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Lotus Evora by Mansory (2011) at 2011 Geneva motor show

In the avalanche of hype surrounding Lotus's future ambitions, the current range of Lotus vehicles has been largely overlooked. With this in mind, Lotus has turned to an unexpected source to inject some media buzz and visual freshness into the Evora for the 2011 Geneva motor show: Mansory. Under the slogan 'Is it always wise to customise? If you must then do it with some style' Lotus has commissioned Mansory to customise the Evora – continuing the run of controversial new moves that the firm has made under CEO Dany Bahar’s leadership. Mansory has applied its well-known carbonfibre fetish to the Lotus coupe, bringing the Evora closer to the edgy styling cues of design chief Donato Coco’s next-generation Lotus concept cars.

Toyota GT86 TRD Griffon makes its debut at Goodwood (video)

The Toyota GT86 TRD Griffon 9Pictured) made its debut at Goodwood this weekend We’re still waiting for Toyota to make a more powerful version of the GT86 (and Subaru the BRZ), but we are starting to get more focused versions. We’ve already seen the GT86 TRD – developed by Toyota Racing development – as a road car limited edition, and last month we learnt that Toyota were going to debut a track version – the GT86 TRD Griffon – and that it would arrive at Goodwood. Now the Griffon has arrived looking immensely purposeful with its wings and diffuser and carbon fibre for the roof, doors, bonnet and boot and some severe fettling of the oily stuff with upgraded brakes, new alloys, mechanical limited slip diff and stiffer suspension.

New Hyundai Test Centre at the Nurburgring revealed

Hyundai’s new test centre at the Nurburgring If anyone had said, just a few years ago, that Hyundai would develop a test centre at the Nurburgring to help shake-down their cars, they’d have been laughed at. But Hyundai – and Kia – have come so far in recent years that it makes absolute sense for them to develop a full-time testing facility at the Nurburgring to test their cars for the road, along with just about every other car maker of note. James May may object to the Nurburgring factor in the suspension set-ups of many road cars (and we do have some sympathy for his point of view), but the sometimes extreme nature of the Nurburgring’s surfaces – and its endless twists and turns, uphill and down – do offer car makers an easily accessible place to test cars in the (almost) real world.