Motoring News
Yesterday, 24 April 2015Top Gear's top five posh SUVs
Want to lord it over drivers in mere 'cars' while enjoying lavish luxury? Here's what to buy
read moreYes, Fast and Furious 8 is coming
Vin Diesel confirms that EIGHTH installment in billion-dollar franchise will arrive in 2017
read more2015 Seat Leon ST Cupra 280 review
Space and practicality has never been an issue for the Seat Leon ST, and thanks to a Cupra 280 engine it's now fast, too - but does it gel as a package?
Speed and practicality. These yin and yang qualities of the car world are easy to achieve separately, but can be troublesome to bring together in one harmonious package.This hasn’t prevented the adventurous from trying, though, and now Seat has thrown its hat into the ring. It’s decided to challenge those laws of the automotive universe by dropping an engine from its Cupra 280 into the 27mm longer (and 45kg heavier) estate body of a Leon ST. So, does 2.0 litres and 276bhp over the front wheels and 587 litres (of boot space) over the rears, make the Leon ST Curpa 280 the perfect blend, or a bit of a mismatch?
read moreVideo: Lamborghini Huracan GT3 driven flat out on track - EXCLUSIVE
Lamborghini Huracan GT3 will complete in the 2015 Blancpain GT Series
Watch as Matt Saunders tests the Lamborghini Huracan GT3 race car around the Adria race track in Italy
The Lamborghini Huracan GT3 race car is put through its paces by Matt Saunders around the Adria race track Italy.
read moreAston Martin could build new plant in Alabama
Shown in March this year, Aston calls the DBX an all-wheel drive GT crossover'
Building new facility near the Mercedes factory 'could make sense' says company chief
Aston Martin could build a new factory in the southern US state of Alabama, company boss Andy Palmer has told Autocar.Any such a facility would be sited ‘close’ to the Mercedes factory at Tuscaloosa, Vance, which builds the M-Class, R-Class and GL-Class SUV models.Speaking at the Britcar 24 Hour race at Silverstone, in which he is competing, Palmer told Autocar that Aston Martin has ‘had expressions of interest [in the siting of a new factory] from both many states in the US and countries around the world, including the UK.’‘It is not decided yet but clearly with our arrangement with Daimler it would make sense to look closely at the possible synergies of working close to them in Alabama.’Although Aston Martin officials have not commented, Autocar understands that the production version of the Aston DBX concept car could well be based on the new Mercedes GLC, which was shown in concept form at the recent Shanghai motor show.Should the GLC be built at Tuscaloosa, it would make clearly ‘make sense’ to build a new Aston facility close to the factory. Part-complete rolling chassis could be sent from the Mercedes plant to any new Aston facility in order to be completed.The British brand would probably need access to the sort of suppliers that could produce Aston’s own design of dashboards, interior trim, seat finishings as well as component makers who could press and mould unique aluminium and composite body panels.
read more2015 Mazda MX-5 - Prices, pictures, engines and driving impressions
The Mazda MX-5 is now in its fourth generation
The latest Mazda roadster is lighter, faster, sharper looking and promises a return to the "fun to drive" characteristics of the 25-year-old original car
The all-new Mazda MX-5 will cost from £18,495 when it goes on sale this summer. Pricing and trim level details of the fourth-generation of the 25-year-old roadster have been revealed ahead of the car making its UK debut at the 2015 Goodwood Festival of Speed. It is new from the ground up and enters the market with a brand new rear-wheel drive chassis and two new petrol engines, all built using the company’s SkyActiv technology.Mazda MX-5 program manager Nobuhiro Yamamoto said the new car had to conform to five crucial rules that now characterise the MX-5 – rear drive with a front-mid engine layout, 50/50 weight distribution, minimal “yaw inertia” (how quickly it changes direction), a low kerb weight and affordability.There are five trim levels for the smaller-engined 1.5-litre model, and four for the 2.0-litre.All models get six-speed manual gearboxes, air-conditioning, LED headlights and alloy wheels. Stepping up to SE-L gets daytime running lights, climate control, cruise control, DAB radio, Bluetooth and a touch-screen infotainment system. Sport models get automatic lights, heated leather seats, keyless entry and a upgraded sound system. As the names suggest, SE-L NAV and Sport NAV models get satellite navigation for a £500 premium.The 2.0-litre engine is only available on the SE-L and above. Opting
read moreVideo: just another day in Scandinavia
Watch a helicopter chase Fredrik Sørlie’s very sideways Toyota Cressida through a frozen forest
read moreCastrol oil: a bit of an edge
Looking for a car show this summer? Take your lead from Castrol and head to the Wilton Classic & Supercar Event
read moreMeet Kahn's 'Flying Huntsman' Defender
British tuning firm stretches out Land Rover's iconic pick-up, adds very, very strange name
read more2015 Ariel Nomad review
Ariel's third model is the best yet - in fact, it's one of the best driving experiences we've ever had
Unusual. The Ariel Nomad is belting along an empty and well-sighted, but rough, rutted, lumpy and twisty back road at a speed that would push any hardcore or lightweight sports car off its line and well out of composure. Certainly this pace would prove too much for an Ariel Atom’s suspension. Yet the Nomad’s body stays flat and its steering wheel steady, as you watch the 18in front wheels shod with moderate off-road rubber nip gracefully up and down, absorbing everything beneath them.You’re aware this road hasn’t even begun to challenge the extremes of what the Nomad can do; I’m starting to think this is an extraordinarily special car. Perhaps even an extraordinarily influential one. The last time I experienced suspension control like this was from the passenger seat of a Mitsubishi Pajero rally raid car.The Nomad is Ariel’s third model – after the Atom we know so well, and the recent Ace motorcycle. Ariel’s people hoped to make an all-terrain car while retaining as many Atom parts as possible.Trouble is, they’re fiddlers and perfectionists; most of them ride mountain bikes and scramblers or use serious 4x4s and they can’t accept a half-baked job. So all that’s actually carried over from the sports roadster is what’s around the driver: instrument panel, steering wheel, column and rack, the pedal box and the floor panel. Everything else is new to the Nomad.Owing to the mechanical layout and those few carried over parts, though, it still feels familiar. Climbing into the Nomad presents you with an Atomish driving position and environment: the exposed tubing and a Honda engine zinging to life behind yo
read more“Car people are non-existent as far as our political parties are concerned”
Opinion
24 Apr, 2015
Cars, car drivers, car buyers and car industry employees are conspicuous by their absence from political manifestos, says Mike Rutherford
read moreFirst drive: Jaguar XE petrol and diesel
Is the new 'baby Jag' a worthy rival to the 3-Series and C-Class? Jason Barlow reports
read moreMazda MX-5 price and release date revealed
News
24 Apr, 2015
Mazda's fourth generation roadster will start from £18,495, and order books open this month
read moreAudi S1 Quattro onboard: Time For Tea?
Welcome in the weekend with another snippet of crazy European hillclimbing
read moreSpa in an Elise 111R: PHTV
Latest member vid features PHer eracing2011, a little Lotus and one very good Spa lap
read moreMX-5 prices announced!
ND MX-5 starts at £18,495, configurator is live on Monday...
read moreFerrari Daytona: Pic Of The Week
Video not quite enough? Here's a new wallpaper too!
read moreShed Of The Week: Alfa Romeo 164
British barges ditched by Shed for a very rare kind of Italian stallion
read moreRenault Clio Williams: PH Heroes
How to celebrate a hot hatch classic? Driving the first one built seems a good start; handing it back intact would be great...
read more
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