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2014 Aston Martin Rapide S rips out 550 hp

If you remember nothing else about the updated 2014 Aston Martin Rapide–now with an S added to the name–keep this in mind: Power surges 80 hp to a whopping 550 hp from the naturally aspirated 5.9-liter V12 engine. Aston Martin dipped into its expertise gleaned from the World Endurance Championship GT competition to fortify output and efficiency. Torque increases to 457 lb-ft (from 443 lb-ft), and top speed is pushed 7 mph to 190.

Range Rover Sport desert-bashing exploits now on video

The new Range Rover Sport demolished the Empty Quarter Last month we reported on an adventure for the Range Rover Sport (to add to its recent Pikes Peak jaunt), with Land Rover taking the new Sport off to the Empty Quarter Desert in Saudi Arabia (which also runs through  Oman, the United Arab Emirates and Yemen) to see if they could cross it in a day. The Empty Quarter – the largest sand desert in the world – has endless miles (well, 500 miles) of hostile sand and dunes and temperatures as high as 50C – so it was quite a task. Land Rover enlisted Dakar Rally man Moi Torrallardona to take the driver’s seat and he managed to take the RRS through the Empty quarter in just 10 hours 22 minutes at an average speed of 51.7 mph.

Volkswagen Golf R 400 revealed – and it looks production ready

The VW Golf R 400 (pictured) revealed ahead of Beijing A few days ago we had a teaser sketch for the VW Golf R 400, a 395 bhp version of the Golf R, which we assumed would be nothing more than yet another uber-powerful Golf Concept. But with underpinnings largely taken from the production Golf R, and a fully functioning interior, this Golf R 400 looks more production ready than any Golf Concept before. The Golf R 400 still uses the regular Golf R’s 2,0 litre Turbo, but VW has managed to squeeze an extra 99bhp and 52lb/ft of torque to produce supercar-rivalling performance of 0-62mph in 3.9 seconds and a top speed of 174mph.