Blog on 2040Parts

Bugatti Veyron Super Sport gets its Guinness World Speed Record back

According to Guinness at the time, putting a limiter on a production car changed the Veyron and made the record invalid. But it seems Guinness has had a rethink. From originally stating that “…as the car’s speed limiter was deactivated, this modification was against the official guidelines” they have now decided that doesn’t matter any more because Bugatti hasn’t changed the Super Sport in any other way.

One Lap of the Web: Cutaway F1 cars, Bugatti's Blue Dream and building your own paint booth

We spend a lot of time on the Internet -- pretty much whenever we're not driving, writing about or working on cars. Since there's more out there than we'd ever be able to cover, here's our daily digest of car stuff on the Web you may not otherwise have heard about. -- Sauber Motorsports invites you to take a look under the skin in their Cutaway Insights YouTube series.

Mercedes C-class to get expanded lineup

Mercedes-Benz will add convertible, diesel- and hybrid-powered sedans to its C-class lineup after the car is redesigned next year. The current C-class is offered only as a sedan and coupe and only with gasoline engines. The rival BWM 3-series is sold in coupe, convertible, station wagon, diesel and hybrid versions.

Smart ForTwo Cityflame edition launches

The Smart ForTwo got a bit of a facelift in 2012 to keep it fresh until the all new ForTwo with a rear-engined, rear wheel drive platform to be shared with the next Renault Twingo, arrives in 2014, and the new CityFlame limited edition gets a cosmetic makeover to make its stand out. That cosmetic makeover includes a bright yellow paint job - vivid pearlescent flame yellow – with a black tridion safety cell, black grill surrounds and mirror caps and a set of 15″ black painted alloys. There are ‘CityFlame’ logos on the mirror triangles and a set of Brabus headlights. Inside the Cityflame there are yellow inlays in the cloth/fake leather seats, yellow stitching, yellow splashes on the dash and steering wheel and a set of mats with embroidered ‘CityFlame’ motifs.

MG CS crossover concept (2013) first official pictures

These official sketches show MG's new British-designed concept car: the CS crossover. It's MG's second go at a SUV design, following the retro-styled Icon concept unveiled in 2012. This new car has an altogether more modern look, and is aimed squarely at young car buyers instead of MG enthusiasts.

Pink Rolls Royce Ghost FAB 1 supports Breast Cancer Care

The result is a pink Rolls Royce Ghost EWB put together for the Evans adventure with everything from a pink paint job to hand-embroidered headrests with the Breast Cancer Care pink ribbon motif and pink umbrellas. There’s also ‘FAB1′ treadplates , a pink and cream interior and an uplit Spirit of Ecstasy Rolls Royce has handed the Ghost over to Chris’s FAB1 Million project – and he’s chipped in his FAB 1 number plate – with a plan to raise £1 million for the charity over the next year by offering the pink roller for hire for any special day – from weddings to corporate outings – and for appearances at special events. Jolyon Nash, Rolls Royce Marketing Director, said: When I received the call from Chris Evans to support FAB1 Million, we immediately sprang into action. It’s taken countless hours to create such a special car but every minute spent is absolutely worth it for such a valuable cause.

New VW Golf GTD: Price from £25,285

At £25,285 the new Golf GTD – revealed at the Geneva Motor Show last month – is just £310 more than the old model despite an increase in equipment and performance and a better specification. Looking pretty much how you’d expect a GTI Diesel to look, the GTD gets smoked LED rear lights, bi-xenons with LED running lights, two chrome tailpipes, 18″ Nogaro alloys and the slightly butch body kt which includes side skirts, butch bumpers and a roof spoiler. Inside is ‘GTI’ too with tartan trim, black roof lining, sports steering wheel and GTD-specific trim for the gear lever, trim strips and instrument cluster.

The biggest Rolls-Royce Showroom…in the World

It really isn’t all that long since the idea of selling Rolls Royce cars in China seemed about as good an idea as setting up a chain of ‘Condom4U’ stores in Ireland. But times have changed (although not in Ireland). Rolls Royce now has sixteen showrooms in China with the latest, in Shenyang, the capital city of Liaoning Province, being both the newest Rolls Royce showroom in China and the biggest RR showroom in the world.

Hyundai: E4U Egg Car & Fluidic Sculpture in Motion

Hyundai has already made it clear that 2013 will be about ‘Brand Awareness’ rather than releasing a new raft of models and chasing ever increasing sales, so two Hyundai outings in the last week can be put down to their targeted aim of profile raising. In Milan, Hyundai are taking part in the Milan Design Week by showing an innovative light sculpture that has been inspired by Hyundai’s ‘Fluidic Design’ (even though Hyundai have already said that ‘Fluidic Design’ is being replaced by ‘Fluidic Precision’ as they aim to make their designs ‘cleaner) with an installation made up of 12,000 translucent spheres acting collectively on a screen, surrounded by high-power lasers and suspended over a pool of water. The ‘performance’ starts with virtual rain created by the lasers which form three-dimensional shapes, followed by an interactive segment where human interaction creates three-dimensional images by scanning for body warmth so visitors can manipulate what they see by using gestures.

Chinese Grand Prix (2013) RESULT

Qualifying for the 2013 Chinese Grand Prix produced a fascinating grid, with three former world champions at the front on soft tyres, two more world champions lurking down the grid on mediums – hoping a different strategy would see them rise to the top – and Red Bull’s Mark Webber starting from the pit lane after running out of fuel in qualifying. And the three world champions who started at the front – Hamilton in the Mercedes, Raikkonen in the Lotus and Alonso in the Ferrari – did indeed make it to the podium, but not in the order they started. Alonso had a cracking start, overtaking Raikkonen for second place at the start and taking Hamilton for the lead by lap five, but stopped two laps later to change his softs for mediums and coming out behind Vettel and Button, who had started on mediums, and Hulkenberg.

Chinese Grand Prix qualifying: Hamilton takes pole for Mercedes

Lewis Hamilton has grabbed his first pole position for Mercedes for tomorrow’s Chinese Grand Prix, with team mate Nico Rosberg in fourth putting second place Kimi Raikkonen in the Lotus and third place Fernando Alonso in the Ferrari in a Mercedes sandwich. Felipe Massa takes fifth in the second Ferrari and Grosjean sixth in the second Lotus with the Toro Rosso of Ricciardo in seventh, but it’s behind that the things get more interesting, especially in a race context. Behind the leading seven are Jenson Button in the McLaren and Sebastian Vettel in the Red Bull, but both are on different strategies to the rest of the leaders and will start tomorrow’s race on the medium tyres they used for final qualifying instead of the soft tyres.

Electric Fiat 500e costs the same as 500 Pop – in the US

Sergio Marchionne reckoned Fiat would lose £7k on every 500e they sell, but that may be a very conservative estimate judging by the deal Fiat has put together for the 500e in California, where it’s just launched. For a very modest down-payment of £650 and then £130 a month, you can drive off in a brand new Fiat 500e. That’s exactly the same deal Fiat offers on the 500 Pop – a car that cost under £10k in the UK – making the 500e the first EV we’ve come across where costs are sensible.

McLaren Qualified launched for Approved Used McLarens

But it’s been a long time since McLaren actually built a road car – the McLaren F1 – and that car wasn’t exactly mainstream, so there was no real dealer network or support for used McLarens. Well, there was, but it doesn’t translate in a to real production models as it involved sending your car back to Woking for service or McLaren finding a buyer for your F1 (for a commission). So McLaren has built up a dealer network and now it’s decided it’s time to launch a ‘McLaren Approved’ programme for used McLarens - McLaren Qualified – which involves McLaren taking used 12Cs and giving them a bumper-to-bumper qualification check, fitting any upgrades the car needs and bolting on a minimum two year unlimited mileage warranty and McLaren Roadside Assistance.

Autoweek in review: What you may have missed

Rain fell all week at One Autoweek Tower, and the breaking news didn't let up, either. Things started out busy enough on Monday with Bugatti losing its top-speed record and the trailer of Ron Howard's new film, “Rush,” hitting the Web. On Tuesday we paid homage to Distracted Driving month by recounting the touching story of a Kansas State Trooper who has witnessed a variety of tragic scenes -- many resulting from distracted driving.

One Lap of the Web: Jaguar F-Type, Baja 1000 and how the Mustang became Boss

We spend a lot of time on the Internet -- pretty much whenever we're not driving, writing about or working on cars. Since there's more out there than we'd ever be able to cover, here's our daily digest of car stuff on the Web you may not otherwise have heard about. -- Silodrome reminds us of a 1995 documentary called "Dust to Glory" on the Baja 1000 desert race.

2014 Audi R8 priced at $119,150

The 2014 Audi R8 goes on sale Friday at the low, low price of $119,150 -- including destination and gas guzzler -- when equipped with the manual transmission. The S-Tronic-equipped version ups the price to $128,250. The base Audi R8 makes 430 hp and 316 lb-ft of torque from its 4.2-liter V8.

Cadillac ELR gives paddle shifters new purpose

We're learning more about the Cadillac ELR, which is set to hit showrooms in limited quantities early next year. Cadillac revealed Friday that the Volt in luxury clothing will use paddle shifters in a whole new way. Instead of using them to shift through gears, ELR drivers will be able to tap the paddles to engage a new feature called Regen on Demand.

Citroën DS Wild Rubis concept

The Citroën DS Wild Rubis concept is the French manufacturer's foray into the premium SUV market, to be shown at the Shanghai auto show next Saturday. At 4,700mm long it's slightly larger than a BMW X3 or Audi Q5, with a particularly generous wheelbase of 2,900mm, presumably to offer the rear passengers a little more space - major consideration in China. It was designed in the DS studio in France, something the company is keen to promote given China's desire for chic European luxury goods.

Concept Car of the Week: Matra Laser (1971)

Founded in 1937, French company Matra began its activities by manufacturing military equipment such as aeronautics and weaponry. In the mid ‘60s, under Jean-Luc Lagardere's ambitious direction, the company bought Automobiles Rene Bonnet to expand its portfolio with street and racing cars. The first model solely developed by Matra was the bonkers, but brilliant, 1967 M530, which took its name from the company's surface-to-air missile the R530.

Volvo pricing deals at Costco

There's more to your Costco membership than piling bulk paper towels on a flat-bed cart and filling up on free food samples. Through July 31, registered Costco members can get deals on all 2013 and 2014 Volvos. Volvo isn't the first major automaker to offer deals to registered members of the bulk-sales retailer via the Costco Auto Program.

New Ford Mondeo to get new 1.5 litre EcoBoost engine

The new EcoBoost engine will also be turning up in the Ford Fusion for North America, but the UK and Europe are going to have to wait until at least the end of 2014 – when we get the new Mondeo - before the new engine is on offer. The 1.5 litre EcoBoost offers improved economy and emissions compared to the 1.6 litre currently available  - with similar power, performance and torque compared –  but one of the main reasons for offering it is that many countries offer tax breaks for engines under 1.5 litres. The new engine will be built by Ford In Romania initially (although it will get churned out elsewhere too in due course) and offers turbocharging, direct fuel injection and variable valve timing.

Aston Martin Hybrid Hydrogen Rapide S racer (2013) first pictures

Aston Martin will race this hydrogen-powered, twin-turbocharged Rapide S at the Nurburgring 24 hour endurance race in May 2013. The radical Rapide is set to become the first hydrogen-powered car to compete in an international racing event, and the only car ever to complete a racing lap of the infamous Nordschleife without emitting so much as a gram of carbon dioxide. Read on for the under-the-skin tech lowdown.

Aston Martin Hybrid Hydrogen Rapide S race car revealed

The new Aston Martin Rapide S was revealed in January, and now Aston Martin are taking the Rapide S racing, but with a twist – it’s going to be able to run on hydrogen. Aston Martin has been working with hydrogen experts Alset Global and have developed a twin turbo version of their 6.0 litre V12 that can run on petrol, gaseous hydrogen or a blend of both and the plan is to run the Rapide S at the 24 Hours of Nürburgring next month with at least one lap run on hydrogen alone. The hydrogen system in the Rapide S (which AM are calling a hybrid, but it’s only a hybrid in the sense it uses two fuels, not that it uses electric motors) has a hydrogen fuel rail, storage tanks and its won engine management system to control combustion.

What’s a Range Rover ‘Vouge’?

Now the 2013 Range Rover is out in the wild, they’re becoming a common site on our roads and in car parks. So when one of the Cars UK team was sat waiting patiently in the Waitrose car park for his beloved to finish replenishing stocks, he wasn’t particularly surprised to find a nice new Range Rover Vogue slowly pass-by looking for a parking space. It looked a completely standard Vogue – the entry-level Range Rover – with no personalisation of any sort.

Bugatti Veyron Grand Sport Vitesse sets World Speed Record: OFFICIAL

What it was was a new world speed record for the Bugatti Veyron Grand Sport Vitesse, Bugatti’s convertible Veyron, which had been out playing at VW’s Ehra-Lessien test track in the hands of Chinese driver Anthony Liu, and under the watchful eye of Germany’s Technical Inspection and Certification (TÜV) to certify the Vitesse’s performance. That new world speed record for an open-topped production car is now officially 408.84kph (254mph), so Bugatti are dong what Bugatti do and producing a limited edition World Speed Record car – the Bugatti Veyron Grand Sport Vitesse WRC Edition. The Vitesse WRC comes with Bugatti’s 7.9 litre W16 with 1184bhp, 1,106lb/ft of torque and the same orange and black colour scheme as the Grand Sport World Record Coupe got when it broke the world speed record for a production car.

Video: Volvo designers offer an insight into inspiration

A film crew has visited Volvo's Gothenberg design studios to meet two of its design team and find out what makes them tick. Exterior designer Peter Reuterberg and Interior designer Axel Ernstsson are filmed both in the classically Scandinavian studio and strolling in slow motion through a typically-Swedish snowy landscape. Ok, it may be a little cheesy, but it certainly rams home the company's nationality.

PACE's global Portable Assisted Mobility Device project gets underway

The Partners for the Advancement of Collaborative Engineering Education (PACE) has challenged selected global college teams to design a Portable Assisted Mobility Device (PAMD) that will help solve mobility and sustainability problems within megacities in 2030. Each team of selected global colleges will consist of one Industrial Design Institution and several Engineering and Manufacturing Institutions, with students working alongside their professors and industry mentors to help develop their designs for a small power-assisted vehicle that can be taken on public transport, stowed or carried indoors.  The PAMD concepts are designed to carry one passenger and their personal items such as a briefcase or backpack. The PAMD must address the transportation issues as the population grows within a target market that the teams specify.

New 2013 Nissan LEAF goes the ‘Battery Lease’ route UPDATED

Even though you will be paying the same rate as you did in the first year, you’ll have to make do with the old batteries unless they fall below the 9 bar level, when Nissan will replace them under warranty. There is no doubt that Nissan are still convinced the future is the electric car, and the LEAF – the world’s best-selling electric car – is the future of motoring. And the LEAF is a convincing car if all you want is a well-built family car to transport you round your local area, even if it will cost an arm and a leg to buy in comparison to an ICE car.

Citroen DS Wild Rubis concept (2013) first official pictures

Citroen's DS Wild Rubis concept shows how a DS-badged SUV could look, and could lead to a high-riding model for the 4x4-loving Chinese market. It's the latest concept to showcase a possible future styling direction for Citroen's DS sub-brand, the quasi-premium offshoot of Citroen's main range. Tell me about the Citroen DS Wild Rubis Riding on 21in wheels, the Wild Rubis has a Mercedes ML-class-sized footprint, but is lower than a conventional posh-roader, standing 1.59m tall – about the same height as Citroen's own DS4 crossover.

2013 Ford Mondeo: Price cuts & new models

That means a simplified lineup for the new Mondeo and the introduction of a cheaper entry-level model – the Mondeo Graphite – and a new model at the top end – the Titanium X Business Edition – with more equipment and a lower price. The Mondeo Graphite comes with 17″ alloys, sports suspension, Bluetooth, AirCon and part leather and starts at £15,995 – more than £2k cheaper than the former entry-level Mondeo Edge. At the other end of the scale, Ford are introducing the Titanium X Business Edition which replaces both the Titanium and Titanium X, gets more equipment than the Titanium X and yet costs £1500 less.