GM Unleashes the 2013 Cadillac ATS Sedan on the Nürburgring [with Video]

It may have taken a while, but if anything else, General Motors is showing signs that it has learned its lesson from the German competition and has even brought the game to their "backyard" challenging its rivals on the Nürburgring racetrack.

While Chevy's team was trying to record a fast lap around the "Green Hell" with the Camaro ZL1, Cadillac engineers brought the upcoming ATS sports sedan to the "Ring for a two week-long trial in September.

GM published a new video that provides us with an inside glimpse of the testing that took place and which you can watch in the clip below.

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SCOOP: Mercedes-Benz C63 AMG Black Series Edition, Now in Sedan Form

For most people, the standard Mercedes-Benz C63 AMG sedan with its 6.2-liter V8 that generates 457HP and 600Nm (443 lb-ft) is more than a handful, but for those that drooled over the C63 AMG Coupe Black Series edition and wished it would be offered with four doors, we have some very good news for you.

Our spies stumbled upon a prototype version for the C63 AMG Black Series edition in sedan form while testing on the demanding Nürburgring racetrack. This test mule featured widened wheel arches housing larger wheels plus the same modified front and rear bumpers seen on the Black Series coupe.

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Video: 2012 Camaro ZL1 Lapping the Nürburgring in 7:41.27"

We only just learned about the 2012 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1's Nürburgring lap time on Wednesday through a tweet from a GM spokesperson, yet the Detroit automaker has already released video footage from its run of the Nordschleife.

Officially, the new 580-horsepower Camaro ZL1 won't go on sale before the end of the first quarter in 2012, but GM said it used a "production-intent model, with no performance modifications", driven by Camaro Performance Engineer Aaron Link to record a lap time of 7:41.27.

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Nürburgring Sports Car Pileup: In-Board Camera Captures the Second Crash on Film

It was only a matter of time before the first video concerning last weekend's much talked about Nürburgring crash popped-up on the internet.

The 15-minute long clip comes from an in-board camera mounted to look out the rear window. The driver of the car passed through the construction section moments after the first crash happened, but just before the BMW M3 Sedan 'Ring Taxi came smashing into the cars in front of it.

You'll have to speed up the video to around 9:50 to see the damaged cars and wait until about the clock shows 10:20ish to watch the BMW 'Ring Taxi collide in your upper right-hand corner.

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GM PR Tweets that the 2012 Camaro ZL1 Laps the Nürburgring in 7:41.27

We're still a few months ahead of the market launch of the new 2012 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1, but General Motors has already began leaking information about the muscle car's appearance on the famed Nürburgring racetrack.

Today, GM spokesperson Jason Laird posted a tweet saying, "Mark Reuss just confirmed ZL1 Camaro lapped Nurburgring in 7.41.27". We wouldn't be surprised if GM announces a better time down the line, but as is, the ZL1 is in the same league as the now obsolete Lamborghini Murcielago LP 640 and the new Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG.

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Vauxhall Corsa VXR Nürburgring Edition with 205HP Hits UK Shores

The first examples of the Corsa VXR Nürburgring Edition have landed in Vauxhall showrooms in Britain. The 205HP hot hatch is priced at £22,295 or close to £3,400 more than the standard 192HP VXR that starts at £18,900.

The faster and more-focused version of the Corsa VXR is powered by a re-worked version of the regular model's 1.6-litre turbocharged engine which now produces 205-horses at 5,750rpm and 250-280Nm (184-207 lb-ft) of torque, up from 192HP and 230-266Nm (170-196 lb-ft).

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Massive Sports Car Crash on the Nordschleife, BMW's M3 'Ring Taxi Involved

A fun track day at the notorious Nürburgring Nordschleife circuit turned into a nightmare for eight drivers this past Sunday.

The vehicles involved in the crash included a BMW E30 3-Series, a BMW E36 3-Series, a BMW E92 M3, a Chevrolet Corvette Z06, a pair of Vauxhall VX220 / Opel Speedster roadsters, a Porsche 911 (964 series) and the official BMW M3 'Ring Taxi.

According to a police report, the drivers came from several European countries, while the accident apparently took place in two phases.

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SPY SHOTS: New BMW ActiveHybrid 3 Based on the F30 3-Series

We've brought you plenty of news on BMW's upcoming iteration of its bread-and-butter 3-Series, but our spies have just snagged what they believe to be an early prototype of the hybrid version that will join the recently announced ActiveHybrid 5 and the already available ActiveHybrid X6 and 7.

While the prototype model captured on the 'Ring looks pretty much stock, our man with the long lens tells us that it features the mandatory hybrid stickers to warn emergency crews about the car's electric operating system in the event of an accident.

The Bavarian automaker confirmed the availability of "hybrid versions of the next 3-Series" sedan codenamed F30 during a press conference in late 2010.

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Dodge Unleashes Video of Viper SRT10 ACR Reclaiming Position from Lexus LFA at the 'Ring with 7:12.13

A couple of weeks ago, Dodge brought its street-legal, but now discontinued, 2010 Viper SRT10 ACR to the Nürburgring racetrack to set the record straight – literally.

In 2008, while the sports car was still in production, the Viper SRT10 ACR turned the 'Ring in 7:22.10, which at the time made it the fifth fastest production car in the world, according to the figures listed on Wikipedia.

Since then, however, many production vehicles posted better times including the Lexus LFA Nürburgring Edition with 7:14.64 on August 31, 2011, which placed it in fourth position behind the Radical SR8 LM (6:48), Radical SR8 (6:55) and the Gumpert Apollo Sport (7:11.57).

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Lexus LS TMG Edition 650HP Spied on Video: Are Those the Sounds of a V8 or a V10?

Our trusty spies have scored another touchdown with the high-performance, wide-body Lexus LS saloon that has piqued our interest over the past few days.

We already know it is called the Lexus LS TMG Edition and that it is being developed by the Japanese group's Toyota Motorsports GmbH division, formerly known as Toyota Team Europe, based in Cologne, Germany.

Toyota's subsidiary was responsible for firm's World Rally Championship cars starting from the 1970s right up to the 1990s, but now works on various special projects.

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Video: New Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 Thrashed Around the Nürburgring

The horsepower monster that is the 2012 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 has been filmed lapping the infamous Nordschleife circuit in Germany.

Apparently, General Motors continues to fine-tune the flagship version of its new Camaro series that was first revealed to the public at this year's Chicago Auto Show in February, but won't arrive in dealerships before early next year.

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Fresh Spy Shots of Lexus LS TMG Edition and New Spec Sheet that Says it gets 650-Horses

The veil of secrecy surrounding the super Lexus LS that we captured testing on the Nürburgring racetrack last week has started to fall apart.

Today, along with a fresh batch of scoop pictures of the hotted up LS, our spy photographers also sent us a shot of a spec sheet that's been circulating on the internet and which we were also informed about from the guys over at the Clublexus fan site.

Here's what Mike from ClubLexus told Carscoop:

"We had an insider at the old F1 Toyota facility snap photos of this LS and what looked like a modified LFA GT2 with BBS wheels, widened fenders....they snapped photos of the specs for the LS...it stated 650hp at 9,000 RPM with 20" wheels. Within hours of the pics posted, we got a message from Toyota to take the pics down, which we did."

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SPY SHOTS: Hotted Up Audi Q3 S/RS with 2.5-liter Turbo Takes to the 'Ring

A new flagship version of the Audi Q3 series is starting to take shape as the German company has begun testing prototype models of what may end up carrying the 'S', 'RS' or even perhaps a different moniker altogether on the famous Nürburgring racetrack.

We first received concrete proof that Audi is contemplating the development of a high-performance version of its Q3 compact crossover during a press event in Switzerland when the Ingolstadt-based automaker gave journalists the opportunity to drive a test model equipped with the force-fed five-pot found in the TT RS and RS3 models.

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SCOOP: Mystery Sport Lexus LS Caught Testing on the 'Ring, Could it be the LS-F?

Lexus may not be fully embroiled in the sports car segment as the only true performance models in its range are the IS-F and the limited run LFA special, but something tells us that the Japanese firm is not yet ready to throw the towel in and let its rivals take the win.

And this, despite the fact that over the years, we have heard many rumors about the possibility of Lexus expanding its range of high-performance F-badged lineup to include the GS and the LS models, and which never came into fruition.

This brings us to our mystery Lexus LS prototype that was snagged doing the rounds on the Nürburgring racetrack in Germany. Our scoop photographers tell us that the car featured the usual testing equipment seen on other prototypes on the 'Ring.

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SCOOP: New Audi RS4 Avant Flexes its Muscles on the Nürburgring

While Audi's executive officers were showcasing the Ingolstadt-based firm's latest conceptual and production models such as the S6, S7, S8 and the Urban studies, the company's engineers were hard at work trying out a prototype of the upcoming RS4 series in Avant form.

The wider front and rear tracks hiding under blistered wheel arches along with the massive brakes, large alloy wheels and the typical RS-style twin oval tail pipes leave no doubt that this is the upcoming RS4 Avant model.

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SCOOP: 2013 Cadillac ATS Hits the Road for Testing

Here's another chance to take a look at the upcoming 2013 Cadillac ATS, GM's answer to the executive compact sedan segment dominated by the likes of BMW's 3-Series, the Audi A4 and the Mercedes-Benz C-Class.

And just in case you're wondering, the introduction of the ATS will lead to a larger next-generation CTS to better compete against cars like the BMW 5-Series and the latest Lexus GS.

Our scoop photographers captured the 2013 Cadillac ATS while testing in Europe. Even though the prototype is clothed in camouflage, we manage to get a taste of the car's size as well as Cadillac's edgy design language with prominent creases running along sides and the front and rear ends of the ATS.

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