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[Tornado]

Another reason why the 500 is clearly the best small car in the world.

 

[Venari]

In other news, I nearly hit a cow today.

Ice?

(I'll set 'em up...)

 

[YSSMAN]

...Yet one more reason why the Fiat 500 should be sold in the United States...

 

[Danny]

Ice?

(I'll set 'em up...)

I honestly have no idea what you're setting me up for, I can't think of any appropriate pun.

I'll expand a little anyway, I was driving the instructor's car (bit naughty since it wasn't an official lesson) and after a pretty sharp country-lane corner, there was a cow in the road straight after. I had to brake hard to avoid hitting it.

Where is your funny now, eh?

 

[Venari]

I honestly have no idea what you're setting me up for, I can't think of any appropriate pun.

How about...

In other news, I nearly hit a cow today.

Ice?

No, it wasn't fresian.

Sorry.

I'll expand a little anyway, I was driving the instructor's car (bit naughty since it wasn't an official lesson) and after a pretty sharp country-lane corner, there was a cow in the road straight after. I had to brake hard to avoid hitting it.

Where is your funny now, eh?

Well, you avoided it. I'd say that's a success. Top skills.

There's a story about four traffic police officers in an unmarked pursuit car and a rabbit in the road. The punchline is "If it's anything smaller than a sheep, you 🤬 hit it!"

 

[ExigeEvan]

I honestly have no idea what you're setting me up for, I can't think of any appropriate pun.

I'll expand a little anyway, I was driving the instructor's car (bit naughty since it wasn't an official lesson) and after a pretty sharp country-lane corner, there was a cow in the road straight after. I had to brake hard to avoid hitting it.

Where is your funny now, eh?

Pass Plus?

 

[Danny]

Pass Plus?

Nope, he just decided I may as well drive him home after the family outing.

 

[Pebb]

Source: AutoCar

DVLA to clean up UK's limo business

Got a party or event coming up? Hiring a stretched limousine for the occasion? Then local police and the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency would urge you to exercise care.

After a spate of crashes, gaffes and other trouble, the police is stepping up Operation Dakota, a fancy name for what is essentially a plan to clean up the act of the myriad unlicensed drivers of stretched limousines in the UK.

The operation began in Manchester at the end of last year, but is now spreading accross the national police network.

It's necessary because, right now, all you need to set up a stretched limousine business is a driving licence. The DVLA is planning new laws which will mandate limo drivers to take a special test, to register with the local council, and to have their limousine subjected to a rigourous test every year, in the same way that taxi drivers are regulated. However, until those rules are passed, it's falling to the police to clean up the UK's limousines.

Most stretch limos are imported from America, and often don’t conform to European safety regulations. Local councils have proposed licences which would entail a criminal record check, local knowledge test and a driver medical, as well as rigorous bi-annual MOTs. So if you're in the stretched limo business and that doesn't sound too appealing, now might be time to think about a change of career. Or of location.

Funnily enough though, it doesn't look like the life of a limo driver is much easier on the other side of the pond, particularly in San Francisco. The Ford Excursion-based stretch limo pictured got beached at the junction of Connecticut and 18th streets in the Potrero Hill area of the city. Perhaps running a limo business in the city of forty hills isn’t the best idea.

 

[ExigeEvan]

It's amazing that what is basically a glorified taxi service is not governed in a similair way.

 

[Metar]

right now, all you need to set up a stretched limousine business is a driving licence.

And a Limo



So there's no special regulations about limos in the UK? Odd.

 

[Freddie]

I'll echo what Metar said.

I would believe that in the rest of europe, you need a bus license too drive a limo because of the long wheelbases limos have. Here, any vehicle, with the exception of trucks (which require their own licenses), over 8m in length requires a bus license.

 

[Crash]

I'm surprised there weren't any regulations. But I guess that's how Top Gear was able to make their own stretched limos and drive it themselves.

Now I guess my question would be, did the UK require a special license to make stretched limos?

 

[Dave A]

No, as long as it's declared safe and passes the usual tests.

 

[Pebb]

Source: AutoCar

Hot with a capital TT

Audi is close to signing off the hottest-ever TT, a range-topping RS model with 350bhp and aimed at the Porsche Cayman S and BWM M3.

Although it won't be a carbon copy, the TT RS is likely to take styling cues from the TT Clubsport concept (see gallery) that appeared earlier this year. Power for the hottest TT will come from a turbocharged version of a 2.5-litre five-cylinder petrol engine currently used by VW in US versions of the Jetta saloon.

With high-pressure turbocharging, peak power is lifted from 150bhp to 350bhp, a heady output of 140bhp per litre.

According to an insider who has heard the TT RS, Audi's hot new coupe makes "a fantastic noise, just like the original Quattro".

According to another insider, the RS is close to the production go-ahead, but still awaits the final rubber stamp from Audi bosses. Should it be confirmed, Audi is said to be looking at a launch date sometime in 2009.

In the TT, the performance ought to be strong, too. A top speed limited to 155mph is easily within reach, while 0-60mph ought to be down to five seconds.

Power might be 50bhp down on the 400bhp BMW M3, but the TT RS will make up the deficiency with a lighter kerb weight, with the potential for a power-to-weight ratio of around 250bhp per tonne, and a whole heap of turbocharged torque.

It's likely that the 350bhp TT RS would only be offered as a coupe, as the inherent strength of a car with a roof would be neccessary to deal with the forces generated during cornering, acceleration and braking.

A second hot TT, the S, is also in the pipeline. Unlike the RS, this model has been signed off and will be launched next year. Featuring the S3's 261bhp, turbocharged four-cylinder engine, the TT S will become the hottest TT model next year until the RS takes that spot in the range.

 

[Metar]

If they enlarge that grille one more time, I'll use it to fence my house.

 

[Jim Prower]

Watch out EvoSTi...even though it's not aimed at them, I could see a TT-RS-based WRC car coming out soon...

 

[Dave A]

I couldn't, unless Audi suddenly start showing an interest in entering the WRC, which they arn't. A WRC tuned TT would be interesting, but I can't see it happening.

 

[Philly]

A WRC TT? Aren't there other cars that they could use that would fit the mold better? At least an A3?

But I'm sure that car is fast. The car is no slouch already, but with that kind of stupid tuning, it has to be amazing. That must be some high boost to more than double horsepower. I wonder how much the chassis will be reworked and how much stiffer and better at cornering it will be.

 

[Dave A]

An A3 isn't that much different to a TT.

 

[Metar]

But aside from the Polo S2000 and Skoda WRC (previously, SEATs too), are VAG even looking at this possibility? Doesn't seem likely. But I can see this heading into some touring-car series.

 

[Philly]

An A3 isn't that much different to a TT.

The A3 would fit in better. At least the A3 is a hatchback, like some of the other cars in the series. Are there any cars using the same body style as the TT in WRC?

 

[forza2.0]

An A3 isn't that much different to a TT.

That is arguable however the closests thing we will get to an audi in a WRC is most likely gonna be the next gen seat ibiza.

As for the RS-TT engine rumours I hear its now between 350hp and 386hp.

 

[Pebb]

Source: AutoCar

Lean, green and mean: meet the C-Cactus

Meet the C-Cactus, Citroen's spiky concept car, which makes its public debut at the Frankfurt motor show next week.

The C-Cactus is a C4-based concept – 4.2 metres long and 1.8 wide – that's designed to show that ecological cars don't need to be boring, and that they can be affordable.

It is powered by a 1.4-litre 70bhp HDi diesel engine mated to a 30bhp electric motor and a five-speed automatic transmission. Fuel economy is a claimed 83mpg, and emissions are just 78g/km, helped by a low 1306kg kerbweight and an electric-only mode around town.

"Like the plant it is named after, it is low on consumption," says Citroen. Weight has been minimised by abandoning "features that are not essential to comfort and to focus instead on technology, styling and equipment."

Parts have been pared down to a bare minimum: inside there's no dashboard as such, with all the major controls on the centre console and the fixed hub of the steering wheel.

The door panels are formed from two mouldings rather than the more usual 12, and the windows open only on very basic sliding mechanisms. "Using the air conditioning makes it virtually unnecessary to open the windows," says Citroen.

The moulding that at the front forms the surround to the bumper and headlights, and houses the double chevron Citroen logo, is the same as the part that makes the lower half of the tailgate at the back, theoretically making it cheaper to manufacture.

There are also plenty of natural and recyclable materials in the cabin, from cork to leather off-cuts that would otherwise be thrown away. The felt on the fascia and door panels is made of wool.

Top speed is limited to 95mph (155km/h) for 'environmental reasons', and similarly the tyres are not overly wide, at 205/45.

It's not all hair shirts and lentils, either: there's a decent hi-fi with MP3 player, a panoramic glass roof and those narrow-ish tyres are fitted to rather tasty 21-inch chromed rims.

Don't expect the C-Cactus to be appearing on your local high street anytime soon, but do expect many of its concepts to make their way into production.

 

[the Interceptor]

I just read about this thing, and while I'm okay with the general idea, I find 1306kg (2998 lbs) for such a "minimalistic" car quite a lot.

 

[TheCracker]

Source: AutoCar
"Like the plant it is named after, it is low on consumption,"

Like the plant it is named after, it is low on looks.



Sniff Petrol liken it Kenneth Williams

 

[Jim Prower]

yeah, ugly-looking, and oddly named. Won't play in Peoria.

 

[forza2.0]

205 tyres are pretty wide for such a car.

 

[Pebb]

Source: AutoCar

Charge up your VXR8

As the likes of BMW M-Division, Mercedes’ AMG and Audi’s RS routinely prove these days, there aren’t many ways of buying a new car with more than 500bhp, for less than £50,000. Until today, in fact, we couldn’t think of a single one.

Thankfully, Vauxhall has come up with the answer. As of this October, it will offer a supercharger kit as an option on the VXR8 super-saloon. Ticking that box will cost you an additional £6995 on top of the car’s princely £35,105 list price, and buy you 540 screaming horses. For £42,100. Value for money doesn’t get much better than that.

The modification also gets you 30 per cent more torque than the standard car, comes with a three-year warranty, and can be ordered and fitted retrospectively by owners who have already taken delivery of their cars.

 

[the Interceptor]

Damn, I would soooooooo buy this car if it were offered here!

 

[YSSMAN]

Didn't they do the same thing with the Monaro a few years back? Personally speaking, I'd prefer to just "go big" and drop the LS7 under the hood and squeeze out a few extra horses the old fashioned way; Free up the breathing, new exhaust, remapped ECU, etc...