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Design Contest: LA Design Challenge 2008

The entrants for the fifth annual Design Challenge, part of the Design Los Angeles automobile designers' conference, have now been announced. Nine Southern California automotive design studios - including Audi, BMW, GM, Honda, Mazda, Mitsubishi, Mercedes-Benz, Toyota and Volkswagen - have been pitted against one another and asked to develop a concept which best answers a brief entitled 'Motorsports in 2025'. "Automotive designers have always been fascinated with motorsports and this year's Design Challenge has provided them with the opportunity to use their creative talent to look at these cars with new eyes, using innovative technologies and approaches," said Chuck Pelly, director of Design Los Angeles and partner in The Design Academy, Inc.

Rally Ace Beats Own Isle Of Man Lap Record

SUBARU’S WRX STI has once again broken the four-wheeled lap record around the famous Isle of Man TT circuit, with British rally champion Mark Higgins setting a new record of 19 minutes 26 seconds in a production version of the firm’s newly launched high-performance saloon. Higgins’s lap around the challenging 37.8-mile TT Mountain course saw him post an average speed of 116mph and a top speed of over 160mph. Manxman Higgins completed his timed run under closed road conditions as part of the TT schedule and beat his previous record, set in 2011, when he set a time of 19 minutes 56.7 seconds at the wheel of the previous-generation WRX STI, breaking a record that had stood for 21 years.

Mercedes S-class facelift and S400 Hybrid unveiled

By Tim Pollard First Official Pictures 14 April 2009 11:02 Some cars dominate their segments – and Mercedes’ S-class is one such car. It’s the essence of what a pampering luxury saloon should stand for, becoming the default four-door of choice for boardroom bigwigs around the globe. Now Merc hopes to cement the S-class’s credentials with this 2009 facelift.