Yamaha Recoil Pawl on 2040-parts.com

McLaren MP4-12C gets 616 bhp

The McLaren MP4-12C is about to get some upgrades – including an extra 25bhp – which will also be offered to existing owners free of charge. On balance, what McLaren has achieved with the MP4-12C is nothing short of remarkable. Yes, there have been a few glitches along the way, but in truth they have been little more than the sort of hiccups almost any new supercar suffers as it escapes in to the wild and has to deal with the real world and real drivers.

Mercedes SLS AMG Gullwing – official photos

Mercedes has now sent us a big photo gallery of the SLS AMG Gullwing But Mercedes has now released all the official images, so we thought you ought to get to judge the whole deal for yourself. The leaked images we had looked much better than we’d expected, and the SLS does look good – a sort of Z4 on steroids mixed with design cues from the original 300SL Gullwing. But even though the SLS will be at Frankfurt next week it won’t be launched until 2011.

Nissan developing the self-cleaning car

Motorists may never need to wash their cars again, as Nissan is helping to develop paint that repels mud, rain and dirt. The technology, which Nissan tells us is “super-hyrophobic and oleophobic”, creates a protective layer of air between the paint and the environment, preventing dirt sticking to the car. Nissan Nissan Note already uses self-cleaning technology Called Ultra-Ever Dry, the tech is currently being tested on the Nissan Note, which already features a ‘wash and blow dry’ function on its rear view camera.