Snippets:
- BMW set to cull a slieu of engines, possible their V8 too
- Max Verstappen signs a new deal with Red Bull keeping him till 2023
- Paulo Goncalves has died at Dakar. The 40 year old bike rider will live on in the memories of his millions of fans
- The Land Rover Evoque aping Landwind E32 X7 by Jiangling has had its patent successfully blocked by the British firm in China. Progress
- Bullitt, the Mustang, the very one driven by Steve McQueen just sold for $3.4mil
New Toyota Yaris GR is the super mini we deserve
Once in a while a car comes along that humbles you and overwhelms you. It enters your world and reminds you how average a driver you are, then speeds off in a flurry of smoke and noise leaving you on your knees mumbling, "It didn't even ask for my phone number".
Last year, the Lamborghini Huracan Performante easily took the honours, but it seems Toyota want a shot at with their new... Yaris? What? It's the Yaris GR, that's Gazoo Racing and is powered by a three-cylinder 1.6-litre engine. A firecracker capable of 192kW and 310Nm thanks to some aggressive boosting.
Those look comfy...
It sends this power and torque to four wheels, via a six-speed manual transmission and is therefore good for a zero to hundred sprint of just 5.5 seconds and will top out at a lofty 230kph. In a little bloody 1280kg Yaris! Furthermore, that all-wheel drive system comes in three levels of sporty flavours with the fiercest one delivering a heavy rear wheel drive bias. It just sounds like one Giniel Devilliers needed a more interesting company car, don't you think?
Either way, it really conjures up days of really old, when homologation specials were required for manufacturers to enter the wildest motorsport on the planet. Even if it doesn't make it to the WRC, we pray it makes it to our driveways.
Meet the Fisker Ocean SUV
Remember Fisker? Do you remember any electric car manufacturers before Tesla came along?
Well the annual CES show at Las Vegas was a great opportunity for them to remind us, and with the Ocean, an EV-SUV powered by an 80kWh lithium ion battery good for between 400km and 480km of range. They've added that the Ocean is, "The world's most sustainable vehicle," thanks to a full-length solar roof, carpets made from recycled materials, vegan interior and "eco-suede" interior textiles.
We said vegan interior!
And then there was the Mini Pavement
I mean sidewalk. Yes, the Mini Convertible Sidewalk Edition exists, and it features little more than an exclusive paint hob, unique soft top design and special light alloy wheels.
We like its 17-inch light-alloy Scissor Spoke 2-tone wheels. Colours include Deep Laguna metallic, Midnight Black metallic, White Silver metallic, Enigmatic Black metallic, Moonwalk Grey metallic and Thunder Grey metallic. It will come with three engines, 75kW from a 1.5-litre 3-cylinder engine, a 1.5-litre 3-cylinder engine which produces 100kW of power and the 141kW 2.0-litre 4-cylinder ‘S’ engine.
