Jeremy Clarkson has been busy making a new DVD, called ‘The Italian Job’, which looks like it’ll include all the usual car driving antics typical of Clarkson tradition. A trailer of the new DVD is now up on YouTube.

The new DVD looks as though it’ll be an exciting one as Clarkson tests various rare and exotic supercars, including the Ferrari 599 GTO and the Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG. He also takes the Nurburgring record-holding Pagani Zonda R for a few fast laps at the Imola F1 circuit, and gets behind the wheel of the brand new, face-distorting Ariel Atom V8.

Check out the trailer below for more details anyhow.

©2010 Car Advice | News | Reviews – http://www.caradvice.com.au – All Rights Reserved.

.

Source: Brett Davis

High profile English sports car maker, Aston Martin, has today confirmed that its super luxury city car concept, the Cygnet, will go into production in 2011, at Aston Martin’s headquarters in Gaydon.

The Cygnet concept has been a much discussed by motoring enthusiasts and industry commentators alike, ever since it was first shown in March this year.

Some have called it blasphemy, while many Aston Martin owners see the Cygnet as more like a road going tender vehicle for use in big cities or for everyday urban tasks, like going down to the corner shop for milk and bread.

The introduction of the Cygnet will create a new segment in the automotive market, luxury city car, which in many ways will mirror the kind of bespoke fit out, found in the likes of DB9 or Rapide.

Aston Martin’s CEO, Dr Ulrich Bez, summed it up nicely, when he said, “Whatever we do, we do right. If we do performance, we do performance; we don’t downsize or compromise our sports cars. The Cygnet needs to satisfy the demands of emissions and space. It is a car without compromise, just like every other Aston Martin.”

At just three-metres long, Cygnet will be perfect for manoeuvring in and out of London traffic, while being small enough to fit into those ever so tight parking spaces.

Aston Martin’s Director of Design, Marek Reichman, calls Cygnet, “…small but luxurious, an Aston Martin tailor fit for the city.”

Dr Bez goes on to say that, “The Cygnet is designed to support our sports cars by providing a greater degree of freedom in the urban context; it is a very special car, a premium but compact package with heart, soul, and personality.”

Specification and pricing, along with other details will be released later this year, including, whether or not the car will be made available to the general public, or will be exclusive to current Aston Martin owners, at least, initially.

©2010 Car Advice | News | Reviews – http://www.caradvice.com.au – All Rights Reserved.

.

Source: Anthony Crawford

Toyota FT-86G, FJ Cruiser and ‘Fire and Ice’ HiLux

Toyota has revealed a number of new models to the automotive press this morning, including the hugely popular FT-86G rear-wheel-drive Sports Concept, which is in fact, the second-generation concept, with a 2-litre turbocharged boxer engine and six-speed manual gearbox.

While there are sure to be minor alterations to the final production version, don’t be surprised if the car looks reasonably similar to this concept.

There’s carbon-fibre everywhere; including most of the bonnet, front splitter, rear wing and diffuser, side skirts and wing mirrors.

The dual, centre-mounted oversize exhaust tips, which are integrated into the rear-diffuser, are hard to miss and can only hope that this feature makes it to the showroom floor.

The FT-86G is shod with 19-inch Bridgestone rubber – with fronts at 245/40 series and 275/35 at the rear.

If you’re wondering about the ‘G’ in FT-86G, it means Toyota’s racing arm ‘Gazoo Racing’ played a major part in the development of the car, including the Recaro Sports seats inside.

There wouldn’t be a single Toyota employee anywhere in the world, including Akio Toyoda himself, who doesn’t want to see a production version of this car on the road – like yesterday.

Mr Toyoda is a serious motorsports fan and remains keen for the company to produce exciting automobiles and recently said, “It is often said that young people today have drifted away from cars, but I feel it may not be the customers who have drifted from cars but us, the manufacturers.”

He also said, “I believe it is the mission of auto makers to provide the fundamental excitement of automobiles to customers, regardless of the era.”

Also lining up on the Toyota stand at this year’s AIMS, is the retro-styled and super cool FJ Cruiser, an SUV styled off, and influenced by, the original 1960’s era FJ40.

The FJ40 was originally billed as the vehicle “that could travel to, and return from, any extreme environment.”

It certainly looks like a serious bit of kit, with ‘tough as nails’ body panels and wheel guards while under the bonnet, sits a 4-litre petrol engine, developing 200kW and 380 Nm of torque.

The FJ Cruiser is a proper 4WD, with a dual range transfer case and high levels of wheel articulation possible for rock crawling and other more serious off-road feats.

Enthusiasts in Australia won’t have to wait long for the chance to hop into an FJ Cruiser either, with the launch in the first quarter of 2011.

Also, on display was the specially prepared HiLux dubbed ‘fire and ice’ due to it being the first car to ever reach the Magnetic North Pole.

That’s not all this fearsome looking machine has accomplished. Fully prepared by ‘Arctic Trucks’ in Reykjavik, this particular HiLux was successful in taking a group of scientists across snow and ice to Iceland’s active Eyjafjallajokull Volcano.

Capping off Toyota’s stand this year will be a special edition LandCruiser model to celebrate the vehicle’s 60th anniversary, with a twin-turbo V8 diesel and Kinetic Dynamic Suspension System, as well as a host of other value added features.

©2010 Car Advice | News | Reviews – http://www.caradvice.com.au – All Rights Reserved.

.

Source: Anthony Crawford

FT-86G, FJ Cruiser and ‘Fire and Ice’ HiLux

Toyota has revealed a number of new models to the automotive press this morning, including the hugely popular FT-86G rear-wheel-drive Sports Concept, which is in fact, the second-generation concept, with a 2-litre turbocharged boxer engine and six-speed manual gearbox.

While there are sure to be minor alterations to the final production version, don’t be surprised if the car looks reasonably similar to this concept.

There’s carbon-fibre everywhere; including most of the bonnet, front splitter, rear wing and diffuser, side skirts and wing mirrors.

The dual, centre-mounted oversize exhaust tips, which are integrated into the rear-diffuser, are hard to miss and can only hope that this feature makes it to the showroom floor.

The FT-86G is shod with 19-inch Bridgestone rubber – with fronts at 245/40 series and 275/35 at the rear.

If you’re wondering about the ‘G’ in FT-86G, it means Toyota’s racing arm ‘Gazoo Racing’ played a major part in the development of the car, including the Recaro Sports seats inside.

There wouldn’t be a single Toyota employee anywhere in the world, including Akio Toyoda himself, who doesn’t want to see a production version of this car on the road – like yesterday.

Mr Toyoda is a serious motorsports fan and remains keen for the company to produce exciting automobiles and recently said, “It is often said that young people today have drifted away from cars, but I feel it may not be the customers who have drifted from cars but us, the manufacturers.”

He also said, “I believe it is the mission of auto makers to provide the fundamental excitement of automobiles to customers, regardless of the era.”

Also lining up on the Toyota stand at this year’s AIMS, is the retro-styled and super cool FJ Cruiser, an SUV styled off, and influenced by, the original 1960’s era FJ40.

The FJ40 was originally billed as the vehicle “that could travel to, and return from, any extreme environment.”

It certainly looks like a serious bit of kit, with ‘tough as nails’ body panels and wheel guards while under the bonnet, sits a 4-litre petrol engine, developing 200kW and 380 Nm of torque.

The FJ Cruiser is a proper 4WD, with a dual range transfer case and high levels of wheel articulation possible for rock crawling and other more serious off-road feats.

Enthusiasts in Australia won’t have to wait long for the chance to hop into an FJ Cruiser either, with the launch in the first quarter of 2011.

Also, on display was the specially prepared HiLux dubbed ‘fire and ice’ due to it being the first car to ever reach the Magnetic North Pole.

That’s not all this fearsome looking machine has accomplished. Fully prepared by ‘Arctic Trucks’ in Reykjavik, this particular HiLux was successful in taking a group of scientists across snow and ice to Iceland’s active Eyjafjallajokull Volcano.

Capping off Toyota’s stand this year will be a special edition LandCruiser model to celebrate the vehicle’s 60th anniversary, with a twin-turbo V8 diesel and Kinetic Dynamic Suspension System, as well as a host of other value added features.

©2010 Car Advice | News | Reviews – http://www.caradvice.com.au – All Rights Reserved.

.

Source: Anthony Crawford

Citroen and Ford have recently been developing their new range of WRC rally cars. To conform within new regulations, both companies have adopted the ‘good things come in small packages’ philosophy and have downsized their cars as well as the regulatory engines.

Ford previously ran the larger Ford Focus-based car in the World Rally Championship, and Citroen ran the larger Citroen C3 in the championship. Lightness has always been high on the priorities list in the racing world, could it be that production cars – on which the race cars are based upon – are becoming too big and heavy for racing?

Even Mini has been caught in the act, testing a car for rally racing. And the company has said it’s not going to enter into the smaller Super 1600-type front-wheel drive series either, it’s aiming for WRC with a pint-sized pocket rocket as well.

All three cars adhere to the new 2011 rules which permit a 1.6-litre turbocharged engine. The Ford features a 1.6-litre EcoBoost unit whilst the Citroen also uses a 1.6-litre direct injection turbocharged four cylinder. Both cars are said to output right on the 300hp (224kW) regulation.

Check out the new Ford Focus RS and the awesome little Citroen DS3 WRC versions being tested below.

Isn’t it great that even in racing, cars are using less petrol whilst outputting similar or greater power figures than past generations.

©2010 Car Advice | News | Reviews – http://www.caradvice.com.au – All Rights Reserved.

.

Source: Brett Davis