Topgear News

It is early morning and Porsche’s engineers are peeling back the disguise that covers the secret Cayman S, exposing it to the world for the first time. There is not a spy photographer in sight, but we have joined the test team putting the car through its paces in South Africa.

Volvo XC90 D5

Location is everything, even when it comes to engines. While Volvo’s D5 diesel unit has always been near the top of the class in the S60 saloon, it has never offered as much appeal in the heavier XC90 off-roader.

This model’s power and refinement are no match for the BMW X5 3.0d so, to make its SUV more desirable - and keep up with the competition - Volvo has reworked the 2.4-litre five-cylinder oil-burner. A larger turbocharger, an improved injection system and a redesigned combustion chamber have raised power from 163bhp to 185bhp, and torque from 340Nm to 400Nm.

BSA International Bhd Group (BSA) is confident of being ranked among the world’s top 10 alloy wheel manufacturers by 2007, said executive chairman Tan Sri Cam Soh Thiam Hong. He said after the Liaoning province investment conference in Kuala Lumpur yesterday that the future was bright for the group.

Soh said the global demand for aluminium alloy wheels was expected to be mainly driven by the original equipment manufacturing (OEM) sub-sector and the group had the infrastructure in place to meet the demand from the OEM market.

After months of spy photos and rumors, DaimlerChrysler has released the first official images of the much-awaited new Mercedes-Benz S-Class, set to replace the current generation which has been on the market for almost seven years - an eternity for high-luxury car standards.

MB’s new flagship sedan will makes its world debut at September’s Frankfurt Motor Show, presenting several technological innovations to regain the class-leader status obtained back when its predecessor was launched in 1998.

Ever thought of being a Ferrari Test Driver? Us, too.

Believe it or not, the Ultimate Dream Job is now available - sort of. The legendary Maranello-based sports-car maker has removed the wraps on its FXX project, a limited run of tweaked-beyond-recognition Enzos available to selected customers.

“Limited” and “selected” here mean really limited and selected: only 20 FXX units will be made, at a cool asking price of 1.5 million Euro (or 1.8m U.S.).

That pile of money will buy not only the unique thrills a 6.26-liter V12 churning out 800 horses can provide, but also the condition of an “official Ferrari Test Driver,” as all FXXs will carry a “sophisticated telemetry system” capable of gathering data to be analyzed by Maranello’s engineers.

This article comes from speedtv.com, and hopefully gives rise to something we can expect to see in Britain really soon…

Sport Compact Only has announced the next event in its signature racing and lifestyle series, SCO Nights, which will take place from 5 p.m. to midnight on Saturday, June 25, at Firebird Raceway in Chandler, Ariz. The event, which promotes safer alternatives to street racing, will provide teens and tuners an outlet to take their modified street vehicles to the track and race against friends, arch rivals, and even police vehicles in a safe and monitored environment. A popular feature, “Beat the Heat,” will pit brave souls against a modified police cruiser in a quarter-mile drag race.

The Carrera 4 is back, but can the latest 4×4 evolution of Porsche’s 911 finally silence its critics? Previous generations of the car have been slammed for lacking the dazzling road manners of the basic rear-engined, rear-wheel-drive machine.

The extra weight and stiffer front suspension brought by the change from two to four-wheel drive has long been blamed for deadening the model’s steering feel and reducing agility.

But development takes its time at Porsche. After all, the basic 911 concept is more than 40 years old, and the 4WD version is approaching its 20th birthday. Surely the firm has got it right this time… To make certain, Porsche has come up with two distinct variants of the 4×4: the ‘entry-level’ 3.6 Carrera 4 and the sportier 3.8-litre Carrera 4S.