Michelin Pilot Power 3 on 2040-parts.com

McLaren celebrates 50th birthday with special edition 12C supercar (2013)

McLaren will build 100 special edition 12C supercars to celebrate its 50th anniversary in 2013: 50 coupes and 50 folding hard-top Spiders. The birthday edition cars get bespoke lightweight components from McLaren Special Operations (MSO) and extra accessories, as well as a hefty price bump. You'll pay £196,000 for a hard-top McLaren 50 12C, and £215,500 for the McLaren 50 12C Spider – a hefty £20,000 rise over the standard cars' price tags.

Mazda RX-8 gets an update – in Japan

Mazda has updated the RX-8 in Japan with new colours and extra equipment [ad#ad-1] Well, it does make sense to update your cars in your home market first, so the updates to the Mazda RX-8 for the Japanese market announced today are almost certain to come to UK cars before long. Just like the updates Mazda made to the MX-5 in Japan were followed by updates to the Mazda MX-5 UK spec car shortly after. Despite the fact that the Mazda RX-8 is not the best-selling car in the world, it does have an awful lot going for it.

The Detroit motor show 2010 review, by Gavin Green

Motown may not have rediscovered its mojo but at least the car makers formerly known as the Big Three have regained a little bit of their old swagger since the misery of last year’s Detroit show. After all, it’s not every year that two out of three national car makers go bankrupt. The survivor, Ford, unsurprisingly looked the most confident at this year’s show, never mind that its star car was about as hometown as Bauhaus and bratwurst.