2013 Honda CR-Z hybrid gets power boost

The slow-selling Honda CR-Z hybrid hatchback gets a new lithium-ion battery pack and more-powerful electric for the 2013 model year. The change from a nickel metal hydride battery pack helps boost output from the hybrid powertrain's electric motor from 10 kilowatts to 15 kilowatts. The powertrain's combined output is now rated at 130 hp at 6,000 rpm, up 8 hp from the 2012 model.

Porsche Macan caught on video

The Porsche Macan – a Porsche Cayenne on a boil wash – has been spied out testing and caught on video. We’ve seen spy photos of the Porsche Macan before – Porsche’s take on the Audi Q5 – and they look more like a cut down Cayenne being used as a mule for the Macan’s underpinnings than an actual Macan. But it seems that the shots so far are actually the Macan as it’s heading for production, which means Porsche has, perhaps unsurprisingly, chosen the 911 school of car design as its inspiration for the Macan and just stuck a Cayenne on a boil wash.

Glickenhaus may enter LMP1 class at Le Mans

James Glickenhaus, the man who brought you the Ferrari P4/5, is working on a new car to be used in top-level endurance racing such as the 24 Hours of Le Mans, possibly as early as 2014. Recently, sketches of the car—currently called the P4/5 Competizione LMP—have made their way to the Internet. Glickenhaus made his money in the stock market and film industry, but he became a household name among car guys when he commissioned the one-of-one Ferrari P4/5 Pininfarina.