesla claims a 300 mile (480km) range (160 miles for the baseline model and another 230 mile model) and a recharge time of 45 minutes from a special external 480V QuickCharger line, or several hours (overnight) with a regular electrical outlet between 120V to 240V.

The company also claims the car’s floor-installed battery packs can be swapped out in less than the time it takes to fill a full tank of petrol, so in the future you could actually go to “battery stations” and swap out your batteries for a freshly fully charged new set instead of stopping and waiting for a full charge.

0 to 100km/h takes only 5.6 seconds which is pretty rapid for a sedan, and power goes to the rear wheels via a single speed transmission, but there are plans for the future for all-wheel drive models. For the US market the cars will naturally be left hand drive but right hand drive models will also be available later.

It may have tough looks but it’s not very big though, with a wheelbase of only 2,578mm, which indicates its likely to be using the PQ35 Golf platform. It’s 4,233mm long, 1,793mm wide and 1,691mm tall. On the interior it features a rear seat system called Varioflex which essentially allows you to extend boot space up to 1,760 liters.

Under the hood are a few engines such as a 1.8 liter TSI engine and a 2.0 TDI engine. The Yeti is also equipped with a 4X4 system with a 4th generation Haldex clutch system for those that intend to take it on rough roads, and it also has a 180mm ground clearance to help with that.

In the UK market, it is standard equipment on the RX450h SE-L Premium, and it’s display position and lighting intensity can be adjusted according to ambient light via controls near the steering wheel. The Lexus HUD system uses white as the colour for the HUD display, a colour that is rarely used because of its tendency to blend with the exterior background. Lexus went around this by using high intensity LEDs. They then tested it out on the snow-covered roads of Hokkaido.

They probably insisted on having it white to maintain a consistent look with the rest of the instrument lighting, which is white. As far as I know ther eis no HUD on the RX offered in Malaysia, which is the RX350 model.

The Ibiza range already has a 150 PS Ibiza FR and a 180 PS Ibiza Cupra, but the new SEAT Ibiza Bocanegra offers both 150 PS and 180 PS tune versions of the 1.4 liter TSI engine, and adds a unique Bocanegra bodykit which looks way more aggressive and fitting of the 180 PS than the sedate-looking-in-comparison Ibiza Cupra.

The engine is mated to a 7-speed twin clutch transmission with paddle shifters, and an XDS electronic LSD. It’s small, light, has 180 PS and most importantly plenty of torque thanks to the twin-turbocharging. A nice alternative to other good-looking hot hatches like the MiTo and the Cooper S.

Read more: “Production SEAT Ibiza Bocanegra unveiled in both 150 PS and 180 PS guise!” -