One Lap of the Web: Porsche flat-fours, hot rod artists and German car shows

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. -- You've heard of watching paint dry, but NHTSA has a new hobby: watching Fords rust.

New Volkswagen Golf R gets horsepower boost

This has been a big year for the VW Golf. The first six months of 2013 saw the new GTI, GTD, Variant and TDI BlueMotion all debut in Europe. Now comes the one we've really been waiting for, the Golf R, announced today in Euro trim.

BMW M5 & M6 M Performance upgrades released

BMW M5 & M6 (pictured) M Performance upgrades released Many would think that the BMW M5 and BMW M6 come with everything you could possible need. But BMW want to tempts M5 and M6 buyers with a range of M Performance upgrades to help them make their new performance BMW more individual, and divest them of a sizeable chunk of cash in the process. The new M Performance upgrades are also to capitalise on Martin Tomczyk’s success in the DTM Series, and as he’s now out and about in an M6 Gran Coupe this all fits very well.