Ariel Atom 700 is a turbo-supercharged 700-hp track weapon

If you're willing to ditch sleek supercar looks and just about every automotive creature comfort in the pursuit of pure performance, you might consider the Ariel Atom 3. Powered by a 2.4-liter Honda I4 engine cradled in an exoskeletonlike frame, the Atom 3 boasts a 0-to-60-mph time of just 2.9 seconds But maybe those performance numbers just aren't enough for you. If so, Piedmont, S.C.-based DDMWorks might have a solution.

Honda Insight hybrid sticker price to start at $20,470

Honda has delivered on its promise of bringing the 2010 Insight to market priced less than the rival Toyota Prius. The new Honda hybrid will start at just $20,470 in base LX form, including shipping charges, which undercuts the Prius by $2,250. Insight LX models come standard with front-side and side-curtain airbags, ABS, automatic climate control and power windows.

Lexus sales rising strongly in Europe – up 33 per cent in Western Europe

The new Lexus IS (pictured) is leading Lexus’s sales growth in europe There’s lots to like about the Lexus range (even if we would like to see proper gearboxes proliferate), and it seems buyers across Europe are getting more and more enamoured of Toyota’s luxury brand. Lexus are reporting soaring sales in Europe so far in 2014, with sales up by 25.4 per cent over the same period in 2013 (and by 33 per cent in Western Europe) and the Lexus IS leading the way. Lexus IS sales were up to 6,923, followed by the Lexus RX SUV and the compact Lexus CT, with even the massively expensive Lexus LS chipping in 265 sales in the first six months of the year.