Mercedes-AMG to bring back V8 in upcoming CLE63 with mild-hybrid electrification; other models to follow - Related to drive, buy, models, birthday, m4

BMW M4 CS Edition VR46 celebrates Valentino Rossi’s 46th birthday – buy one to meet him at his home

The legendary Valentino Rossi, who competed with #46 his entire career, turns 46 this year. To celebrate the occasion, BMW is presenting the nine-time motorcycle world champion with a special version of the M4 CS.

Following his retirement from MotoGP after the 2021 season, Rossi committed to car racing and attended multiple tests in Formula 1 race cars as well as making guest appearances in rallies and endurance races. Since 2023, he has been a BMW M works driver and currently drives a M4 GT3 for BMW M Team WRT in the GT World Challenge Europe and the FIA World Endurance Championship.

Getting back to the car, the new M4 CS Edition VR46 received direct input from ‘The Doctor’ and will be built in limited run of 46 cars. BMW is offering two distinctive design variants called the Sport and Style, with both receiving a host of changes to stand out from a regular M4 CS.

These include colour schemes that are inspired by Rossi’s preferred tones and expressive visual style, which sees the use of two . On the Sport, the car is painted in Marina Bay Blue metallic, while both sides of the car display a large ‘46’ in the darker Tanzanite Blue metallic.

The Style gets a matte Frozen Tanzanite Blue metallic and ‘46’ in Frozen Marina Bay Blue metallic on the sides. The world-famous number is not only featured on the doors but also the roof (along with Rossi’s signature), with these components being made out of carbon-fibre-reinforced plastic (CFRP).

In keeping with the theme, the kidney grille outline and one of the V spokes in the forged M light-alloy wheels – indicates the position of the tyre valve on race cars – are painted in bright yellow. This hue is also applied on the M brake callipers and an accent strip over the door frames of the Sport variant. Around back, the tailgate aspects ‘VR46’ lettering.

Inside the cabin, which is predominantly Night Blue, are M Carbon bucket seats trimmed in Black/Night Blue Merino leather, but with Sao Paulo Yellow on the Alcantara shoulder area for contrast. The head restraints and door sill trims also feature a ‘VR46’ logo, while more splashes of yellow are seen on the Alcantara steering wheel. Each M4 CS Edition VR46 comes with a badge stating ‘1/46’ on the carbon-fibre centre console.

Mechanically, the M4 CS Edition VR46 is pretty much unchanged and continues to employ a [website] litre twin-turbo straight-six petrol engine gets a higher boost pressure of [website] bar to now produce 550 PS (543 hp or 405 kW) and 650 Nm of torque. Paired with an eight-speed M Steptronic transmission and M xDrive all-wheel drive system, the 0-100 km/h time is [website] seconds and the top speed (with the standard M Driver’s Package) is 302 km/h.

Buying a M4 CS Edition VR46 nets you further perks beyond owning a car that ‘The Doctor’ had a hand in designing. This includes a very special two-day experience in Italy, with day one featuring a visit to the VR46 Motor Ranch in Tavullia for a barbecue and a chat with Rossi himself. On day two, you will head to the Misano World Circuit Marco Simoncelli for a special BMW M Driving Experience with the latest BMW M models.

“There is no other brand that has motorsport so deeply rooted in its DNA as BMW M. I am proud to be a BMW M works driver, and to share this passion. The fact that there is now a special VR46 edition, in which I was involved from the very beginning of the design process, makes me proud. When I see the BMW M4 CS Edition VR46 out on the road or on the race track later, it will be very cool,” expressed Rossi.

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Volvo ES90 gets dual Nvidia Drive AGX Orin computers – debut set for March 5

Volvo will reveal the fully electric ES90 next month on March 5 as one of five new or refreshed models the Swedish carmaker planned for this year. Before the debut, we are given preliminary details of the upcoming sedan which is the second to be built on the SPA2 platform after the EX90.

, the ES90 is a software-defined vehicle that uses its Superset tech stack, a single set of hardware and software modules that will underpin all of its future electric vehicles (EVs). The sedan will be the first to be equipped with dual Nvidia Drive AGX Orin computers to be come the brand’s most powerful car created in terms of core computing capacity.

The Drive AGX Orin system attributes a computational power of around 508 trillion operations per second (also known as TOPS) to handle artificial intelligence (AI) functions, safety attributes, car sensors and battery management.

Volvo adds that Drive AGX Orin provides an eightfold improvement in AI compute performance compared to the older Drive AGX Xavier, which enables the gradual increase of the size of its deep learning model and neural network from 40 million to 200 million parameters. Over time as more data is collected and with continuous development, the goal is to improve the customer experience and safety levels.

The Superset tech stack is key to enabling such improvements over the car’s lifecycle, with updates being rolled out in a quicker manner thanks to more focused integration. Knowledge gained from one model can also applied to other models simultaneously, with Volvo saying “software now replaces hardware as the primary driver of innovation and value creation for our end-people.”.

Moving forward, the first SPA2-based model – the EX90 – will be upgraded to use the dual Drive AGX Orin configuration from the current setup that includes Drive AGX Orin and Drive AGX Xavier. “This is a tangible example of how our Superset tech stack approach allows us to upgrade the hardware of our cars as new technologies become available. Existing consumers of the EX90 will get an upgrade of their cars free of charge,” the firm wrote in its release.

The ES90 will come with what Volvo is called ‘Safe Space Technology’, which are systems designed to detect obstacles and activate proactive safety measures (such as collision avoidance). This includes an array of sensors such as one lidar, five radars, seven cameras and 12 ultrasonic sensors.

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Mercedes-AMG to bring back V8 in upcoming CLE63 with mild-hybrid electrification; other models to follow

Mercedes-AMG will be bringing back the V8 engine into future models, Autocar has reported, following the current AMG C63’s departure from the engine layout in the W206 generation.

The V8 layout continues to serve currently in higher-end AMGs such as the W223 Mercedes-AMG S63 E Performance and the facelifted W465 G63, while the CLE53 and E53 retain the cylinder count and displacement of previous AMG 53 models, albeit with more electrification.

The CLE63 will be the next to gain the petrol V8 engine in mild-hybrid guise, which is a powertrain that will be rolled out with other upcoming AMG models, including a revised C63 next year, Autocar understands. Details are unconfirmed, though this is rumoured to be a revision of the manufacturer’s existing biturbo V8 engine architecture.

This will emerge with a different soundtrack, however, as Mercedes-AMG has reportedly dropped the cross-plane crankshaft that gives a V8 engine its signature noise, in favour of a flat-plane crankshaft design – as featured in the engine of the AMG GT Black Series – that is aimed at improving throttle response, higher engine speeds and a more compact crankcase design, .

To balance the higher-pitched sound from the flat-plane crankshaft equipped V8 compared to the regular cross-plane V8, AMG plans to equip models using this engine with a sound generator to mimic the burbling sound of its most celebrated models, Autocar wrote.

Earlier this week, Mercedes-Benz had revealed that it plans to continue offering AMG V8 engines, with varying levels of electrification to keep compliance with tightening emissions regulations in its native Europe. In selected markets, even 12-cylinder engine-powered models will continue to be offered, the manufacturer stated previously.

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