1 3/4 Green Gold Metallic Decal Pinstripe 06517-k8-000 on 2040-parts.com

Budget hits gas-guzzlers

By Ben Pulman Motor Industry 03 June 2007 02:00 Gordon Brown’s budget didn’t throw up too many surprises; after all, we expected him to take more money out of the motorist’s pocket. Below are the changes due over the next three years. An increase of 2p per litre this year, 2p in 2008-09, and 1.84p in 2009-10.

MINI JCW Roadster rides the ‘Ring

MINI JCW Roadster pounding the Nurburgring Now we’ve got the MINI Coupe out in the open, with and without its swirly black and white camouflage, it must be close to MINI doing the same with the Roadster. Which is probably why we have spy photos of the MINI JCW Roadster pounding round the Nurburgring – last shakedowns, we assume. Because we can’t imagine MINI dragging out the reveal of the production model Roadster much past Frankfurt – if it takes that long – which will be a full two years on from when MINI first revealed the 2-seater MINI Roadster – the soft top twin of the MINI Coupe.

Lotus Elise S Cup R poised for US consumption

Lotus can’t sell its road cars in North America anymore (dang safety regulations!), but that won’t stop them from sending some hardcore track vehicles here for the true enthusiasts. Enter the Lotus Elise S Cup R. The Cup R variant of the Elise sports a 1.8-liter four-cylinder engine, delivering 217 hp and 181 lb-ft of torque with help from a Magnuson R900 supercharger.