The floor in Geneva is filled with beauties. Land Rover LRX Concept is the company’s newest “improved version” that has some exceptional specs. First of all the 2.0L turbo diesel engine that does 60mpg (or 4.7 liters for every 100km) with CO2 emission levels at 120g/km.

Another thing that got my attention is the Electric Rear Axle Drive (ERAD) technology that would allow LRX to use electric drive alone at lower speeds while retaining full (even improved) sport utility ability in tough conditions. The looks are great as you can probably see. The top roof and the underbody are made of lightweight materials which not only makes it lighter but also safer.

This is still a concept but showing it in Geneva could mean that with such specs it should go into production sooner than we think. The black it has in the pictures, is so handsome.

via AutoUnleashed

EX37 is the newest addition to the Infiniti range that every new car buyer that needs the style of a coupe mixed with the versatility of a four-wheel drive crossover should pick. At least this is what the press release says no matter if more and more people become aware of environmental problems a 3.7 liter engine could cause.

But let’s get into details over here because I’m sure many of you are interested to see some specs. So, it uses a 3.7L VQ37VHR V6 engine that gets 310 hp and 350 Nm of torque, a 7-speed automatic transmission and an all wheel drive system. Another interesting feature is the “Around View Monitoring” system to keep your eyes on it while it’s parked.
From what I’ve heard there’s no diesel version.

International Motor Show in Geneva this year is going to be big. Very big, because there are so many announcements with lots of new models coming up. That’s the case with this BMW twin-turbo diesel hybrid X5 that uses the Vision EfficientDynamics Concept technology. The engine is a 2.0 liter four cylinder diesel that sports 204hp and 295 lb-ft of torque, and is mated to a hybrid motor that brings 20hp more and 154 lb-ft of torque.

It uses a 8-speed gearbox designed by ZF and it should be able to come up with 43.5 mpg, and with 172 g/km of CO2 emissions. This is so green that the solar panels have been mounted on the roof. This is going to be the world premiere of the BMW Vision EfficientDynamics X5 so I bet it’s gonna be big.

via AutoBlog

Now that we’ve seen Vath tuning a Mercedes CL 65 AMG it’s time for Kicherer to give us some goodies on a Mercedes ML420 CDI. The new kit features a 56hp increase up to 360 hp and 200Nm more torque up to 900Nm and has a high speed of 280km/h. This baby does 0-100km/h in just 6.1 seconds unlike the non-tuned model that does it in 6.6 seconds.

The body kit however, is not really new because it includes the same we’ve seen on Mercedes ML 63 AMG including 20-inch AMG wheels, four stylish exhaust pipes, high performance brakes and an electronic lowered suspension.

“A really cool complete package – Ice in name and Ice in nature” they say.

Not sure if this should be in the 4 x 4, not even in the SUV category, but since we don’t have a “monster” category to nail it here it goes. Gemballa went mad and decided to muscle up a new Porsche Cayenne after showing us how a Carrera GT should look like. This is not funny because this beast, dubbed Gemballa Tornado GTR700 Cayenne, is capable of developing about 700 hp from an extremely modified twin-turbo V8 engine.

Add the looks, the severely dropped ride height and the strengthened suspension, the fact that it might come with a 2WD conversion and you got yourself a pretty fast bull. Oh and I mentioned looks. It has a carbon fiber hood insert, new vents and some good looking tail lights.

So how do you like it?

Winding Road

Renault just announced today that they will produce their first ever 4 x 4 crossover vehicle. Dubbed Renault Koleos it has a lot of “parents”: design by Renault, developed by Nissan and manufactured by Renault Busan Motors in Busan, Korea. The French company said that we’ll see it first in March at the Geneva Motor Show.

Besides being impressed with the fact that this is the first crossover from Renault, it has good specs, too. Koleos uses either 2-wheel drive or four-wheel-drive, will use a six speed manual transmission while rumors say some countries could come with an automatic, has a petrol engine that sports 175hp and two diesel engines, one has 150hp and the other one 175hp.

Renault Koleos uses the Nissan X-Trail’s suspension system.

Ladies and gentlemen it’s official. We no longer need to speculate and listen to rumors about the new Volvo XC60, because the Swedish car manufacturer announced they will show it off during Geneva Motor Show starting March 4th. Can you remember the first Volvo XC60 spy shots we’ve told you about last month?

I’m not sure if you’re as excited as I am with XC60, but all those lines and the beauty mixed with the sporty looks make me believe that this is going to be a success for Volvo. Do you like it?

During Detroit 2008, Volvo presented their latest idea of a SUV. XC60 was still a concept but I can tell you that it’s going to materialize into something that you can touch. At Geneva this year, in March, Volvo is going to make it official. This is going to be the most popular Volvo SUV from what I’ve heard, and by the time we can put our hands on it, here are the first spy shots of the new Volvo XC60.

The car will come with a DOHC 3.2 liter inline-6 derived engine, comes with standard front wheel drive but gives the option of all wheel drive, goes on sale late fall this year in Europe and early 2009 in the US.

The main competitors are BMW X3, Mercedes-Benz GLK and Acura RDX. Here are two more pictures.

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