Hyper Tech Power Programmer on 2040-parts.com

New Aston Martin Vanquish Volante arrives – costs £200k

The New Aston Martin Vanquish Volante (pictured) costs £200k It’s almost exactly a year since the Aston Martin Vanquish arrived as a replacement for the DBS, and now we get it’s convertible sibling – the new Aston Martin Vanquish Volante. Aston are claiming the new Vanquish Volante is the stiffest Aston convertible ever and have also managed to keep the usual weight increase for a soft top down to just 9kg by giving the Volante a full carbon fibre body. The result of that is the Volante manages to produce exactly the same performance figures as the Vanquish Coupe – 0-62mph in 4.1 seconds and 183mph – from its 565php, 6.0 litre V12 and shouldn’t, we hope, shake and shimmy in the way many Aston convertibles do in the process.

McLaren P1 Geneva reveal confirmed & first instrument view

The McLaren P1 supercar has been confirmed for a Geneva Motor Show debut and we get the first peek at the P1′s ‘Race’ instruments. McLaren are certainly making the most of the reveal of the P1 and are still keeping the exact specifications close to their chest, although we do know that the P1 will get a modified version of the V8 in the 12C with a hybrid KERS type boost offering something north of 900bhp. But McLaren has thrown us a titbit of extra information with the Geneva confirmation in the form of two photos of the digital instruments in the P1 (inset above and in the main photo gallery for the P1).

BMW works hard to avoid gas-guzzler tax

BMW AG hopes to get out from under the gas-guzzler taxes that are tacked on to the sticker prices of some of its high-performance models in the United States. Jim O'Donnell, president of BMW of North America, says the company is studying fuel-efficiency improvements that could eliminate the gas-guzzler taxes on its vehicles as early as the launch of their redesigns in the next few years. The 2010 550i GT incurs a $1,000 gas-guzzler fee, for example.