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Everything you need to know about cars this week: 2 June '19
A new hybrid Ferrari, the BMW 1 Series goes FWD and we drive the Brabham BT62
New Top Gear Series 27 trailer!
"The brand new series of Top Gear TV arrives this summer on BBC Two with Paddy McGuinness, Freddie Flintoff and Chris Harris. Here’s a little preview…"
Advertisement - Page continues belowThis is your new, front-driven BMW 1 Series
"After 15 years of the One being uniquely rear-driven in the small hatchback class, its USP has been relinquished to match customer demand. Which, in a car like this, is space rather than skids. For shame."
Here’s the electric Volkswagen ID.3 stripped of camouflage
"VW released a pair of images of the ID.3 in blue’n’red stripes to ramp up anticipation for the car’s imminent reveal, but details like the lights and wheels were left uncovered. So, thanks to some careful digital de-striping thanks to the skills of Andrei Avarvarii, here’s what the de-stickered version should look like."
Advertisement - Page continues belowCalling Elon's bluff: Tesla Model 3 vs BMW M3
"Here’s the plan. Two cars: the Tesla Model 3 Performance and the BMW M3 (the standard one, so without the £3,000 Competition Pack fitted, for price parity) and the Thunderhill raceway in northern California. Four challenges, one point for each, one winner and a road drive for contemplation purposes at the end. Ready?"
Woohoo! The Honda e will get proper side camera mirrors!
"News has reached the TopGear.com team – via the medium of an official press release – that the Honda e electric city car will be fitted, as standard, with actual cameras for mirrors. Rarely has such news elicited such joy in the TopGear.com office."
Do BMW's M Performance bits improve the new 1 Series?
"It’s fair to say the bottom half of the internet has not been kind about the new BMW 1 Series. Perhaps in anticipation of this, BMW has immediately released a set of M Performance parts to ramp up the aggression a bit."
The retro Ford GT liveries have made us weak at the knees
"Next month, the Ford GT will race at its final Le Mans 24 Hours. A programme launched to celebrate the 50th anniversary of Ford’s original Le Mans victory will close after four years. It’s going out on a high, too, thanks to everyone’s favourite kind of racecar livery. The retro racecar livery."
Advertisement - Page continues belowA pigeon saved this speeding driver 105 euros
"They – and their Renault Twingo – were snapped by a speed camera travelling 54kmh in a 30kmh zone (33mph in an 18mph zone, basically) but their blushes and their wallet have been saved by a very conveniently placed pigeon."
Did the 2019 Indy 500 live up to the hype?
"Serious Motorsport Fans have a bucket list of races they absolutely have to see. Having done Le Mans a few times as well as the Daytona 24 Hours, I managed to tick off another last weekend."
Advertisement - Page continues belowThe new BMW X1 will be available as a plug-in hybrid
"The snappily-named xDrive25e will be the first plug-in X1 sold outside of China and will deploy a 9.7kWh battery and 95bhp electric motor driving the rear wheels, with a 125bhp petrol powering the fronts. It’ll be good for 31 miles on electric power alone and a claimed 141mpg too."
How cool is this reborn BMW concept?
"It was originally designed as BMW’s surprise car for the 1970 Geneva Motor Show by Marcello Gandini and Italian design house Bertone, but it vanished almost immediately afterwards and was left to sit for almost 50 years."
Mazda3 review: UK test of stylish new hatchback
"Almost uniquely, Mazda doesn’t think turbos are the answer to making petrol engines more economical. Not in the real world anyway, and sure enough we did score a handy early-40s mpg on a swift drive, thanks in part to the standard-fit mild hybrid system."
Toyota Supra review: sports car of the moment in the UK
"It’s a handsome, well proportioned thing. It’s fast, sophisticated and well engineered. It’s a good car, it really is. Just maybe not the most compelling, life-affirming sports car £50,000 can buy."
This new Brabus AMG GT 4dr will do 0-62mph in 2.9s
"Welcome to one of the fastest four-door cars in the world – a Mercedes-AMG GT four-door that’s been Brabus’d to within an inch of its life."
This is Hennessey’s 1000bhp Jeep Gladiator
"Yep, nothing is safe from the tuning clutches of John Hennessey - especially not when a 6.2-litre supercharged V8 Hellcat engine will fit under the bonnet. This is the Hennessey Gladiator Maximus. Could it have any other name?"
The UK sold nearly half as many cars in April ’19 compared to ‘18
"'Dismal' is how the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders described April 2019’s new car production performance. Not ‘poor’. Not ‘a bit salty’. Not even ‘lightly melancholy’. No. Dismal."
The new Ferrari SF90 Stradale is a 986bhp hybrid supercar
"The ICE part of the equation produces 769bhp, the tripartite electric motors adding a further 216 for a total of 986bhp – or a more pleasingly rounded 1000 cv if you go with our Italian brethren. Either way, it’s a whole heap of power, the most any Ferrari V8 has ever ponied up, and it translates to a zero to 62mph time of 2.5 seconds, 124mph in 6.9 seconds, and a top speed of 212mph. All-wheel drive is clearly handy in these circumstances, whether you’re a purist or not."
Review: Brabham BT62
"Probably the world’s most track-focused hypercar. Closer to a Group C Le Mans car from the late Eighties"
Subaru’s Baja racer is the coolest thing you'll see today
"A Baja racer with the blue and gold livery of Subaru’s classic Impreza rally cars? Yep, we can pretty much guarantee that this is the coolest thing you’ll see today."
Top Gear’s Top 9: greatest car mirrors
"From Pagani to, erm, Vauxhall, let’s reflect on the art of the humble motoring mirror"
Opinion: Ferrari’s SF90 proves Porsche’s hypercar theory
"On first impression, the spec of the new SF90 Stradale reads a lot more like the Porsche and a bit more akin to McLaren than it does the LaFerrari. For one thing, the SF90 will indeed cruise on battery power alone: for 15 miles, at up to 84mph. It’s a supercar with an ecological conscience."
Chris Harris Drives: the McLaren Senna and 650S GT3
"How does McLaren’s best-ever track-day car, the Senna, compare to a proper racer? Luckily, we’ve got a 650S GT3 on hand to find out. Time for some laps at Silverstone…"
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