2013 Jaguar Xj Right Xenon Headlamp on 2040-parts.com

Bentley Continental (2012): new gearbox, Speed specs

Bentley is cutting the average CO2 output across its range, but don't worry; they're not cheating with a flying-B-badged VW Up (take note, Aston Martin-Toyota). Instead, Bentley's fitting a new gearbox to all new two-door Continental models. Meanwhile, we've got all the details on the fastest Bentley road car ever: the new Continental GT Speed.

Audi at the Paris motor show 2008

By Ben Whitworth Motor Shows 02 October 2008 16:52 Audi’s sparkling new A1 Sportback – a thinly camouflaged version of its 2010 A1 Mini-basher – as well as its frugal A4 Concept E and a rather large trophy were the highlights of Ingolstadt’s Parisian offerings this year. In essence this follows on from the Metroproject that Audi unveiled last year. Slightly bigger in five-door guise than the Mini, Audi is keen to play on the A1’s practicality as well as its aspirational qualities.

BMW i8 production car revealed – costs £99,845: Frankfurt 2013

The new BMW i8 Hybrid (pictured) will cost £100k in the UK The BMW i8 jas finally arrived in production guise at the Frankfurt Motor show, neatly creating the top end of BMW’s new i-brand range after the BMW i3 underlined the starting point. Looking really quite appealing, the i8 uses the same carbon fibre reinforced plastic bodyshell and aluminium chassis construction as the i3, but whereas the i3 is built to be a city car, the i8 is the closest we’re likely to get to a 21st century version of the BMW M1. Similar in size to the Audi R8, the BMW i8 is a 2+2 with a 3-cylinder 1.5 litre engine and generator sitting at the back and driving the rear wheels and an electric motor at the front driving the front wheels, with a petrol tank at the back and the batteries for the electric motor stored in the centre tunnel.