Maserati GranTurismo MC Stradale tweaked for 2013

Maserati has updated its most hardcore car for 2013. The new GranTurismo MC Stradale has more power and more extrovert styling than the outgoing car, and double the seat count too: Maserati is putting back seats back into the hottest GranTurismo. Isn't the MC Stradale supposed to be the lightweight, track-ready GranTurismo?

New Mercedes B-Class Electric Drive goes in to production

The first Mercedes B-Class ED (pictured) rolls off the production line in Rastatt With the BMW i3 grabbing headlines – and flying out of showrooms – as BMW’s first electric car, Mercedes need to play catch-up with a convincing EV of their own, and that’s the new B-Class Electric Drive – an EV version of the regular B-Class – which has now gone in to production in Germany. Built alongside regular ICE versions of the B-Class at Mercedes’ Rastatt Plant, the B-Class ED (Electric Drive) looks practically the same as its more conventionally powered siblings – although the front bumper does look a bit different – and has an electric motor good for 177 bhp and 250 lb/ft of torque, can manage a scoot to 62 mph in 7.9 seconds and has a range of up to 124 miles. The range – at least the quoted range – is a chunk better than the BMW i3′s and on a par with the latest Nissan LEAF, thanks to EV technology provided by Tesla, and the wrapping of an EV drivetrain in a conventional series production car could appeal to more buyers than the ‘statement’ design of the BMW i3.

No more Top Gear until 2013, says Jeremy Clarkson

No new Top Gear Series until 2013 Top Gear leader Jeremy Clarkson has revealed to South African Sasha Martinengo on Ballz Radio that there won’t be a new series of Top Gear until 2013. Under normal circumstances we’d expect a new series of Top Gear to arrive in the Autumn of 2012. But it seems not.