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Porsche 918 Spyder: The first ride in the future game changer

Faster than the iconic Carrera GT yet more economical than parent company Volkswagen's frugal new Up supermini, Porsche's next supercar, the 762-hp gasoline-electric powered 918 Spyder, promises to offer the best of both worlds—scorching performance and ultralow consumption. Autoweek joins Porsche's engineering team for the very first test of the car that is already causing headaches in Maranello and Sant'Agata. For all of its intense promise and awesome potential, the very first running prototype of the upcoming Porsche 918 Spyder looks suspiciously like a refugee from a shadowy postapocalyptic movie set as it glides silently into view across the vast expanse of bitumen at the Nardo test track in southern Italy.

Stop-Start Freelander on the way

Land Rover has announced that it will be introducing stop-start technology on its Freelander range from May 2009, thus saving around 8% on the Co2 emissions, and taking the Freelander down a group on VED, which should help move a few more Freelanders off forecourts next year. The technology for the stop-start was developed in-house, with a new engine management system coming from Bosch and an uprated starter from Denso. The stop-start option will be available on the 2.2 TD4, which accounts for nearly half of UK sales.

Range Rover LRX announced

The Range Rover LRX will debut in 2010 and go on sale in 2011 We last reported on the Land Rover LRX last month, when it became pretty clear that Land Rover are pushing ahead with the project after receiving some Government funding for the LRX Concept in March. And it seemed that they were planning to show the RR LRX in June next year – 40 years on from the first showing of the original luxury off-roader – the Range Rover – in 1970. That now seems to be confirmed, with Land Rover stating the LRX will debut next year and go on sale in 2011.