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Everything you need to know about cars this week: 17 Feb '19
An F-Type rally car, the world's fastest SUV and TG telly's return...
New vs Used: Audi R8 vs Lamborghini Murciélago
"When it comes to a supercar, you really can’t beat a car with lots of cylinders and natural aspiration to stir the soul. That’s what these cars are all about – if it doesn’t make you want to go for a drive just for the hell of it, if it doesn’t make people stare on the high street… there’s very little point."
Advertisement - Page continues belowThis is your full Top Gear TV Series 26 preview!
"Series 26 (or possibly Series 3, or Series 4, depending which calendar you’re using) brings five all-new one hour episodes, which see Matt LeBlanc, Chris Harris and Rory Reid – with a little help from The Stig and Sabine Schmitz – set out to tackle the big motoring problems of our age."
TRD has modified the new Toyota Supra, and this is it
"Unveiled with surprisingly little fanfare at Japan’s ‘Osaka Auto Messe’, the ‘Performance Line Concept’ gives us an idea what kind of parts TRD will eventually offer for the new BMW-based coupe. It’s wearing skirts and spoilers made from carbon fibre, plus something called a ‘door garnish’. Sounds delicious."
Advertisement - Page continues belowWhat does Hamilton's 2019 F1 car sound like to you?
"To paraphrase the Wu-Tang Clan’s Method Man, it appears the killer bees are on the swarm, and it doesn’t appear to be safe anymore. This, ladies and gentlemen, is the sound of the new Mercedes-AMG F1 car for 2019."
The new Alpina B7 and its grille can do 205mph
"In creating the B7, Alpina turned BMW’s 4.4-litre twin-turbo V8 up to a nice, round 600bhp and 590lb ft, giving 0-62mph in 3.6 seconds (a tenth faster than the old, less toothy B7) and a top speed of a frankly outrageous 205mph."
Holy heck, there’s a Gazoo Racing Daihatsu Copen
"In line with Kei rules, the Copen’s standard, 63bhp 660cc engine hasn’t been touched. So it’s not suddenly going to burn M3s at the lights. But Gazoo has seen fit to add muscle to the Copen’s usually cutesy bodywork, while tweaking the suspension and fitting some simply spectacular gold 16in BBS wheels."
Are slammed Ferraris sacrilege?
"Yes, that really is a Ferrari low-low. A Testarossa – one of Italy’s iconic 80s poster cars – that’s been chopped from the knee down to sit proudly on its belly pan and wear its wheels like a pair of loose in-line skates."
Advertisement - Page continues belowIs Maserati planning a 2020 launch for the gorgeous Alfieri?
"In a very short, Very Important Business Statement, Maserati’s boss met with the mayor of Modena, in order to ‘reaffirm’ Maserati’s factory mission. Here’s the interesting part. The mission is 'the manufacturing of special high performance, high technology sports cars'. Specifically, the company said 'the first pre-series production cars of a totally new model, a characteristically Maserati sports car, will roll off these lines starting in the first half of next year'."
The founder of the Haynes Manual, John Haynes, has died
"John Haynes, creator of the iconic Haynes Manual and founder of the Haynes International Motor Museum, has died. He was 80 years old."
Advertisement - Page continues belowThe New Stratos is now available with a manual gearbox and retro paint
"At the 2019 Geneva motor show, MAT will showcase German car 001 and a North American customer’s car. There’s no word which is which, but let’s assume the German one is the subtle, shy and retiring navy blue one. And the one that’s daubed in loud, retro Alitalia livery, well, that’s probably heading Stateside. The lighter blue version riding on yellow wheels is MAT’s handsome prototype."
BMW reveals new X3 M. And X4 M. And Competition versions
"You may remember that ten years ago BMW put a thorn in the side of enthusiasts by slapping an M badge on the X5. Not only was it BMW M’s first SUV, it was the first time it had played with four-wheel-drive. Welcome then, to the new BMW M cars joining the ‘Sports Activity Vehicle’ club: the X3 M and X4 M, along with both cars’ Competition variants. Wound, meet salt."
Land Rover’s newest engine is a 400bhp straight-six
"Land Rover sells a lot of diesels. And that’s a problem, when droves of punters are turning their backs on the sticky black stuff for petrol, hybrid and electric power. So, enter the company’s ‘all-new’ straight-six petrol engine, which was developed in-house and will be built at JLR’s £1billion engine plant in Wolverhampton."
Watch out Civic Type R: new Mini GP to get 300bhp+
"Minis are supposed to be, well, mini, aren’t they? They’re not supposed to have Honda Civic Type R levels of power, nor roof spoilers that double up as emergency hurricane shelters. The 2020 Mini John Cooper Works GP promises both of those things. And truth be told, we can’t wait."
Eight details we’ve spotted in the Honda Urban EV’s interior
"First things first: here’s the front of the finished ‘prototype’. It’s got a different facial expression to the concept car – less grumpy, more cutesy. But we’ll not dwell too much on that because you saw it in a rendering last month. Beyond noting the very prominent bonnet-mounted charging socket. You’ll be parking nose-in on the driveway, then."
Here’s your first look at the new Audi Q4 e-tron
"This, ladies and gentlemen, is a series of drawings. Not of a moon buggy, but of a forthcoming Audi production car. One bearing a fully-electric drivetrain that you’ll be able to buy – gigantic grille and all – in a couple of years’ time."
The Vandal is America’s BAC Mono
"In the UK there are many sheds. In some of these sheds are plucky people ambitiously building their own lightweight, track-focused sports cars. We’ve been at it for years: Caterham, BAC and Ariel are all British success stories. Now America wants a slice of the homebrew track car pie with this, the Vandal One."
Would you spend £79,000 on a classic electric Mini?
"This one packs an 80kw electric motor (that’s around 110bhp in old money) and a floor-mounted battery pack that’ll provide 125 miles of range. That’s more than enough for a few hot-laps of the city and almost double the standard set by BMW."
Review: Toyota Corolla
"The Corolla is back, looking better than ever, but still short on fun"
The new 190mph Bentley Bentayga Speed is the world's fastest SUV
"By a margin of no more than 0.5mph, the Bentley is the new SUV speed king. The world’s fastest production 4x4. Until Lamborghini concocts an Urus SVJ, we presume…"
Here's how Jaguar turned the F-Type into a rally car
"The obvious starting point, isn’t it? In turning the F-Type into a rally car, Jaguar removed the standard springs and dampers, then threw them in the bin. In their stead, the company fitted adjustable Eibach springs some 40 per cent softer than a standard F-Type’s."
The Land Rover Discovery SVX is dead
"SVO already builds fast (badged SVR) and luxury (SVA) versions of existing JLR products, but this was to be its first SVX (off-road)."
Here's why you need this three-seat AC Schnitzer E36
"M3s are great, right? But this isn’t one, really, and that makes it cooler still. Looks like AC Schnitzer only built a handful of these – 75, if the plaque on the centre console is to be believed – making the M3-based ACS3 CLS rarer than all but the most limited-edition normal M3s."
Chris Harris Drives: the McLaren 600LT
"Brave pills at the ready. Chris drives the 570S’s harder, sharper, faster cousin at the world’s least forgiving circuit… in the wet. Ladies and gents, this is the McLaren 600LT."
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