Blog on 2040Parts

Official: Renault & Caterham to build Alpine sports cars

Renault has confirmed it is to partner with Caterham to build a range of Alpine sports cars in Dieppe from 2015. The partnership between Renault and Caterham is a logical extension of their F1 partnership but now, with the joint venture to produce their own sports cars, goes much deeper than the almost badge-engineering Williams Renaults. A new company - Société des Automobiles Alpine Caterham – will be jointly owned by Caterham and Renault and will develop models in small and large volumes to be marketed as both Renault Alpine and Caterham, and will be built in Renault’s Dieppe factory that currently churns out Renaultsport models for the road and track, and is the historical home of Alpine.

2013 SEAT Ibiza Cupra arrives

The recently facelifted SEAT Ibiza now gets its hot hatch credentials back in order with the arrival of the 2013 SEAT Ibiza Cupra. The changes amounted to the new SEAT nose with a new grill and headlights and a crease up the bonnet, a set of bigger air intakes, a new bumper and lights at the back and a very small titivate for the interior. Now those modest updates have been applied to the 2013 SEAT Ibiza Cupra – as previewed by the Ibiza Cupra Concept at this year’s Beijing Motor Show – as well as a set of LED running lights, a set of butch bumpers and a big hexagonal exhaust tip at the back.

Seat Ibiza Cupra (2013) production car shown

Seat has shown the production version of the new Ibiza Cupra - six months after showing the concept at the 2012 Beijing motor show. And, as predicted, very little has changed for 2013's new Ibiza hot hatch. It's powered by VW's 1.4 TSI engine, complete with twin-charging by super- and turbocharger.

Renault and Caterham to co-build Alpine sports cars

Renault and Caterham are to join forces and build a new range of sports car models together from early 2013, under the classic Alpine badge, Renault-Nissan CEO Carlos Ghosn confirmed today. At a press conference in Paris, he announced a new Anglo-French partnership which will spawn a new breed of sports cars for both brands. 'This innovative partnership with Caterham embodies a longstanding ambition: the creation of a sports car with the Alpine DNA,' said Ghosn.

Abu Dhabi Grand Prix (2012) RESULT

Did the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix see Red Bull snatch the constructors title, and was it another boring F1 Grand Prix? We’d hoped that the 2012 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix would be a bit more exciting than the last Grand Prix in India. And it was – and then some.

1959 Ferrari 250 GT LWB Berlinetta ‘Tour de France’ fetches £1.96 million

A 1959 Ferrari 250 GT LWB Berlinetta ‘Tour de France’ sold for £1.96 million as the star of R.M. Auction’s 2012 London sale. Star sale of the night in Battersea was a hugely desirable 1959 Ferrari 250 GT LWB Berlinetta ‘Tour de France’ by Carrozzeria Scaglietti which managed to reach £1.96 million (although a 1955 Mercedes-Benz 300SL Alloy Gullwing failed to sell at £2.4 million), but there were plenty of other lots reaching decent prices too.

Lamborghini Aventador LP700-4 Roadster arrives next week

The Roadster version of Lamborghini’s LP700-4 Aventador will be revealed in Miami next week and debut at the Los Angeles Motor Show. The Lamborghini Aventador – successor to the Murcielago – was revealed by Lamborghini at the start of 2011 before getting a public debut at Geneva 2011, since when we’ve been anticipating the arrival of its Roadster sibling and even had confirmation of the Aventador Roadster from the EPA in the US. But the wait for the Aventador Roadster is now just about over with the news that Lamborghini will be debuting their open-topped Aventador at the Los Angeles Motor Show later this month.

Porsche Cayenne & Panamera HID headlights stolen for pot growing

A spate of thefts of Porsche Cayenne and Porsche Panamera HID headlights is blamed on pot growing amateurs. If you’ve ever owned a Porsche, you’ll know that changing a headlight bulb means removing the headlight assembly. Thankfully, Porsche has made that quite easy with a simple locking mechanism that takes just a turn to free the light.

Hamilton takes pole for McLaren in Abu Dhabi F1 UPDATED

Lewis Hamilton has beaten the Red Bulls of Vettel and Webber to take pole for tomorrow’s F1 Grand Prix in Abu Dhabi. Update: Vettel has been relegated to the back of the grid for the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix as he didn’t have enough fuel in his car for a fuel sample to be taken. Which changes the whole dynamic of tomorrow’s race – and the championship.

Full Honda recall list includes Accord, CR-V, Civic, Pilot, Odyssey and Acura MDX

Staying on top of recalls is key to maintaining the safety and overall well-being of your vehicle.To make things easy, we've completed the following list of the most recent recalls involving Honda and Acura cars, crossovers and SUVs. 2012 Honda recalls: --December 12, 2012 — Honda is recalling 318,000 Honda Odyssey minivans, 259,000 Honda Pilot SUVs from the 2003 and 2004 model years, and 230,000 Acura MDX luxury SUVs from the 2003 through 2006 model years. Honda said a malfunction in the ignition-interlock feature of these vehicles could allow the key to be removed from the ignition before the car in has been placed in “park.” All but 64,000 of affected vehicles were sold in the United States.

Hyundai, Kia retract mileage claims

Hyundai and Kia overstated the estimated fuel economy on more than 900,000 U.S. vehicles sold over the past two years and will compensate owners for the faulty claims, a newspaper reported. In addition, the South Korean partners will lower the fuel-economy estimates on most of their 2012 and 2013 models, the Detroit News said.

Two-wheel Lowdown: 2013 Harley-Davidson CVO Breakout

Perhaps a shrink can explain sometime why crows, brook trout and people like shiny things. But until then, know that the Harley-Davidson CVO Breakout attracts an audience like a shimmering lure zaps a rainbow out of the aspen shadows. The Breakout—new for 2013 from Harley's Custom Vehicle Operations in Milwaukee—is a dazzling interpretation of the popular Softail.

Chrysler design chief says Trump is full of it

Chrysler design chief and SRT boss Ralph Gilles took to Twitter for a strongly worded rebuke of Donald Trump, telling the businessman he was "full of shit." Trump on Thursday repeated an erroneous Mitt Romney campaign claim that Jeep production was moving to China. Trump tweeted: “[President Barack] Obama is a terrible negotiator. He bails out Chrysler and now Chrysler wants to send all Jeep manufacturing to China—and will!” Gilles tweeted back: “You are full of shit!” Chrysler CEO Sergio Marchionne told employees in an email on Oct.

Car Design Awards China 2013 contest launches

未来，中国设计 Future car designers in China are again being challenged to meet the needs of the future by entering the CDN competition which is dedicated to identifying the most promising talent. The fourth annual Car Design Awards China is now open, and entries are invited from students of any design discipline who are studying full time at a college in China. They will work to briefs set by the design chiefs of brands including Audi, JAC, Qoros, Volvo Trucks and Volkswagen.

Concept Car of the Week: Isuzu Zen

Space. Freedom. Feng shui.

Hyundai & Kia make a mess of U.S. fuel consumption figures

Hyundai and Kia has admitted to mistakes in their fuel consumption figure in the U.S. and are set to compensate owners. Official fuel consumption figures are, at best, a guide to relative fuel consumption between different cars.

Honda Civic 1.6-litre i-DTEC arrives

A new frugal Honda Civic has been revealed – the Civic 1.6 -DETC - promising official economy of 78.5mpg. Costs from £19,400. Honda revealed the current Civic at the Frankfurt Motor Show in 2011 offering an evolution in style but quite a jump in the way the Civic drives, even though it still offers Torsion Beam suspension at the back.

Top Gear: The worst car…in the world (+video)

With Top Gear on its holidays until 2013 because the schedules are full, and Hammond playing Bond, May & Clarkson do the worst cars…in the world. It’s a strange Autumn on BBC2 when we don’t have a Top Gear series at 8pm on a Sunday evening. But that’s because the schedules are full with everything from Strictly to X Factor via Celebs in the Jungle.

2013 Nissan GT-R gets a tweak

Nissan has had a play with the GT-R for 2013 with suspension upgrades, sharper responses and a more comfortable ride. On the performance front, the 2013 model year Nissan GT-R gets a set of new high-output injectors which give more concise control to fuel for better mid range and high rev response, a new relief valve for the turbocharger bypass cuts the decrease of pressure to sustain response and a new oil pan baffle helps maintain oil pressure. On the handling front Nissan has revised dampers, springs and the front anti-roll bar to lower the centre of gravity, new cam bolts on the front suspension improve accuracy and the torque carrying capacity of the driveshaft to hub bearings has been increased to you can attack a track more reliably.

Nissan GT-R – the latest 2013 Godzilla revealed

Nissan has announced a range of minor upgrades to its 2013 GT-R. Although Godzilla still develops an identical 543bhp to the 2012 model year GT-R, next year's model is said to have sharper responses and improved ride and handling. How so?

Honda Civic's frugal 2013 DTEC diesel: more info

Honda will equip its current Civic hatch with a 1.6-litre diesel engine from early in 2013. The engine is, Honda claims, the cleanest, most frugal engine in its class, and will offer diesel Civic buyers up to 78.5mpg, according to the company's figures. The downsized 1.6 derv will also see duty in the new CR-V soft-roader later on in 2013.

Martini Mustang makes more with less weight

The Martini Mustang is based on a supposition. “Suppose Ford executives had a chance business meeting with the owner of Martini Racing,” wondered Steve Strope, founder of Pure Vision Designs in Simi Valley, Calif. “This meeting could have taken place during a European F1 or rally race, perhaps.

Volvo and Polestar offer post-sale software upgrades

Volvo's performance arm, Polestar, will offer software upgrades for the T6 and 2.5T engines that will increase horsepower and torque. The upgrade should calm Volvo fans who missed out on the limited-edition Polestar C30. For the T6 engine in the 2010 Volvo XC60 and 2009-2010 XC70 Polestar will offer a bump in output from 281 hp to 311 hp.

Ford warms up new era of car-guy leaders

A minor temblor shook Dearborn, Mich., today with the announcement that Mark Fields, president of the Americas, climbed the golden corporate ladder to grab the chief operating officer ring, setting him up to succeed Alan Mulally in a couple of years. The move did not come as a shock-it only confirmed the whispers of auto industry Royal Watchers. The biggest news for those who care about cars, however, is two-fold: Jim Farley, Ford's global marketing boss, also takes the helm of Lincoln.

Renault Symbol [w/Gallery]

Renault has unveiled its new Symbol family saloon at the 2012 Istanbul Motor Show. The new five-seater Symbol features the carmaker's latest design cues such as the larger front logo that sits in a more upright position in the middle of a wide, black and chrome-trimmed grille strip. Another black chrome-trimmed grille strip that integrates the fog lamps is located underneath the license plate while the headlamps taper slightly into the side.

Subaru Forester

Subaru has confirmed that the its new Forester SUV will be making its debut at the 2012 Los Angeles auto show later this month. The fourth-generation five-seater Forester, which is 4,595 mm long, 1,795 mm wide, 1,695 mm high sitting on a wheelbase of 2,640 mm, was developed to highlight its handling and stopping capabilities, enhanced safety and environmental performance. A ground clearance of 221 mm also emphasizes its ability to navigate all road conditions.

Audi A6, A6 Avant & A7 Black Edition launched

Audi has released Black Edition version of the A6 Saloon, A6 Avant and A7 with extra equipment and cosmetic tweaks. Audi has taken the S Line A6, A6 Avant and A7 and given them a ‘Black’ makeover for a special edition range that starts at £35k and carries on to almost £57k. Cosmetic and equipment additions over and above the regular S Line Spec include rotor-design alloys with a dark titanium finish (20″ on A6, 21″ on A7), black finish for the grill and window surrounds, privacy glass and black roof rails on the A6 Avant. Inside there’s Piano Black trim, black leather seats and black headlining.

Jaguar & Land Rover to share more platforms. But you already knew that.

As Jaguar and Land Rover expand their model range and move to aluminium construction, they plan to share more platforms. Jaguar has been using an aluminium platform for the XJ for some time – long before the latest XJ came along. The aluminium platform the XJ uses is just the start for Jaguar Land Rover, as we reported back in 2009, and it seems that JLR are planning to use the move to aluminium underpinnings to cut their platforms to just two or three.

Paul McCartney’s Aston Martin DB5 sells for £307,000

An Aston Martin DB5 first owned by the Beatle’s Paul McCartney sold at RM Auctions last night for £307,000. But if there’s a UK ‘franchise’ that’s bigger even than Bond, it’s the Beatles. And Bond and the Beatles came together last night at R.M.

Ford Focus ST gets 330 Cosworth horses

Cosworth has prepared an extreme Ford Focus ST CS 330 for the 2012 SEMA Show with cosmetic tweaks and 330 hp. The Ford Focus ST finally went on sale in June, the closest thing we’ve got to a Focus RS, at least for now. But Cosworth has prepared their own Focus ST for this year’s SEMA show offering more power than the last generation Focus RS and almost as much as the run-our RS 500.