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Showing posts from October, 2018

London street set to become first zero-emission zone

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Traffic and pollution levels in London are the target of proposed transport regulations The scheme will limit access to certain areas according to vehicle emission rates The City of London has designated a potential test area for a pilot scheme that will lead to polluting vehicles facing bans from certain areas in the capital.  A section of Moor Lane, near Moorgate, could soon be open only to the least-polluting vehicles.  The measure is part of The City of London Corporation’s Low Emission Neighbourhood project .  Although non-compliant vehicles will still be able to enter from the north end of Moor Lane, the south access point will remain closed to all but Ultra-Low Emission Vehicles (ULEVs) .  The City Corporation hopes to ascertain whether or not such a scheme would suit other areas across London. It is planned that by allowing only the cleanest cars and commercial vehicles to enter the street, the scheme will lead to an improvement in air quality throughout the Square Mile.

Faraday Future co-founder Nick Sampson steps down

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Faraday Future is currently in the midst of serious financial and executive turmoil. Top leadership is jumping ship as previously secured funding is not quite as secure as previously believed. Now, company co-founder and senior vice president of product R&D and engineering Nick Sampson has stepped down. Reuters reported Tuesday that Sampson, a...

Morgan to step into modern times with groundbreaking sports car

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Morgan is staring down the 110th anniversary of the company's founding. Next year marks a major milestone for the British automaker rooted in past motoring glory, but Morgan wants to change that and there's a new model in development that should lead the way for the future. Autocar reported Tuesday that Morgan is seeking to reinvent itself and the...

Hennessey finally performs V-8 engine swap on F-150 Raptor

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A number of Ford F-150 Raptor fans have been crying out for a V-8. Hennessey Performance Engineering has heard those cries because the Texan tuner has built a Raptor housing eighty cylinders under the hood. From the factory, there's only one engine choice available for Ford's latest Raptor. It's a 3.5-liter twin-turbocharged V-6, and it suits the...

50th anniversary Ford Mustang Cobra Jet rips into SEMA show

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The very first Ford Mustang Cobra Jet was built in 1968. Now, 50 years later, Ford has a special anniversary version and this one packs serious heat under its hood. First shown in August, Ford on Tuesday brought the 50th anniversary Cobra Jet to the 2018 SEMA show in Las Vegas. Ever since that original Mustang drag racer debuted 50 years ago, Ford...

Lexus goes for sinister look with 2019 LX Inspiration Series

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Lexus will use next month's 2018 Los Angeles auto show to unveil a new Inspiration Series model. Based on the 2019 LX, the latest in the line of special-edition Lexuses features a sinister exterior combining a deep black paint finish with 21-inch wheels wearing gloss black. This new beauty also leads with a black front grille and dark chrome...

Toyota reveals hydrogen-powered pizza-producing pick-up

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The Toyota Pie Pro Tundra features a hydrogen fuel cell powertrain - and a built-in pizza oven Toyota Pie Pro Tundra, developed in association with Pizza Hut, features built-in automatic pizza oven Toyota has unveiled a one-off hydrogen fuel cell-powered Tundra pick-up fitted with an automated pizza kitchen at the SEMA Show in Las Vegas. The Toyota Pie Pro Tundra has been developed in collaboration with Pizza Hut. It features a regular Tundra SR5 pick-up body, but converted to front-wheel drive and using the electric hydrogen fuel cell powertrain from the Mirai . As well as driving the truck itself, the fuel cell is also used to provide power to the vehicle’s on-board self-contained pizza kitchen. That unit includes a refrigerator, a TurboChef HHC 1618 high-speed conveyor oven, and two robot arms. The first robot arm removes the pizza from the fridge and places it in the over, with the other cutting, boxing and delivering the pizza. Toyota says the on-board kitchen can produce

Ringbrothers reveals custom Chevy K5 Blazer at 2018 SEMA show

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Ringbrothers has a penchant for building memorable vehicles. The company's 1972 AMC Javelin AMX unveiled last year still gets the heart buzzing, and so does a handful of other creations born out of its Spring Green, Wisconsin shop. With this backdrop, we're excited to bring you the first look at a 1971 Chevrolet K5 Blazer that Ringbrothers...

Motor Authority Best Car To Buy 2019 nominee: Jaguar I-Pace

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Automakers are jumping into the electric pool left and right. To the world's surprise, the first true all-electric luxury challenger to Tesla didn't come from Germany. It came from England. Jaguar beat the Germans by six months, and did it with style. Not only does the I-Pace look good, but it performs well, too. Jaguar's first battery-electric...

Volkswagen Arteon long-term review

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Is this a shrewd, lower-cost route to sleek four-door luxury motoring? Let’s find out Why we’re running it: To see if a cut-price luxury offering can be as urbane to live with as it is to look at Month 4 -  Month 3 -  Month 2 -  Month 1  -  Specs Life with a Volkswagen Arteon: Month 4 A new take on the Arteon - 31st October 2018 Autocar snapper Olgun Kordal has been providing a fresh perspective on our Arteon. He reports that he’s yet to run out of boot space, despite travelling with bulky gear – and that he likes the car’s ride and its nighttime ambience. “I hate the engine,” he says, “and the oversensitive crash avoidance system, which is bothersome when parking.” Mileage: 4596 Back to the top Not quite a chip off the old block - 17th October 2018 I’m beginning to feel that the extra layer of everyday-use dynamic sophistication you find in other VWs just isn’t going to materialise from our Arteon. On a drive to Anglesey Circuit, the car was quiet, comfy and frugal

Video: Alpine A110 vs McLaren 570S - which is the ultimate driver's car?

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The reborn Alpine A110 takes on a McLaren costing three times the price - but which one is the better drive at road-legal speeds? When we first experienced the reborn Alpine A110 on its home turf , we called it a “baby McLaren ”. Here was a two-seater sports car developed and engineered purely to be fun to drive on the road at (sort of) moderate speeds. Weighing just over a tonne, its 252bhp was usable on public highways, not just at a race track.  But how does the brilliant French upstart stack up when you drive one back-to-back with its more expensive British rival? To find out, Matt Prior and Dan Prosser pit the £52,000 A110 against the McLaren 570S, which costs three times the price and has significantly more power. Which one will be the most rewarding to drive on the road? Watch the video to find out, and subscribe to Autocar on YouTube for more content every week. READ MORE Meeting the UK's first Alpine A110 owner McLaren Speedtail revealed: 250mph and 0-186mph in 1

BMW iX3 electric SUV spotted in near-production guise

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The BMW iX3 looks close to production-ready Best sighting yet of the new iX3 SUV on the road reveals more about BMW's 2019 Jaguar I-Pace rival BMW 's upcoming all-electric iX3 has been spotted with minimal disguise on German roads ahead of its launch next year. The new images are the most revealing prototype shots of the  Jaguar I-P ace  and Audi E-t ron  rival since the company previewed the iX3 concept (details and pictures below) at the  Beijing motor show in April 2018 . The pictures reveal a car that appears close to production and the minimal camouflage wrap highlights a number of previously unconfirmed details about the model's design. The lack of any visible exhaust pipe and presence of an 'Electric Test Vehicle' warning sticker are obvious giveaways of the car's identity.  BMW's trademark kidney grille is also blanked off, as with the concept, but elsewhere the iX3 retains a strong resemblance to its petrol- and diesel-powered counterpart . T

2020 Toyota Supra, 2019 Porsche Panamera GTS, Hellephant crate engine: Today's Car News

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Excitement surrounding the return of the Toyota Supra is high, but the wait is finally almost over. Toyota has confirmed the debut of the fifth-generation Supra will happen next January at the 2019 Detroit auto show. The car should be in showrooms by late summer, arriving as a 2020 model. Fans of modern Porsches have a new vehicle to lust over in...

Hyundai Nexo 2018 UK review

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An insight into what hydrogen fuel cell-powered cars can offer, if the price decreases and the infrastructure increases While most in the industry are harping on about electric vehicles, there’s another zero-emission revolution quietly happening in the background: that of hydrogen-powered cars.There’s plenty of debate in both camps on which is actually the most environmentally friendly from well to wheel, but in the future, there’s every possibility that these two sustainable options for powering vehicles can co-exist, just like the fuels of today.For now, there are two clear advantages on the practicality front for hydrogen fuel cell electric vehicles (FCEV). They have longer ranges than EVs, eradicating range anxiety, and refuelling can only take five minutes. By comparison, a decent charge for an EV on the go will take the best part of an hour.But then of course, there’s the infrastructure. There are 16,000 EV public charging points in the UK. There are 11 hydrogen refuelling stati

Hyundai expands N Line range with i30 Fastback

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The i30 Fastback joins its hatchback equivalent in receiving the N Line trim option The i30 Fastback has become the second model in the company’s European line-up to receive the N Line trim option Following the launch of the i30 N Line hatchback earlier this year, Hyundai has announced that the trim package will now be available on the i30 Fastback .  As well as a range of revisions aimed at changing the driving characteristics of the car, N Line trim comprises a number of design elements carried over from the hot  i30 Fastback N . The performance of the standard 1.4-litre T-GDI engine is unchanged, but modifications made to the chassis and suspension settings aim to offer sharper handling.  Among the styling cues taken from the N, the N Line model is decorated with a red reflector line on the rear bumper, black headlight surrounds, a triangular foglight and a rear diffuser.  Inside, an N-badged steering wheel, sport seats, metal pedals and an N-branded shift knob enhance the

Special Land Rover Defender completed inside London store

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Land Rover has built a special Defender for famed London department store Selfridges, located on Oxford Street. The iconic vehicle serves as the centerpiece of the new men's wear department, which was opened on Monday. To get the Defender into the store, the off-roader was stripped down to its chassis. The Jaguar Land Rover Classic team then...

Lewis Hamilton: Italian GP win was biggest F1 2018 blow for Ferrari

Lewis Hamilton believes his Italian Grand Prix victory in September was the biggest mental blow Mercedes' rival Ferrari experienced during the Formula 1 season

2021 BMW iX3 spy shots

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The first prototypes for an electric version of the BMW X3 have been spotted. Earlier shots showed a test mule. The vehicle, which will go by the name iX3, is confirmed for launch in late 2020, meaning we'll likely see it arrive as a 2021 model. After stumbling with the oddball i3, BMW decided to change its approach to electric cars by developing...

Toro Rosso's Brendon Hartley realised he must defend himself in F1

Brendon Hartley says he has become more outspoken in Formula 1 because he has realised he needs to defend himself

Red Bull hopes Ricciardo escapes 'dark cloud' in final '18 F1 races

Red Bull boss Formula 1 Christian Horner hopes Daniel Ricciardo can escape the "dark cloud" of frustration brought on by his string of retirements in 2018

Hyundai and Kia will offer cars with solar roofs from 2019

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Hyundai and Kia are the latest automakers to announce plans to offer solar panel roofs on their cars. The Korean firms on Wednesday said solar roofs, some with a translucent design, will start being made available from 2019, without mentioning specific markets and vehicles. Audi announced plans to offer solar roofs a year ago, and of course Karma...

Jaguar Land Rover posts £90 million loss after sales drop

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Jaguar Land Rover sales have been hit by a fall in demand in China British firm says drop in Chinese demand is key reason for 13.2% decline in sales in previous financial quarter Jaguar Land Rover  (JLR) boss Ralf Speth says the firm will launch a series of cost and cash flow improvement programmes to boost profits after posting a pre-tax loss of £90 million in the previous financial quarter. The British firm says that lower sales, primarily in China, were the key reason for the result. JLR sold 129,887 vehicles between July and September – a 13.2% decline on the same period last year, resulting in revenues of £5.6 billion. JLR said the bulk of the slump in sales was due to the market conditions in China, where the recently begun  trade war with the US has created consumer uncertainty. European and UK sales were also down, for which JLR cites the combined impact of the fall in diesel demand, the introduction of the  WLTP emissions regulations and the uncertainty over  Brexit .

SEMA 2018: Honda unveils open-air adventure vehicle

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The Rugged Open Air Vehicle (ROAV) concept is half pick-up truck, half off-road toy The Honda Rugged Open Air Vehicle concept combines elements from across Honda’s current range of vehicles Honda has revealed its new Rugged Open Air Vehicle (ROAV) concept, taking design cues from a range of its vehicles to create the “ultimate off-road Honda”.  Revealed at  SEMA 2018  in Las Vegas, US, and developed by Honda Research and Development Americas, the concept is constructed using components from recreational and utility-centred Honda models. The ROAV is based primarily  on the Ridgeline pick-up truck and Pioneer 1000 side-by-side utility vehicle, while it features waterproofed seats from the Civic Type R  hot hatch and a custom-designed load bed and tailgate.  Durable paint-on surfaces alongside phone holders from RAM inside are said to promote the feasibility of off-road activity, while more obvious external features such as the skidplate and roll cage point to the vehicle's pur

Mercedes-AMG planning 6-cylinder option for GT sports car?

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Mercedes-AMG is working on a mid-cycle update for its GT sports car due in time for the 2020 model year. At the top end, we know AMG is planning a so-called “clubsport” package for the GT R model. But judging by our latest spy shots we could also be looking at a new six-cylinder option being added at the bottom of the rung. The latest...