The world's longest Ferrari

This is the world's first-ever Ferrari stretch limo: a 23-foot 360 Modena with eight seats and the biggest electric gullwing doors ever seen.

It's the handiwork of Style Limousines in Manchester, which spent more than £200,000 modifying the rear-engined 360. All eight of the seats are carbon-fibre buckets with five-point race harnesses - which might sound excessive until you discover that the 3.6-litre V8 remains, its 395bhp propelling the mega-Ferrari to 60mph in under six seconds.

Those gullwing doors are nine-foot long and were designed by one of the teams responsible for the Mercedes SLR McLaren.

I'm not sure I would want to ride in this especially when it gets to the first corner!!!!

Ferrari Spy row continues

The FIA is scheduled to meet on the 13 September to consider new evidence in the Ferrari-McLaren spying affair.

McLaren were found guilty of fraudulent conduct in the initial hearing on 26 July but were not penalised. They were found guilty of possessing confidential Ferrari documents, but it was decided the information had not been used to improve their car.

A Court of Appeal hearing set for 13 September following new evidence presented by Ferrari, who refuse to discuss the matter until the hearing. A McLaren statement in response to the FIA read: "McLaren Racing has been made aware that new evidence has been presented to the FIA as part of their ongoing investigation. "

The row blew up when McLaren chief designer Mike Coughlan was found to have nearly 800 pages of Ferrari documents in his house.

Coughlan has since been suspended by McLaren.

Ferrari believe Coughlan received the documents from their now-sacked performance director Nigel Stepney, who says he is innocent.

Ahead of this weekend's Italian Grand Prix, McLaren driver Lewis Hamilton leads the world championship by five points from team-mate Fernando Alonso, with Ferrari's Felipe Massa a further 15 points behind.

McLaren are 11 points ahead of Ferrari in the constructors' title chase.

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New Mercedes C Class Wagon

This is one of the the first released pictures of the new Mercedes C Class wagon which will debut at the Frankfurt motor show next week before coming to the UK for summer 2008.


After the very successful launch of the saloon version of the C Class earlier this year, the range will consist of SE, Sport and Elegance versions and comes with the broad range of engines on offer with the saloon.


The creme de la creme will be the 450bhp C63 AMG Estate!! a real autobahn cruiser. There's no official word on price yet, but we expect the range to start at around £25k.

For more news, views and information visit TopCarTalk forums

Parking wardens to tone down approach

The Department of Transport have released a consultation paper which urges local authorities to develop new ways to educate drivers against inconsiderate and illegal parking. They suggest that Parking wardens tone down the current trend to ticket every motorist and that they try to put forward a friendly face to the public.

The paper goes so far as to order against setting targets for the number of tickets issued or funds raised through fines.Parking enforcement across the UK brought in more than £1billion in 2005. Costs range from around £50 for a parking fine to approximately £200 to recover a car that has been towed away.

For more discussion visit TopCarTalk foums - parking and parking wardens

New Ford Fiesta!

Ford have just reveled what looks like the new Fiesta concept which will be shown at the Frankfurt Motorshow next month.

Ford are being a bit cagey about calling it the new Fiesta as it is thought that they may be loosing the Fiesta name in favour of a new Verve. (supposedly a sexier name!)

Fiat 500 sells out

The demand for the new 500 is so great in Italy and France that Fiat might have to delay its launch in other countries. Fiat originally planned to build 58,000 cars this year, but the carmaker has since decided it will build between 65,000 and 67,000 units before production ramps up to 140,000 at the company's Tychy, Poland, plant in 2008.

Meanwhile Fiat is well on the way to developing two Abarth versions . They are creating both a 135bhp turbo version of the 500’s 1.4-litre engine and a range-topping 150bhp version that’s tipped to be called the Abarth 500SS, just like hot Abarths of old.

The 150bhp version probably won't arrive in the UK until late in 2008 and is expected to cost around £15,000. .

BMW details new 420-hp V8 for next M3

BMW unveiled its new M3 Concept at the Geneva Motor Show this year and have just revealed details of the M3’s new V8 powerplant. The first eight-cylinder for the BMW M3 will deliver 420-hp from just 4.0L.

Not only is the new V8 more powerful than the outgoing inline 6 cylinder, it is also lighter than the previous engine!

With out a doubt the new engine has been developed from Formula 1, where once again the eight-cylinder sets the standard and marks the latest development in technology. And the similarities between the BMW Sauber F1 Team’s power unit, on the one hand, and the power unit featured in the new BMW M3, on the other, are unmistakable.

For you engine freaks out there BMW has released the following details:

• First eight-cylinder for the BMW M3 sports car.
• Supreme performance ensured by 309 kW/420 hp from 4.0 litres.
• Maximum torque of 400 Newton-metres (295 lb-ft) at 3, 900 rpm, 85 per cent of maximum torque over a speed range of 6,500 rpm.
• Unique thrust and muscle ensured by consistent implementation of the M high-speed engine concept, maximum engine speed 8,300 rpm.
• Consistent lightweight construction of engine and ancillary units, new V8 power unit one of the lightest eight-cylinders in the world, lighter than the straight-six power unit in the former model.
• Variable camshaft control, low-pressure double-VANOS for an optimum charge cycle, system offering full power and performance even with normal engine oil pressure.* Eight individual throttle butterflies for spontaneous engine response.
• Consistent and reliable oil supply with longitudinal and lateral acceleration up to 1.4 g ensured by two oil pumps and wet sump oil lubrication optimised for supreme dynamic behaviour.
• Exhaust system optimising cylinder charge, optimised for weight and function by means of internal high-pressure remoulding, exhaust emissions fulfil EU4 and LEV 2 standards.
• Upgraded MSS60 engine control unit for optimum coordination of all engine functions with the various control systems in the car.
• Ion flow technology recognising and distinguishing engine knocking phenomena as well as misfiring and miscombustion by measurement of ion flow in the combustion chambers.
• Brake Energy Regeneration with intelligent alternator control

Aston Martin unveils DBS

Aston Martin has released further details of its new DBS, a high performance version of the DB9 that effectively replaces the company's Vanquish coupe, as the company's ultimate model.

The DBS has a 6.0 V12 engine producing 510bhp, much of the bodywork is now made from carbonfibre, saving 30kg. The brakes themselves are carbon ceramic and the wheels are 20in alloys. The car's aluminium core structure has been strengthened, programmable adaptive suspension damping is standard, and the dynamic stability control system has been modified to provide a track setting. The interior has also been reworked for a more luxurious finish.

The DBS is good for 0-62mph in 4.3 seconds, and has a top speed of 191mph. Price will be revealed next month, and deliveries begin in the first quarter of 2008.


For more news, views and comment go to TopCarTalk forums.

New land speed record for Ford

Ford has set the land speed record for a production-based hydrogen fuel-cell powered car with its Fusion 999 yesterday at the Bonneville Salt Flats.

The new world record was set at 207.2 mph. Ford have partnered with Ohio university to develop this car continuing its research into hydrogen cars - the only emission being water!

Piloting the Fusion was Rick Byrnes, a veteran Bonneville racer and retired Ford Powertrain component design engineer. The Fusion achieved the top speed with a reduced drag coefficient, from 0.34 to 0.21, and a 770 horsepower motor.

Porsche Caymen design edition to be launched

Porsche is making 777 limited-edition Porsche Design Edition 1 Cayman S coupes. The cars will have black leather upholstery, black dials, door trims and fascia and will be finished off with a black steering wheel.

The Cayman S Porsche Design Edition 1 has 19" wheels, suspension lowered by 10mm and standard Porsche Active Suspension Management adaptive damping with Sport mode. Buyers will also get a free Porsche Design Studio-created briefcase, 'Flat Six' watch, pocket knife, pair of sunglasses, pen and key ring - all in black. Deliveries start in November, with UK prices at £49,890

For more car talk and information go to TopCarTalk

Sebastien Bourdais to join Formula 1 at last

Champ Car racer Sebastien Bourdais finally on his way to F1. The Frenchman will join the Toro Rosso team next year, replacing Italian Vitantonio Liuzzi. Bourdais has already tested for Toro Rosso this season while continuing to dominate the Champ Car series in the States.

Perhaps the only surprise is that Bourdais didn't make it to F1 sooner. After Scott Speed's bust-up with his Toro Rosso management last month, the American was replaced by German driver Sebastian Vettel when many expected Bourdais to fill the vacant seat.

We'll have to wait until next year to see the three-time Champ Car champ in an F1 car, but after a protracted wait, Bourdais doesn't seem to mind holding on for a few more months.

Sat-nav ‘jammer’ threatens to sink road pricing scheme

This new product a sat-nav jammer, and could render the most suitable technology for a pay-as-you-drive charging scheme useless.It costs £700 and plugs into a car’s cigar lighter socket.

That might sound like good news but thieves could also use the gadget to foil certain GPS-based stolen car tracking devices!

How does it work? Trackers rely on sat-nav technology to log vehicle movements. This data is stored on a ‘black box’ in the car, then relayed to a mon­itoring station via mobile phone. The jammer stops both processes.It emits a frequency that blocks the signal from global positioning satellites. As a result, the black box can’t record movement data. The jammer unit also has a mobile phone blocker to stop the black box sending information back to its base.

Have your say on road pricing visit TopCarTalk forums

DeLorean comeback?

We all know that some American's can be a little, shall we say, weird. Demand in American for the gullwinged wonder is so high that some American fanatics are considering putting the DMC-12 back into production.

The car is made from the same stainless steel as your kitchen sink, but it is experiencing unprecedented levels of buyer interest, which means the existing crop of the original 9000 cars are in huge demand.

Putting the scandal of the £80 million of British government money lost and subsequent false drug allegations made against company founder John DeLorean, some Texas-based enthusiasts are looking to restart building the cult coupe. American entrepreneur John Espey will set up production for 25 cars per year and already boasts a nine month waiting list!

More car news and comment at topcartalk forums

Bentley Continental engine improvements

All you petrol heads will know what a fantastic engine the Bentley Continental GT models have - a 6-litre, twin turbocharged W12 engine, the most compact 12-cylinder engine in production. The 48-valve head employs four camshafts and continually variable valve-timing - oh yes.

But what you wont know is that a host of engine and transmission enhancements have been introduced on the 552bhp Continental GT to enhance both the refinement and efficiency of this high technology powertrain.

These include:

• New crankcase design to reduce internal losses.
• More efficient catalyst and exhaust system for improved emissions.
• Lighter weight single chain drive for camshaft.
• New engine management system and faster response cam sensor.
  

The engine continues to produce 552bhp at 6100 rev/min and a maximum torque of 650Nm. The twin, low-inertia turbochargers are a key factor in producing the flat torque curve, characteristic of every Bentley.

Both the Continental GT Speed and GT models now produce lower CO2 emissions of 396g/km, down from 410g/km, an improvement of 3.5 percent. Fuel consumption is improved by a similar amount to a staggering 11mpg!!!!.

The Continental GT remains outstandingly quick – its top speed is unchanged at 198mph (318km/h), with a 0-60mph sprint time of 4.6 seconds (0-100km/h in 4.8s) - faster than a Ferrari F430 and a Porsche 911 Carrera 4.

Renault announce new roadster

Renault have intended to produce a 2 seater convertable to rival the Mazda MX5 for many years now but it seems that the project is gaining pace.

The car was originally destined for production in 2010, but industry rumors say that Renault have revealed it has been given the go-ahead – and will be ready a year early.

Since the Toyota MR2 Roadster was discontinued last summer, after 22 years in production, the MX-5 has had no direct competitor. But that’s about to change, as bosses are ready to introduce a unique model to spearhead the Renaultsport range. It’s not yet known if the new two-seater will have a fabric or folding metal roof; Mazda’s MX-5 is available with a choice of both.

It seems that Renault intent to cater for all types of motorists with a wide range of engines. Entry-level variants are likely to be equipped with small, four-cylinder powerplants, while top-of-the-range cars will come with the Renaultsport Clio 197’s high-revving 2.0-litre unit.

For more in depth discussion and other car talk visit topcartalk.