Blog on 2040Parts

Putting the Volvo S60 Polestar Concept through its paces

Unfortunately, the Volvo S60 Polestar Concept will not be coming to a dealership near you anytime soon. It’s purely an experiment to determine if the public would be interested in 508-hp, racing-bred Volvos. Chris Harris, of Chris Harris on Cars, took a deeper look at the car on a snowy racetrack in Europe and even brought a Mercedes-Benz C63 AMG for some perspective.

Ferrari F70 spotted testing in Europe

A Ferrari F70 mule was spotted testing in Europe recently, and it's now sporting a Daimler SP250 or '58 Packard look at the front end. Unlike the Daimler and the Packard, this catfish is long, wide and low. We're still expecting the F70 to be powered by a V12 with a KERS-like hybrid system.

Mercedes CLA starts to roll off production line in Hungary

The Mercedes CLA – the baby Mercedes CLS based on the new A Class – has started to roll off the production line at Kecskemét in Hungary. But that’s probably unfair; based as it is on the new A-Class, the CLA is a very good car under the skin, even if its big USP is the dramatic styling. Now, just over a week after the CLA got its first public reveal (if you don’t count the Mercedes Concept Style Coupe on which its based), the first production car has rolled off the line at the Mercedes plant in Kecskemét, Hungary.

2013 Range Rover deliveries start at JLR’s new Handover Centre

The first UK deliveries of the 2013 Range Rover have taken place at Jaguar Land Rover’s all new Handover Centre in Solihull. The new JLR Handover centre is JLR’s answer to the experiences premium German marques offer buyers, with a new car collection becoming a real ‘event’ instead of just a bunch of keys and a quick chat at your local dealers. Buyers of new Land Rovers who are happy to cough up £1200 when they order their new car at their dealers can now take delivery at JLR’s all new high-tech building, standing at the Lode Lane entrance of JLR’s Solihull facility.

VW Super Bowl ad teaser promotes insanity

Volkswagen released this delightful teaser to their upcoming Super Bowl commercial Thursday, opening with a series of people breaking down, freaking out and losing their . . .

Toyota, BMW to cooperate on sports car

Toyota Motor Corp. and BMW are tightening technical ties with plans to jointly develop a sports car platform, lithium-air batteries and new lightweight materials. The automakers also aim to jointly develop a fuel cell system for vehicles by 2020.

2014 Bentley Mulsanne gets more comfortable and more connected

The 2014 Bentley Mulsanne will make its debut at the Geneva auto show in March. The flagship arrives with an upgraded interior and comfort package, new paint colors and more entertainment features than previous models. The cabin of the Mulsanne will also be a Wi-Fi hotspot.

McLaren P1 continues development before Geneva auto show

As enthusiasts, we can't get enough of supercars. We really can't get enough. From spy photos to development mules, auto-show reveals to inevitable GT3 versions, we love this stuff.

Hey Craig Jackson, how did the auction go?

Plenty of people were surprised this week that the original Batmobile sold for $4.6 million* at Barrett-Jackson. And few were more surprised than Craig Jackson, the ringleader behind the mega-million-dollar auction in Scottsdale. The last time we spoke to him, he had estimated the original Batmobile to be worth somewhere around $2 million (later $3-4 million, as he now said).

2014 Nissan GT-R priced at $99,590; Black Edition at $109,300

The 2014 Nissan GT-R will cost $100,590 including a $1,000 destination charge, the company said on Thursday. That's an increase of $2,770 over last year's price. The GT-R Black Edition will come in at $110,300 with the destination charge.

Autoweek to cover RM's Bruce Weiner microcar auction live

On Feb. 15-16, RM Auctions is selling the cars of the Bruce Weiner Microcar Museum in Madison, Ga. We'd call that the Super Bowl of microcar sales, but the Super Bowl happens every year and it's basically impossible to buy a Voisin Biscuter at the Super Bowl these days because of what happened in 2003.

MINI Clubman Bond Street: It’s another MINI Special Edition

The MINI Clubman Bond Street, named after London’s Bond Street Shopping district, has been revealed ahead of a Geneva 2013 debut. As has been MINI’s strategy for a while, all MINI Special Editions are named after London districts, this time one of London’s shopping areas – Bond Street – and nothing to do with James Bond (much as MINI might have liked to find a 007 connection). The MINI Clubman Bond Street gets the usual special edition fare of custom paint job – this time Midnight Black with Cool Champagne highlights – a set of stripes, black twin-spoke alloys with Champagne centres and ‘Bond Street’ on the side indicator surrounds and sills.

VW Touareg R-Line arrives & Volkswagen cut price of VW CC

Volkswagen has launched the Touareg R-Line in the UK with sporty looks and extra equipment,  and cut the price of the VW CC. A lot of VW’s SUVs – big and small – do conspire to look a bit bland in standard guise, so to give sales a bit of a boost VW is busy rolling out the R-Line option to tart up their cars a bit. Latest to arrive is the VW Touareg R-Line – Volkswagen’s biggest SUV – which gets the full R-Line makeover with a sporty take on the Touareg’s look by adding new butch bumpers and side skirts, the addition of a set of 20″ Tarragona alloys, R-Line badges – inside and out – and panoramic roof.

New Hyundai Sante Fe is the safest car in its class

The 2013 Hyundai Santa Fe has been revealed as the safest car in its class by Euro NCAP, ahead of cars like the new Range Rover. But looking good and driving well are just part of the motivation for car buyers, with many wanting to make sure they carry their loved ones around in a car that not only appeals with its design and driving, but one which offers as much safety as modern technology can provide. So Hyundai has something to crow about this morning with the news that the new Santa Fe has been revealed as the safest car in its class in 2012 by Euro NCAP – those nice people who destroy cars to see just how well bolted together they are – beating others in the ‘Large Off-Road 4×4′ category like the new Mercedes M Class and new Range Rover in the process.

McLaren P1 development car in action on video

McLaren has released video of the development version of the new P1 supercar undergoing testing ahead of the production reveal at Geneva. We did think, when we got an email from McLaren entitled ‘The next steps towards production’ on the new P1, that we might get some concrete details on exactly what the P1 will offer in the way of specification and performance. But no such luck.

BMW & Toyota agree joint development of new sports car

BMW and Toyota have signed a binding agreement to co-develop a new sports car and continue with co-developed and shared technology. The way forward for car makers seems to be either to be as big as possible for the benefits of economy of scale, or to work together on joint products to cut development costs. Which is why BMW and Toyota are getting cosy.

Range Rover Evoque drives British exports boom (2013)

Range Rover’s smash-hit Evoque has driven UK car production to its highest level since 2008, and an all-time record export level. In 2012, UK car manufacturing was up 9% compared with 2011, with 1.46m cars produced. Almost 83% were exported.

McLaren P1 hybrid supercar (2013) test video and new details

McLaren is forging ahead with development of the P1 hybrid supercar, and has released details of the partners working on 'the world's best driver's car', in the subjective words of the Woking-based firm. Scroll down to watch a new, official video. Just remind me of the P1 basics The camouflaged P1 mules we've scooped testing in Southern Europe are helping the McLaren engineers develop bespoke components for the P1.

CDR Insight Quarterly – Q1 2013

Car Design Research Insight Quarterly – Q1 2013 Independent consultancy, Car Design Research's 'Insight Quarterly' looks at the latest trends in the automotive design world and beyond, four times each year. Currently distributed to a handful of their design contacts in the industry, we'll be running these quarterlies to highlight the latest trends and insights from a firm who work regularly and closely with the design groups of many major OEMs. In this year's first Insight Quarterly, the team highlight the notion of 'designing for export'.

EyesOn Design Awards Winners announced

On the second day of the Detroit auto show, the traditional EyesOn Design awards took place in the newly-opened Atrium Stage of the Cobo Hall. For the first time in its eight-year history, the judges of the competition (who include present and retired design directors from almost every major automotive OEM) awarded the 'Best Concept Vehicle' award to two designs – the Ford Atlas and Nissan Resonance, beating the Hyundai HCD-14 Genesis and Lincoln MKC concepts to the award. In the production car category, the Cadillac ELR was a somewhat surprise winner, beating internal GM rival, the new Corvette Stingray to the award.

Rolls-Royce reveals first Wraith teaser

Rolls-Royce has released the first teaser image of the its upcoming Wraith coupé. The image, which confirms that the Wraith is a fastback based on the Ghost, shows a chrome bezel surrounding the rakish DLO as well as rear-hinged doors, as have become an RR trademark. What we can't yet see is the treatment of the nose and tail.

From Cape Town to London -- in a Fiat Panda

If we wanted to break the speed record for the run from Cape Town, South Africa to London -- a quick 10,000-mile jaunt -- we'd start out by scouring the classifieds for something big and rugged. A Land Rover would be a classic choice, but a tricked-out Toyota or Jeep could do nicely as well. A team consisting of British rally drivers Philip Young and Paul Brace are taking a somewhat different approach.

Aston Martin Rapide S arrives with 550 horses

Aston Martin is replacing the four-door Rapide with the Rapide S, which gets minor styling tweaks and extra power. Just as they did with the new DB9, Aston Martin has made the new Rapide S a more aggressive car, with small styling tweaks like a new grill and a small spoiler at the back, some minor trim tweaks with the addition of Piano Black trim and a new duotone black and red leather trim, and an optional carbon fibre pack for exterior highlights. Under the skin, the Rapide S is still based on Aston’s VH platform, but it does get the latest Gen 4 tweaks including new adaptive dampers with Normal, Sport and Track modes, tweaked dynamic stability control (DSC) and the latest AM11 engine dropped by 19mm for a lower centre of gravity.

2013 Bentley Mulsanne get even more sybaritic

The 2013 Bentley Mulsanne (2014 MY) comes complete with added luxury and new technology and debuts at the 2013 Geneva Motor Show. With the Mulsanne being Bentley’s flagship model, and pretender to the luxury crown held by its former sibling, Bentley are working hard to make the 2013 Mulsanne (2014 in the US) an even more luxurious and relevant choice for the modern plutocrat, with a range of additional luxury appointments and options and some new technology. We can’t really call the 2013 Mulsanne a facelift, because you’d have to look really hard to see any exterior changes (unless they have one of the new Mulsanne paint jobs - Dark Cashmere, Portofino and Damson) but there are tweaks and optional extra goodies on the inside.

Kia Urban Compact SUV Concept heading for Geneva Motor Show

Kia is teasing what looks to be an Urban compact SUV come crossover ahead of a reveal at the 2013 Geneva Motor Show. The market for funky, rufty-tufty urban crossovers started with the ugly bug (but appealing) Nissan Juke and continues apace with car makers rushing to fill a desire by car buyers for something butch and small to blat round urban landscapers. Now it looks like Kia re planning to get in on the act with a new urban runaround of their own, with the reveal of a handful of tease photos of a new concept they will be revealing at this year’s Geneva Motor Show in March.

Nissan LEAF £2500 UK price drop

Nissan has revealed that the LEAF EV will be reduced in price by £2500 with immediate effect and ahead of the launch of the uprated 2013 LEAF. The world hasn’t exactly fallen in love with electric cars, which has as much to do with the fact that an electric car, with its limited range, is never going to be a replacement for a normal ICE car. But compounding the impracticality of the EV as a replacement for the ICE car is the very high prices car makers are charging for electric cars, the sort of prices that mean buyers will probably find the ‘Cheap to Fuel’ EV a more costly option than fuelling a much cheaper comparable iICE car with petrol or diesel.

Audi A3 e-tron (2015) to launch Audi’s plug-in hybrid attack

Audi’s first plug-in hybrid will hit the UK by 2015, with the electric-assisted drivetrain installed in the A3. E-tron versions of the next-generation A4 and Q7 will follow, as Audi gets serious about plug-ins, and takes the fight to BMW’s forthcoming range of ‘born electric’ i cars. Audi A3 e-tron: the full lowdown Audi UK’s number-crunchers have been trying to calculate the market’s size, to estimate potential demand and help shape the A3 e-tron’s spec.

Aston Martin Rapide S (2013) first official pictures

Aston Martin has turned the wick up on its Rapide super-saloon for 2013, turning it into the faster, restyled Rapide S. Power is up by a substantial 80bhp from the old Rapide, and there's also been a heftier facelift than we're used to from Aston. The Aston Martin Rapide S has 80bhp more?

BMW i3 EV WILL get BMW motorcycle engine as range extender

BMW’s head of R&D, Herbert Diess, has confirmed the BMW i3 EV will come with the option of a range extender engine. BMW’s head of R&D, Herbert Diess, has confirmed to Automotive News that when the i3 arrives in BMW showrooms at the end of 2013 it will be offered with a range extending engine as well as a pure EV. The range extender engine will be housed in the boot and is derived from a BMW motorcycle engine, and will turn the i3 from a small EV, useful only in confined city environs with a range of around 40 miles, in to a small runaround that has a range of 250 miles.

2013 Ford Fiesta ST: Price from £16,995

The 2013 Ford Fiesta ST will cost from £16,995 when it arrives in Ford’s UK showrooms in March, with an extra £1,000 buying the Fiesta ST2. But now, with the Fiesta ST about to arrive as a three door in UK showrooms (the 5 door Fiesta ST will be sold in the US), Ford has come up with prices and specs for their hot Fiesta. The regular Fiesta ST will get some butch bumpers, a set of 17″ alloys, suspension lowered by 15mm, tinted glass, Recaro seats, DAB and AirCon, and if you want to spoil yourself you can opt for the Fiesta ST2 which adds in LED headlights, keyless start, part leather seats and climate.