Vogon poetry: Mercedes-Benz shows off S63 AMG Coupe

Depending on your taste for the "crown of literature," the above video is either barbaric hokum or sublime wordplay -- image-laden poetry, in AABB rhyming scheme, appealing to car enthusiasts making full use of their expensive English majors. "Darkness has a companion tonight," reads the passably Vincent Price-ish voice of a poem written exclusively for AMG by a "Betty Stewart," over sounds of the Mercedes-Benz S63 AMG Coupe roaring mellifluously across abandoned runways and through the world's largest parking garage. "Small creatures prick ears and tremble with fright.

Mini E Racer (2010) takes on the Nurburgring

In these days of 7min laps, rounding the Nurburgring in 10min hardly classes as electric. Unless you’re in a Mini E. A battery-powered baby BMW driven by ex-DTM racer Thomas Jäger turned in a 9m52 lap, hitting a heady – but presumably near silent – 116mph on the way.

SEMA 2008 show report: Volkswagen Passat CC

By Ben Whitworth Motor Shows 07 November 2008 09:00 Volkswagen’s sobriety took a back seat at the SEMA show in Las Vegas this week – it pulled the covers off a pair of muscle-bound Passat CCs, a racy 295bhp Tiguan and a grunty diesel Jetta aimed at cajoling the American market into turning its back on gasoline. The unambiguously named Performance CC – designed by Volkswagen’s California-based design centre – gets a shot in the arm from a three-stage turbo boost to its 2.0-litre TSI engine. In Eco mode you get a modest 222bhp and 236 lb ft of torque, GT mode hikes those outputs to 252bhp and 268 lbs ft, while the Full Power stage unleashes 311bhp and 313 lb ft.