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Mercedes try to 'bring the noise' back to F1

MERCEDES trialled a device aimed at amplifying and improving the much-maligned sound made by the 2014 marque Formula One cars on the second day of testing in Barcelona. With new V6 engines forming part of an overhaul in F1 regulations, widespread criticism of the dulcet tones has continued from the opening race of the season in Australia. With F1 chief Bernie Ecclestone amongst those to question the enjoyment of listening to the new engines, the teams decided to look into ways of making it a more pleasurable experience.

BMW M3 coupe gets stripped down to go club racing

BMW's M division is back in the business of building specialty street-legal race cars with a new lightweight version of the M3 called the GTS. The lightweight coupe, set to go on sale in early 2010 at a yet-undisclosed price, was conceived as a limited-edition model primarily for club-based racing in much the same way that Porsche builds the 911 GT3 Clubsport. But in a clear effort to link its track-based activities with the production-car side of its business, BMW's M division is offering the new car with a homologation package that will allow customers to register the M3 GTS for street use.

VW will build small run of XL1 plug-in hybrid

Volkswagen will begin production of its XL1 plug-in hybrid in two years. "We want to go into series production with this car starting in 2013," VW chairman Ferdinand Piech told Automotive News Europe on Tuesday at an event in Doha, Qatar, ahead of the 2011 Qatar auto show where VW unveiled an XL1 prototype. (a href="http://www.autoweek.com/article/20130221/GENEVA/130229972">Read the latest update here announcing the XL1 hybrid's Geneva Auto Show debut).