Crown Automotive Rough Trail Combo Beach Topper Cb30135 on 2040-parts.com

Phil McNamara's 2010 LA Auto Show report

Optimism. California was built on it, and the first press day of the Los Angeles auto show was mired in thick, gloopy, ‘we’re going to save/conquer the world’ with cars rhetoric. Mercedes saw no irony whatsoever in announcing 200 deliveries of the zero emission hydrogen fuel cell B-class, then without missing a beat unveiling the 550hp CLS63 AMG, with huge increases in power and torque.

VW Design Vision Golf GTI (2013) 493bhp Golf revealed

As CAR reported in our scoop last week, VW will unveil a higher-performance Golf GTI hot hatch at the 2013 Wörthersee show, and here we have the first sketches of the super-Golf. Called the VW Design Vision Golf GTI, the concept packs close to 500bhp and can outrun a Porsche 911. It's by far the most extreme Golf hot hatch since the Bentley-engined GTI W12 concept of 2007.

Ford Focus RS500 (2010) first official pictures

This is the new Ford Focus RS500, a special limited edition version of the Blue Oval’s mad Focus RS hot hatch with 15% more power. For a start there’s that extra power. Thanks to a larger air-to-air intercooler, a bigger air filter and a wider diameter exhaust downpipe (plus a new ECU to take advantage of the mechanical changes) peak power is up from 301bhp to 345lb ft at 6000rpm, while torque climbs from 325lb ft to 339lb ft. The result is a 5.6sec 0-62mph time (down three-tenths) while the top speed climbs two notches to 165mph.