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McLaren MP4-12C performance specs released

The twin-turbo, 3.8-liter V8 in the McLaren MP4-12C sports car cranks out 592 hp at 7,000 rpm, according to factory performance specs released on Sunday. The engine hits its torque peak of 443 lb-ft at 3,000 rpm and holds it up to 7,000 rpm. That power gives the MP4-12C a top speed of 205 mph.

Ellesmere Port's bid to build Ampera hits snags

By Rob Golding Motor Industry 09 October 2009 15:02 Prime minister Gordon Brown’s personal crusade to get Vauxhall's version of the Chevrolet Volt petrol-electric plug-in hybrid – the Ampera – built in Britain's Ellesmere Port factory in 2012 is a dream delayed, CAR can disclose today.News that the UK Astra plant is the best in Europe, that the Astra's Delta platform will underpin the Ampera, and that Volt will be on US sale from 2010 had been taken to mean that Vauxhall would be churning out the cars in the north west within three years.But the prospect of an electric car industry growing up around the run-down Merseyside manufacturing site is not imminent, CAR has learned.'No Ampera to be built in Europe before 2015'Vauxhall insiders have made it clear that the car to be known as the Vauxhall/Opel Ampera in Europe will be an import from the US for at least five years. One senior planner told us: 'The US will be the sole source of Amperas until at least 2015.'Bob Lutz, GM's former product supremo who recently came out of retirement as a PR, said that the low value of the dollar made the US an ideal site for the manufacturing of export cars. And with forecast sticker prices of the range-extender electric car standing at a scary £35,000+, every price saving is vital to its marketability.The European market also needs time to get its electricity recharge infrastructure in place before it is worth making cars onshore in volume, GM high-ups point out.

Audi RS7 Sportback facelift (2014) first official pictures

By Tim Pollard First Official Pictures 02 June 2014 12:16 Audi has unveiled the new 2014-spec RS7, with a modestly refreshed wardrobe and a sprinkling of tech changes to keep it honest in the face of the soon-to-be-fettled CLS 63 AMG. The 2014 Audi RS7 is marked out by new LED headlights wrapped around the company's dominating black-honeycomb grille, a fresh design of 20in wheel, four new paint choices and, at the rear, redesigned LED tail lamps. Not much.