Motoring News
22 November 2012LA motor show: Mini John Cooper Works GP
A quarter of the limited run Mini GP hot hatch are destined for America
The Mini John Cooper Works GP will be sold in limited numbers in North America, it has emerged. The car will receive its US debut at next week's LA motor show.Just 2000 examples of the fastest-ever Mini will be built, with 500 earmarked for American buyers. It is thought Mini plans to supply one GP to each of its 115 dealer sites. Owners of the original GP will be given first refusal on the remaining stock. The remaining models will be sold conventionally.According to one American dealer, US-spec GPs will feature individually numbered red decals on the roof, similar to those featured on the original GP.
read moreLA motor show: Mini Paceman
The Mini Paceman will receive its North American debut at the Los Angeles motor show next week
The Mini Paceman will receive its North American premiere at the Los Angeles motor show next week. The Paceman will launch in the USA with two four-cylinder petrol engines in Cooper and Cooper S models. Both models will feature a six-speed manual gearbox as standard, with a six-speed auto on the options list.Cooper S variants will be available with four-wheel drive.Recent success in America means that the US is Mini’s single most important market. It says much of its growth is attributable to the Countryman, which has attracted many newcomers to the brand. The Countryman-based Paceman is predicted to continue that trend.
read moreQuick news: Thieves avoid Prius; winter increases 4x4 values
Toyota's hybrid least stolen car in US; potential bad weather makes prices rise
Toyota’s Prius is the least stolen car in the US, with one in 606 models stolen compared to the national average of one in 78. The National Insurance Crime Bureau, which carried out the survey, reckons thieves avoid the car because it doesn’t contain enough parts that will fit other vehicles.Values of four-wheel drives are on the rise as winter sets in, according to auction firm BCA. Prices rose by 16 per cent last month to over £13,000 and BCA predicts further rises. “There is a well charted trend between falling temperatures and rising values for 4x4s, and we would expect to see that continue in the next few months,” said a spokesman.
read moreFirst drive review: Volkswagen Golf 1.4 TSI ACT 140 5dr
It's the first time we've tested the Mk7 Volkswagen Golf in the UK, and its all-round competence still shines
This is the first time we’ve driven the latest Volkswagen Golf in the UK, having been so impressed with it when we tried it overseas.Our UK test car was still a left-hooker, thus putting its driver on the kerb side of the road in Britain and leaving them susceptible to the worst aspects of a car’s ride.It came with a 138bhp 1.4 TSI turbo petrol engine driving through a six-speed manual gearbox, with a cylinder-deactivation system that cuts two cylinders on a light load.
read moreLA motor show: Kia Forte
Kia Forte saloon due for LA reveal but not destined for Europe
The new Kia Forte will be unveiled at the LA motor show, although there are no plans to bring the model to Europe or the UK.The car was first seen at October’s Santiago motor show, where it turned up unannounced on Kia’s stand. The car we’ll see in LA is the saloon, and a two-door coupé model will follow.In Korea and some other Asian markets, where it is known as the K3 and is already available to order, the car comes with a 1.6-litre petrol engine developing 133bhp and 120lb ft. It's available with stop-start as an option. It’s longer, wider and lower than the current Forte – overall length is 4560mm, width is up to 1780mm and height is cut to 1435mm. The wheelbase has been increased to 2700mm, which should improve interior space.Dan Stevens
read moreNew Kia Forte not due for UK
Saloon due for LA reveal but not destined for Europe
The new Kia Forte will be unveiled at the LA Motor Show, although there are no plans to bring the model to Europe or the UK.The car was first seen at October’s Santiago motor show, where it turned up unannounced on Kia’s stand. The car we’ll see in LA is the saloon, and a two-door coupé model will follow.In Korea and some other Asian markets, where it is known as the K3 and is already available to order, the car comes with a 1.6-litre petrol engine developing 133bhp and 120lb ft. It's available with stop-start as an option. It’s longer, wider and lower than the current Forte – overall length is 4560mm, width is up to 1780mm and height is cut to 1435mm. The wheelbase has been increased to 2700mm, which should improve interior space.
read moreLego Hyundai Veloster Turbo
Videos
22 Nov, 2012
Hyundai has created a Need For Speed-style race using the new Veloster Turbo... and some Lego
read moreLego Veloster Turbo
Videos
22 Nov, 2012
Hyundai has created a Need for Speed style race using the new Veloster Turbo, and some Lego
read moreFiat beefs up 500 for LA show
Soft-roader look for long-wheelbase city car
Fiat will launch a soft-roader variant of its long-wheelbase 500 at the Los Angeles motor show next week. The 500L Trekking is based on the longer 500L chassis and, compared to the 500L, has a raised ride height, a larger grille and different body mouldings.Despite Fiat’s plans to launch a small 500-based 4x4 next year, the Trekking won’t come with four-wheel drive, although its traction control system will be modified to work better on wet grass and unstable surfaces. It’s expected to go on sale in the UK next September.
read moreLA motor show: Fiat 500L Trekking
Soft-roader look for long-wheelbase city car
Fiat will launch a soft-roader variant of its long-wheelbase 500 at the Los Angeles motor show next week. The 500L Trekking is based on the longer 500L chassis and, compared to the 500L, has a raised ride height, a larger grille and different body mouldings.Despite Fiat’s plans to launch a small 500-based 4x4 next year, the Trekking won’t come with four-wheel drive, although its traction control system will be modified to work better on wet grass and unstable surfaces. It’s expected to go on sale in the UK next September.
read moreLA motor show: Fiat 500L and Trekking
US 500 range gets bigger with two bigger 500s
Fiat continues its US range expansion with the launch of the 500L and the 500L Trekking at the LA show.The 500L, the larger and longer five-door 500, will be available with Fiat's 1.4-litre MultiAir engine and either a six-speed manual or a six-speed dual clutch gearbox. With 158bhp and 184lb ft, Fiat's claiming best-in class power and torque in the US.The Trekking is a lightly restyled 500L, designed to give the car a soft-roader look; so it gets new front and rear bumpers and black body strips and wheel arch covers. It rides on 17-inch wheels which slightly increase the car's ground clearance.
read moreNew bikes at Motorcycle Live
The pick of the new machines on display at the NEC for Motorcycle Live, which takes place from November 24 to December 2.
read moreWould you recommend a four-year-old VW camper?
Honest John gives the thumbs up to a reader worried about the combination of diesel engine and automatic gearbox on a four-year-old VW California camper.
read moreFiat Panda 4x4 review
When the going gets tough, never mind an SUV, what you need is a Fiat Panda 4x4.
read moreHow to make the perfect BMW M3
What is the perfect M3 formula?
A new BMW M3 will arrive in 2014, but what should it be like? Steve Sutcliffe puts three of its predecessors through their paces at Brands Hatch to find the perfect ingredients.
read moreVote for the best car ad ever
News
22 Nov, 2012
Which is the best car advert of all time? We want you to help us decide
read moreVote for the best car advert ever
News
23 Nov, 2012
Which is the best car advert of all time? We want you to help us decide
read moreThe best car adverts ever
News
19 Dec, 2012
We asked you to vote for your favourite TV car adverts of all-time – and now we count down the top 20...
read moreLA motor show: Jaguar F-type Black Pack
Jaguar will launch the F-type in North America with a show car in Black Pack trim
The Jaguar F-Type Black Pack will make its world debut at the LA motor show next week. The event will also mark the first time the car has been seen in America.Black Pack performance versions feature high gloss black paint. All other external design features are identical to the standard car.The F-Type Black Pack will make its show debut alongside the Jaguar XFR-S, the fastest and most powerful saloon Jaguar has ever made.
read moreSaab to return 'next year'
Production could begin earlier than expected
Saab could relaunch the 9-3 as early as next year, and not as an electric car, as previously reported.National Electric Vehicle Sweden (NEVS), a Chinese/Japanese consortium that took over Saab earlier this year, told Automotive News that it was looking to start production of the 9-3 with a petrol engine “next summer”. Previously the firm had said it wanted to develop an electric 9-3 for 2014.A spokesman for the firm said part of the reason for considering an earlier launch was to increase brand awareness for Saab. NEVS is also looking at a new logo for the Saab brand, although all future models would still be badged as Saab.
read moreGovernment plunges drivers into darkness
News
22 Nov, 2012
The Highways Agency has turned off the lights on 121 miles of motorway
read morePeugeot gets serious about 'growth' markets
The budget Peugeot 301 will be used to kick start non-European sales to 60 per cent by 2020
Peugeot this week reveals its new 301, a car built especially for what it calls 'growth markets' in Turkey, Central and Eastern Europe, Russia, and the Middle East. Eventually it will also be sold and manufactured in China.According to Peugeot's new 38 year-old brand CEO, Maxime Picat, who until recently was chief of PSA's Chinese operations, Peugeot wants to use this specially targeted "value" model, and others like it, to boost non-European sales proportion to 60 per cent by 2020. The Peugeot 301 is a restyled and stretched four-door 308 with a separate, booted shape of its own. It will be built initially in Vigo, Spain. It sits on a stretched 308 wheelbase and wider tracks, is 4.4 metres long and features both the generous rear cabin and capacious separate boot that owners in these markets prefer. There are three engines, a 72bhp non-turbo version of the recently launched 1.2 litre PSA triple, plus a 115bhp 1.6 petrol four and a 92bhp bhp normally aspirated version of the familiar 1.6 HDi diesel, which is, according to Peugeot the world's biggest-selling diesel engine. PSA has been criticised in France and elsewhere for not being sufficiently "internationalised" but spokesmen say the group is wor
read moreChinese Citroen DS demand tipped to expand range
China's "love" of French luxury products will lead Citroen to produce DS models specifically for China
Burgeoning demand from China is likely to add several models to the Citroen DS model line-up, according to PSA's veteran brand chief, Frederic Saint-Geours.Explaining the group's strategy for escaping from its 'too mainstream' market positioning, Saint-Geours told Automotive News that the Chinese market for premium cars had reached 25 per cent, which made it numerically larger than Europe's premium market."We are confident the DS line will have success in China," he said, "because so many Chinese investors are asking us to become DS dealers. The Chinese love French luxury."We will develop new DS versions specifically for China: a C-segment sedan, a D-segment sedan and an SUV. We will also sell these models elsewhere in the world. Thus the expansion of the DS line in China might also help us strengthen it in Europe."
read moreKia to boost sporty image
Kia to boost sporty image
read moreFirst drive review: Lexus LS460 Luxury
The 2013 Lexus LS is outclassed by all its rivals, but its refinement, equipment, construction quality and V8 powertrain still appeal
The LS was the car that launched Lexus back in 1989. But as the firm's range has filled out this high-end limo has become a minority-interest model, finding only 100 buyers last year. The financial crisis hasn’t helped, and neither has the LS's age, which is why this facelift has penetrated more deeply than most makeovers to feature 3000 changes, ranging from an exterior restyling to a new dashboard, structural strengthening, a revised climate control system and, intriguingly, the reintroduction of the petrol V8 without hybrid hardware. That may seem odd in these CO2-obsessed times, but Lexus is confident that around 80 per cent of the 300 to 400 LS’s it expects to sell next year will be V8s, the rest accounted for by the long-wheelbase LS600h L hybrid.Lexus is confident because it’s still in touch with a pool of several thousand LS V8 owners who’d like to renew without the complexity of a hybrid.The other major change is the introduction of a sporting LS F Sport, its arrival mirroring the offer of more dynamic F versions across the rest of the Lexus range. It will take 40 per cent of sales. The LS460 Luxury sampled here will account for another 40 per cent.Among the myriad detail improvements are aerodynamic tweaks to improve high speed stability, an ambient cabin lighting system, upgraded LED exterior lamps and an impressively scaled multimedia screen of somewhat dated graphics.
read moreMercedes CLA45 to be unveiled at Frankfurt 2013
349bhp Mercedes four-door will arrive in the UK in early 2014 ahead of BMW’s junior performance saloon
The key premium-brand rival for BMW’s new M135i saloon will be the Mercedes CLA45 AMG. Based on the same flexible platform structure as the latest A-class and B-class, the new style-led four-door Merc will crown the heavily anticipated CLA line-up. It will go on sale in the UK in early 2014 at a price of about £38,000. That’s £20,000 less than the similar-sized C63 AMG, which is itself set to be replaced by a bigger all-new model towards the end of 2014.The CLA45 AMG will be the first Mercedes performance saloon to use a transverse engine layout. It will share its turbocharged 2.0-litre four-cylinder powerplant and four-wheel drive system with the smaller A45 AMG, which will go on sale in the UK next summer.Mercedes insiders keenly describe the CLA45 AMG as a baby CLS63 AMG. Power peaks at a heady 349bhp, providing the range-topping saloon with a specific output of 175bhp per litre. Torque is said to be 332lb ft.Drive is sent through an in-house-developed seven-speed dual-clutch gearbox, electronic differential and Haldex-style multi-plate clutch to all four wheels.AMG won’t
read moreLeast reliable used cars: 1997-2012
Ever wondered what the least reliable used car is? One used car warranty provider claims to have the answer.
read moreGM in $4.2bn deal for Ally unit
The carmaker has agreed to acquire the European and Latin American lending business of Ally Financial for about $4.2bn, boosting the control over credit offerings
read moreFirst drive review: MG6 SE DTi
A new diesel engine makes the Longbridge-built MG6 a serious fleet contender at last.
This is the MG6 diesel we were promised. When this first of Chinese-owned MG’s all-new range hit the UK market 18 months ago, only optimists reckoned it would make any impact. Why? Because there wasn’t a diesel option, and in the Focus-Mondeo market segments the car aimed to straddle, petrol sales account for not much more than ten per cent. It drove nicely, and we were told a diesel was in development, but for now it was barely relevant to the UK market.
read moreYou Know You Want To: Maserati Quattroporte
Is this the ultimate barge bargain?
read moreMG to reinvent sports car
British engineers and designers searching for "new breed" of sports car. Help them find it
read moreDesign a PH shirt, get paid.
Got a great idea for a PH T? Let us know and we'll make it!
read moreFord's 'dad in the dashboard'
UK debut of MyKey lets parents set speed and stereo volume. Good idea or nannying nonsense?
read moreLexus limo gets AMG snarl
'600hp+' hyperbarge has been created by Toyota Motorsport in Germany
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