Blog on 2040Parts

New Lexus IS price from £26,495

The 2013 Lexus IS will cost from £26,495 for the IS 250 SE rising to £38,495 for the IS 300h Premier in the UK. First customer cars due July 2013. Starting point for the new IS is £26,495 for the entry-level IS 250 SE, with the hybrid IS 300h SE starting at 29,495.

Chevrolet Spark EV going on sale in Europe

The electric Chevrolet Spark is heading for a European debut at the 2013 Geneva Motor Show and will go on sale in Europe in 2014. Chevrolet has revealed that the Spark EV will; make its European debut at next month’s Geneva Motor Show and that there are plans to launch the Spark EV in Europe in 2014. Well, in ‘Select European Markets’ at least.

Mercedes A45 AMG (2013) first pictures of new hot hatch

This is the Mercedes A45 AMG: the first time Merc’s in-house tuning arm has tried its hand at building a hot hatch. Packing 355bhp, all-wheel drive and a seven-speed dual-clutch paddleshift transmission, the A45 AMG will outpace a Porsche 911, but cost less than £40,000. It’s on UK sale from July 2013, but if you can’t wait that long, Merc’s baby barnstormer is appearing at the Geneva motor show from 5 March 2013.

Audi shows S3 Sportback (2013) – but is a used S3 a better buy?

Here’s Audi’s S3 Sportback, the five-door version of the 296bhp Quattro hot hatch unveiled last year. The S3 Sportback takes 5sec flat to accelerate from 0 to 62mph, that’s one-tenth of a second quicker than Audi’s official figure for its three-door stablemate. That’s because the initial 5.1sec S3 time was only an estimate, and Audi’s subsequent tests have shown the three-door S3 actually dipping below five seconds in the 0-62mph sprint.

Electric wire eases closing of Corvette Stingray hatch

A single piece of wire makes closing the hatch on the 2014 Chevrolet Corvette Stingray easier. Tucked behind the rear fascia, the alloy wire changes shape when an electric current heats it up. The wire returns to its previous shape when it cools.

VW's new modular platform could spark a revolution

MQB. Remember those letters. You might be hearing them a lot in the coming years if Ulrich Hackenberg's platform experiment works.

Escort Live: Crowd Sourcing for a Good Reason

It seems like yesterday we brought to your attention the technology Escort unveiled that coupled electronic counter-measures and social crowd sourcing in the war against speed traps and revenue generation. Yes, we speak of the Escort Live ticket protection app that connects your smart phone with others who then identify, mark and alert you to impending speed traps. Well, it wasn’t yesterday but little more than a year ago that Escort unveiled it at the 2011 SEMA show.

The movers and shakers behind the new 2014 Corvette

You've heard what Autoweek editors have to say about the 2104 Corvette. Now find out what some of the men behind the Stingray think of it. In this video, Autoweek speaks to Corvette chief engineer Tadge Juechter, product manager Harban Charles and the Bob Lutz about the inspiration behind Stingray's design and the future of automotive performance.

New Corvette crash photo surfaces on Internet

UPDATED WITH GM STATEMENT: A photo of a crashed 2014 Chevrolet Corvette Stingray has captured the attention of the Corvette fan universe. The photo of the Laguna Blue Stingray coupe was posted on the Facebook profile of allvette.net on Feb. 12 and is also posted at a large number of auto enthusiast sites on the Internet.

Alfa Romeo 4C production version revealed ahead of Geneva debut

The production version of the Alfa Romeo 4C has finally been revealed ahead of a launch at the 2013 Geneva Motor Show in March. It’s been clear since December – when Alfa teased the 4C – that we would finally get a proper production version of the first proper Alfa sports car in as long as we all care to remember. And, as far as we can see, the production Alfa 4C is pretty faithful to the concept.

McLaren P1: First interior photos arrive

Ahead of its debut at the 2013 Geneva Motor Show next month, McLaren has sent us the first interior photos of their new hypercar. As we already know, the P1 isn’t following the almost unique 1+2 seating concept of the McLaren F1, but has opted to make it a regular two seater. That means that there will be no right hand drive cars – they’ll all be left hand drive – and McLaren are left deciding how to make the P1′s cockpit unique.

New SEAT Leon SC (2013) revealed

The new SEAT Leon SC – the 3-door sibling to the Leon – has been revealed ahead of a debut at the 2013 Geneva Motor Show in March. The new SEAT Leon SC is actually a different car from the windscreen on back, with a more steeply raked front and back screens, just the two (longer) and a shorter wheelbase – by 35mm. So although at first glance the Leon SC looks like it’s just lost a pair of doors, the job is more thorough.

New Jeep Grand Cherokee facelift to get European debut at Geneva

The new Jeep Grand Cherokee will arrive at the Geneva Motor Show in EU guise in March ahead of a launch in the UK and Europe in the third quarter 2013. In all the ways that matter, the Jeep Grand Cherokee (which will be a 2014 model by the time it arrives in showrooms in the UK) for Europe is the same as that for North America, although it will have different engines, and just about all the shortcomings of the current Grand Cherokee have been addressed by the facelift. That means the cheap in places interior gets a good makeover to make the Grand Cherokee a more convincing place to be for European tastes, and the Atari-like Infotainment centre gets a proper makeover too to make it more 21st, and less 20th, century.

Rolls Royce Wraith Tease continues

The Rolls Royce Wraith – coupe sibling to the RR Ghost – continues its tease reveal ahead of a debut at the 2013 Geneva Motor Show. A few days after the news that the new Ghost Coupe would be the Wraith, Rolls Royce started to tease their new sporty coupe with a teaser photo showing the profile of the Wraith – suitably shadowy, of course – and illustrating that this new Rolls Royce will be the most sporty RR we’ve ever seen. When we got the last tease photo of the Wraith in from Rolls Royce, we did warn you to expect an ongoing drip feed of teases and photos before the Wraith arrived at next month’s Geneva Motor Show, so you won’t be surprised to discover we have a new tease in our inbox this morning.

Alfa Romeo 4C

The production version of the Alfa Romeo 4C will make its debut at next month's Geneva motor show, two years after the concept appeared. Largely unchanged from the prototype, the 4C retains its mid-engined layout, short and wide proportions (less than 4,000mm long, 2,000mm wide, 1,180mm high and a 2,400mm wheelbase) and broadly similar surfacing. The changes appear to be more focused around productionized details.

McLaren P1 (2013) first look inside Britain's new supercar

McLaren’s latest update on the P1 supercar reveals the supercar's carbonfibre interior for the first time. We’ll see the production-ready P1 at the Geneva motor show on 5 March 2013, but in the meantime CAR also has the best-yet spy shots of the P1 testing in Spain, with the first glimpses of its finished interior architecture. Talk me through McLaren’s latest P1 release The latest update from Woking shows the P1's cabin, visible past a set of butterfly doors that ape its famous McLaren F1 predecessor.

Rolls-Royce Wraith (2013) second teaser of 600bhp coupe

This is part three of Rolls-Royce’s pre-Geneva motor show tease of its new Wraith coupe. We’ve already seen a ghostly interpretation of the Spirit of Ecstasy figurine, and a side profile shot that revealed a resemblance to a ’68 Mustang Fastback, and now Rolls has shown the rear of the Wraith, and made a few proud proclamations about just how powerful its new super-coupe will be. I can’t see much of the new Rolls-Royce Wraith… Unfortunately it’s another shadowy teaser from Rolls-Royce, in the same vein as the side profile silhouette.

Seat Leon SC (2013) first pictures of the Leon three-door

Seat's sportier, three-door Leon is revealed for the first time today (11 February), and it's the first time the Spanish Golf has ben sold as a three-door.  The 'SC' moniker stands for 'Sports Coupe', but don't think of the Leon SC as a VW Scirocco rival. Despite a shortened wheelbase and raked rear screen, the Leon SC boasts the same rear headroom and bootspace as its five-door sister, claims Seat. Is the new Seat Leon SC just two doors short of a regular Leon?

Top Gear Helicopter crashes filming Corvette ZR1 Race (video)

A helicopter filming a Top Gear episode for the Korean version of the show has crashed while filming a race with a Chevrolet Corvette ZR1. We take for granted the stunning aerial shots Top Gear mixes in to its feature pieces. They often look stunning and give a huge sense of scale and drama.

Video: Chevrolet C7 Corvette Stingray interior craftsmanship

Chevrolet has released a video explaining the development behind the new C7 Corvette Stingray's interior. The C7 Stingray understandably generated a lot of interest ahead of its unveiling at last month's Detroit auto show and in this video we get the chance to hear from some of the key figures involved in the development of the car's interior.

Holden VF Commodore Calais V Concept

Holden has unveiled its new Calais V luxury sports concept, previewing the future design director of the carmaker's VF Commodore, which will be sold in the US as the Chevrolet SS. The halo car of GM's Australian arm is a clear evolution of the outgoing model, with an emphasis on greater percieved quality in order to appeal on a global scale. "You'll notice that the hood is more prominent, with a centre crease that emphasises performance potential and two raking spears sweeping in from the A-pillars," says Richard Ferlazzo Holden Chief Designer - Creative Design.

Fifth Gear Tonight: Porsche Boxster S, Ford Focus ST & the new Audi S8 (video)

A new series of Fifth Gear starts tonight with Vicki B-H racing a French Jet in a new Porsche Boxster S, Jason Plato testing the new Audi S8 & Jonny in the Ford Focus ST. Those nice people at Fifth Gear have been in touch asking if we’d like to run trailer information for the new Fifth Gear Series, just as we do for Top Gear. Why not, we thought?

New Ferrari F150 Geneva debut confirmed on Instagram. But is it real? UPDATED

The new Ferrari Enzo (Ferrari F150 / F70) seems to have been confirmed for a debut at the 2013 Geneva Motor Show. But is it a real Ferrari Instagram account? Update: As we suspected, the ‘announcement’ on Instagram of the Geneva debut of the F150 was a fake.

SsangYong SIV-1 Concept heading for Geneva

Another new SsangYong Concept – the SsangYong SIV-1 – is heading for Geneva 2013 to join the new Rodius debut. SsangYong are heading to the 2013 Geneva Motor Show with a new version of the Rodius, which we’re hoping (although not with too much confidence) will be a big improvement on the very challenging looks of the current car. The hope that SsangYong will manage to deliver a Rodius that doesn’t frighten small children is boosted today with the first photos of a new concept from the Indian-owned Korean car maker – the SsangYong SIV-1 Concept (pictured above) – which will arrive at Geneva alongside the new Rodius.

Shanghai 2013: Conference and Awards events from CDN and Interior Motives

Can Design News and Interior Motives are gearing up for our annual visit to China for a number of important events in the industry's calendar, kicking off with the 2013 Interior Motives China Conference. This year's theme, ‘Technology and tradition – old meets new in modern-day China' features a new highly interactive format guaranteed to inspire and illuminate. Last year's event – timed to coincide with the run-up to the Beijing auto show – attracted over 400 senior OEM designers and Tier supplier executives from around the world, and this one promises to be bigger and better than ever.

Video: Benchracing the new 2014 Corvette

The new 2014 Corvette took the Detroit auto show by storm, wowing the press and the public alike. But as the flood of praise subsides, one question remains: Will the C7 Corvette live up to the hype? We won't know for sure until GM hands us a set of keys.

British team, trusty Fiat Panda set new Africa run record

The Fiat Panda driving team consisting of British rally drivers Philip Young and Paul Brace arrived in London today, setting a new record time for the 10,000-mile Cape Town, South Africa to London run in the process. With their time of 10 days, 13 hours and 30 minutes, the team managed to break two records: one for the Cape Town to London run and one for the run between the two cities (in either direction). The former previously stood at 14 days, 19 hours and 26 minutes, while the latter was 11 days, 14 hours and 11 minutes.

2013 Mini John Cooper Works GP drive review

Mark Vaughn threw the '13 John Cooper Works GP around Circuito Mallorca a few months back, and the quickest-ever production Mini proved itself to be an excellent track car. The questions one always asks about a car stuffed full of turbo boost and beefy suspension goodies, however, remained hanging before us: Will it be intolerable on the street? Will it ride like a steel-shod forklift on rough pavement and leap like a hornet-stung mule into the back of a porta-potty truck when the boost comes on?

2013 Formula Sun Grand Prix will race at Circuit of the Americas

With sunnier months just around the corner, Circuit of the Americas has revealed that it will provide the venue for the June 24-29 Formula Sun Grand Prix. The Formula Sun grand prix is a qualifying race for teams interested in racing their solar-powered cars in the American Solar Challenge. The Challenge allows competitors from around the world to operate a solar-powered-car race team.

Behold! Gremalibur!

There's something your author has noticed about very good product designers. They're essentially children. Yes, they may front like adults, but they're mired in that young world of possibility, always asking, “It can't work like this?