Blog on 2040Parts

Megane Renaultsport 275 Trophy revealed

Meet the hottest Renaultsport Megane ever – the Megane Renaultsport 275 Trophy, which Renault hopes will eat the SEAT Leon Cupra for breakfast around the infamous Nurburgring test track. Packing, you guessed it, 275hp, the 275 Trophy has an extra 10hp over the standard Megane Renaultsport. Exact performance figures are still to be confirmed but Renault tells us the Trophy will return 37.7mpg, with peak power from its twin-turbocharged engine coming at 5,500rpm.

Jaguar to build six brand-new E-Types

Well this is a bit of a shock: Jaguar has announced that it is to start building the E-Type again, after production ceased in 1975. So much for the new F-Type proving popular… No, Jaguar hasn’t gone mad. It’s actually building six re-creation 'Lightweight' E-Types, with the aim of selling them to wealthy historic racing enthusiasts.

2014 EyesOn Design Vehicle Categories Announced

The vehicle categories for this year's EyesOn Design exhibition have been announced. Each of the seventeen categories has been selected to complement the theme of this year's – 'Automotive design's influence on popular culture'. The organizers have chosen the theme and the cars on display to provoke 'a nostalgic reflection about cars that have, through their design, affected the popular culture of their day.'More than 250 vehicles will be shown, representing the following categories: 50th Anniversary of the GTO – celebrating 50 year's of Pontiac's muscle carClassic Era – high culture becomes pop culture, from the mid-20s to WW2 100 Years of Dodge – a century of survival and success storiesColor, Chrome and Fins – symbols of post-war American optimism 1964 New York World's Fair – 50-years on from the event in Queens 50th Anniversary of the Ford Mustang – the original pony car Tuners – the evolution of car personalization from 1967 to todayMuscle Cars – high horsepower straight from Detroit Working Class of 1928 – American car culture is born Pure Michigan – a celebration of some of the lesser-know makers from Flint, MI Personal Luxury Coupés – a look at the high-end mid-size coupés of the 1970s Movie & TV Cars – including four-wheeled stars from the big and small screenMaserati – highlights from 100 years of the Italian makerStock to Rock – standard models paired with their heavily customized twins Collector's Circle – supporting car collectors and their hobby Military Vehicles – from war-torn roads to off road heroesIndian Motorcycles – an enduring and endearing tribe founded back in 1897 This year's recipient of the Lifetime Achievement Award – Peter Schreyer – will also receive his accolade at the event.

Jaguar to handbuild new £1m E-type Lightweights (2014) first pictures

By Phil McNamara First Official Pictures 14 May 2014 09:16 Jaguar’s E-type is coming back from the dead, in ultra-rare ‘Lightweight’ form. A special team of craftsmen will handbuild six cars, all picture-perfect reproductions of the legendary Lightweight E-types from 1963-64. The 'new' cars are expected to sell for around £1 million each; established Jaguar collectors with a thirst for racing and a desire for a wondrous slice of motoring memorabilia get your name down now.

Porsche sued over actor death crash

THE WIDOW of the man who was driving a Porsche sports car that crashed and killed Fast & Furious actor Paul Walker is suing the car maker. She is claiming that design flaws caused both men to die in the crash in November. The wrongful death lawsuit by Kristine Rodas says her husband was driving at 55mph - not at unsafe speeds as law enforcement investigators decided - before it crashed last year.

80% of drivers don't care about emissions

EIGHT OUT OF 10 drivers in the UK say they wouldn’t change their car to a lower emissions model to save on road tax. This stark admission from the nation’s drivers follows a survey that also found 65% of Britain’s motorists don’t know their VED (Vehicle Excise Duty), or road tax, is calculated on the carbon dioxide emissions of their car. Many drivers think their road tax is worked out based on the size of engine in their car.

Welsh rugby star swaps the ruck for a truck

WALES international rugby star Scott Williams swapped his studs for driving shoes this week as the 2014 British Truck Racing Championship came to Pembrey Circuit. The Scarlets centre was given professional tuition before taking the wheel of the 1,200bhp 5.5-tonne tractor unit himself – and nearly ending up in the crash barriers. Despite his little off, Scott impressed his tutors and even did well enough to warrant a potential future in racing.

Skoda Citigo Monte Carlo launches – costs from £10,590

Skoda Citigo Monte Carlo (pictured) launches The Skoda Citigo may be a small city runaround, but that’s not stopping Skoda tagging the Monte Carlo badge on to give it a bit more appeal. The Skoda Citigo Monte Carlo has been launched with the usual array of tweaks and titivations Skoda likes to use on its Monte Carlo models, but no extra power. That means a trim level based on the mid-range Citigo SE spec with black highlights for the exterior on the alloys, front and rear spoiler, rear diffuser, grill and door mirrors and a lowering of the suspension for a more dynamic appearance.

Potholes claims rise by 750%

CLAIMS for damage to cars have risen by as much as 750% due to the poor state of the UK’s roads after the winter’s floods. One council has reported an increase in claims from motorists whose cars have suffered broken suspension and steering. Somerset Council said it has experienced a 750% rise in claims for the period from January to February 2014 compared to the same period the previous year.

Jay Leno gives us the lowdown on his McLaren P1 (video)

Jay Leno drives his new McLaren P1 Jay Leno has no shortage of cars to play with in his collection, but if this video of Jay and his new McLaren P1 is anything to go by, the P1 is his favourite car by far (at least for now). Jay meets up with McLaren CEO Mike Flewitt at his garage and there’s plenty of chat about what makes the P1 special, and how it compares to the legendary McLaren F1 (a car Jay also owns). Then it’s time for a drive out in the P1, first with Mike Flewitt as a passenger and then with Jay on his own as he takes the P1 round the winding roads near his home, and Jay reveals that he put nearly 900 miles on the clock in the first five days he had the P1.

Parents worried over school run safety

MORE THAN 40% of parents of five to 11-year-olds say their child has been involved in a near-miss while walking or cycling to or from school, according to a survey. Road safety is more of a concern to parents than "stranger danger", the survey from sustainable transport charity Sustrans also found. A total of 470 parents who have a child aged five to 11 who travels to and from school were polled.

Pregnant women 'more likely to crash'

BEING pregnant significantly increases a woman driver's chances of having a serious car crash, research has shown. During the second trimester of pregnancy – weeks 14 to 26 – the risk of being involved in a road accident requiring hospital treatment rose by 42%, a Canadian study of more than 500,000 pregnant women found. In the three years before getting pregnant, the women between them had an average 177 crashes per month.

Peugeot 208 Style arrives – costs from £13,445

Peugeot 208 Style arrives It’s nearly two years since the new Peugeot 208 started arriving in the UK, and it’s a decent little car with plenty of options and a sensible price tag. But the newness of the 208 is starting to wear off a little, so Peugeot are aiming to put some pep in to sales and some footfall in to showrooms with a new special edition 208 – the Peugeot 208 Style. Based on the best-selling 208 Active trim, the 208 Style comes with a panoramic glass roof, SatNav, parking sensors and chrome door mirrors, with the interior getting new seat trim.

Car clocking fraud on rise again

There could be as many as 486,000 vehicles with a false mileage on the road in the UK, according to vehicle history experts, HPI. The act of “clocking” a vehicle has been around for a number of years and is something that was made easier with the arrival of digital odometers. In the past, the mis-aligned digits and exposed screw heads meant that a clocked car was relatively easy to spot.

Volvo V60 Polestar costs £49,775 – just 175 coming to the UK

Just 175 Volvo V60 Polestars (pictured) coming to the UK We did expect, when the Volvo V60 Polestar was made official in November last year, that it would be a regular production model. But instead it’s going to be a limited edition special. That probably makes sense with Volvo busy updating their entire range, but it does mean there will be just 750 cars built, of which 175 are earmarked for the UK – the biggest allocation of any market.

Near miss for family as car ploughs into house

A FAMILY of four had a lucky escape after a car ploughed into their home in Coventry, demolishing the front door and ending up in the hallway. The car's male driver also walked away uninjured from his blue Audi S-line saloon after the accident happened at about 6.45pm on Saturday, West Midlands Ambulance Service (WMAS) said. However, his female passenger had to be freed from the wreck by firefighters before being taken to hospital with neck, pelvic and leg injuries.

VW Golf R 400 could get more than 400PS – which makes a bit of a nonsense of its name

The VW Golf R 400 (pictured) may not actually be an R 400 The Beijing Motor Show last month saw the debut of the VW Golf R 400, an extreme take on the VW Golf R with a full 400 PS (395bhp) at its disposal. When Volkswagen revealed the R 400 as a concept we did note that it looked more production-ready than concept, and it took VW less than a week to confirm that the Golf R 400 was indeed heading for production. Now, just to muddy the waters a bit (or raise expectations), VW’s R&D chief Heinz-Jakob Neusser has said that when the Golf R 400 does arrive it could well be with more than 400PS.

Ford begins Daventry site transformation

FORD IS to invest millions of pounds in a new, state-of-the-art training facility on its existing site in Daventry, Northamptonshire, as part of a wider forward-looking programme. The new site will merge the capabilities of two existing Ford colleges – the Technical Training Centre located separately at Daventry, and the Henry Ford College in Loughborough, which provides training for technicians, sales staff and management throughout Ford’s national dealer network. Scheduled to open next year, the brand-new centre will replace the existing facilities to become a centre of excellence for training across the country.

Mercedes driven by Moss for sale

A "GULLWING" car that helped motor racing star Sir Stirling Moss win the gruelling Mille Miglia race is to be auctioned. Bonhams is offering the Mercedes-Benz 300SL at a sale at the Mercedes-Benz museum in Stuttgart, Germany, on July 12. Moss and his navigator Denis Jenkinson used the car on a course reconnaissance ahead of the 1,000-mile Mille Miglia race in Italy in 1955.

Maserati sales up 4-fold in UK & Europe this year

The Maserati Ghibli (pictured) helped Maserati to strong sales in UK & Europe Maserati are on a mission to revive sales for the marque after years of being just an afterthought for car buyers fancying something interesting and Italian. And it seems to be working. The new Maserati Ghibli (and the Quattroporte) are starting to appeal to car buyers in the UK and Europe so much that sales so far in 2014 are up by 420 per cent on 2013, and although the actual numbers aren’t massive, the progress certainly is.

Angriest drivers are from London

THE CAPITAL CITY of the UK is home to the country’s angriest drivers, with 63% of those who drive in London admitting that getting behind the wheel of a car made them aggressive and angry. The most common reasons for drivers’ bad moods in London are traffic jams (45%), cyclists and pedestrians (34%) and waiting at traffic lights and junctions (33%). Lorries and delivery drivers also accounted for 26% and bad manners from other drivers ranked with 24%.

Kia recalls 7,000 cars

KIA IS recalling more than 7,000 of its UK models due to a possible seatbelt problem. The recall affects 5,787 Sportage models and 1,432 Soul vehicles and concerns a possible fault with the vehicle's seatbelt pre-tensioner. Kia said that although it was not aware of any injuries resulting from this possible fault, discovered as a result of monitoring of customer vehicles, it was concerned that some pre-tensioners might not work properly due to a faulty piston within the mechanism.

Lexus F – sexier than a wet woman in your arms

The Lexus F will distract you from even the most appealing event. Apparently Why do people buy a Lexus? In truth, most buy because a Lexus offers impressive build quality, understated looks, lots of toys and a bullet-proof reputation for reliability; a Lexus is a luxury car buy that is driven by the head, rather than the heart.

Audi R8 LMX – the most powerful R8 yet – costs from £160,025

The Audi R8 LMX (pictured) is the first production car with laser lights The new Audi R8 LMX is actually the most powerful R8 road car Audi has produced, but they seem keener you know that it has laser beam headlights. But that’s because they’ve beaten BMW to the punch on the laser front. As a run-out version of the current R8, the R8 LMX has a lot to offer, with more power, more toys, a hefty price tag and a debut in the UK at the Goodwood Festival of Speed next month.

Alfa Romeo to launch 8 new cars in next 4 years – Alfa MiTo to be dropped

The Alfa Romeo Gloria (pictured) could point to a new Giulia Alfa Romeo has been stuck in the doldrums for quite a while, and is now in the sorry state of having just two cars on sale – the Alfa MiTo and Alfa Giulietta – both compact cars and both with front wheel drive. Not really Alfas, although they’re better than you might expect. But in a brave plan to turn Alfa Romeo in to a proper force again – a plan we reported was on the cards a year ago – Sergio Marchionne has revealed that Alfa is planning to launch eight new cars in the next four years and concentrate on proper RWD cars with proper driver appeal.

Ariel's Atom returns faster than ever

BRITISH firm Ariel has announced an upgraded version of its sensational Atom sportscar that is faster than ever, making it one of the quickest cars on sale today. The Atom 3.5R showcases a number of upgrades over the outgoing model which contribute to the sensational performance. The 2.0-litre Honda V-TEC engine has had its supercharger revised to give 350bhp and over 240lb.ft of torque, while the gearbox is now a six-speed paddleshift system that can manage five downshifts in less than a second.

Motorists Worried About Safety On Smart Motorways

THE IAM is calling for more information and advice on ‘smart’ motorways for drivers. The call comes after a poll conducted by the Institute of Advanced Motorists (IAM) discovered that seventy-one per cent of drivers said they would feel less safe on a motorway with no hard shoulder than a motorway with one. One of the main concerns of respondents is the plan to increase the distance between safety refuges with forty-eight per cent believing that safety refuges should be no more than 500 yards apart.

May Sale For Regal Bentley

IT’S time to shake the piggy bank as a 1970 Bentley T1 once owned by His Grace the Duke of Devonshire is being offered for sale without reserve at Silverstone Auctions’ May Sale on Saturday 24th May. The car is being offered for sale due to lack of use by its current owner Leslie Bricusse, the English composer famous for writing a string of hits including the theme to James Bond’s Goldfinger, Sammy Davis Jnr’s What kind of fool am I, and Nina Simone’s Feeling Good. During the Duke’s ownership, notable passengers included Her Majesty The Queen, former Prime Minister Harold Macmillan, poet and writer Sir John Betjeman, and both Princess Alexandra and Princess Margaret.

New Ford Mustang goes on sale in Europe at UEFA Champions League Final

The new Ford Mustang (pictured) on sale for Football fans The new Ford Mustang is going to be available in the UK, and in right hand drive for the first time, and Ford has decided to make it a bit of an event. Sponsors of the UEFA Champions League since 1992, Ford has decided that the UEFA Champions League Final between Real Madrid and Atlético de Madrid in Lisbon, when Ford expects 70 million UK and European fans to tune in, is the ideal time to put the new Mustang up for sale. Ford is offering 500 pre-order Mustangs during the final – 130 of which will be RHD for the UK – in a choice of Fastback or convertible and with either the 324bhp 2.3 litre EcoBoost or the 420bhp 5.0 litre V8.

Heathrow congestion charge pondered

DRIVERS travelling to Heathrow could face a congestion charge should the west London airport be chosen for expansion. Bosses at Heathrow will tell the Whitehall-appointed Airports Commission there could be a case for introducing a charge once improvements in public transport in the area are delivered. Such a charge would not apply to surrounding roads such as the M25, the M4 and the A4, but would affect vehicles travelling to the airport.