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Toyota GT86 & Subaru BRZ getting Cosworth Performance upgrades (video)

Cosworth promise power upgrades for the FA 20 engine Ever since the Toyota GT86 and Subaru BRZ arrived as ‘affordable’ sports cars with a focus on the dynamics rather than outright power, there’s been endless claims and rumours that more power is on the way. As far back as 2011, Subaru in the US confirmed that a turbo version of the BRZ’s 2.0 litre FA20 Boxer engine was under development although, to be fair, they didn’t say it was actually heading for the BRZ. And just last year, Subaru teased what we thought could be a more powerful BRZ STI, but that turned out to be a BRZ tS with go faster bits but no more actual power.

New Jaguar XE teased

Jaguar reveal a teaser image of the new XE Jaguar’s new smaller car – effectively a replacement for the Mondeo-based X-Type – has been coming for what seems a very long time, but it was finally officially announced at the Geneva Motor Show in March. At the time, all we got was a front-end view of the new XE as Jaguar attempted to whet appetites, but now we get the first official teaser from Jaguar of their new baby saloon. Covered in a bizarre camouflage of add-on panels and white paint, the XE looks to have the proportions of the XF, just on a smaller scale.

Rushed urban speed limit reductions criticised

ANY RUSH towards blanket 20mph zones on urban roads needs to be slowed down, according to a survey of nearly 25,000 motorists. Almost 70% of drivers think people should be consulted before 20mph limits are imposed on their street, the AA/Populus survey showed. More than half (55%) of the 24,351 AA members in the survey said drivers' views should be sought if 20mph zones are introduced in local areas through which they travel.

2015 Michelin Challenge Design Automotive Press Association design panel

The Automotive Press Association (APA) Design Panel is the first of several milestones in the annual Michelin Challenge Design (MCD) calendar of events. In keeping with the 2015 MCD Theme of Drive Your Passion: Engaging Senses, Soul and Emotion, this year's panel discussion focused the importance of passion in vehicle design in the high-tech, highly-constrained future. Hosted on 7 May 2014 at the Detroit Athletic Club, over 80 people attended the APA members-only event sponsored by Michelin Challenge Design.

Parents ignoring school run safety rules

MORE THAN a third of parents who drive their children to school think it is acceptable to stop or park on school safety zigzag lines, with a quarter admitting to doing so, according to research from AXA Car Insurance. Furthermore, 88% of school-run parents have witnessed fellow motorists stopping in the restricted zigzag area at least once a week. Zigzag lines prohibit waiting, parking or stopping for any reason during school run times, and yet only 17% of adults in the survey knew that.

Jail term and driving ban for King

FOOTBALLER Marlon King has been jailed for 18 months for dangerous driving after a crash which left a motorist with a broken arm. The striker, currently without a club after being released by Sheffield United last year, had pleaded guilty to a charge of dangerous driving at Nottingham Crown Court in March. Sentencing King at the same court today, Recorder Paul Mann QC said: "I do not regard your case as merely impulsive or silly behaviour.

Worrying insurance fraud trends revealed

AS MANY as two million motorists could be jeopardising their insurance by listing themselves as the main driver on a car that someone else covers more mileage in. The process, known as ‘fronting’, secures a cheaper insurance quote for the real main driver, who in many cases is young or has less no-claims discount, but it is illegal and could completely invalidate the policy and leave the drivers vulnerable to prosecution. Research from Privilege car insurance has revealed not only that the two million drivers could be risking more than they imagine, but also that around one million motorists are named as the main driver on insurance policies for cars they have never even driven at all.

Racing granny wished for more speed

A 102-year-old woman said she was disappointed racing great Mario Andretti could not go faster than 180mph during their laps around a speedway track in Indianapolis. Edith Pittenger, of Muncie, said she had a great time riding with Andretti in a two-seat race car. "He said 180 is the maximum," she told the Star Press.

Cheap mods: Adventures In Aspect Ratios

Seven years ago, I bought a rough-looking-but-good-running 1992 Honda Civic DX hatchback, for use as a gas-sipping alternative to my daily-driver P71 Crown Victoria. These days, it's the car I drive when it snows in Denver, and it's a reliable all-around beater. The EG Civic (as the 1992-95 Civic hatchback was designated by the factory) has become a much-sought-after classic in recent years, sort of the '55 Chevy of the early 21st century, and there's such a vast array of factory and aftermarket performance hardware available that I haven't been able to resist the idea of doing some power and suspension upgrades.

Mercedes E-class coupe and convertible (2017)

By Georg Kacher Motor Industry 16 May 2014 12:08 Mercedes’ renaissance promises to continue with the all-new E-class cabriolet and coupe. Under development and set for launch in 2017, the new sports cars share the all-new hardware from the E-class saloon (codenamed W213), including its boxfresh straight-six engines, and a high-tech cockpit to make Luke Skywalker envious. The design will evolve the look of the current car, which is pictured here.

Bentley designers talk 'Intelligent Details' in movie shot on iPhone

Bentley has released a short documentary featuring director of design, Luc Donckerwolke, and SangYup Lee, its new head of exterior design, taking a ride around New York City in the back of a pair of Mulsannes. Called 'Intelligent Details,' the film sees Donckerwolke and Lee talking about how one of the challenges of designing a successful Bentley interior is to match the car's performance with the expectation of its integrated technology. And to make sure you get the message loud and clear, not only does the video show the Mulsanne's optional smartly integrated iPads, which emerge from the front seat backs at the touch of a button, the whole movie itself was shot on an iPhone 5S (albeit 'enhanced' by some extremely expensive-looking lenses and rigs), then cut together on one of the car's in-built tablets.

The Designers Pt2 – Moray Callum, Ford

Car Design News launched its first ever Car Design Review yearbook at the Geneva motor show, featuring the award-winning Production Car and Concept Car Designs of 2013. If you're interested in buying a copy of the 160-page yearbook this interview appears in, alongside trend reports, bespoke car design infographics and a special feature on Marcello Gandini, our inaugural Lifetime Achievement Award winner, Car Design Review can be purchased here. Name Moray CallumRole VP design, Ford Motor CompanyAge, nationality 55, ScottishLocation Michigan, USAEducation Napier University, Scotland & RCA "The announcement of my promotion [taking over from J Mays in Ford's top design job] was made towards the end of the year so it's still sinking in.

Brabus turns the Mercedes-Benz E63 AMG up to 850 hp

While other German tuners' cars sometimes answer questions no one asked, Mercedes-Benz tuning house Brabus has tended to answer questions that many were too scared to ask. One such question was: what would an 850-hp E-class sedan be like? The answer comes in the form of their latest reworking of the E63 AMG sedan (itself no slouch, it should be noted), called the 850 6.0 Biturbo.

1970 Firebird gets prepped for Stone Soup Project raffle

Detroit classic-rock station 94.7 WCSX started this year's Stone Soup Project for charity last month, and things with the 1970 Pontiac Firebird are going swimmingly. When finished, the car will be raffled off for HolyCross Children's Services, a charity dedicated to providing social services to kids in Michigan. Last year, the Stone Soup Project took on a classic 1969 Mustang Boss.

Concept Car of the Week: Chrysler Atlantic (1995)

The Atlantic concept was arguably one of the first retro-remakes, starting a trend soon followed by cars like the Alfa Romeo Nuvola and the Renault Fiftie. The story began at the 1994 Pebble Beach Concours d'Elegance where Chrysler president Bob Lutz and Chrysler design chief Tom Gale served together as judges. Presented on the lawn around the clubhouse were a variety of old and new concept cars, contrasting with the classic cars to be judged.

Volvo's autonomous car is boring enough to work

Volvo is a bit of an enigma. The Chinese-owned Swedish automaker releases a stunning concept from time to time, and we're often pleasantly surprised by the Volvos that enter out test fleet, but it hasn't done much to generate sales numbers -- or buzz -- in the North American market. Maybe that's because Volvo is too busy looking down the road to focus on selling cars now.

One Lap of the Web: Senna's sweet go-kart

-- Gran Turismo has always included some, uh, unique car choices for its video games. (Sure, the Patent-Motorwagen is significant, but hot-lapping the 1-hp horseless carriage in "Gran Turismo 4" wasn't exactly riveting, unless you used cheats.) So that's why Ayrton Senna's go-kart from the 1978 World Karting Championship should be interesting -- it's nowhere near as fast as his Lotus 97T, but it shows that "Gran Turismo" wasn't kidding when developers said they wanted fans to chart the entirety of Senna's life. Plus, if you make it go 352 mph you can finally stick it to Prost.

BMW 2 Series Active Tourer specs and prices – costs from £22,195

The new BMW 2 Series Active Tourer (pictured) specs and prices BMW’s foray in to the world of front wheel drive MPVs arrived at the Geneva Motor Show as the BMW 2 Series Active Tourer, BMW’s answer to the Mercedes B Class. Sitting on the same platform as the new MINI, the Active Tourer will come with FWD as default but will be available with 4WD too and in a choice of four trim levels – SE, Luxury, Sport and M Sport. Engine choices at launch are limited, with the just the 1.5 litre three-cylinder with 134bhp in the 218i and the 2.0 litre diesel with 148bhp available in the 218d.

Nissan Pulsar (2014) confirmed

NissanPulsar2014 By Damion Smy First Official Pictures 16 May 2014 09:50 The Nissan Pulsar will take on the VW Golf, Ford Focus and Vauxhall Astra when it arrives in UK showrooms this autumn. The new C-segment model will be offered in both saloon and hatch forms, with an estate unlikely given the success of the Nissan Juke SUV. Yes, but an official reveal will take place on May 20.

2015 Scion FR-S gets upgraded handling, small price bump

Scion only has two cars that could be considered anything close to sporty: the FR-S and the tC. Both received light upgrades for 2015, and a slight price bump. The 2015 Scion FR-S gets better handling through a more rigid front suspension and retuning of the rear shock absorbers.

Watch this McLaren 650S hot-lap Monza

Here's a short video of the McLaren 650S lapping the Monza racetrack in Italy. The 3-minute, 40-second clip features the company's latest supercar doing high-speed pass-bys and revving engines at the gas station. The footage came out of the “Pure McLaren Driving Experience,” an event put together for company VIPs.

More Londoners travelling by bus

MORE LONDONERS are taking the bus than at any time since 1959 - with more than 2.4 billion trips made in the capital in the past year. The growing popularity of London's iconic red double-deckers comes after Mayor Boris Johnson introduced a fleet of newly revamped Routemasters. The number of buses travelling along the capital's roads reached a 60-year high on April 29, when 7,961 buses were on the streets - the highest number since 1953, according to Transport for London.

Audi A3 Clubsport Quattro concept (2014) first official pictures

By Damion Smy First Official Pictures 15 May 2014 17:08 Audi has fired another salvo in the German power war with this: the 518bhp Audi A3 Clubsport Quattro concept. To be shown at the annual Worthersee show (which starts in Austria this week) the concept uses the 2.5-litre five-cylinder from the Audi TT RS and RS Q3 SUV. Officially, to show the A3’s ‘sportiness’, but it points to an RS3 saloon (we've already spied the hatch testing) as well as the next TT RS, which sits on the same platform.

New recalls hit 2.7 million GM vehicles, from Corvettes to Saturns

General Motors is recalling 2.7 million U.S. cars and trucks for problems ranging from flawed taillamps and windshield wipers to brake problems, in an escalation of the safety crisis that has enveloped the company for months. GM said today it expects to book up to $200 million in charges in the second quarter to cover the cost of recalls during the period.

Monster Jam is totally rad

To our 6-year-old selves, monster trucks really were the biggest, baddest things on four wheels, mechanized, city-block-sized demon machines that ate sedans and belched fire. The reality is that the trucks aren't that big when you get right up next to them -- certainly not the Caterpillar 797-sized car-obliterators we imagined years ago. They're probably around 12 feet high at most; given current trends, they'll be eclipsed by heavy-duty pickups in a design cycle or two.

Rare foreign cars head to Carlisle this weekend

Every spring, Carlisle, Pa., (otherwise known as the Woodstock of the classic-car hobby, a title it now fully shares with Hershey) hosts a weekend event just for foreign cars. Last year, over 1,000 cars gathered in central Pennsylvania, with rare foreign machinery making its way from all over the lower 50 and parts of Canada. The longest-traveled cars we spotted last year wore British Columbia plates, which should give you a clue as to the event's following, though we're still unsure which cars we spent the longest time gawking at.

Toyota Auris revised and Icon Plus trim added – price from £14,495

The 2014 Toyota Auris (pictured) gets a bit of a makeover Toyota has decided it’s time to make a few tweaks to the Auris – nearly 2 years on from its debut –  so both the Hatch and Estate are getting changes, the hybrid version gets more trim options and there’s a new trim level – Auris Icon Plus. The Auris Icon Plus comes with a new set of 16″ alloys, privacy glass, folding electric door mirrors and the option of a new Tungsten Blue Metallic. Inside, the Icon Plus gets heated front sports seats, the new Toyota Touch 2 with SatNav and cruise control (but only on the petrol and hybrid versions.

Bentley celebrates 95 years with Mulsanne 95

Bentley is celebrating its 95th birthday with a special-edition Mulsanne 95, which will only be available in the U.K. Only 15 examples of the Mulsanne 95 will be produced. The upgrades are purely visual, which means power still comes from 6.75-liter twin-turbo V8 making 505 hp and a cement-cracking 752 lb-ft of torque.

King to be sentenced for dangerous driving

FORMER PREMIER LEAGUE footballer Marlon King is due to be sentenced today for dangerous driving after a three-car crash left a motorist with a broken arm. The ex-Sheffield United striker admitted a charge of dangerous driving at Nottingham Crown Court in March. He committed the offence on his 33rd birthday while driving a Porche Panamera on the A46 in Nottinghamshire last April.

Gilles Vidal: innovative materials key to Peugeot's future

Future Peugeots will be defined by their use of materials in a bid to shift the brand upmarket, according to design director Gilles Vidal. Raw, unprocessed materials, he says, will not only prove more ecologically sound, but also more engaging. And his plans don't stop there.