00 Impala Blower Motor on 2040-parts.com

New MINI JCW GP laps Nurburgring in 8:23 (video)

We have video of the fastest MINI ever – the MINI John Cooper Works GP II – lapping the Nurburgring in 8:23. We revealed back in April that a new version of the MINI JCW GP was on the way, and MINI got round to confirming that in May when the new MINI John Cooper Works GP was officially revealed. At the time, MINI told us that the new MINI GP could hustle round the Nurburgring a full 19 seconds quicker than the old MINI GP making the new hot MINI the fastest MINI ever made (well, the fastest MINI ever made by BMW, anyway).

Guess Jethro's lap time and win a £550 Suunto watch

CAR journo Jethro Bovingdon drove the Lotus Exige 260 Cup around the track at Lotus HQ in Hethel, Norfolk, for a story in the new August 2010 issue of CAR Magazine, out on 21 July. But how fast was he in the latest track-day tool of choice?If you can correctly guess Jethro's lap time, you could win this brilliant Suunto Elementum Ventus watch. It's worth £550 and is yours to keep if you come up with the nearest time to Jethro's fastest lap.The 260 Cup is a £45,950 slice of Lotus: a beefed-up, supercharged and super light at 890kg coupé version of the Elise, honed and fettled for track action.

Driven: Mazda RX-8

The two most obvious elements of its unusual make-up are its rotary engine and rear-hinged rear doors with integral B-pillars. What became clear during our week with the RX-8 was how these two aspects of its design form the basis of many other unique qualities... Sports coupe and GT coupe The rotary engine of the RX-8 has a very distinct power delivery that is a defining part of the car's character, but it is also a very small lump of metal compared to a similarly powerful conventional reciprocating piston engine, enabling more of the car's overall length to be devoted to cabin space.