Aston Martin - Repair and Service Redwood City - Aston Martin F1 team partners with Saudi Arabia's Aramco - Bosch European Redwood City - (650) 368-3000

  

 

Aston Martin's Formula One team will enter the 2022 season with a new title sponsor, Saudi Arabia's national oil company, Aramco.

In a deal announced on Thursday, Aramco will join the Aston Martin F1 team's existing title sponsor, Cognizant, resulting in a somewhat convoluted official name of Aston Martin Aramco Cognizant Formula One Team.

Aramco is already a major sponsor of multiple F1 grands prix, with its logo having been prominently displayed at several races in the past few seasons.

But through its sponsorship of the Aston Martin F1 team, Aramco plans to take a more active role in the sport. Aramco and Aston Martin plan to establish joint R&D efforts, particularly in the area of sustainable fuels, which F1 plans to introduce in 2026, as well as in hybrid technology and materials research.

Aston Martin Formula One Team and Aramco

 

Interestingly, Aramco and Aston Martin said their partnership will also focus on the development and commercialization of “fuel-efficient engine technologies” for road cars.

“We are in the sport to win so I am delighted to welcome an incredible partner of the stature of Aramco, who I have learned from this process has a tremendous amount of intellectual property and technical capability, which I know will greatly assist our team to achieve our goals of winning Formula One world championships,” Lawrence Stroll, the Aston Martin F1 team's chairman, said in a statement.

The announcement comes two weeks after the Aston Martin F1 team named Mike Krack as team principal, replacing Otmar Szafnauer.

Krack previously headed BMW's global motorsport operation, where he was in charge of the automaker's Formula E, GT and IMSA programs, as well as its planned expansion into the new LMDh class of the IMSA SportsCar Championship and the World Endurance Championship. He's also worked for Porsche and spent a decade in F1 working at Sauber (later BMW-Sauber).

 source: https://www.motorauthority.com/news/1134974_aston-martin-f1-team-partners-with-saudi-arabia-s-aramco

 

by Viknesh Vijayenthiran
http://www.boscheuropean.com

BMW - Repair and Service Redwood City - 2023 BMW Alpina XB7 spy shots and video: Update for full-size super SUV - Bosch European Redwood City - (650) 368-3000

 

 

BMW's about to give its X7 a mid-cycle update for the 2023 model year, and by the time the refreshed SUV reaches showrooms later this year the folks at Alpina will have their own version ready.

Alpina is a semi-official tuner that has been making BMWs go faster for more than 50 years, and the company's X7-based XB7 is one of the most desirable full-size SUVs in the business.

 

The first XB7 was introduced a couple of years back and was sold out within months. This updated version should arrive shortly as a 2023 model.

BMW is about to introduce a major styling change to its X7 to match the planned look for a redesigned 7-Series sedan that's also due as a 2023 model. The new look was previewed in hyped-up form on last year's Concept XM (shown below), and will add a serious dose of aggression to the X7 and thus also this XB7.

Look for Alpina to add its own front lip spoiler and rear fascia. The company will also have unique designs for the wheels, plus its own quad-pipe design for the exhaust tips. Alpina traditionally tweaks the interiors of BMW vehicles, too. Typical Alpina cues include a new steering wheel, unique trim options, and Alpina-specific graphics in the instrument cluster and infotainment system.

It isn't clear what's happening under the hood but you can count on Alpina sticking with a twin-turbocharged V-8. BMW is known to be working on a new V-8-based plug-in hybrid setup for the production XM, which is also due out this year, but it isn't clear if this setup is destined for the updated XB7.

BMW Concept XM

 

The current XB7 is powered by a 4.4-liter twin-turbocharged V-8, with the peak output registering at 612 hp and 590 lb-ft of torque. Alpina quotes a 0-60 mph time of 4.0 seconds, a top speed of 180 mph, and a quarter-mile time of 12.6 seconds.

Beyond the engine, we can look forward to some chassis upgrades, along with specific Alpina tuning of the X7's 8-speed automatic and all-wheel-drive system.

The current XB7 is priced from $142,295, including destination. Expect a similar figure for the updated model's sticker.

source: https://www.motorauthority.com/news/1134415_2023-bmw-alpina-xb7-spy-shots-video

by Viknesh Vijayenthiran
http://www.boscheuropean.com