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Hugh Hefner’s Main Squeeze, Holly Madison, Moves Up And Out

Spotted tooling around sans her octogenarian love puppet in both LA and Las Vegas, rumors are swirling that Playboy girlfriend #1, Holly Madison, is ditching Hef and his mansion. The gossip comes following the revelations earlier this month that both Bridget Marquardt and Kendra Wilkinson, Holly’s co-stars [and girlfriends number 2 and 3] on E!’s The Girls Next Door, are leaving the protective wing of Hef to star in their own spin-off shows.

More Holly Madison photos after the jump

To add to the scandal, some gossip rags report that Holly was spotted partying it up in Las Vegas with optical illuthionitht, Crith Angel. Holly’s reps deny the break-up claims, but two things are definitely for sure:

1. Holly Madison’s vintage ‘Vette is one sick ride, and
2. I feel as though I’ve just surrendered a small portion of my soul for posting about this tripe.

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BBC’s Top Gear Critical Of Cadillac CTS-V

Cadillac CTS-V

U.S. automakers are such punching bags these days that it is hard not to root for them, all of them, to turn things around. That’s why, despite it’s mellowed-out styling, I am a big fan of the Volt and the optimism that it will be GM’s savior. So I was actually quite annoyed to catch one of the swarmy Brits snarkily tear down the Cadillac CTS-V on the otherwise excellent show from the BBC, Top Gear. Deriding Americans for obesity, recklessness, stupidity and apparently our collective Southern accents is a common theme on Top Gear, but I can excuse all of that if ultimately their conclusions are sound. Unfortunately Top Gear’s asinine evaluation is not.

550 horsepower Beast

The fastest, most powerful American sedan in history produces 550 horsepower at 6200 rpm and 550 pound-feet of torque at 4000 rpm from a supercharged V-8 derived from the Corvette ZR1 and capable of 0-60 time of just 3.9 seconds. The speedometer goes up to 300 mph for crying out loud. Though realistically top speed is ONLY 191 MPH. Whether you think that is necessary or not, that is insanely powerful.

CTS-V Interior

But getting back to Top Gear’s review. One thing I like about the show is the unspoken mantra that performance is king. Not that style and build quality are unimportant but if my car is quicker than your car around the track, it wins in that situation. In Top Gear’s own test the CTS-V obliterated the Audi S4 Quattro that it was pitted against. So what did Top Gear not like about the CTS-V? Its cost, styling, the perception that the interior appointments were cheap and quirky details like the lateral G meter included on the instrument cluster is at best, unusable in real world driving situations. Most irritating is not that these details were included in their evaluation, but that other non-American vehicles are regularly given a pass on such things. Top Gear driver Jeremy Clarkson, and tester of the CTS-V, speaks with great affection of his own Aston Martin which has essentially disentegrated over time and other Top Gear darling, Jaguar, has been plagued since before the Ford administration for quality and electrical system issues. Also, at $60,000, the CTS-V is still considerably cheaper; at least 20 grand, than either the BMW M5 or Mercedes E63 AMG that Cadillac is competing against, while being significantly more powerful than either. Whatever bone to pick Clarkson has for the U.S., he could have found a better target than the CTS-V.

If you care to see Top Gear’s review, you can find it at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BhQb2wJVPTg. Now pass me another Big Mac.

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2009 Audi RS6 Coming To America, Relevant Eddie Murphey/Arsenio Hall Quotes Too Numerous To Include

The V10, twin-turbo, 2009 Audi RS6 is confirmed as U.S. bound and upon it’s arrival, will be challenging the Mercedes-Benz AMG and BMW M-series to a steel caged/no holds barred/money in the bank match [another dark secret of mine, I watch WWE Smackdown...make fun of me for it, I dare you]. Sporting Audi’s new exterior styling but still largely a sleeper, Audi claims the RS6 roars from 0-60mph in 4.5 seconds, but I’m holding out to see what kind of results real-world applications yield.

Despite it’s all-wheel drivetrain, the RS6’s revised Torsen center differential sends 40% of power to the front wheels and 60% to the rear, providing for all the white-knuckle acceleration and virgin-tight cornering of a RWD sports car.Peaking at 580-hp at 6,250 rpm with a tire-shredding 479 lb-ft of torque at 1,500 rpm, it seems almost criminal that Audi would electronically limit the car to 155mph, but they do. Offering a small consolation, Audi has tentatively planned to offer a boost option with the RS6 [in addition to the already twin turbo-charged engines] that is expected to raise the speed allotment, but only to 174mph. With track-worthy specs like a power to weight ratio of 7.5lbs per hp and a 4,991 cc engine, I’m a little puzzled over why Audi would put a cap on the speedometer like that, but given Audi’s rich history as a German speed demon, I’m willing to trust they know exactly what they’re doing.

Pricing has yet to be announced but official press releases indicate that Audi is using the BMW 7-series as a point of reference for pricing, yet still intends to flex its muscles on the track next to the likes of super machines like the BMW M5. Bottom line, the final price tag will probably wind up being somewhere in the neighborhood of $90k - not so expensive that it alienates the “working” upper class, but not so attainable as to make you think that you with your middle income job and quaint PTA meetings could ever afford one.

[Photo Source: EGMCarTech]

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Exec Doubtful of 2011 Cadillac’s Success, Says Americans Don’t Want Another Small Car - Makes Him A OK In Our Book

2009 Cadillac BLS sedan

Despite sales that have been lackluster at best, there are rumors that the European Cadillac BLS might make an American debut in 2010 as a 2011 model. Currently, Cadillac as affirmed speculations that they will begin producing a 4-cylinder car for the North American market in 2010, but the finer details are still under heavy debate. The primary source of contention surrounding the mystery small car: whether or not to offer an optional V-6 upgrade. Part of Cadillac’s design team believes future government fuel economy regulations and the growing small car trend mean that Cadillac must break tradition, even if only slightly, in order to stay relevant as a competitor in the market. To them, this means it’s 4-cyl small, or nothing. Cadillac’s general manager Jim Taylor isn’t quite as sold on the idea. According to Automotive News, Taylor said, “There is a big debate as to whether it is four only. I think that is a bridge too far.” Taylor’s reluctance stems from the anticipated resistance from U.S. buyers. Even if the U.S.-bound BLS is fitted with a turbocharger for its 4-cylinder engine, Taylor isn’t certain buyers will be receptive of such bland performance. “[Americans] still want power,” Taylor reasoned, “We still have big open roads. People do not want to stop enjoying driving.”

2009 Cadillac BLS wagon

So if we here in American wind up staring down the grill of a modified BLS, exactly how much performance will we be sacrificing? According to specs, the 2009 BLS isn’t quite as uninspiring as Taylor makes it out to be. Drawing very heavily from the Saab 9-3, the 2009 BLS is offered in Europe as either a sedan or a wagon with 3 engine options: a 2.0L 4-cyl turbo, 2.8L V6, or 1.9L diesel. The interior is stock Cadillac luxury - leather, DVD, nav - and the price is typical Caddy too, starting around £21,500 [about $40,000]. Bottom line: We advise Taylor to offer the V-6, he seems to have a pretty good grasp on exactly how much change we Americans will tolerate before we put our collective foot down.

[Source: Automotive News]

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Saleen S5S

Saleen S5S

Best known for its upscale versions of the Ford Mustang, Saleen’s S5S is an impressive departure from the American automaker who is taking aim (based on the prototype) at all of its Italian competition. It’s fast, it’s pretty and in terms of supercars, it’s cheap. Now they just have to build it.

The prototype for the Saleen S5S first made the rounds at this year’s New York auto show where the words “American Ferrari” were spoken more than once with strong hints of its likely production.

S5S Prototype

Unlike the Ford Mustang-derived vehicles that Saleen is best known for, the two seat, aluminum body S5S is built completely by Saleen from the ground up. Saleen openly admits that a number of cars, including those from Lotus and McLaren served as inspiration for this beast.

The mid-mounted, 5.0-liter supercharged engine is a version of Saleen’s tricked out Ford V-8. The S5S reportedly spins out 650 hp at 6300 rpm and torque peaks at 630 lb-ft at 4400 rpm. Saleen predicts that the car should be good for a leisurely sprint to 60 mph in an amazing 3.2 seconds and a top speed of more than 200 mph. A six-speed manual transmission is at work in the concept version, but likely a a sequential, paddleshifted gearbox will be an option if the S5S sees production.

As on its last supercar, the S7, the suspension is fully independent and composed of twin wishbone-shaped control arms at each corner. The New York show’s S5S concept also sported twenty-inch wheels along with ABS, traction and stability control.

Saleen is clearly targeting the Ferrari F430 in both size and price, and there’s no arguing that the S5S offers a ridiculous level of power. In contrast to Saleen’s last supercar, the $650,000 S7, which was by most estimates essentially a street-going race car, the S5S will have a more passenger friendly cabin that looks less like an F1 car in its interior. Hopefully that also translates into an easier climb for the passengers into a less noisy cabin than the S7. The S5S aims to be a more practical, more usable, and more economical variant on the “race-car-turned-cruiser” of this genre of cars. $185,000 is being rumored as the target price for the Saleen S5S.

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