It’s now time to forget everything you have ever known about the Need for Speed series. The new gaming engine that is utilized in Need for Speed Shift is three years in the making and it is going to re-invent simulation racing games as we know it. We were invited to a special sample test of the game where the EA staff let us play with the Audi RS4, Porsche GT2, and a Zonda. This game is going to win surely on the details.

The interior details have to be the most amazing thing I have ever seen. While your racing in car you can use the secondary joystick on the Xbox 360 to rotate your drivers head around the cabin. You can look down and watch your driver operating the pedals. While looking at your gauge cluster you will notice the revs on your tachometer operate just like a real car as the NFS team eliminated the smooth arcade like motions of simulation games past and now have bouncing revs like a real vehicle.

The real amazing game play is when you focus outside the interior. The game makes you feel like your practically driving these expensive machines around a racetrack. On the faster cars like the GT2 and Zonda the car presents a great representation of acceleration G’s and braking G’s. The cars also represent an accurate version of understreer/oversteer that with some practice you can steer out of very easily. It just adds to the simulation level and realistic feel of this Need for Speed game.

My favorite feature is when you exit the in-car mode it keeps the car’s factory gauges on screen instead of putting some generic boring gauges on screen when your out of car. So if your playing with a Porsche GT2 and you leave in car mode you still see the GT2 factory gauges for speed and RPM’s.

Source: Wrecked Magazine

Koenigsegg CCX holds the fastest speeding ticket in the United States, which allegedly occurred in May 2003 in Texas. It was supposedly 242 mph (389 km/h) in a 75-mph zone.The car was driven by Aruther and didn’t end up finishing the Gumball 3000 due to the car being impounded in northern Florida. This took place on the 2003 Gumball 3000 race.

Granted this 2001 silver BMW 330i isn’t quite the pinnacle of luxury or enduldging in a vice but this story was too good to pass up and BMW has a full line of cars better than this one that we like. This BMW was illegally parked at Calico Jack’s Oyster Bar in Gainesville, Florida. As the car sat at 3502 SW 2nd Avenue the city police issued illegal parking tickets for it.

The real question we have is how was the car ticketed 7 times and not towed by the city yet? The first parking ticket was issued February 12th and he was just located this Monday (Feb. 23rd). He was on the passenger side rear seat facing forward with the keys to the BMW in his hand. A handgun was also found in the trunk of the car. The police have claimed no foul play was involved in the death. They claim illegal window tint made them unable to recognize the man in the backseat but a person called it in to 911 on Monday stating they saw a man in the car. This is one of the oddity books for sure.

Source: http://www.gainesville.com/article/20090225/ARTICLES/902250971

At first the New York Times and many other major media outlets published that over 3,000 cars have been abandoned at the Dubai Airport as a result of the global recession. They claimed people were fleeing quick and heading back to their respective countries as visa’s were being canned.

According to the Arabianbusiness.com only 11 cars have been left at the Dubai Airport since January 1st, 2008. The chief of police reports no one “fact checked with him” on any of this information before publishing it.  Regardless of what is true the UAE is still largely a car culture country and as long as the country is still around we assume people will still be wielding amazing luxury machines that we can feature here.

Sources: NYT and Arabianbusiness.com

Word has it Tesla is going to secure some of the Advanced Technology Vehicle Manufacturing Program funding they were hoping to receive. The Model S got the cover somewhat pulled off of it with a sneak preview to the car coming in 2011. This Tesla Model S looks gorgeous and we cannot wait to see another electronic car in production.

UPDATE: As of 2:09pm Pacific Standard Time

A reader sent us this link providing more information than we have seen yet. http://www.nbcsandiego.com/news/local/Cops-Chase-Bentley-Through-LA.html. They confirm the driver was not DJ Kahled but a business man upset about losing his business. He has also passed away confirming to these reports.

UPDATE: As of 2:24am Pacific Standard Time

Several new developments have come forward through the night with this story. Mahalo and several other sites including a local Los Angeles news source started reporting DJ Kahled took his life in this Bentley chase. Now other reports are claiming the man is unidentified and NBC local news has gone so far to claim he isn’t dead. They are saying he is at St. Joseph’s hospital which is nearby the event location.

DJ Kahled’s Myspace Page even has an official press statement that he is alive and in Miami except it’s pre dated January 29th, 2009. Not sure if this was by accident in a rush to post or what but this makes me have some doubts on this. I screen caped his Myspace blog in case it gets taken down or altered in some fashion in the near future.

We will try and keep everyone in the loop on this story but let’s also remember we are an automotive luxury website and not a news source. Some places to stay in the loop can be Mahalo.com and KTLA.

DJ Kahled from Terror Squad won 2008 DJ of the Year awards from the BET Hip Hop Awards. Tonight around 8pm he started a police chase in a white Bentley Continental Flying Spur which lead police up and down the 405 going into LA and then back to the valley. The car came to a hault at 4606 Lankershim Blvd, North Hollywood, CA right in front of North Hollywood Toyota.

The dispute was said to of started over a domestic violence call between him and his girlfriend around 8pm. Althought DJ Kahled was behind the wheel of a Bentley he never really was speeding during the incident or driving eratic in any manner.

At 12:56am on February 10th DJ Kahled according to reports committed suicide while SWAT was approaching the Bentley. Another day in Los Angeles and another police chase/encounter/death involving a Bentley. While rap moguls have recently been fighting about street racing Lamborghini’s for pink slips and getting them put under LAPD impound it seems the Bentley is the new car of crime in Los Angeles. Just a few months ago a Bentley was involved in a mysterious drive by shooting on Highway 101 in the middle of the night where police seemed to have more questions than answers. Now DJ Kahled lead cops on this chase tonight resulting in a self inflicted gun shot wound. More on this story will come if any new developments break.

This Lamborghini feud has been started too many high school students buying Soulja Boy (AKA DeAndre Cortez Way) album. He recently just purchased a balloon white 2010 Lamborghini Gallardo Spyder in cash as he claims on his Youtube video.

Towards the end of the video he calls out Lil Bow Wow and wants to race him for pink slips in his orange Lamborghini Murcielago. According to our sources Lil Bow Wow owns a 6.2L Lamborghini Murcielago which puts him at 571bhp and not the 632bph 6.5L. Soulja Boy is still short at 512hp in his Gallardo. Lil Bow Wow, a rapper from Atlanta, then took to Youtube to reply to Soulja Boy’s pink slip challenge.

Lil Bow Wow defends himself and proves he knows quite a bit about Lamborghini’s. He points out that Soulja Boy owns a “poor man’s Lambo” and his doors don’t even open the right way. Lil Bow Wow doesn’t approve of him riding with a guy in his passenger seat either because he only allows women in his Lambo. Of course next comes a response from Soulja Boy replying to Lil Bow Wow’s video. Yes, this is going to be a ton of talking and not much action we are sure but while they fight about Lamborghini’s we are going to stay on top of this one.

Soulja Boy took some time out of his busy day while shooting for a CW show called “The Game” to rebuttal Lil Bow Wow’s video. Soulja Boy first wants to point out that he thinks that Lil Bow Wow’s Lamborghini is rented. He even takes to the Internet to show some rap gossip sites claiming that the Lamborghini is rented. Soulja Boy claims he cannot race for pinks because he doesn’t have his title. However, he admits he knows nothing about the Lamborghini but he jut dropped cash on it because he’s got the money and it don’t really matter. He then tells Lil Bow Wow to not reply back to him and say anything but just show his papers.

Lil Bow Wow brings out his Georgia DMV paperwork to prove he has had that car since 2006. Then he makes fun of the Gallardo some more saying how the car is made by Audi and in the United States but his Murcielago (purchased with his AMEX black card he says) was made overseas. Hence why his doors don’t open on his “Audi.” He then goes on to accept the terms of the race claiming that he can get Lamborghini to sponsor the race and he wants it to air on Speed TV or ESPN. Lil Bow Wow does have a reason to be confident since he clearly has the faster car of the group. Just when we thought this couldn’t get even more crazy the Florida rapper Sean Kingston gets involved with a video on WorldStarHipHop.

Now Sean Kingston pulls up in a black/black Lamborghini and he wants both of them to race him for pink slips and put their Lamborghini’s on the line with his Lamborghini Gallardo coupe. So at least he doesn’t have all the extra weight from the vert but still he falls short on the performance of Lil Bow Wow’s Lamborghini Murcielago. Soulja Boy continues to stir stuff up with Lil Bow Wow on his Twitter page but didn’t reply to Sean Kingston’s challenge. We have told more videos are coming and we are going to stay on top of this till some pink slips swap hands. Clearly the new Fast and the Furious 4 commercials have had some interesting affects on the youth of America lately. Hopefully we get to see a race sooner than more Youtube videos but we doubt it!

The first electric sports car is treated to it’s first aftermarket makeover from the company BRABUS. BRABUS asked the important question what a sports car is without a throaty V8 sounds coming out of it and solved the problem for Tesla owners alike. They developed what they call a “space sound generator” and inside the cockpit they can select several simulated engine sounds including a race car engine, combustion V8, and two futuristic sounds they call “beam” and “warp.” The sound is modualted by the power output of the electric motor.

An aggresively staggered 18 inch wheel in the front and 19 inch wheel back provides a strong stance for the revamped Tesla. Pirelli Tires brought in the P Zero Nero tire with a 215/35/18 in the front and a 255/30/19 in the rear. A custom matte white paint job really helps set off thie unique look to this BRABUS Tesla. From the front you can see a carbon-fiber lip and daytime running lights adding to the exterior.

BRABUS used carbon-fiber air inlets to put some more exotic flair to the electronic sports car. The rear which you can see above is noted by a BRABUS rear wing and a custom rear diffuser which are both carbon-fiber as well. I think the stormtropper has found a new machine to travel around town in saying goodbye to his Lotus and start enjoying this more stealth black and white vehicle. Hopefully more aftermarket companies will soon start modifying the Tesla.

Source: http://www.brabus.com/en/raster.php?page=8&sub=3&id=7377

Gallery: http://forums.dieselstation.com/index.php?showtopic=26676

With the current trend in the economy the privately held car company Tesla was unable to receive it’s Series E round of funding which was $100,000,000. Once unable to receive it’s funding they nearly ran out of cash but had the current investors put forth more cash to stay afloat. The move to San Jose was dependent on receiving low interest loans from the Department of Energy.

Tesla is trying to receive $400,000,000 from the Advanced Technology Vehicle Manufacturing Program which has $25,000,000,000 in funding available. They are competing against around 75 other companies competing for the same funds. The federal funds favor people trying to build factories on old/abandoned factories as opposed to new property sites. This is the reason Tesla claims they are not making a move to the San Jose campus, “We can’t afford to do anything that would jeopardize our ability to get the federal loan,” Konrad said.

Source: http://www.bizjournals.com/sanjose/stories/2009/01/26/daily71.html