Ready-to-race Ford Focus ST-R walk-around: Video

The folks at Ford released a video Christmas present this week featuring Ford Racing's Andy Vrenko hosting a complete walk-around of the company's latest turn-key race car, the Ford Focus ST-R. The latest spec racer is approved for competition in the Grand-Am ST, World Challenge TC and the Canadian Touring Car series (pending homologation approvals). The engine and transmission are production-based components from the street-legal Focus ST.

Hyundai & Kia responsible for big positive impact on European economy

A report by economics consultants London Economics reveals the big positive impact Hyundai and Kia are having on the European economy. We already know that both Hyundai and Kia are looking at 2013 more as an exercise in building their ’Brand’, rather than simply selling more and more credible cars. ‘Brand’ is often as much about perceptions as anything else, so if you can address any possible negatives for your brand, as well as producing cracking products, you’re on to a winner.

Aston Martin V8 Vantage S: The Video

Aston Martin V8 Vantage S on track at the Ascari Circuit in Spain We’re always up for a bit of Aston Martin goodness, so we were more than happy to report in January that Aston Martin has added a bit of extra oomph to the V8 to create the Aston Martin V8 Vantage S. To be honest, there’s not a huge amount of extra power on the Vantage V8 S – just 10bhp – but there are a chunk of tweaks that make it very appealing, including a new seven speed Sportshift ‘box, sharper steering, better braking and a bit of suspension tweaking to make the V8S that bit more aggressive. All this new V8 S goodness was served up at the Geneva Motor Show last week, but we got a bit sidetracked with the new Aston Martin Virage – or DB9 Ghia – in a marmite shade of orange hogging AM’s Geneva stand.