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Thursday, July 23, 2015
Tuesday, July 14, 2015
BAC Mono road-going racer gets new 305bhp motor
BAC's Mono, the road legal single-seat racing car, gets a new 2.5-litre 305bhp engine for the 2016 model year
The Mono, from the UK-based Briggs Automotive Company (BAC) is hardly a slow car. Tipping the scales at just 580kg with 280bhp on tap, it's one of our favourite track day cars. Even this clearly isn't enough for some people though as for the 2016 model year BAC has added a new engine, giving this road-legal racer a colossal 305bhp.
The new 2.5-litre, four-cylinder unit comes from tuning experts Mountune and debuted in the Mono at the 2015 Goodwood Festival of Speed. There, it managed a run of just 47.9 seconds up the famous hill. While not an official time, it breaks the road-car record - and impressive, BAC claim that the engine was a prototype and the driver wasn't pushing the car all the way.
• Best track day cars
The new engine doesn't weigh any more than the old 2.3-litre unit and means the car's kerb weight is unchanged, so the Mono should retain its pin-sharp handling. Better still, the power-to-weight ratio has increased to 526bhp-per-tonne. To put that into perspective, a McLaren P1 develops 'just' 521bhp-per-tonne.
The Mono's driver at Goodwood, Oliver Webb, has said he'd love to bring the car back next year when it's ready and challenge the record once more. He said, 'It's always a privelige to drive at Goodwood and particularly to be entrusted to give the 2016 Mono its world debut in the 'First Glance Class'... Clearly our times were unofficial, but I would love to come back next year and challenge the record officially, on new tyres and with our latest-spec Mountune engine.'
After recently moving to a new factory in Liverpool, BAC are now able to produce one Mono per month. Various options are available to make your Mono more hardcore, including made-to-measure seats and steering wheels, stickier tyres, and racing brakes.
Car news in 90 seconds: Merc E-Class tech, Honda HR-V, Jag F-Pace and car tax
Our regular car news videos round-up the week's biggest car news stories in about minute and a half
Welcome to Auto Express' Car news in 90 seconds. This week the big stories have been some revolutionary technology making its way onto the upcoming E-Class, getting a glimpse of the Jaguar F-Pace and major changes to the cost of taxing your car.
The latest in our regular weekly round-up videos covers all of these key car news stories and more. Don’t forget to bookmark this page because we’ll be updating it regularly with new videos covering the top stories that you might have missed over the last 7 days. It’s essential viewing for every car fan…
Bookmark this page and come back next week for the next installment. You can also subscribe to our YouTube channelfor more great car videos...
2016 Mercedes E-Class tech secrets revealed
Mercedes has taken one step closer to automated driving thanks to next-generation sensors on the upcoming E-Class. It will be able to navigate bends up to 80mph and maintain safe speeds from slower moving vehicles up to 124mph. Owners will even be able to park their car from outside the vehicle via a smartphone app.
Jaguar F-Pace supports the Tour de France
Jaguar’s first SUV, the F-Pace, has been supporting the Tour de France with little more than some Team Sky branding to conceal it. Which is good news for us because we get a glimpse before it’s officially unveiled later this year.
First drive of the Honda HR-V
We’ve got behind the wheel of Honda’s new HR-V. In the crossover segment it sits somewhere between the Juke and Qashqai, plus its got plenty of room inside that compact body.
Latest autonomous Audi RS7 is lighter and faster
Audi showcases 'Robby', the self-driving RS7 - it's faster on track and 400kg lighter than before
Audi is forging ahead with autonomous driving technology having unveiled a faster and lighter version of the RS7 Piloted Driving Concept.
Called ‘Robby’, this latest version carries over all of the sensors, cameras and GPS radars from the previous Audi RS7 Piloted Concept but crucially weighs 400kg less than before. That weight loss will be of benefit to Audi's all-new A8 saloon due next year – the German brand's first production model set to feature autonomous driving tech, with less weight meaning reduced running costs and performance gains.
New Audi R8 V10 Plus review
If you were asked to draw up a list of the most important supercars ever made, what would you pick? The gorgeousLamborghini Miura – recognised as the first real supercar – has to be in there, as does the McLaren F1 – a 242mph bullet and the world’s fastest production car for 12 years, until the Bugatti Veyroncame along and re-wrote the rule-book.
A controversial one, sure, but we’d say the original Audi R8 is just as deserving of a place on that list. Launched in 2007 it didn’t have the shock-factor of a Lamborghini, or the top speed of a Bugatti, but it was more approachable and useable than any supercar that had gone before. Quite simply, it made amateurs look like driving gods, while still turning heads and making all the right noises.
The first R8 is an impossibly tough act to follow, so you can’t blame Audi for sticking closely to the first-generation formula. This is an entirely new car from the wheel bolts up, but rather than reinvent the R8, its added some more power, taken out some weight, fitted a sharp new body and interior and ladled on every last electronic aid at its disposal to make this new R8 faster on one hand, and more usable than ever on the other.
As Audi’s design department recently proved with the new A4, it’s not adverse to simply redrawing and old shape with a series of sharper lines, and it’s more of the same with the new R8. The proportions are identical to its predecessor (in fact it’s 11mm wider, 12mm lower and 14mm shorter, but you wouldn’t know without using a tape measure) so the sharper front grille, full-LED headlights and claw-like separators in the front intakes are the most notable new features.
The side blade is now split in two by the shoulder line and the rear is a little wider and flatter that before, with trapezoid-shaped exhausts instead of oval pipes. But to be fair to Audi, the R8’s classic mid-engined, cab-forward stance naturally adds drama to the design. Put it this way, if one burbles past you on the high street, you’re going to turn and look.
The side blade is now split in two by the shoulder line and the rear is a little wider and flatter that before, with trapezoid-shaped exhausts instead of oval pipes. But to be fair to Audi, the R8’s classic mid-engined, cab-forward stance naturally adds drama to the design. Put it this way, if one burbles past you on the high street, you’re going to turn and look.
The interior is another exercise in quality and minimalism from Audi, although there’s a feeling that it’s been held back somewhat by the brilliance of the TT. The 12.3-inch ‘virtual cockpit’ behind the wheel is just as dazzling, and as easy to control via the button-heavy steering wheel or the large rotary dial on the centre console. However, the air-con controls are separate switches, rather than integrated into the vents as on the TT, which doesn’t look quite as special. The seating position, however, is millimetre perfect – you sit low with your feet outstretched and the deep-dish steering wheel pulled up close to your chest. Visibility is significantly better in all directions than the Huracan, too – especially out the rear screen.
Thursday, July 9, 2015
Divine DS concept review
The Divine DS first appeared at the Paris Motor Show in 2014 and bosses stressed from the outset that such a model would never make production. However, they did confirm that aspects of the design will make their way onto new DS models in the not-too-distant future. Almost 10 months later – and just weeks after the Divine was showcased on DS’s stand at Goodwood – Auto Express has been given the chance to drive it.
The first thing you notice is how small it is. Forget the show pictures, this is a beautifully-proportioned Ford Focus rival whose footprint resembles more DS 3 than DS 4. However, open up the lavish scissor doors and you reveal an interior like no other.
There’s an aeroplane style squared-off steering wheel and classy heads-up display, while the sharp diamond shapes and intricate buttons for the gearbox dominate the centre console. The sweeping leather dash is another interesting feature, and it continues through the car past the front seats and into the rear.
There’s an aeroplane style squared-off steering wheel and classy heads-up display, while the sharp diamond shapes and intricate buttons for the gearbox dominate the centre console. The sweeping leather dash is another interesting feature, and it continues through the car past the front seats and into the rear.
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