06-09 Mercedes M 164 Electric Rh Mirror on 2040-parts.com

Gumpert Apollo Speed lands at Geneva

I have to admit, the Gumpert Apollo is not exactly the most subtle of cars. Or the prettiest. But it probably explodes more ferociously (or at least it feels more ferocious) than just about anything on the road.

Dacia Duster SUV leads Dacia in to record-breaking first year UK sales

The new Dacia Duster (pictured) should add to Dacia’s impressive sales We’ve all become aware that the car market in the UK has polarised, with mainstream makers struggling to keep their market share and premium and budget brands growing sales strongly. But despite that, no one really thought that Dacia – Renault’s budget brand – could create a significant market for itself with its “Shockingly Affordable” range of cars. But it has.

Porsche 911 GT3 R Hybrid (2011) first official pictures

Porsche has released details of its updated 911 GT3 R Hybrid – the 2010 original nearly won last year's Nurburgring 24hr race before (ironically) it retired with petrol engine failure.  The 2011 Porsche 911 GT3 R Hybrid – the lowdown Before this report disappears in a chorus of ‘it looks the same as last year’s one’, let's outline where Porsche’s engineers have been busy. At the unfashionable end of the car remains a 4.0-litre flat-six engine producing approximately 470bhp. Up front are twin electric motors, now producing 75kW of power each (up from 60kW) and combined these give the GT3 R Hybrid a 197bhp electric boost, which can be programmed to activate automatically via the throttle pedal, or manually selected during overtaking. F1-derived hybrid tech for the 911 GT3 R Hybrid Power for the two electric motors doesn't come from batteries, but flywheel accumulator technology from Williams Hybrid Power, an offshoot of the Williams Formula 1 team. The flywheel, encased in a carbonfibre safety cell in the space where the passenger seat would be, spins at up to 40,000rpm and acts as a mechanical energy store for the electric motors. Regenerative braking feeds energy back into the flywheel system – no surprises there, as the technology is derived from Williams' exeprience with Kinetic Energy Recovery Systems (KERS) in F1.