00 Lexus Gs300 Dr Handle, Exterior 11843 on 2040-parts.com

McLaren P1 lapping the Nurburgring in UNDER 7 minutes in stunning new video

The McLaren P1 laps the Nurburgring in under 7 minutes Ever since Ron Dennis claimed the McLaren P1 would be able to lap the Nurburgring in under seven minutes, we’ve been waiting for McLaren to prove it. It seems their initial attempts failed to get below the magic 7 minute barrier – unlike the Porsche 918 Spyder which lapped the Nurburgring in 6m 57s – but last month we reported that the P1 seemed to have achieved its goal by going 10 seconds faster than the Porsche in  an almost unbelievable 6 minutes 47 seconds. Unfortunately, we still don’t know officially just how quickly the P1 got round the Nurburgring, but we do now know that it was under 7 minutes thanks to a new video just released by McLaren.

Design Contest: LA Design Challenge 2008

The entrants for the fifth annual Design Challenge, part of the Design Los Angeles automobile designers' conference, have now been announced. Nine Southern California automotive design studios - including Audi, BMW, GM, Honda, Mazda, Mitsubishi, Mercedes-Benz, Toyota and Volkswagen - have been pitted against one another and asked to develop a concept which best answers a brief entitled 'Motorsports in 2025'. "Automotive designers have always been fascinated with motorsports and this year's Design Challenge has provided them with the opportunity to use their creative talent to look at these cars with new eyes, using innovative technologies and approaches," said Chuck Pelly, director of Design Los Angeles and partner in The Design Academy, Inc.

Hyundai i30 (2012): the first official rendering

Hyundai will show its new i30 family hatch at the 2011 Frankfurt motor show. This first rendering show the new 2012 i30 for the first time - are we alone in detecting more than a hint of Vauxhall Astra in profile? The i30 is Hyundai's Golf and Focus rival and is Hyundai's biggest selling model in Europe.