31 Mahindra XUV 5OOs, 8000 kilometres, 22 days, 9 countries… ASEAN countries and India are gearing up for an adrenaline-filled experience as the 2nd edition of the ASEAN-India Car Rally is all set to kick-off on 26 November 2012. On the occasion of the 20th commemorative year of India-ASEAN relations, the rally will be flagged off from Yogyakarta, Indonesia and wind its way through 8 of the 10 ASEAN countries before finally ending in New Delhi, India.

Senior Union government officials and representatives from the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) and Auto Car India have already chalked out the possible road routes for the rally. The convoy will traverse through ASEAN countries Malaysia, Thailand, Cambodia, Vietnam, Laos and Myanmar and then enter India from Moreh in Imphal.

The rally will pass through Guwahati on December 17, when economic ministers of ASEAN countries will meet in the principal business city in northeastern India. The flag down of the rally in Guwahati and the

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The R8 is the slowest car Audi has ever built! You might now be thinking I have gone off the rocker. Not really. I am referring to a tongue-in-cheek slogan Audi designed to bring attention to the time it takes to build an R8. Unlike other Audis, the R8 is meticulously hand-assembled in small numbers. It's a slow and lengthy process, but what it loses in time, it gains in craftsmanship.

The performance figures tell a very different story. Powered by a 5200cc V10 engine that develops a whopping 525 PS and 530 Nm of torque, the R8 rockets from 0-100 km/h in 3.9 seconds and on to a top speed of 313 km/h. Needless to say, these numbers make the R8 the fastest road car Audi has ever built.

Driving an Audi R8 on a race track has two advantages -- it certainly is the best way to appreciate this scrupulously crafted machine, and it's a great opportunity to polish your driving skills. Audi has designed their Audi Sportscar Experience (ASE) programme in such a way that the participants get

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Honda has published an official teaser image of the Brio Sedan on its Thailand website. Contrary to some despicable 'rendered images' put out by some Indian automobile websites, the Brio sedan has a very futuristic design, with cues taken from the Honda City.

The company hasn't divulged any information beyond the above photo. However, what we can clearly see are the i-VTEC badge on the car's rear and '1.2' written on the image. These clearly suggest the car will be powered by the Brio hatchback's 1.2 litre i-VTEC motor.

Rumour has it that the Brio Sedan will also get a scaled down version of the 1.6 i-DTEC diesel engine that was unveiled at the Geneva Motor Show earlier this year. Although there's no official word on this yet, expect a 1.5 litre diesel Brio sedan by April 2013.

Being a sub-4metre car, the Brio sedan will take on the Maruti Dzire, Tata Indigo eCS and the Mahindra Verito CS that will be launched by March 2013.

Talk of the town is that Honda will also introduce

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When Tata introduced the Safari in 1998, it forged a radical new trend for the industry. Soon, India's first 4X4 SUV became a household name and won the hearts of many enthusiasts. But, over the Tata Safari's 14-year life span, there have been hardly any significant upgrades apart from two new engines and minor cosmetic changes. A decade-and-a-half after it was launched, the Safari is still evolving. It finally got the long-awaited overhaul, but will the new Safari Storme be able to regain its past glory? Let us get on with the road test to find out.

Design

There's no getting away from the fact that the Tata Safari looks majestic and has massive presence on the road. The new Safari Storme stays true to everything that made the original so fantastic from the beginning. The Storme's exterior is very similar to the Safari and you'd be forgiven for thinking it's the same car in the first glance. But a closer look would reveal that the car has undergone some significant changes. The

Read More »from Road Test and Review: Tata Safari Storme