The Future Role of the Vehicle Designer

The vehicle design department at the Royal College of Art hosted the second in a series of five lectures looking at the future of the profession last week. Moving on from the previous week's topic of sustainability, this debate explored the future roles and responsibilities of the vehicle designer. Head of department Dale Harrow began by posing the question "Is it time to rethink – do we still need the car?" Although still relevant, Harrow's ultimate answer to this was that the profession was about to see marked change, with the end to an era where "designers are locked behind closed doors in studios".

New (2014) BMW M3 and M4: OFFICIAL

The new BMW M3 (pictured) debuts along with its coupe sibling, the BMW M4 (below) We’ve had teases from BMW for the new M3 and M4 but now, ahead of a public debut at the Detroit Auto Show next month, we get the official details. Key to the four-door M3 and 2-door M4 is the new 3.0 litre engine, a new turbo, direct injection in-line six petrol which produces 425bhp and a very healthy 405lb/ft of torque from just 1850 rpm. That sort of grunt is enough to get the M3 and M4 to 62mph in 4.3 seconds with the standard six-speed manual, but opt for the seven-speed DCT ‘box and it’s even quicker – just 4.1 seconds.

Porsche 918 Spyder with Weissach Package does 0-62 mph in 2.6 seconds

Porsche 918 Spyder with Weissach Package does 0-62 mph in 2.6 seconds The trio of hypercars currently vying for the title of the ultimate supercar – McLaren P1, LaFerrari and Porsche 918 Spyder – have all taken similar – but different – routes to performance, although they’ve all ended up with remarkably similar statistics. But the Porsche 918 Spyder has already scored a direct hit with a record time of 6:57s round the Nurburgring and now, ahead of the first customer cars finally reaching their homes, Porsche has revealed improved performance for the 918 Spyder with the Weissach Package fitted. Performance from 0-62mph is just 2.6 seconds (2.8 seconds without the Weissach Package), 124mph is reached in 7.2 seconds (0.5s quicker) and 186mph in 19.9 seconds (2.1 s quicker).