Lotus Wins Top Award

August 22, 2009 Staff Comments Off

Niche sportscar manufacturer Lotus has scooped a ‘best driver’s car’ accolade for its Evora model. The award, from Autocar magazine, followed assessment on road and track around the South Downs and the Goodwood race circuit. Lotus beat off competition from Aston Martin, Nissan, Porsche, Audi, Lamborghini and Jaguar. The mid-engined 2+2 Lotus Evora combines a super stiff extruded and bonded aluminium chassis with vehicle dynamics knowledge employed to tune its race-car derived double wishbone suspension. Roger Becker, vehicle engineering director for Lotus, said: “The dynamic ability and driving experience of the Evora were the foundation of the engineering process and we are delighted that Autocar has recognised this by giving the Evora this accolade. The Evora offers the great Lotus driving experience in a very comfortable, practical, refined and efficient package, and with only 205 g/km of CO2 it shows […]

British Japanese cars are head of reliability league

August 2, 2009 Staff 1

Five of the top six reliable cars are Japanese… but the good news is that three of them are made in Britain. Honda, which has a plant in Swindon, Wilts, is first in the list of smooth-runners. Third is Derby-based Toyota and Nissan, with a factory in Sunderland, is sixth, says new research. Honda-buyers can drive smugly knowing there is only a 10% chance of a breakdown when the car is between three and six years old. Other Far Eastern companies Mazda, Subaru and Mitsubishi are also high in the Manufacturer Reliability Index top ten. At the wrong end of the table is Land Rover, with a 47% chance of a breakdown, with Renault and Saab queuing up just behind on the hard shoulder. The index, compiled by insurers Warranty Direct, gauges the most dependable used cars among 250 popular […]

MINI’s 50th Anniversary JCW

July 26, 2009 Staff Comments Off

This year MINI celebrates 50 years of the iconic Mini, and as a part of that celebration MINI is releasing a limited edition of the Cooper Works car, the John Cooper Works World Championship 50, of which only 250 will be produced and made available in Europe. Inspired by John Cooper’s son Mike who was heavily consulted during development, the vehicle will be adorned with the British racing green of days gone by. According to the BMW press release, the car will be powered by a “155 kW/211 hp four-cylinder engine with Twin-Scroll turbocharger and petrol direct injection. The production version of the MINI John Cooper Works World Championship 50 features numerous exterior and interior details reflecting the racing pedigree of the brand.

Budget MG’s here (or there) at last!

June 26, 2009 Staff Comments Off

It was understandable that MG should want to mark its return to business in the UK last year by launching a comprehensively-equipped version of the TF sports car, in the form of the LE 500. But all the extra features included with the car ended up taking its price above £16,000 -and into the area occupied by its formidable roadster rival the Mazda MX-5.Now the entry-level version of the TF has arrived and, in retrospect, the Chinese-owned firm may have been better served by going with the standard car from the word go.The new MG TF 135 will retail for £13,511, which in itself is not bad value for a 1.8 litre, mid-engined soft-top sports car. Throw the government’s scrappage scheme into the equation, however, and you can get a new TF for £11,511, plus your old banger as a […]

1999 Jaguar XK8 meets the need for a smoother sports car

June 25, 2009 Staff Comments Off

I’ve always loved sports cars. I think I got the bug back when I was a young kid growing up in the Richmond district of San Francisco. This was in the 1950s when they would have sports car races through Golden Gate Park. My dad would take me to these sanctioned races, which were held on weekends. I especially remember the MG TDs, Porsches and Allards. But by far the most impressive to me were the Jaguar XK120s, which were the hottest cars out there. As I grew older and started driving, I was drawn to European sports cars. The first two that I owned were used Triumphs, which were all that I could afford at the time. What I really lusted after, though, was one of the Jaguar XK120s that I had fallen in love with at Golden Gate […]

MG is Shanghai Favorite

May 6, 2009 Staff Comments Off

This MG 6 liftback could herald the return of MG to North America, according to officials from Chinese parent company SAIC. Badged MG 6, the new four-door was the undisputed star of the Shanghai motor show. The MG 6 has been conceived to breathe new life back into the MG brand following its purchase by SAIC. The Chinese automaker also owns the former Rover, known as Roewe, which it bought from the Nanjing Automobile Group in 2007. Although billed as a concept, the MG 6 closely resembles the car SAIC plans to put into production later this year based on the same basic underpinnings the Roewe 550, itself built around a modified version of the Rover 75 platform originally engineered by BMW.

Newest MG Revealed

May 5, 2009 Staff Comments Off

Last week at the 2009 Shanghai Auto Show, the Shanghai Automotive Industry Corporation (SAIC) revealed the MG division’s newest MG concept—the MG6. The MG6 concept is based on the Roewe 550 four-door sedan, which is said to use a modified version of the Rover 75’s front wheel drive platform from some years back. Of course this means the MG6 is set to come equipped with the K-series like 1.8-liter 4-cylinder gasoline engine. The twist—the MG6 will be available with a 160 hp turbocharged 1.8-liter for those looking for a little more punch than 130 hp that will come with the base motor. All of this is wrapped in a Ford Mondeo-esque like body and is slated to arrive as a production car in the Chinese market for 2010

Electric cars to be mass introduced to the UK

April 10, 2009 Staff Comments Off

According to PM Gordon Brown, electric cars are to be introduce en masse across Britain in plans for an environmentally friendly budget. The Prime Minister hopes to make Britain “a world leader” in producing and exporting electric cars and hybrid petrol-electric vehicles. Trials for electric cars in two or three cities could be up and running as soon as next year, he said. As part of the plan, the Government will also open talks with power companies to ensure vehicles can have their batteries recharged at power points at the roadside. Alistair Darling, the Chancellor, is also planning to create 400,000 jobs in the green sector over the next five years. Other measures will include the Government relaxing planning rules to allow the building of more wind farms to ensure Britain hits its target to generate 15 per cent of […]

British Bailout Buys a Land Rover LRX

March 23, 2009 Staff Comments Off

In an attempt to turn Land Rover an environmentally friendly shade of British Racing Green, the U.K. government is giving the SUV-maker £27 million ($38 million) to defray the cost of developing a compact SUV based on their LRX concept. Land Rover says the new two-door (which they call a “cross coupe”) will be the “smallest, lightest, and most efficient” the company has ever produced. With the exception of the County Classic, we think it might be the most attractive as well. Whatever superlatives it claims, it could very well show up as a 2011 model after it gets an official go-ahead from management. “We welcome the Government’s support for this project, which would form a key part of our future product plans and which we very much want to put into production,” Land Rover Managing Director Phil Popham said […]

Preview: 2010 Jaguar XKR

March 20, 2009 Staff Comments Off

The 2010 Jaguar XKR would be considered, by most accounts, a mild revision of the outgoing model. Its state-of-the-art aluminum monocoque chassis carries over unchanged. The design, save for a few minor updates, is the same as the outgoing model’s. But few would count that against the silken Jag, whose curvaceous lines are almost universally admired in the industry. No, what separates the new XKR from its predecessor is the heart transplant it has undergone: in the place of the 420-horsepower AJ34S supercharged V8, the beating heart of the new XKR, is the next-generation 5-liter version, its supercharger supplemented by direct injection to twist out an astonishing 510 horsepower. That figure alone puts the Jag well ahead of Aston’s V8 Vantage, ahead of the V12-powered DB9 as a matter of fact, and on par with the flagship DBS supercar that […]

Lotus Evora

December 17, 2008 Staff Comments Off

People planning on buying a car in the new year may want to hang on until the Lotus Evora arrives in showrooms across the UK, after it was given the thumbs up by British vehicle enthusiasts. The model scooped the title of Overall Most Rated Car of 2008 in a poll of iMotor Magazine readers. Some 95 per cent of participants chose to rate, rather than slate, the vehicle. Mike Kimberley, chief executive officer of Lotus, said the award was particularly impressive considering the car did not go on sale in the UK until next spring. Commenting on the popularity of the Evora, iMotor editor Mat Watson said: “Its … score of 95 per cent is truly impressive and enough to see it beat brilliant machines such as the Lamborghini Gallardo LP560-4 and Nissan GT-R.”

Diesel MINI Lowest Depreciating Car

December 15, 2008 Staff Comments Off

In a survey of residual values carried by EurotaxGlass’s, publisher of the Glass’s Guide ‘trade bible’, the MINI 1.4TD came out with an average trade-in value of 62.3 per cent after three years. It is the second year in succession that the MINI has topped the table of the slowest-depreciating cars, although the downturn in used car values is indicated by the fact that last year it retained 71 per cent of its value after three years. Seven of this year’s top 10 are cheap to buy and run, small and fuel-efficient. The almost identical Citroen C1, Toyota Aygo and Peugeot 107 were second, fourth and fifth respectively. However, the Ferrari F430 coupe and spyder took third place, retaining 60.9 per cent of their value after three years. The Lamborghini Murcielago was in eighth place (55.2 per cent), while rear- […]

MG5, Roewe 350 to be built in Nanjing

December 13, 2008 Staff Comments Off

The second phase of the MG facility, located in Pukou, Nanjing, has started construction after Chinese auto giant SAIC invested 2.566 billion yuan ($376.24 million), Beijing Youth said today. Construction of the facility, which is to develop an all-new A-class car platform and the matched small engines, will be completed in 2009, according to Gao Yunhang, assistant general manager of MG sales company. When its construction is completed, the project will get an annual capacity of 200,000 vehicles and 250,000 engines, said Gao. The small engines are all turbocharged engines ranging from 1.3L to 1.5L, Gao said. The A-class car platform will build both MG5 and Roewe 350 models and will also develop MPV, hatchback and sedan models later, a source said. The MG6 is actually the hatchback model of Roewe 550, not just a common hatchback, the source disclosed. […]

MGTF Selling Out Fast

December 10, 2008 Staff Comments Off

The Birmingham Mail reports that the new MGTF is selling quickly. MG enthusiasts keen to get their hands on one of the limited edition MGTF models will have to move fast – as the last few are now coming off the Longbridge production line. The first 500 MGTF models made at Longbridge have been the special LE500 versions and Chinese owned MG UK is now getting ready to make the more regular, cheaper version of the car in the New Year. To date 400 of the 500 have been sold and there are some still some available through dealers, although a lot of those are demonstrators. Eleanor De La Haye, MG UK’s corporate communications manager, said the reduction in VAT had given a last minute boost to the sale of the last few LE500s. “Sales have gone well and the […]

New MG Hatchback!

November 12, 2008 Staff Comments Off

MG is expanding their line with a new hatchback model. Nanjing Automobile – the Chinese company who owns the MG brand – will launch a new Ford Focus-sized hatchback in the UK as soon as 2010.

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MG Relaunched – In Chile

October 23, 2008 Staff Comments Off

A new MG saloon has been launched, the first all-new product to wear the famous octagonal badge since MG Rover collapsed into administration in 2005. But for now, the MG 550 has only been introduced in the Chilean market. Behind the MG badge this is a Roewe 550, a car developed by Shanghai Automotive and based on a heavily modified Rover 75 platform. It has an all-new interior and is powered by an updated version of the familiar Rover K-series engine in 1.8-litre turbo form. The MG branding has come about as a result of last year’s merger between SAIC and fellow Chinese manufacturer Nanjing, which acquired rights to the MG brand. One of the reasons Chinese authorities encouraged the two car makers to join up was because SAIC lacked a globally recognised brand for exports – something confirmed by […]

Aston Martin One-77 Defies Financial Woes

October 18, 2008 Staff Comments Off

The Telegraph is reporting that more than 100 people have applied to buy the One-77, the most expensive road car in the world, even though only 77 will be made. The 200mph car was unveiled at the Paris Motor Show this week, and Aston Martin said that the growing financial gloom had not hit sales. “The interest is incredible,” chief designer Marek Reichmann told The Sun newspaper. Aston Martin has been reluctant to release details about the One-77, but it is known to have a 7.0 litre V12 engine, carbon fibre chassis, and aluminium body. “One-77 fuses advanced technology with stunning Aston Martin design to create possibly the world’s most desirable automotive art form,” the Warwickshire-based carmaker said. It will “deliver exhilarating performance for a strictly limited number of discerning customers”, the according to the firm.

Lighting Car – Is It Just Flash?

October 16, 2008 Staff 1

It scorches from 0-60mph in less than four seconds, its batteries can be charged in ten minutes and you can imagine James Bond sitting behind the wheel. But will the über-stylish electric Lightning car ever make money? Earlier this year, entrepreneur Iain Sanderson unveiled the Lightning Car at the British International Motor Show. The 48-year-old Sanderson is a marketer, not a motorhead. He made his bucks through marketing agency Dynamo, which he set up in 1990 and sold a decade later for £20m. Rather than opting for retirement, Sanderson set up London-based Contact Group, which has six different marketing agencies under its wing and pulls in sales of £12m. So what on earth made this millionaire marketing guru develop a battery-powered sports car? Two years ago, Sanderson bumped into his old friend Arthur Wolstenholme, long-time maker of the Ronart series […]

Prototype MG X-Power SV-S WRC

October 13, 2008 Staff 1

The prototype MG X-Power SV-S WRC (William Riley Convertible) you see here is the very first and only example of the supercar. The drop top is the British maker’s second new model since the marque was bought by former racing driver William Riley from the ashes of the MG Rover collapse. Hand built at MG X-Power’s production and development centre in Tenbury Wells, Worcestershire, first cars will be completed by January before production is moved to a new facility in the West Midlands early next year. Customer deliveries are expected to begin in summer 2009. The SV-S is powered by a 5.0-litre supercharged V8, while the Kevlar bodywork means the convertible gains only 12kg in weight compared to the coupé. A manual cloth hood dispenses with the need for heavy mechanical moving parts, too. Every car will also come with […]

Avon to be official Morgan Aeromax supplier

September 24, 2008 Staff 1

The stunning new Morgan Aeromax has been unveiled as the latest in a long line of British sports cars to use Avon tyres as official tyre supplier. The Avon Tyres brand offers a complete range of high performance tyres that are manufactured and marketed by Cooper Tire & Rubber Company Europe. Classic British manufacturer, Morgan, chose Avon’s trusted ZZ3 as the perfect choice for their brand new 362bhp, 170mph machine, which has a 0-62mph speed of just 4.5 seconds. The Aeromax will be Morgan’s flagship model as the marque heads into its 100th anniversary year in 2009. The Avon ZZ3 was selected because of its excellent road holding in both wet and dry conditions and its predictable high-performance handling characteristics suit the powerful car perfectly. The Aeromax will use Avon’s 225/35 R19 XL 88Y XL ZZ3 at the front and […]