Motoring News

Saab 9-3 production restarts
News 2 Dec, 2013 Production of the Saab 9-3 has restarted under the manufacturers' new ownership

Jenson Button drives F1 car in Frome
Watch as Jenson Button drives his McLaren-Mercedes Formula One car through the streets of Frome    

Jenson Button drives F1 car in Froome
Watch as Jenson Button drives his McLaren-Mercedes Formula One car through the streets of Froome    

Lamborghini Veneno Roadster gets public debut
New €3.3 million V12 supercar shown to the public on an Italian aircraft carrier in Abu Dhabi The Lamborghini Veneno roadster has had its public debut in Abu Dhabi.The new supercar, which costs €3.3 million (approx £2.8m) and of which only nine will be made, was shown to invited guests aboard an Italian aircraft carrier.Docked in the city as part of a trade mission tour of the Middle East and Africa, the 240-metre aircraft carrier is promoting Italian-made goods. Lamborghini was chosen to represent the Italian car industry as part of the trade mission, with the company saying it has an "extemely strong" customer base in the region for its cars."We are honoured that Lamborghini was chosen to represent the Italian car industry in the UAE, as a perfect example of iconic Italian super sports cars, and that we have the opportunity to show the Veneno roadster for the first time in Abu Dhabi," said Lamborghini boss Stephan Winkelmann, "The Lamborghini Veneno roadster is one of the world’s most exclusive cars with the most extraordinary performance".The Veneno roadster is powered by a mid-mounted 6.5-litre V12 engine developing 740bhp, and is mated to a semi-automatic gearbox with five shift modes. Lamborghini says the model can reach 0-62mph

Saab resumes production
Saab, the Swedish car maker that filed for bankruptcy two years ago, is building cars once again    <

Why the Subaru Cross Sport should be built
The Cross Sport is a Ferrari FF for the masses, a BRZ with a bigger boot - and it needs to be put into production They call it the Subaru Cross Sport. They suggest it displays the “future direction for urban SUVs”. It rides a little high. It has a split tailgate. It even has a CVT automatic gearbox. But apart from that, I’m not seeing too much SUV in the Subaru Cross Sport concept from the Tokyo show. Maybe it’s just wishful thinking, but it looks to me like a BRZ shooting brake.The evidence? The technical details are scant, but it’s only 60mm longer than a BRZ. Weight, though it’s slightly academic in a concept, is only 1250kg. And it’s reputed to ?have a boxer engine driving ?the rear wheels. Of course it has; just look at the front end. If they haven’t taken a BRZ as the start point, that’s because they took a Toyota GT86 off the line by mistake. Subaru has clearly been thinking what I’m sure a few potential buyers have: “I want a BRZ, but I can’t get all my stuff in it.” Think of the

Colibri one-seater receives 700 pre-orders
New city car to enter production in 2015 Over 700 pre-orders have been received for the Innovative Colibri city car.The Colibri's maker, German manufacturer Innovative Mobility, says that around half of the pre-orders are from private motorists, with the other half coming from business and fleet customers.The car was first seen at the Geneva motor show earlier this year, and has been designed to appeal to inner-city commuters and businesses. The Colibri has one seat and comes with a 180-litre boot. Its 24kW electric motor has a range of 68 miles, and can power the 440kg Colibri to 62mph in just under ten seconds, and has a claimed top speed of 75mph.As with other electic vehicles, the Colibri can be charged from a conventional socket, with the battery reaching 80 per cent charge in 20 minutes.The car is scheduled to reach series production in late 2015, and will cost €8900 with a €55 monthly battery lease. The company has previously said it plans to produce around 17,000 models per year.Innovative Mobility says it is looking for further investors to help fund the project. Company boss Thomas delos Santos said: "Financing a vehicle project is like playing in the Champions League: even if you have a highly motivated team, it requires you to fight it out to reach the finals."When it goes on sa

Toyota Verso powered by BMW diesel engine
News 2 Dec, 2013 The Toyota Verso is the first model from the Japanese manufacturer to be available with a BMW-sourced diesel engine

Caterham Seven 160
Caterham’s new entry-level model aims for simplicity and value Any British sports car maker billing a new model as “the ultimate in accessible fun” would make ears prick up all about these parts. But when it’s Caterham making the claim of its latest debutant, the Seven 160, tools are downed at Autocar HQ, keyboards fall quiet and the sound of excited hubbub duly fills the void.If any firm owns the concept of low-budget, high-performance, all-out entertainment motoring, it’s Caterham. Very few cars from volume makers can compete with the speed and thrill that this car’s enduring formula continues to create, more than half a century after Colin Chapman nipped up the bolts on the very first Lotus Seven.Chapman's original Lotus Seven, launched in 1957, was powered by a 40bhp 1.2-litre four-cylinder Ford engine, making the new 160 look positively overblown. Like the 160 it also used live rear axle suspension.Autocar's then-rival magazine, Motor, figured one in 1958. It took 16.2sec to hit 60mph and topped out to 80.4mph. By the time Caterham acquired the rights to build the Seven in 1973, engines had grown to the 1.7 litres of the Ford 'Kent', and to 135bhp.If Caterham really has exceeded its own exceptional standards with this new car, it will have created something very special indeed. But that’s a sizeable ‘if’, and an awful lot to prove for a car powered by an engine from a Suzuki microcar, with wheels and tyres that could have been pinched from a Brian James trailer.Time to find out if this flyweight sports car’s stature is greater than the sum of its decidedly humble parts.

Driver Power passes JD Power Survey
News 2 Dec, 2013 Britain's biggest car ownership satisfaction survey, Driver Power, has overtaken JD Power

New Saab 9-3 production starts
NEVS-backed car resumes production in Sweden; petrol variants to be replaced with all-electric model in 2014 The Saab 9-3 has restarted series production at the firm's Trollhättan plant in Sweden.According to media reports, Saab owners National Electric Vehicle Sweden has said output at the facotry will resume at a "humble" pace, with the option to increase capacity over time. The move comes following the successful production of two 9-3 prototype saloons back in September. The first cars to be created at the site since the production line was closed in 2011, the two saloons were intended to show that NEVS had re-built the Saab supplier chain necessary to produce new cars.Although for the moment any 9-3s produced at the site will use the same 2.0-litre turbocharged petrol engine used in the pre-collapse cars, NEVS will switch production to an all-electic variant from next year. The new car will initially be aimed at the Chinese market, with the first batch of cars already pre-sold to government agencies in the country.Current plans suggest the company will launch the new 9-3 for Europe at the Frankfurt motor show in 2015.The new 9-3 cars will still be badged as Saab, as part of the agreement reached when NEVS took over the compa

Large-scale trial of driverless cars to begin on public roads
The world's first large-scale test of driverless cars will involve 100 Volvos taking to the streets of Gothenburg in 2017    read more

Volvo to launch world's first large-scale self-driving car test
Volvo is to begin field trials of self-driving cars in order for its cars to handle real-world situations without the input of a driver Volvo says it is to launch a real world test of 100 self-driving cars in Gothenburg in 2017.The project is called ‘Drive Me’ and is a joint initiative between Volvo, the Swedish Transportation Administration, the Swedish Transport Agency, Lindholmen Science Park and Gothenburg local government.The cars will be used on ‘public roads in everyday driving conditions’ on 50 kilometers of ‘typical commuter arteries, including motorways and frequent queues.’The project kicks off in 2014 with ‘customer research and technology development’ and will then move into designing a ‘user interface and cloud functionality’ before the first prototype cars are used by members of public.“Our aim is for the car to be able to handle all possible traffic scenarios by itself, including leaving the traffic flow and finding a safe ‘harbour’ if the driver for any reason is unable to regain control,” said Erik Coelingh, Technical Specialist at Volvo Car Group.Volvo says the vehicles in the pilot project are defined as ‘Highly Autonomous Cars’, which means that the ‘vehicle can handle all driving functions at the driver's discretion. The driver is expected to be available for occas

Audi confirms Q1
Yup, another SUV/crossover thing, possibly small enough to fit in your Q7's boot

PH Beaulieu Sunday Service: Time For Tea?
Did Dunlop's cameras catch you at the last Sunday Service? Check their vid to find out!

BMW 2 Series M Performance upgrades
More power, M suspension, a louder exhaust and a limited-slip diff for the M235i? Sign us up!

Skoda Octavia vRS: Review
Golf GTI-based Octavia vRS sounds great, sadly we booked in a GTD-based TDI one by mistake!

Saab - it lives!
Something stirs in Trollhatten - yes, that's the Saab production line starting up!

Nissan 350Z: PH Carpool
Inspired by talk of hot Nissans? This week's PHer already has been

Paul Walker RIP: PH Blog
Actor's death a sad chapter in Fast & Furious legacy

Gran Turismo 6 launch: PH liveblog
Like your fast cars virtual or real? We'll take both ta as Matt reports from the Gran Turismo 6 launch

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