Truper T275-5 Electronic Flush Cutter 5" on 2040-parts.com

Friday in Le Mans: Prerace parade and car show thrills crowds

The 24 Hours of Le Mans doesn't start until Saturday at 3 p.m. French time, but as anyone here will tell you, the festivities began much earlier in the week. On Friday, I had the opportunity to visit the Driver's Parade and car show in downtown Le Mans, a five-hour festival that brings out what appeared to be half the town, plus many race enthusiasts from around the globe.

BMW 1-series M Coupe (2011) teaser video

BMW is continuing to build up the hype ahead of the launch of its next M car – this is a teaser video giving us our first glimpse of the undisguised BMW 1-series M Coupe What’s new is our first look at this hot 1-series’ butch bodykit, complete with an engorged front bumper and triple air intakes. There are CSL-alike 19-inch wheels too, and sitting between the cross-drilled front discs is a twin-turbo 3.0-litre straight-six, producing 335bhp and 369lb ft. Drive, thankfully, goes to just the rear wheels, and they’ll be a choice of either a six-speed manual or seven-speed dual-clutch gearbox. There’ll be an M diff too, but we hear it might be on the options list as BMW’s money men fight to keep the list price under £40k.   

Frankfurt 2011: Mazda C-X5 2012 Debut

Mazda CX-5 debuts at Frankfurt We got the pre-Frankfurt reveal of the 2012 Mazda CX-5 last month, and we have to say it’s an impressive bit of kit and has looks as good as anything else in the sector. The new CX-5 is going up against some tough competition with very able – and very well-established – competitors like the RAV4, Tiguan, Kuga and CR-V. But, if people get past their antipathy twoards a brand that has the name of a light bulb, they will find the CX-5 is a market winner.