Mini John Cooper Works GP special edition announced

The first Mini Cooper S John Cooper Works GP was produced in 2006 to mark the end of the first generation of the Mini developed by BMW. Only 2,000 were produced. Mini is bringing the GP name back in 2012, in the same limited amount, with the cars arriving at dealerships later this year.

Toyota Hybrid Challenge: How Slow Can You Go?

Toyota Hybrid Challenge - Beware: Slow(er) moving Hybrid Ahead We’ll be the first to admit it: Toyota hybrids can achieve some pretty remarkable feats of economy. Trouble is, only if you’re happy to drive like you hate it with a passion. And that doesn’t mean thrashing the life out of your Toyota hybrid to get there as quickly as possible, because if you do you’ll probably get worse mpg than if you just had the Atkinson cycle lump without the hybrid gubbins.

Vauxhall Astra VXR (2012) gets 282bhp + new GTC photos

Astra GTC Concept Paris Vauxhall sneaked us a peek at the 2012 Vauxhall Astra VXR a couple of weeks ago – slightly titivated and called the Astra GTC Concept admittedly – but the 2012 Vauxhall Astra VXR none the less. And we ran the story, even though there was precious little to say beyond they’d turned the ‘blades’ round on the doors to make it look more butch and that it’d turn up when the 3 door Astra does in a years time. But Vauxhall has decided to throw a little more out there, so we get images of the interior and some firm (ish) news on the oily bits.