Daily News: Monday 8/21/17
BMW Debuts 2018 M5 in Need for Speed: Payback
Over the past 5 generations of BMW’s M5 uber-Sedan, the technology included in the car has increased astronomically, to the point where the previous M5 had dozens of different ways to set up the driver settings. Therefore, it is fitting that BMW has chosen to debut the new-for-2018 6th generation M5 at GamesCom, Europe’s biggest trade fair for video and board games. BMW didn’t just randomly show up at a video game convention, as they jointly released the car with EA and their debut of the new Need for Speed: Payback trailer, where the car featured heavily (digital version shown above).
The 6th generation M5 utilizes a new version of the same 4.4L ‘TwinPower’—BMW speak for twin turbocharged—V8 that the previous generation used, with power increased to 600hp and 553 lb-ft of peak torque increases from the previous generation of 40 hp and 53 lb-ft. The all-new 2018 M5 will also debut the M-specific all-wheel-drive system, M xDrive, which is a first for the M5, as all previous generations have been RWD. While the car starts in AWD mode, a RWD mode is selectable, to placate the M-diehards.
The all-new 2018 BMW M5 will be available at certified BMW Centers in spring 2018 with pricing to be announced closer to market launch. Need for Speed’s latest installation hits PC, Xbox One, and PlayStation 4 on November 10th.
Hall Racing Completes Vegas-to-Reno Off-Road Race in Colorado ZR2
As reported last week, Chad Hall of Hall Racing fielded a mostly-stock Chevrolet Colorado ZR2 in the Best in the Desert’s General Tire Vegas to Reno race. Achieving a recognized 1st in class 7300, the truck crossed the finish line in Carson City, Nevada, around 7 a.m. PDT on Saturday, Aug. 19, taking 18 hours, 50 minutes and 16 seconds to complete the course with an average speed of 28.6 miles per hour. While that may sound slow, for a stock truck on undeveloped terrain, this is a pretty brisk pace. Chevrolet had supported the truck and used it as a test bed for potential future factory-offered upgrades. Mark Dickens, executive director of Global Accessories, Performance Variants, Parts & Motorsports, General Motors said, “First and foremost, this was a development trip for our engineering team”, explaining the factory’s expected gains.
The Hall Racing Colorado ZR2 will compete next in the Best in the Desert VT Construction Tonopah 250 race presented by Polaris Oct. 19-22.
Nissan Uses Eclipse to Add Three New Trucks to ‘Midnight Edition’ Range
While most of America was busy looking up at the sun, Nissan took the darkened disc as an opportunity to roll out three new additions to the Midnight Edition range; the TITAN, TITAN XD and Frontier Midnight Editions. Consisting of blacked-out trim, wheels, and special badges, the three utility vehicles join the Midnight Edition lineup that already consists of the Altima, Maxima, Murano, Pathfinder, Rogue and Sentra. According to Nissan, these special editions sell on average twice as fast as normal models, once arriving on the lot.
The 2018 Frontier, TITAN and TITAN XD Midnight Editions will be available in late fall 2017, and while pricing isn’t finalized, the Midnight Edition packages is expected to provide customers with a significant discount versus if the items were purchased separately.
The Speed Trap 