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Driving BMW's three-cylinder prototype

One of the motoren in the titular Bayerische Motoren Werkeis about to get smaller. How small, you ask? The three-cylinder in the cherry-red hatchback shown above is in fact one of BMW's legendary inline-sixes, albeit chopped in half with the proverbial Sawzall.

Jaguar F-Type: Comparable to the Aston Martin Vantage?

Should we be thinking of the new Jaguar F-Type as a bargain alternative to an Aston Martin V8 & V12 Vantage rather than a pricey Porsche Cayman? With a starting point of £58.5k for the F-Type with the 340PS V6 Supercharged engine, rising to £80k for the F-Type V8 S, we thought prices were strong. But actually, after a week of cogitation and argument at Cars UK Towers, we wonder if they’re actually something of a bargain?

Brazilian students develop soapbox racers for Volkswagen

Brazilian design students have competed for year-long internships at Volkswagen's Brazilian design studio by designing – and racing – soapbox cars. Established 15 years ago by Volkswagen South America design director Luiz Veiga, the Volkswagen Design Talent Contest refreshed its format for 2013 by challenging students to develop a prototype for a gravity-powered soapbox racer instead of asking for sketch and render-based proposals. According to Veiga, Volkswagen was looking for someone "capable of working away from the desk and able to create design solutions, assess and build them".