Jaguar C-X75 Electric Concept Car

Jaguar C-X75 Electric Concept C

Jaguar C-X75 Electric Concept Car

Well, Jaguar have been busy. Above is the Jaguar C-X75 Electric Concept Car, we think you’ll agree, it looks absolutely great doesnt it? Jaguar claims this car has the potential to go 560 miles on a single charged, and reach a top speed of around 200mph, not bad for a plug-in.
The car is only a concept, and there are no plans, at least that we know of, to put it into production, it was produced simply to celebrate Jaguars 75th anniversary of the companies existence.
Currently the car is on display at the Los Angeles Auto Show and is proving a hit, not least for its impressive figures for range and speed, but also because it looks totally delicious, we find it hard to believe there would be anyone who wouldn’t like how this car looks.
The car has four wheel drive, and can run on electric only for around 65 miles on a domestic charge lasting around 6 hours, but by using a pair of tiny gas turbines to provide additional energy whilst driving, the range extends to a much more useful 560 miles.
Great looks, green credentials, and a real world level of range, this car is a clear indication of the future, in this guise it will probably never be built, however the turbine technology used is remarkable, and there can be no doubt this is going to work its way into road going vehicles in the not too distant future.

Mercedes unveils C63 AMG Coupe

Ladies and gentlemen, for the main event of the evening... 12 rounds of heavyweight drifting: meet the new C63 AMG Coupe.
Mercedes has revealed the rocket-fuelled version of its recently launched C-Class Coupe, packing 457bhp from its 6.2-litre V8.
As with the face-lifted saloon, the C63 AMG Coupe gets the optional AMG performance pack rebigulator that boosts power to 487bhp. How, you cry? Pinching important oily bits from its SLS AMG sibling, the 6.2-litre V8 gets forged pistons, connecting rods and a lightweight crankshaft reducing inertia and allowing muchos revolutions, eg, light and shouty.
The pack also includes a variable intake manifold, AMG high-performance brakes with composite front discs and red calipers, along with a carbon-fibre boot spoiler and AMG steering wheel.
The 0-62mph time takes 4.5 seconds (4.4 with the AMG pack) while top speed is, naturally, limited to 155mph.
You get the AMG Speedshift seven-speed sports 'box with three modes - S, S+ and M - together with a ‘Race Start' function that, says Merc, ‘allows the driver to explore the vehicle's full acceleration capability'. Read: ‘Full-throttle-burnout.'
Like the saloon, the Coupe gets AMG's sports suspension (wider track, negative camber, new spring/damper rates), speed-sensitive sports steering and ESP. Inside the Merc comes with a TFT 3D display, AMG sports seats and a bewildering array of driver aids to make sure you don't stray off the road/exit via a tree, don't miss blind spots and, probably, tell you off if you forget to brush your teeth.
If you want even more one-upmanship, there's an ‘Edition 1' AMG available, which uses black leather with contrasting porcelain seams, twin-spoke light alloys in matt black and a big badge.
Prices start at £63k for the Coupe (£62k for the saloon) and £67k for the Edition 1, and will launch in July this year.

2012 FERRARI FF

Ferrari doesn't do development drives. Journalists are never normally allowed near a new Ferrari until all the corporate levels at Maranello have signed it off. Plus maybe given the once over by the Pope, just to be sure.
But the FF is different. Not only is this 612 replacement the first Ferrari to get four-wheel drive, and also the first Ferrari to be officially styled as a shooting brake, but it's also the first time Ferrari has allowed a development drive.
Hence the reason we've come all the way to Arjeplog in Northern Sweden, to be the first website in the world to get behind the wheel of this 660bhp FF.
Given all that, and the fact it's one of only a handful of prototype FFs in the world, the Ferrari engineer accompanying it is pretty cavalier about letting me have a go. There isn't even a rundown of the controls, and no fretting when the Manettino gets wound round to ‘Race'.
Jump in it, and you can understand why. It's got 660bhp, I'm driving on a frozen lake, yet it all feels remarkably controlled. Even if you bury your foot from a standing start, it doesn't fishtail away. The FF just calmly tries to find the traction.
It's seriously impressive stuff, and it's thanks to the clever four-wheel-drive system, not any trick studded tyres. Ferrari hasn't just slapped a centre differential into the FF - it insists that is too heavy, so instead the four-wheel drive is all controlled by electronics and a set of clutches in front of the engine.
Most of the time, it's still rear-wheel drive. But if the car's brain detects wheel slip, it can send drive to either or both front tyres via those clutches. And there's no mechanical link between the front and rear axle.
What does this mean in practice? Nothing, and also everything. Nothing, because this still drives like a Ferrari. You can still do glorious power slides, and the chassis doesn't feel numbed by the four-wheel drive set-up. This car is still full of feel.
And yet it also means this is the first Ferrari that can do everything. Snowing outside? Not a problem. Loads of luggage for the family ski trip? Ha, the FF laughs in the face of such trivialities with its enormous boot.
Ferrari has been building ever more useable supercars recently, the sort that anyone can drive and still feel like a driving god. The FF, on the basis of a short development drive, feels like the best yet

Toyota FT-86 II Concept Moves Closer to Production

A new concept  of the Toyota FT-86 debuted at the Geneva Motor. The Toyota FT-86 II concept sports coupe, after making its original debut at the 2009 Tokyo Motor Show with the FT-86 concept, seems to be moving closer to an actual production model.
Little information and specs have been released about the redesigned FT-86 II concept. However, we do know that it will use a 2.0-liter, four cylinder boxer engine with power driving the rear wheels through a six-speed manual transmission.
A few major differences between the original FT-86 concept version and the latest FT-86 II concept are the larger rear window and front grille, a new front bumper with a string of LED daytime running lights, and a different rear bumper with larger dual tail pipes.
The new Toyota FT-86 II concept features very compact dimensions. It is 4,235mm long, 1,795mm wide, and just 1,270mm high. Its design language is called “Functional Beauty” and its bold, sweeping form has been generated entirely through the constraints of function and aerodynamics developed from F1 technology.
Toyota may have had to bring out two concepts to get the design just right, but after being postponed more times than we would like, sales for the Toyota FT-86 will begin in Europe in 2012. Prices will start from around $25,000.
Subaru has plans to build their own version of the FT-86, a car that will share the same technology and engines, but will feature a different design. The advantage of the version built by Subaru is that the STI version is powered by a 2.5-liter turbocharged flat-4 engine with an output of about 300 HP.

2014 Porsche 918 - Feature

2014 Porsche 918 - Feature
March 2011

 
 
What it is: A true mid-engine supercar and the spiritual successor to the Carrera GT.
Why it matters: After the Wendelin Wiedeking era—characterized by  the absence of a factory racing team, parts-sharing between the Boxster/Cayman and the 911, plus the portly Cayenne and Panamera—Porsche needs to reassert its position as the quintessential sports-car maker. Porsche will even do a racing edition (the Carrera GT never raced). Two street versions, a gullwing-door 918 GT and a 918 Spyder, are likely.
Platform: A new mid-engine platform exclusive to the 918.
Powertrain: The 918 RSR concept used a flywheel hybrid system, but the production 918 should get a plug-in hybrid system integrated with a 550- to 600-hp V-8.
Competition: Ferrari 599 replacement, Lamborghini Aventador LP700-4, Lexus LFA, Mercedes SLS AMG.
What might go wrong: The world may end before we get a chance to drive it.
Estimated arrival and price: It won’t come before 2013, and it won’t be affordable. Unless you consider $500,000 affordable.

Ford Focus RS 500 driven

Phew, no rain. Showers are always a risk in Germany's Eifel mountains, which is where we're driving today, but fortunately it's a scorcher. Dry weather is crucial to this Ford Focus RS500 - 350bhp and 340lb ft fed through the front wheels is going to make traction a rare commodity, even on smooth tarmac.


The RS500 is the run-out special to the RS Focus. Five-hundred cars will be built, and 101 are destined for the UK. First though, the bad news: all of them have sold out. And that's despite the RS500 costing a whopping £35,650.
To give you an idea of just how popular this car is, Ford's dedicated RS500 website was hacked four days before it was due to go live. In those four days, before the car even officially existed, enough people had beaten down the door of their local dealer demanding a RS500 that Ford could have sold the 101 cars several times over.
Oh, and a word of warning. Not that the Focus RS was ever a car for a bloke who didn't want to be noticed, but prepare to be hassled a lot in the RS500. We took the car to the Nurburgring 24 Hours Race, and I lost count of the number of camera phones pointed at it.  It was enough to make me feel a tinge of sympathy for a b-list celeb.
To get the power to 350bhp, Ford has tweaked the ECU, changed the exhaust to give a better flow of air and increased the power of the fuel pump. Other than that, this RS500 is exactly the same as the standard RS, apart from the Batman-spec matt-black wrap on the bodywork.
It's some tribute to the basic Focus that this RS500 still works brilliantly well. Sure, you'll have to drive it carefully over a bumpy back road, or when it rains. But on a good day, with the sun shining and the birds singing, the RS500 is magic.
Honestly, 350bhp in a front-wheel drive car feels manageable. Before I came on the launch, I thought driving this car would be a lesson in self-restraint, but not a bit of it. You can be as much of a hooligan in this thing as you'd hope. It doesn't feel under-braked or like the 350bhp has altered the brilliant balance of the chassis.
Turn in, get on the power, feel the front wheels tug at the steering slightly, your neck strain against the g, and then launch up the road to worry about the next corner. Because the steering is so good, there's enough intuitive feel that you don't have to concentrate too hard. It just links back to you almost by telekinesis.
But here's the real shocker. Because there's now so much more torque in the RS500, pottering around at a leisurely pace is now even easier. So there you go. The most ridiculous hot hatch ever, with more power than the basic Porsche 911, can actually be relaxing to drive.

Aston Martin DBS

The irony of ‘special edition' supercars is that you end up with a car less special, statistically at least, than if you'd specced it yourself.
To wit: simply sticking to visual options - wheels, paint, leather, - there are some 31 billion possible combinations (we've done the maths) should you choose to configure your DBS to the last detail. Many do, some with disastrous consequences. For better or worse, you can be fairly sure your magma red DBS with cream-on-purple seats is unique.
The DBS Carbon Black is not unique. It is, however, rather stunning. Maybe it's a ploy by Aston Martin to save taste-challenged DBS owners from themselves.


Though mechanically identical to the, ahem, normal DBS, the Carbon Black gets an enormous amount of very shiny black stuff as standard: a bespoke black paint job with a ‘metallic twist', black gloss wheels, a black-on-black-on-black interior, and side strakes rendered in carbon fibre.
The effect is magnificently sinister. If you find the DBS over-jewelled, with too many bells and whistles ruining the elegance of the DB9's original lines, step this way. It looks like a stealth jet, although this quality is impeded somewhat by the cortex-shattering V12 soundtrack.
Don't trust yourself to do a decent job of speccing your DBS? The Carbon Black provides a vital service. But be prepared for the day you pass an identical DBS on the street. Oh, the shame!