Lamborghini reveals 2011's new V12 supercar engine

Lamborghini today announced the first details of its new V12 engine and transmission, which Lamborghini president and CEO Stephan Winkelmann promises will be 'the strong heart of the Murcielago successor next year.' It's to be the first clean-sheet Lamborghini engine since the original V12 first appeared in the 350GT, nearly 50 years ago. Lamborghini is keen to promote the low weight yet high performance of the new V12, which produces 700bhp yet tips the scales at only 235kg. Sant'Agata has also announced a new transmission for the Murcielago successor.

Aston Martin Rapide at the Frankfurt motor show

Aston Martin Rapide (2009) first pictures By Tim Pollard First Official Pictures 15 April 2009 00:01 Aston Martin is clearly wringing the launch of the new Rapide saloon for all its worth. This is the second batch of ‘first official photos’ of the new four-door from Gaydon – and it’s still only a tease of new information with a single image and a handful of nuggets of information. Today’s announcement does confirm a few new details about the Rapide, which was first shown in concept guise at the 2006 Detroit auto show.

VW Taigun: It’s an Up! SUV

Volkswagen has revealed the VW Taigun at the Sao Paulo Motor Show in Brazil, a very compact SUV based on the VW Up! The Taigun is 3859mm long and 1728mm wide, making it a chunk smaller than the next VW SUV up (the Tiguan) and smaller even than Nissan’s Juke, but it gets an extra 50mm in the wheelbase compared to the Up so interior room looks decent. Vw say the Taigun is purposely designed to look just like a mini-me Tiguan or Touareg (and sound like one too) with its very similar styling, high ride height, skid plates and roof rails with an interior that offers room for four and enough spce for 280 litre of stuff in the boot (a plentiful 987 litres with the back seats folded).