Friday, September 30th
New S-Type taking shape
As if adding a thrilling new sports car to the line-up isn't keeping Jaguar's stylists busy enough, the firm is also working hard to rejuvenate its entire range. The most important model in the company's extensive development plan is an all-new version of the S-Type, caught testing in this week's mag. The next XK is also due on sale soon - but it seems the future of the X-Type is hanging in the balance. The mag's exclusive spy shots show the latest S-Type mule. As you can see, the marque is halfway though the development process - only the front...........[
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Thursday, September 29th
Tin-tops hit the high street
They're so close to the action, they can see the whites of the driver's eyes! This is street racing with a difference, because the modified cars screaming around town don't belong to boy racers, but to professionals. The main teams from the British Touring Car Championship (BTCC) descended on Milton Keynes, Bucks, for a demonstration event, wowing a crowd of more than 10,000 fans. Vauxhall VXRacing, Team Halfords and SEAT Sport UK were in attendance, with Yvan Muller, Matt Neal and Jason Plato respectively piloting their awesome 300bhp machines along a narrow tarmac course in the town centre. Current championship...........[
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Wednesday, September 28th
Volkswagen Golf R32
There's no stopping the VW Group. It has set new standards in the supercar class with the Bugatti Veyron, driven in issue 876, and now it's doing the same in the hot hatch market, raising the pace to once unimaginable levels. Heavy hitters in the shape of the firm's own Golf GTI and Vauxhall's Astra VXR had seemingly pushed previously mild-mannered family cars to the limit. But now, the most potent of them all has arrived - the Golf R32. With the benefit of four-wheel drive, the new range-topper has a V6 engine and serious performance courtesy of its 247bhp...........[
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Tuesday, September 27th
Hot Punto revs up
Say hello to the fastest-ever Fiat! It's a performance version of the new Fiat Grande Punto, developed by the Italian car maker's in-house tuning division, Abarth. Ignore the motorsport decals - a roadgoing version will hit the showrooms in 2007. The car debuted at the Frankfurt Motor Show, and is officially called the Rally Super 2000. It will compete in various national and international championships in the future. Powered by a 2.0-litre powerplant, the four-wheel-drive machine develops around 280bhp. Its racing livery, large alloys and rear spoiler are unlikely to appear on customer cars, but a Fiat spokesman at the...........[
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Monday, September 26th
Big Cat Softens The Blow
What took more than 126 million man-hours to create, but only takes 30 milliseconds to operate? Jaguar's new pop-up bonnet, that's what. But the XK is not the only car to feature the development; the Jag is one of three new models set for launch in 2006 with the gadget. The others are the Citroen C6 and Honda's new Legend, and the race is on to get the new technology into the showroom first. On sale early next year, the Jaguar and Citroen are joint favourites, with the Honda not due until July. Standard on every new XK, Jaguar's Pedestrian...........[
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Friday, September 23rd
Hayes Lemmerz to enter CV alloy wheels market
Hayes Lemmerz International, Inc. says it intends to expand its product lines to include low-pressure cast aluminum wheels for commercial truck and trailer customers. Current plans are to have several truck wheel designs and dimensions on the market in 2006. Products for the European markets will be produced at the company's Dello facility in Italy where it currently houses its European R&D centre for aluminium wheels. In North America, aluminium truck wheels will be produced at the company’s Gainesville, Georgia facility, where a specific OE truck programme is also scheduled to launch in 2006. Hayes Lemmerz is the world's largest...........[
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Thursday, September 22nd
Frankfurt Car Show
Supercars and stunning concepts may be the crowd-pleasers at Frankfurt, but the most exciting sight for many potential buyers was the huge number of new superminis on display. Completely new models included Fiat's Grande Punto, the Renault Clio, Toyota's Yaris and the VW Fox. They were joined by revised versions of Ford's Fiesta and Fusion, the Citroen C3 and Hyundai's Getz. Together, the newcomers account for more than 60 per cent of the UK's small car market. There were also a host of concepts pointing the way to future small vehicles, including Peugeot's 20Cup and the Mazda Sassou. And of...........[
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Wednesday, September 21st
Taking Care of Those Expensive Alloy Wheels
You’re washing your vehicle and those alloy wheels, you spent a fair deal of money on, look terrible. They are scratched and peeling, or maybe even bent and cracked. Can they be restored, or must they be replaced? Unlike regular steel wheels that are usually less expensive to replace rather than repair, expensive alloy wheels can be brought back to like-new condition for much less than the price of a new wheel. Repairing aluminum wheels is extremely complicated, so restoration should be done by a trained professional. Repairs require specialized equipment, knowledge of alloy metallurgy and lots of experience. Finally...........[
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Tuesday, September 20th
Renault Clio 1.4 Dynamique
It's taken only seven years for Renault to produce an amazing four million Clios. In two generations, the car has established itself as one of the UK's favourites, lining up with the Ford Fiesta and Vauxhall Corsa at the top of the sales charts. But the French supermini has been feeling its age of late, stung by criticism of its lack of refinement and build quality. It has been under pressure from the imminent arrival of the new Fiat Punto, Peugeot 207 and Corsa, plus a revised Fiesta too. Renault knew a replacement was needed... And here's the result, the...........[
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Monday, September 19th
Fiat Grande Punto 1.9 Multijet
Hot diesels are all the rage, and Fiat clearly doesn't want to be left behind with its new Grande Punto. When the pretty supermini arrives in February, its most powerful engine will be a 130bhp 1.9-litre Multijet oil-burner. Auto Express is already impressed with the entry-level 1.3-litre diesel, so we were keen to try out the bigger motor on the roads of Turin. To help the car stand out from the rest of the Punto crowd, there are smart 17-inch twin-spoke alloys, colour-coded wing mirrors and side sills. Add bright paint, and the model really looks every inch the hot...........[
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Rain and Records at Tire Rack SCCA Solo Nationals
With early morning downpours delaying the start by more than two hours, and more rain moving in during the afternoon, action-stopping weather was the story during day one of competition at the 2005 Tire Rack ® SCCA Solo National Championships in Topeka. History Made on Second Day of Tire Rack SCCA Solo National Championships After rain clears, first champions crowned at Topeka Topeka, Kan. (Sept. 14, 2005) – Many competitors at the 2005 Tire Rack ® SCCA Solo National Championships were left shaking their heads after a harried first day of competition that included a long delay and instantaneous condition...........[
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Friday, September 16th
Lamborghini Gallardo Spyder Unveiled at Frankfurt
Lamborghini has unveiled the fourth model of its supercar lineup, the Gallardo Spyder convertible, at the Frankfurt auto show in Germany this week. Unlike Lambo’s radical Gallardo Concept S showcar, which featured an unique-looking - and hardly practical - twin-cockpit design, the roadster that’s making it to production sports conventional (for a Lamborghini, of course) looks. Overall, the Spyder’s top-chopping seems like a tidier job in comparison to Sant’Agata’s other convertible, the bigger, costlier Murcielago. Whereas that V12-engined car has a manual “emergency” top not recommended by the manufacturer for triple-digit speeds, the V10-powered Gallardo boasts an electric fabric roof...........[
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Thursday, September 15th
New Jaguar XK Convertible Revealed
Jaguar has released the first images of a car whose major mission is to return the brand’s U.S. operation to profitability: the 2006 Jaguar XK convertible. Like the XK coupe officially unveiled two weeks ago, the new car boasts a rigid, all-aluminum structure that keeps it notably light for a car of its class, in spite of the convertible outweighing the coupe by about 100 pounds. Weight-watching is also Jag's justification to bypass the choice for a retractable hardtop - the '06 XK will carry on with a fabric roof. Also like the coupe, the convertible will initially be available...........[
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Wednesday, September 14th
BMW Unveils Z4 Coupe at Frankfurt
One of the most intriguing-looking cars of the Frankfurt auto show extravaganza kicked off this week at Germany is BMW’s Z4 Coupe concept car, a fixed-roof version of the company’s Z4 roadster. While the previous-generation Z3 coupe visually destroyed the Z3 roadster’s pleasantly retro lines, the tin-top Z4 arguably improves that car’s aesthetic appeal. If it makes into production - and it looks likely to do so - the Coupe would be a direct rival to Porsche’s new Cayman S, slotted by the house of Zuffenhausen between the Boxster roadster and the 911. The Z4 Coupe is equipped with BMW’s...........[
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Tuesday, September 13th
Schumacher Braked Early, Insists Sato
Takuma Sato is adamant that Michael Schumacher braked early when the pair made contact in the Belgian GP, resulting in retirement for the German ace at the track where he has shone so often in the past. The accident happened at the restart after the safety car on the approach to the La Source hairpin. The BAR hit the Ferrari so hard that the wing folded up and its rear suspension collapsed, leaving both wheels hanging off the red car when Michael came to a halt at the corner. Schumacher went to see the stewards during the race, before making...........[
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Monday, September 12th
Gunn Gets It Done at Tire Rack Finale in Topeka
At the rate that Brian Garfield’s opponents were red-lighting Sunday afternoon during the Hawk Performance Super Challenge portion of the Tire Rack® SCCA ProSolo National Series Finale at Forbes Field, it appeared nothing would stop him from winning. But, that was before top qualifier James Gunn-Wilkinson rolled up to the line in his Maxwell Racing/Kumho 2002 Porsche GT2. Unlike three other Garfield opponents before him, Gunn-Wilkinson, of San Diego, Calif., avoided tripping the disqualification light and snuck past Garfield’s Mini of Towson 2005 Mini Cooper S by 0.022sec. to win the final Super Challenge of the year. David Fauth, of...........[
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Friday, September 9th
XDL Show Brings “Extreme Asphalt” Action to Life
Paramax, the company that produced "GT Live", the biggest import motorsports event of 2004 and the first JGTC race in the U.S. at California Speedway, has announce a new creation: THE XDL Show. The new program is being billed as the first “extreme asphalt show” in the U.S. to combine a top-level Japanese drifting exhibition with top motorcycle stunt riding. It also will be the first show of its type to take place inside a paved stadium. THE XDL Show will be a one-day event that also features a theme park format similar to GT Live, including the Falken Tires...........[
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Thursday, September 8th
BMW Joins DaimlerChrysler-GM Hybrid Project
BMW has joined DaimlerChrysler and General Motors in an alliance to develop new hybrid vehicle technology, the companies have announced. In a joint statement, the three carmakers said they had signed a memorandum of understanding to become equal partners in the project. DaimlerChrysler and GM last month finalized a deal to co-develop new hybrid vehicle technology as they try to catch up with Japanese rivals on the fuel-saving systems that reduce harmful emissions. The automakers have said they will develop a “two-mode” hybrid technology that boosts both acceleration and fuel economy by 25 percent and can be used on a...........[
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Wednesday, September 7th
Lotus Elise Scores Record U.S. Sales
After nearly following the path of its formerly sister Formula 1 company and close its doors in the 1990’s, Lotus Cars enjoys one of the strongest outlooks in its history these days, largely thanks to American customers’ enthusiasm for the Elise roadster. Since the tiny 190-horsepower car was introduced in the U.S. in July 2004, Lotus has sold some 2,400 units, quite an impressive number for such a racetrack-intensive machine with a base price in the low $40k’s range. Besides exceeding sales expectations by over 20 percent, the U.S. market numbers also helped the Elise to consolidate its position as...........[
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Tuesday, September 6th
World's Fastest Production Car Unleashed
After almost five years of gestation, the world’s most powerful and expensive production road car, the Bugatti EB16.4 Veyron idealized by former Volkswagen Group boss Ferdinand Piech, is ready to go on sale. The first production Bugatti since the EB110 of the early ‘90s - and the first since VW took over the company in 1998 - the Veyron gets the alphanumeric portion of its name from a 16-cylinder engine with four turbochargers. That unique 8.0-liter mill is capable of churning out 987 horsepower and 922 pound-feet of torque, which not only propel the Veyron to a Formula 1-like 2.5s...........[
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Monday, September 5th
2006 Hummer H3: Looks Without the Largess
It’s always been a little difficult to take the monstrous Hummer H1 and only slightly less-monstrous H2 seriously. The H1 and H2 — the Godzilla and Mothra, respectively, of SUVs — are phenomenal off-road performers purchased for the most part by the nouveau blingeratti whose idea off-roading is driving over the country club curb onto the lawn. Now comes what parent General Motors hopes will be a better idea, the all-new midsized Hummer H3, which on the face of it should be a much more practical solution for folks who want the macho paramilitary looks of a Hummer without requiring...........[
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Friday, September 2nd
New Jag Revives Spirit of E-Type
The legendary E-Type lives - and Auto Express has the pictures to prove it! We were granted access to get these exclusive photos of the new XK, and even slid behind the wheel of the machine tipped to be the coolest Big Cat ever. Inspired by the Sixties' classic, the 155mph coupé replaces the current nine-year-old model. Challenging the Porsche 911 and the V8 Vantage from sister firm Aston Martin, the car will be available from January with a sub-£60,000 price tag - that's £20,000 less than the Aston. Has Jaguar created a bargain, or is the new XK a...........[
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Thursday, September 1st
2005 Mini Cooper S Convertible: A Cure for the Common Grown Up
Whimsically entertaining. Wholly imprudent. Wildly impractical. Wickedly fun. You now know everything important about the 2005 Mini Cooper S Convertible, a car that is eclectic, eccentric, downright silly and a joy to drive, especially fast. In an America dominated by Leviathan SUVs and pickup trucks, and me-too sedans, the Mini Cooper S Convertible is a weird and wonderful antidote to the mundane. It’s an emotional intoxicant that will make even the stodgiest and most somber adult giggle like a fifth-grader hearing a fart joke. In other words, it’s a great cure for being a grown-up. The convertible is a new...........[
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