Novitec Ferrari F430...

German tuner Novitec, who specializes in Ferrari's, have turned the F430 into something to be feared. They previously released a twin-supercharged F430 with 636 horsepower. Obviously not good enough, they just upgraded the car to 656 horsepower by upgrading their twin Rotrex superchargers to push out 10 more horsepower each.

Not to be outdone, they also fitted a new aerodynamic kit to the car including a new rear spoiler, and they also upgraded the ECU. Even with the new features and increased horsepower, the car keeps the same numbers as the previous twin-supercharged F430, with a 0-62 mph time of 3.7 seconds and top speed of 216 mph.

300 bhp Focus RS spotted

Spotted earlier this year on a german test track was the brand-new Focus RS. Looking closer at the front end one can see the bigger air intakes.

The engine has been uprated to a massive 300-bhp which will have a four-wheel-drive system to get the power onto the road. No figures have been released yet but given the body weight will be similar to the Focus ST it will probably be a 0.62mph in sub 5.5seconds.

The 72mpg MINI

The entire MINI range is going to be cleaner and more economical from August of this year.

The most startling example is the recently-introduced Cooper D. This car's already impressive combined fuel economy rating of 64.2mpg will improve to an astonishing 72.4mpg.

There are improvements elsewhere too. The One's combined fuel consumption figure will go to 53.3mpg, and Cooper's to 52.3mpg and the turbocharged Cooper S's to 45.6mpg.

Mini owners will be able to put any cash savings on fuel towards the congestion charging schemes which will be introduced up and down the country further down the road....

Lewis Hamilton at Goodwood..

Lewis Hamilton has confirmed that he will be driving at the Goodwood Festival of Speed next month.

Hamilton will drive one of last year's McLaren-Mercedes F1 cars up the 1.16-mile hillclimb on Sunday 24 June. His presence means that all four of the current British Grand Prix drivers will be at Goodwood; Jenson Button and David Coulthard will be out in Honda and Red Bull cars respectively, while Anthony Davidson will drive the 1987 Williams-Honda FW11B raced by Nigel Mansell and Nelson Piquet

Qashqai scoops top marks in crash tests

Nissan has achieved the highest ever score for adult protection in EuroNCAP's crash tests with its Qashqai small family car.



As well as getting the maximum five stars for adult protection, the car scored almost top marks in side, front and pole impact tests. It was also rated well for protecting children on board.



In ten years of EuroNCAP's tests, it's the first time a car has scored the full 37 points for adult protection.

KTM reveals sports car...

Austrian motorcycle manufacturer KTM has revealed its first car - the X-Bow - at the Geneva Show.

KTM intends the X-Bow to be a racing machine, but it will also be road-legal. This is quite a challenge for a small manufacturer. Apart from anything else, there's a lot of red tape involved, and KTM has provisionally to "standardise" the car according to the laws of eight European countries, of which the UK is one.


The car at Geneva is a prototype, production will start at the end of this year. KTM reports that there is an expanding waiting list of potential customers.

Saab Aero X Concept

Saab introduced the Aero X Concept in 2006 to remind people of their roots in aviation. Designed with no doors or windshield pillars, the Aero X boasts a cockpit canopy as you would see in a jet aircraft.

The Aero X is powered by a 400-hp, twin-turbo, BioPower V6 engine that pushes the car from 0-60 mph in 4.9 seconds and reaches a top speed of 155 mph. It also boasts the coolest gauges I’ve ever seen, showing the speed, RPM and boost levels in 3-D.

It's good to see Saab starting to compete with the big boys of the motorworld, but as usual nothing has been seen of the design since its announcement. Let just hope that this car or some of the design features can move from concept to production in the near future.

Should old people be banned from driving?

Banning old people from driving completely seems a little bit extreme. But what about people who can’t react in a timely manner, can’t make reasonable decisions, and can’t see or hear as well as other drivers? Allowing them on the road as freely as anybody else is as ridiculous as allowing drunk drivers on the road.

What to do? Like I said above, banning them all from the road completely is extreme, but allowing them all to drive is ridiculous. I propose that beginning at age 65 (maybe 70,) the driver takes a strict driving test every two or three years. Obviously this will keep the dangerous ones off the road, and the competent ones can still drive.

What are your opinions on this? Do you think all people over a certain age should be banned, or do you think everybody should have the right to drive? What age should we start requiring testing, and how frequent should the testing be?

Schu to drive Zidane around Magny-Cours

Michael Schumacher will drive French footballing legend Zinedine Zidane around a lap of the Magny-Cours circuit when the two attend the French Grand Prix next month. Former Real Madrid and France ace Zidane has been announced as the guest of honour at his country’s home grand prix and will make his appearance on Saturday June 30.

The Ferrari FXX is basically a “Super-Enzo.” With only around 20 of these made, only the best customers of Ferrari even had the chance to buy one for around $1.8 million. Its 6.2L V12 produces a whiplash-inducing 800 horsepower.

Manchester congestion charge plan to be unveiled

See article 11 July 2007

The next generation Mercedes SL

The next generation Mercedes SL-class was spied in testing in Europe earlier this year.

It looks like Mercedes will let the current SL live for another couple of years before the updated model will reach the market. The biggest change will be the CLS-style headlamps to complement the new bumper and grille. Another feature that will arrive with the facelift to the SL are air scarfs in the headrests, originally from the SLK.

No announcement has been made about the engines- it is likely to remain the same as the current models, but rumors are indicating a turbocharged version of the 350 engine with 354 bhp may be added. The top of the line model will be the SL65 AMG with 612 bhp.

Historic F1 Cars In Action

F1 cars built between 1966 and 1985 will be racing at Brands Hatch in early July.

The occasion is the Autoglym HSCC Historic Festival, and the showpiece event will be a round of the FIA Historic Formula One Championship, which takes place on July 1. Tickets cost £20 on the day, or £16 if booked in advance.

For more details, visit www.motorsportvision.co.uk/autoglym, or call 0870 950 9000.

KTM Reveals Sports Car

Austrian motorcycle manufacturer KTM has revealed its first car - the X-Bow - at the Geneva Show.

KTM intends the X-Bow to be a racing machine, but it will also be road-legal. This is quite a challenge for a small manufacturer. Apart from anything else, there's a lot of red tape involved, and KTM has provisionally to "standardise" the car according to the laws of eight European countries, of which the UK is one.

The car at Geneva is a prototype; production will start at the end of this year. KTM reports that there is an expanding waiting list of potential customers.

M60 Environmental Award

The 2006 widening of the M60 motorway has been honoured with an environmental award.

The £140 million project, saw the M60 being widened between Junctions 5 and 8. The Civil Engineering Environmental Quality Assessment (CEEQUAL) award is the result of careful scrutiny into how the scheme was run, which led to an "excellent" rating in 12 categories.

Key issues mentioned in the award citation were recycling, the creation of new wildlife and wetland areas, noise reduction, the planting of 126,000 trees and the relocation of an existing building from the site.

Fuel prices break the £1 /litre barrier

It's started, fuel is breaking the £1.00 barrier. I can't remember hearing anything about oil prices rising so why are some garages getting away with these prices. The extortionate pence-per-litre rate at this local Mobil station is an unbelievable £1.09 for unleaded – surely a record? If not, we’d like to hear from you. On that, or any other fuel-related grumbles you’d like to get off your chest.

Road pricing plans hit Parliament

It's enough to send mororists to an early grave because road pricing has reached Parliament for the first time. The plans will allow English councils to introduce charging schemes on a trial basis, and 10 councils have already expressed an interest.

The government says the pilot 'pay as you go' scheme is necessary to see how road pricing works. All of this is despite a petition signed by 1.8 million motorists at the start of 2007 opposing road pricing.

Government ministers say the plan is required because doing nothing will result in a 25 per cent increase in congestion in less than 10 years.

Support for higher motorway speed limit

The UK’s largest motoring organisation, the Automobile Association (AA) has lent is support to government plans to raise the speed limit on British motorways to 80 miles per hour. The AA will submit its plans to the UK Highways Agency, the government agency responsible for maintaining Britain’s motorway network, this week. It is expected that a pilot scheme will be agreed.

Its about time that we changed this speed limit it was introduced 40 years ago when 70 m.p.h. was at the limit of the majority of cars. Today, with the improvement in braking and stability management systems, cars are much safer at increased speed.

Lets stop pussy footing about and increase the speed limit on Motorways to 90 m.p..h. NOW!!

Councils reject congestion charge scheme

Three councils in Greater Manchester have said that they do not support the plans for congestion charging.

Stockport, Trafford and Rochdale have refused to co-operate because they say Greater Manchester Passenger Transport Executive (GMPTE) has not given them any information on the scheme on which they can make a decision.

Brian Millard, leader of Stockport Metropolitan Borough Council, said: "We have been waiting for the details for two months. The GMPTE has said we will have them by the end of May - this leaves very little time to consult businesses and the public before the bid must be submitted in July."

Speeding fines predicted to double...

Great news for all motorists (not) because it has been revealed that plans are afoot to increase the number of digital speed cameras within the UK. Currently there's only a one in five chance that speeding motorists will be caught out as the original camera's often run out of film. It has been predicted that the move will lead to a doubling of the number of speeding tickets issued.

Full story

Volkswagen Unveils Golf GTI W12-650

Volkswagen has unveiled what could be the next generation of the VW Golf GTi.

Not only is it the most powerful Golf ever produced by Volkswagen but it’s also the fastest. The 0to 62 mph takes 3.7 seconds 2 seconds faster than a Porsche 911. A potential maximum speed of 201.8 mph is made possible through a 70 mm lower ride height and the extensive use of under floor aerodynamic aids including a diffuser negating the need for a large rear wing to keep the vehicle pinned to the ground at very high speeds.

The engine is made from aluminium to reduce weight further and features four valves per cylinder and two overhead camshafts per cylinder head and its specification will mak it over three times more powerful than the conventional Golf GTI.

Goodwood Festival of Speed

This years Goodwood festival of speed will be held on the 22, 23, 24 June 2007.

The Goodwood Festival of Speed in Chichester, West Sussex is one of the world's biggest and most diverse celebrations of the history of motorsport. The festival is an unrivalled social and sporting occasion in the motor racing calendar.

Experience the action and excitement of the greatest competition cars, star drivers and motorsport legends. The Goodwood Festival of Speed highlights include: the infamous Hillclimb competition, Star cars, Racing motorcycles, Cartier 'Style et Luxe', Supercars and the Junior Festival of Speed.

See website: http://www.goodwood.co.uk/fos/

Rolls-Royce Phantom Drophead

Unbelievably Rolls Royce had released a new Drophead model to there range the new Phantom. The Phantom has a 453bhp 6.75-litre V12 engine which, when drive gingerly, will give 15mpg - very eco friendly! And when it costs - before options - £307,000, we will have to save the pennies for a very long time!

Is there a place on our roads for this type of vehicle?

Congestion Charge!!!!!!!!!!!

Save me from the bureaucrats!!!!

Reported this year was that the £8 flat rate congestion charge in Central London is to be abolished and replaced by a system of “intelligent tolls” that vary according to the time drivers travel into the zone and the emissions of their vehicles. What is Red Ken up to?

By 2009 the congestion charge for Category G vehicles will be increased by a factor of 3x such that it costs £25 to enter the zone no matter how far you drive in it. A Category G vehicle includes many of the SUV, 4x4 type of vehicle as well as many people carriers. Of course, many sports cars and higher performance vehicles also come into this category.

It is no longer a tax on congestion or an environmental tax, but the worst sort of tax - a tax borne out of chip-on-the-shoulder left-leaning cheap politics. You're better off having an £8 car and driving it like mad than you are having a £25 car and driving it carefully.

Lets continue the debate later. Any comments?