2005 05 Honda Cbr 1000 Rr 1000rr Cbr1000rr Left Control Turn Horn Light Switch on 2040-parts.com

Autoweek's top-12 most read stories of 2012

From an infamous Texas house fire, to the death of one of the greats, autoweek.com's top-12 most read stories of 2012 offer a look back at a wild year. This year while we tested some of the best enthusiast vehicles, ran around auto shows and spoke with automotive movers and shakers, we kept track of what piqued your interests. What, you thought we weren't paying attention?

Brit-Based Supercar Maker Unveils Third New Model

THIRD time’s going to be the charm for McLaren, as the Woking-based firm has unveiled its third supercar ahead of a public debut at the forthcoming Geneva Motor Show. Hot on the heels of the P1 hypercar, the new 650S slots between the firm’s flagship motor and already established 12C. With bold claims of race car-like performance while retaining the luxury and refinement of its premium supercar rivals, McLaren has revealed that the 650S can sprint to 124mph from rest – the industry standard 200kph – in a blistering 8.4 seconds.

Car Design News Contest

As one judge, Geert Jan Schellekens, Principal Automotive and Industrial Designer at SABIC Innovative Plastics, said; "From several hundred entries to 20 finalists in a day's time - what could have turned out to be a cumbersome process, if not a bureaucratic nightmare, actually became an intensive yet fun session with many intriguing and interesting interpretations of the contest brief - fuelling some lively discussions!" Another strong impression from judges was also of the variety of design entry and the effort that had been put into them, as Dale Harrow said: "I'm very impressed with the standard, and particularly with the diversity of entries to the contest". Derek Buckmaster,Global Market Director, Body Panels & Glazing for SABIC Innovative Plastics, said: "I was surprised by the depth of thought which the entrants had put into their designs to meet the diverse needs of the three 'milenniumites' described in the design brief. The designs displayed numerous approaches to meeting the environmentally-friendly and light-weight goals." All designs were considered relative to the Assessment Criteria a critically important part of the contest, created to ensure as much fairness in the process as possible and detailed in the Contest part of Car Design News.