For its next project, German tuning house MR Car Design has selected the Opel Insignia OPC sports sedan, which is the European sibling of the Buick Regal GS, though instead of a 270HP turbocharged four and front-wheel drive, the Opel gets a more potent 321hp (325PS) V6 turbo and AWD.

The first thing you'll notice about MR Car Design's Insignia OPC is how low it sits to the ground, something that was made possible thanks to a height-adjustable G-Ride air suspension from Reil Performance.[...]

European owners of the Volkswagen Polo GTI looking for a relatively inexpensive solution to improve the performance of their cars will be interested to know that Superchips has released a new ECU tune for the German hatchback.

The Polo GTI is powered by a direct injection 1.4-liter gasoline four-pot featuring both a supercharger, which boosts the engine until 3,000prm, and a turbocharger that kicks in afterwards, for a maximum output of 180PS (177.53bhp) and peak torque of 250Nm (185 lb-ft).[...]

After showing off the Vesuvius edition, Kahn Design is offering up a new tuning package based on the Porsche Cayenne. As usual, Kahn didn’t provide any changes under the hood, but made some aesthetically pleasing changes on the exterior and the interior.

The exterior package includes new vented front and rear wide wheel arches, integrated LED daylight running lights for front wheel arch vents, lower boot lid spoiler, liquid red brake calipers, full colour coded bumpers with matte pearl gray inserts, carbon fibre detailing on front bumper sections.

The tuner is also offering new sport suspensions springs and a new Kahn stainless steel quad exhaust system. The car sits on a new set of 22" Kahn RS600 wheels.

For the interior, the tuner is offering a blend of quilted claret and perforated leather with the speedo and rev counter fascia in red and cream. The tuner is also offering their customers the possibility to express their own personality when customizing the car’s interior.[...]

Here are two of Europe's finest hot hatches (that you won't be able to buy in the States, at least not in their current generation?) racing each other on the Nordschleife.
The VW Sirocco R is the flagship model of the series and is powered by a specially tuned 2.0-liter turbocharged four-cylinder engine that churns out 261hp (265PS) and 350 Nm (258 lb-ft).

Like the Volkswagen model, the Focus RS is front wheel drive but instead of a four-banger, it sports a 2.5-liter force-fed inline-five generating 300hp (305PS) and 440Nm (324.5 lb-ft).[...]

The Subaru BRZ is so brand spanking new that prices have only just been announced, but that doesn’t mean that the sports car isn’t ripe for a tuning project. Australian aftermarket tuner, Tunehouse, has announced a preview of their program for the BRZ that involves a significant increase in its performance output. Unfortunately, we only have a rendering of the package for now.

The company is still working on the final specifications for their BRZ, but company founder, Jim Ghelis, said they are working on "offering a reliable yet significant lift in power with an emphasis on improving the car’s low-end torque. The company is planning on taking out the BRZ’s standard 2.0-liter boxer engine in favor of a 2.6-liter Costworth crate engine that also comes with an HKS turbocharger, a front-mounted intercooler, a billet crankshaft, a billet flywheel, and a modified EcuTek ECU unit. These additions will increase power from the standard 200 HP to 330 HP, a 65% increase.[...]

The Clio RS has a meaty aspirated 2-liter engine and a reengineered chassis, while Fiat fitted the Abarth 500 with enough sass that it talks back at you. But VW's Polo GTI has... a badge and a clean interior. It never really managed to capture anybody's imagination as a stock car and isn't exactly cheap to buy either.

But UK ECU remap specialists Superchips have come with a quick and pretty inexpensive way of turning the Polo GTI into a veritable road rocket.

The standard Polo GTI offers ... [...]

Just when you thought it was safe to make a Hail Mary prediction that Scion was showing a prototype Scion FR-S without a roof at a drifting event, the truth comes out. This is actually a Speedseter one-off built by Cartel Customs, a California-based company that likes to make really unique customs.

Their work with Scion spans at least a good couple of years, as we've shown you the Cartel Pitt Boss Scion iQ at SEMA 2011, and at the 2010 show, the Cartel XB stretch limo.

Getting back to the ... [...]

As it turns out, we were right to assume that the open-top 2013 Scion FR-S spotted at this past weekend's Formula Drift event in Long Beach, California, was a tuning concept.

The speedster version of the Scion FR-S was created by Cartel Customs, a California-based company headed by Jeremy Lookofsky, which specializes in the design and manufacturing of custom display vehicles and motorcycles.

While the name may not ring a bell, you've probably seen some of Cartel's work at previous SEMA shows such as last year's Scion iQ Pit Bull, the 2010 Scion xB Stretch Limousine and the 2009 Scion tC Low Rider concepts.[...]

All car buffs can appreciate when a new car comes out and pumps out 40 horsepower more than its predecessor and even blows away the old version in looks. What separates the typical car buff from the car nut is if they really care how the car got to that point. So many times I will sit and discuss gear ratios, camshaft lift and duration, compression, and weight with people and all they have to say is ?How much horsepower does it have.?

Well, SRT obviously thinks its customer base is full of car nuts, as it released five videos with the engineers and designers of the 2013 SRT Viper discussing various parts of the design process, including: general overview, powertrain, interior design, handling characteristics, and exterior design. All we can say about these videos is ?Wow.? SRT went above and beyond in developing this car, then went even further to draw us all into the engineering and design rooms.

All of the videos are great, but one of my favorite parts is how the designer states that the point of the interior is to keep it simple yet refined. That is a huge thing with us, as some cars go way overboard with the high-tech gadgets, to the point that it?s overwhelming. It?s pretty funny that they specifically single out Corvette owners and how they complain about the ?video game? feel to the controls.[....]

After last year's preview, ABT has now launched its new QS3 program for Audi's smallest crossover model onto the market in Europe.
Currently, ABT offers upgrade kits for the Q3 equipped with the 2.0-liter TDI diesel, in which case, output is lifted from 174hp (177PS) to 203hp (205PS), and the 2.0-liter TFSI petrol that lays down 267hp (270PS), up from 208hp (211PS).[...]