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.

Updated Mercedes G Class UK prices announced

Mercedes-Benz has revealed prices for the updated 2012 Mercedes G Class, which starts at £82,954 and rises to £123,115. The word ‘Icon’ is bandied around for any car that’s survived the test of time (guilty as charged), but few are really iconic. The Mercedes G Class is one of the exceptions.

How well is Ferrari really doing? Results analysed

Ferrari seems to be holding up well in the global recession, according to figures announced this week. Its market share is up, consolidated revenues fell just 7% in 2009 and overall operating profit stood at a juicy €245m. Not a bad performance in the biggest economic downturn for generations.Ferrari operates in the upper echelons of the premium sports car market: serious stuff with at least 450bhp and a minimum €140,000 price tag.