Mason Gibbons

A45 beats rival Audis and VWs according to experts Mercedes-Benz’s hot hatch still isn’t cheap, but depreciation has done its work Six years since they first hit the road, the initial Mercedes-AMG A45 s are beginning to look reasonably affordable. New and in standard trim, they were £37,845 – a huge number even for this hottest of hot hatches and one that quickly grew to £42,000 with options. Today, and thanks to depreciation, these first-generation cars start at £20,000.  We’re not talking multi-owner, high-milers with flaky service histories, either. A surprising number are one- or two-owner cars, have done less than 40,000 miles and, depending on mileage, have the requisite five or six main dealer stamps in the service book.  Back in 2013, the A45’s 355bhp 2.0-litre turbo petrol engine was the talk of the town. Thanks to part-time, 4Matic all-wheel drive, it could use it, too, with the result that 0-62mph takes just 4.6sec. The seven-speed dual-clutch transmission wit...

New Fiat Panda Hawaii edition is perfect for a trip to Warwick or the Caravan Club From Inbetweeners-inspired limited editions to pointless charging points, these are the most unbelievable press releases It’s been a busy few weeks for motoring news, what with the Geneva motor show , the VW Group yearly round-ups , the unveiling of two shock new Ferraris and plenty more taking place in March.  What better way for automotive PR teams to wind down from the madness than to attempt to wind us up this April Fools day? We look through the best efforts of the industry's attempts to explore its mischievous side. Scot to be a joke… Land Rover claimed to have installed the UK’s “most remote charging point” on the Isle of Skye, off the coast of Scotland.  The fast-charging point, 15 miles from the nearest tarmac, was to allow drivers of the firm’s new Range Rover and Range Rover Sport P400e plug-in hybrids to take a “mid-adventure top-up charge” on their off-road jaunt acros...

Energy from expanding exhaust gases on the ‘hot side’ drives a compressor on the ‘cold side’ to force air into the engine under pressure Where did all the lag go? We look inside the modern turbo to see how it improves engine response and reduces emissions Turbocharging has evolved over the past few decades from being a novel, if laggy, gadget for gaining cheap power to much more than that.  It has played a huge part in giving all fuel-burners a new lease of life, taking a lead role in reducing emissions. Turbochargers allow downsizing, the shrinking of petrol engines into smaller, lighter, more efficient engines producing fewer emissions, without compromising power and torque. They also feed diesels the massive amount of air they need for lean, air-rich combustion.  In the beginning, engines were naturally aspirated, relying on atmospheric pressure to draw in air. So getting atmo engines to produce more power and torque ultimately means increasing the capacity. Hence that...

Electric F-Type replacement (imagined here by Autocar) looks ‘more interesting’ than a petrol option Success of the I-Pace SUV has prompted engineers to consider reinventing the Porsche 911 rival; a decision is imminent Jaguar is on the cusp of deciding whether the next F-Type will be a full-blooded petrol-engined car or a dramatic, futuristic first take on a battery-electric vehicle designed to act as a ‘halo’ for future mobility.  Speaking to Autocar, Jaguar design director Ian Callum said: “We’re asking ourselves if it should be a final hurrah for the old-school sports car that we know and love, or to switch now to make our first all-electric sports car,” said Callum. “It’s a very difficult decision. What I will say is that the electric decision is looking more interesting with time.”  Although the F-Type is expected to be on sale for at least three more years, Callum confirmed that the development cycle for its successor would have to begin soon, suggesting a new ca...

Nico Hulkenberg says his retirement from Formula 1's Bahrain Grand Prix was "brutal", after he and Renault team-mate Daniel Ricciardo exited the race within moments of each other

Ferrari has revealed Charles Leclerc's loss of power while leading Formula 1's Bahrain Grand Prix was the result of an engine-cylinder failure and not the MGU-H, as first indicated

Mercedes Formula 1 driver Lewis Hamilton said it "felt weird" to pass the hobbled Ferrari of Charles Leclerc for an unlikely victory in the Bahrain Grand Prix

Sebastian Vettel says his Ferrari Formula 1 car was "extremely difficult to drive" in the Bahrain Grand Prix, but accepts blame for his costly spin while fighting Lewis Hamilton

Daniel Ricciardo didn't replace his Renault steering wheel because he felt it would be dangerous after being told not to touch his Formula 1 car to "avoid potential electrocution"

Carlos Sainz Jr says his clash with Max Verstappen saved him from a "more dramatic" Bahrain Grand Prix, believing a gearbox problem would have cost him a points finish anyway

Haas driver Romain Grosjean says his 2019 Formula 1 season so far feels like a "copy-paste from last year", after a a second straight retirement in Bahrain

Ferrari driver Charles Leclerc says his maiden Formula 1 podium was "lucky in a very unlucky situation" after an apparent MGU-H failure cost him victory in the Bahrain Grand Prix

Lewis Hamilton claimed an unlikely victory in a thrilling Bahrain Grand Prix, as Ferrari's race imploded spectacularly with an engine problem for Charles Leclerc and a spin for Sebastian Vettel

The cause of Ferrari's superiority in Bahrain Grand Prix qualifying appears "very much different" to its pre-season testing pace advantage, reckons Mercedes Formula 1 team boss Toto Wolff

The FIA has moved to stamp out a Gurney flap trick that could have handed Formula 1 teams a set-up advantage in races, Autosport can reveal

Roborace has plans to take humans out of the cockpit in a futuristic machine-versus-machine race series, but before that happens, it's putting its Robocars in the hands of people—quite literally. That's because the latest Robocar is a 1:64 scale model in the form of a Hot Wheels toy. Hot Wheels and Roborace announced the new toy car on...

Robert Kubica says the reduced gap between himself and rookie Williams team-mate George Russell in Bahrain qualifying means nothing considering the aerodynamic discrepancy between their Formula 1 cars

The FIA is understood to have received four bids from companies interested in fulfilling the tender to supply a gearbox cassette to all Formula 1 teams for the 2021-'24 seasons

DRS is a controversial topic in Formula 1, with the likes of Max Verstappen calling for a move away from it and Lewis Hamilton labelling it a 'band aid' for poor racing

Haas boss Gunther Steiner has slammed the Bahrain Grand Prix stewards' decision to hand Romain Grosjean a licence penalty point for blocking Lando Norris in qualifying as 'inappropriate' and 'wrong'

After becoming Formula 1's second youngest pole-sitter in history, Ferrari's Charles Leclerc has the best possible change for a maiden series win in the Bahrain Grand Prix

Ferrari believes that the introduction of a point for fastest lap in Formula 1's could 'make the difference' in the world championship battles this year

BMW and Mercedes-Benz parent company Daimler appear to be setting aside their decades-old rivalry for the good of cost-cutting. A new report claims the two German auto giants will pursue joint development of a platform for future electric cars. For BMW, this model is reportedly set to be called the i2, German publication Manager Magazine reported...

Coupé-crossover rides around 15cm higher than before For those of you who’ve never got over the passing of Europe's Mustang, we’ve brought it back to life – in design form at least Even now, 33 years on, you don’t have to search far to find pockets of hardcore Ford lovers still outraged that a bunch of disconnected bosses in Dearborn killed the Capri. The name, the image, the affordable style – plus 1.9 million sales – should have kept a great car alive, they will argue to the grave.  Sadly, this enduring love for ‘the car you always promised yourself’, along with its steadily rising classic prices, obscure the fact that by 1986 the Ford Capri had run its race. Front-wheel drive was taking over, Ford dealers were having a great time selling XR3i hot hatches and the Capri’s secret weapon, a close under-skin relationship with Ford’s volume saloons, was disappearing. The decision to kill it was hard-nosed but right.  Here’s the irony. Today, the case for a new Ford Capri c...

Kevin Sadler's Bedfordshire yard is full of genuine celebrities We find out who movie makers turn to when they need special cars or period motors As a conversation opener, saying you’re the man who taught Brad Pitt to drive is hard to beat. Kevin Sadler is that man, although, to be fair to this modest mechanic, he didn’t teach him from scratch; rather, he taught him how to drive a Citroën Traction Avant.  The Hollywood star had to drive it in Allied (2016), a wartime romance movie. Watch the trailer and you see him helming the old motor at a rate of knots through the narrow streets of Casablanca (the scenes were actually shot on Gran Canaria). Clearly Brad, as Kevin can now legitimately refer to him, was a good student. “I had to make sure he knew how to drive it but he picked it up very quickly,” says Kevin. “He was a good listener and could follow directions very well, but he’s used to doing that.”  Unfortunately, Brad’s Citröen isn’t on hand when I meet Kevin at his g...

Toro Rosso Formula 1 driver Daniil Kvyat was denied a crucial fresh-tyre run in the second segment of Bahrain Grand Prix qualifying by what he described as an "operational issue"

Sebastian Vettel has been cleared by the Bahrain Grand Prix stewards after being investigated for driving too slowly on an inlap during Formula 1 qualifying

Lando Norris believes getting blocked by Romain Grosjean in Bahrain Grand Prix qualifying was caused by his penalised Formula 1 rival being "screwed over" by Sebastian Vettel

Sebastian Vettel's front-row start in the Bahrain Grand Prix could be under threat after he was called to see the Formula 1 stewards after qualifying

Red Bull Formula 1 driver Pierre Gasly says he was unable to "drive how I want" in Bahrain Grand Prix qualifying as he continued to struggle with an "unpredictable" RB15

Romain Grosjean has been given a three-place grid penalty for the Bahrain Grand Prix for impeding McLaren driver Lando Norris in Formula 1 qualifying

Sebastian Vettel says a "hectic" Q2 when Ferrari put him in an "unfortunate slot" on the track compromised his Q3 running in qualifying for the Bahrain Grand Prix

Lewis Hamilton and Mercedes believe Ferrari's blistering Formula 1 form so far at the Bahrain Grand Prix is the result of a "significant" straightline speed advantage

Carlos Sainz Jr says it was "unthinkable" for his McLaren Formula 1 team to qualify so close to the front after finishing seventh in qualifying for the Bahrain Grand Prix.

Sebastian Vettel reckons he and Ferrari Formula 1 team-mate Charles Leclerc "need to work as a team" at the start of Sunday's Bahrain Grand Prix, after qualifying first and second

Charles Leclerc claimed his first Formula 1 pole position in qualifying for the Bahrain Grand Prix as Ferrari locked out the front row

Customer teams are unlikely to be able to buy brake ducts from other outfits from next year after an agreement to change Formula 1's listed parts rules for 2020

FIA officials and stewards met with the Formula 1 drivers after Friday practice for the Bahrain Grand Prix to discuss driving standards and when penalties should be applied for infringements

Ferrari set a scorching pace in final free practice for Formula 1's Bahrain Grand Prix, with Charles Leclerc leading Sebastian Vettel in a Scuderia one-two, seven tenths clear of Mercedes

Maserati knows a thing or two about designing a sexy car, but it's never once built a wagon. So, one man himself did for a customer. Road & Track reported on this wonderful Maserati Quattroporte Shooting Brake, which comes from Adan Redding. The Britain native has spent his life restoring classic cars and is somewhat of a mastermind when it...

A second set of start lights will be installed halfway down the Formula 1 grid in a bid to prevent the visibility issues that occurred in Australia

Ferrari has dismissed suggestions that its form at the Australian Grand Prix was hurt by cooling problems with its Formula 1 car

Red Bull's Max Verstappen thinks Formula 1 should move away from relying on DRS for overtaking moves, with Lewis Hamilton labelling the concept a 'band aid' for poor racing.

Fernando Alonso hopes to understand the "limitations" of McLaren's 2019 Formula 1 car next week, even though the team might have "more interest than myself" in him testing in Bahrain

Ferrari lacked the dominance it had over Red Bull and Mercedes during Formula 1 pre-season testing in the Australian Grand Prix. But is it back in the hunt in Bahrain?

Ferrari unleashed a monster this week in the form of the P80/C. The car is a one-off created by the Special Projects division, and we're told it was the division's most extreme creation yet. The P80/C is based on the bones of a 488 GT3 race car and has been designed as a modern interpretation of classic Ferrari sports prototypes like the 250 P and...

Jean-Philippe Imparato: "I had to be in the car industry" Jean-Philippe Imparato is a car guy and always has been. We hear how he steered Peugeot from near-bankruptcy to record profits Your family owns a slice of a European car company that makes a couple of million cars a year. Your name is on the hubcaps, literally, so the way your family firm does business is as important as its success. What kind of person do you want to run it, to safeguard its future and to make it pre-eminent in an arena where distinctiveness matters?  These questions run through my mind as we walk through PSA’s glassy out-of-town Parisian HQ towards the corner office of 52-year-old Jean-Philippe Imparato, Peugeo t’s CEO this past two and a half years. We’ve not met before but his reputation precedes him. Imparato is PSA chief Carlos Tavares ’ (and the Peugeot family’s) choice to devise, orchestrate and extend the historic recovery of Peugeot’s carmaking business, a remarkable climb from near-bankr...

Can the Model 3's dynamics match up to the 330i's out of town? Is the Tesla Model 3 the game-changing EV that spells the beginning of the end for cars like the BMW 3 Series? A simple question deserves a simple answer – but don’t expect one here. This question was asked on social media by Matt Miller in response to news that we were heading to Amsterdam for our first European test drive of the Tesla Model 3 . “Interested to see how you think it compares to the standard, uppity sports sedans. Would you own a Tesla Model 3 over an Audi A4 or BMW 3 Series ?”  Well, would we? After the big build-up, is this the car that could finally make the electric vehicle usable, affordable, practical and viable for people not as a replacement for a city-hopper or school-run supermini or a family’s second car, but in place of a proper, good-sized, fairly high-mileage executive saloon?  We had 36 hours to begin finding some answers, with the keys to a range-topping Model 3 Performance i...