After his dominating World-Challenge GTS performance at Long Beach in the LPL/DRS Lotus Exige 240 S, Tyler McQuarrie sent us a highly entertaining GoPro HD helmet cam clip from qualifying. Check it out after the jump. We also noticed our friends over at The Octane Report just posted a full story on McQuarrie’s glorious Long...
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BMW is developing a complex powertrain that blends fuel cell and hybrid technology, allowing a car be carbon neutral in urban traffic. The system works by having a conventional gasoline engine powering the front wheels, while a small fuel cell sends power via capacitors in the transmission tunnel to an electric motor positioned at the rear axle....
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China is now Bentley’s third largest market, having sold 421 cars there in 2009. Now, the British luxury marque is launching yet another special edition of its Continental GT. Dubbed the “Design Series China” edition, the car, which is set to debut at the Beijing Auto Show Friday features an exterior wing badge, door sill...
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Surely, being part of a much smaller company affords Land Rover employees certain…perks. Other than a company blog (rare for an automaker), it seems the U.K.-based off-road specialists also allow employees like Andrew Polsinelli, general manager of product planning for Land Rover North America to say things that would have been censored in a larger...
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Startech has developed their brand around German-styling for American vehicles. A division of Brabus, (arguably the most prestigious Mercedes-Benz tuner in the world), Startech offers several tuning programs for Chrysler, Jeep, Dodge and Land Rover. Most recently however, the new Jaguar XJ attracted Startech’s attention, prompting the company to develop a tuning program for Jaguar’s...
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We absolutely love the MINI John Cooper Works (JCW) edition (reviewed here and here) and for 2011 it’s going to get more hard-core. According to the MINI experts at MotoringFile and thanks to some new spy photos from LeftLaneNews we have better insight to what the mid-cycle updates will include. For starters, the JCW will...
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Tyler McQuarrie, best known for his sideways style in the Formula D professional drifting series, proved his versatility as a racing driver by dominating the Toyo Tires World Challenge GTS class at Long Beach throughout the weekend in the LPL/DRS/Switcars/LCS/Dayco/M&T Lotus Exige 240 S. McQuarrie’s win was made all the more impressive by the fact...
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When somebody introduces himself as “Mick Alebon, Senior Production Manager, Leather and Seats Centre of Excellence,” you better sit up straight and listen to what he’s got to say. As part of a series of preview videos supporting the all-new Bentley Mulsanne, Alebon takes viewers on a tour of the handcrafted materials and craftsmanship that...
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Denis Simachëv x TopCar MINI Cooper S We love customized MINIs like we love air, so seeing a street art-inspired one from Russia made our hearts go all aflutter. Prepared in a strict limited run of 25 unique cars, the Russian artist Denis Simachëv and Russian tuner TopCar will create each car as a wholly...
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From the very first moment we laid eyes on the new 2011 Jaguar XJ it was obvious was the British automaker was planning – to take on “mainstream” competitors like Lexus and Mercedes with a more forward-thinking luxury saloon. Why would Jaguar want to build a luxury sedan to rival those other two? Simple: sales....
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Whether to promote the cars “performance” or more likely just for the fun of it, the team at MINI took the new MINI E electric vehicle out to Germany’s famed Nürburgring to see what sort of a time they could get. As you might expect, it wasn’t close to the GT-Rs 7:26.70 time, but then...
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Lotus first showed the updated styling of the 2011 Elise model at the Geneva Auto Show earlier this year, but now the company has released some big powertrain changes and impressive new fuel economy numbers. Gone is the old 1.8-liter 4-cylinder in favor of a 1ZR-FAE 1.6-liter Toyota engine with Valvematic and Dual VVT-I. It...
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Ron Dennis, the man in charge of McLaren Automotive, recently slammed the Bugatti Veyron calling it “a complete piece of junk.” McLaren, for those who don’t know, held the record for the world’s fastest production car with the McLaren F1 from 1992 until the launch of the Bugatti Veyron in 2005. The McLaren managed 243-mph...
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With the Arnage having now been replace by the Mulsanne, the next vehicle in the Bentley lineup to be retired is the Azure. This comes as no surprise as the Azure is based on the very same platform, which is now quite dated, going all the way back to 1998. According to a report by...
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Last year MINI unveiled a very special and very cool John Cooper Works Championship 50 Special Edition model in the U.K. to celebrate the company’s 50th birthday. And now according to the folks at MotoringFile, the JCW WC50 will also be offered in the U.S. – but it doesn’t come cheap. Originally MINI had no...
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The next generation Range Rover is due out in 2012 and according to a new report by AutoCar, it will be drastically different – although it might not necessarily look that way. The biggest change planned is that the fully-capable luxury SUV will ride on an all new platform similar to that used for the...
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For the fifth year in a row Aston Martin will take part in the annual Nürburgring 24 Hour endurance race, but for 2010 the team’s entry will have four-doors. That’s right, the all-new Rapide sedan will be stripped down to its bare essentials to compete in a class for mostly stock vehicles. Aston says more...
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Several patent drawings obtained by Autoblog show what the news outlet claims are the production designs for the upcoming MINI Coupe and Roadster. Both vehicles look remarkably similar to their concept counterparts, even down to the helmet roof for the Coupe. The overall design still looks almost identical to the hatches, with the main feature...
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After its world premiere at the Geneva Auto Show just a few weeks back, MINI will show its Countryman crossover for the first time on U.S. soil at the New York Auto Show on April 1st. The very first crossover from the brand, MINI expects this four-seater to be the most fuel efficient crossover in...
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After officially revealing its MP4-12C exotic several months back, McLaren Automotive has now announced estimated performance numbers and they’re as shockingly amazing as the rest of the car. The British sports car maker and Formula 1 team claims a 0-60 mph time of less than 3.0 seconds. The elapsed time to 124-mph (200 km/h) is...
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So far we have heard several reports of a new front-drive model from BMW, but now comes confirmation from BMW CEO Norbert Reithofer. “There will be front-wheel-drive BMWs in the smaller vehicle classes in the future,” said Reithofer during a press conference about the German automaker’s finances. The architecture will actually be both front-drive and...
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Lotus is looking to make a massive push in motorsports, announcing its return to the IndyCar series just as a new Lotus Formula One team hits the track in Bahrain for the start of the F1 season. Teaming up with long-time Lotus partner and world-renowned engine builder Cosworth, the Lotus Cosworth team will be run...
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The Aston Martin Rapide took a long time to finally come to market and it seems like it’s taken almost just as long to go on public display. First shown in concept form at the Detroit Auto Show way back in 2006, the Rapide had its world premiere at the Frankfurt Auto Show last Fall....
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With the launch of the all-new MINI Countryman at the Geneva Auto Show last week we had an opportunity to sit down with the VP of MINI USA, Jim McDowell and find out more about the brand’s first crossover and what the future holds for the rest of the product range. Starting with the Countryman,...
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