Jaguar E-Type Named UK’s Favourite Sports car

Marking it's 50th anniversary the Jaguar E-Type has been named as the UK’s favourite sportscar in an online vote of race fans and classic car enthusiasts.

“Britain is famous for its sportscars but until now no one has ever been able to say which one is the best. That’s a long-running debate we have now put to rest,” said Silverstone Classic Event Director, Nick Wigley.

The iconic Jaguar collected nearly a quarter of the votes cast, easily beating the similarly iconic Morgan and the TVR Griffith into second and third.

The vote was set-up by organisers of Silverstone Classic (July 22-24), the world’s largest classic motorsport festival that this year features a celebration of the iconic E-Type.

The highlight of the celebration will be two headline races during the weekend, both with 58 cars expected to take to the Silverstone Grand Prix track from the new brand new Silverstone Wing paddock. Organisers also hope to set a world record with over 1,000 road going examples making up a cavalcade around the 3.66 mile circuit.

The 2011 Silverstone Classic is set to be the biggest event yet with over 100 historic F1 cars expected for the weekend, as well as a grid of Group C sportscars that will race into the dusk on Saturday night. The program also includes a celebrity race, using identical Morgan cars, with drivers including TV chef Heston Blumenthal and Strictly Come Dancing professional dancer Brendan Cole raising money for the Bobby Moore Fund for Cancer Research UK.

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Honda Accord gets Midlife Makeover

You may disagree, but somehow the latest generation Honda Accord never seemed as crisp in its overall appearance as its sporty predecessor.


Honda seems to have addressed that to an extent with the Accord sedan and estate's midlife makeover, the new model set to be revealed at the Geneva show in March and in addition to subtle styling enhancements, the Accord benefits from numerous improvements beneath the skin.
On the styling front, the headlights now boast a cleaner appearance with clear indicators and there's a bolder grille in place. What's more, flagship models now have bi-xenon headlights with an active cornering function. These 'Active Cornering Lights' provide enhanced illumination when the vehicle is turning.
Another new lighting technology for Honda is the High Beam Support system (on bi-xenon models). This system is controlled by a CMOS camera fitted to the windscreen in the area of the driver rear view mirror. The camera detects oncoming headlights or the taillights of a vehicle in front and automatically dips the headlights onto their normal setting if they are on high-beam.
At the rear, subtle colour changes to the lights join a light chrome number plate garnish on the sedan (dark chrome on the Type S).
Inside, most models get new seat materials and door linings, while the Type S version gets additional sporty touches.
Headlights now boast a cleaner appearance and a bolder grille is not in place.
Beneath the bonnet, the 110kW 2.2-litre i-DTEC diesel engine has had internal frictional losses reduced to improve efficiency and emissions, the result being a 9 g/km drop in CO2 emissions for the manual sedan and an 11 g/km reduction for the automatic.
These internal changes have been combined with a host of underbody aerodynamic aids, including a larger front air dam and covers for the underfloor and rear subframe. Honda's engineers have also put effort into reducing the frictional losses in the wheels and tyres with low friction wheel bearings and reduced rolling resistance tyres.
Accords equipped with automatic transmission have also benefitted from minimised frictional losses in the gearbox and optimised ratios to improve economy and emissions.
As a result of all these changes all engines in the range now boast better efficiency and lower emissions but, of course, it's the diesel model that rules the roost in this respect with its 138 g/km CO2 emissions rating.
Noise, harshness and vibration levels have been further reduced with the adoption of higher density foam in the under bonnet and dashboard areas and improved underfloor insulation.
Engineers have also fine-tuned the dampers to better suit vast range of road conditions found in Europe. Says Honda, detailed refinement of the dual mode dampers has given improvement in both high speed stability for highway driving and a significant improvement in ride quality, even over poor road surfaces.
Are they trying to be smarter? Rear end now gets chrome strip.
The revised Accord range is set to go on sale across Europe from April this year and while we are still awaiting confirmation of its South African launch, early in the second half of the year should be a good bet.

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The Hyundai Curb concept.

The Hyundai Curb Crossover Concept made its world debut at the 2011 Detroit International Auto Show. The company expects the Curb Crossover to be a compact Urban Activity Vehicle for the next generation of Hyundai buyers. The Korean automaker noted that the inspiration for Curb came from the need to evolve its fluidic sculpture design language for the younger buyers.

“We wanted the Curb to be urban tough without looking like a Brink’s truck. City driving was going to be its forte, not crossing the Rubicon trail, but we wanted it to have urban armor for daily driving on city streets. It needed to empower its passengers in this setting,” said, Hyundai designer, Jason Brown.
When it comes to the exteriors of the Curb, the design starts with the glass that spills into the hood and wraps around the cowl, covering the A pillars. Beneath the glass you can find structural trusses with the glass panels applied like a shield. The whole profile of the vehicle is dominated by a boomerang trajectory bodyside line.
Inside the vehicle, you can find saffron accents that match the ones on the tires. The saffron accents appear as a gradient pattern on the seats, which are made of super-stretch, fast-drying board short material. The interiors of Curb also features rear head rests mounted to its robust frame.
Under the hood, the Hyundai Curb Crossover Concept is powered by a turbocharged 1.6-liter Gasoline Direct Injection four-cylinder engine that is mated to Direct Shift Gearbox. This engine can generate a power of 175 hp and a torque of 169 lb. ft. It is expected that the vehicle will deliver around 30 mpg in cities and around 40 mpg in the highways

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KIA Releases first sketches of 2012 Rio

Kia has just released the first sketches for its next-generation 2012 Kia Rio that is expected to make its global debut during the Geneva Motor Show in March. Replacing the under-performing predecessor, the new Kia Rio comes with a remarkably stylish design that borrows the headlight and grille styling from its counterparts, the Kia Optima and Kia Sportage. Running through the length of the sides are strong character lines that are complemented by the subtle wheel arches and futuristic wheels. Meanwhile, the interior sketch splashes ample amount of ‘red’ across the dash board and door sides, while also aiding to the more stylish look of the car.

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2012 Mercedes Benz slk

Mercedes-Benz clearly wants to revive in style those beautiful rising doors that made history in the 50s. That's why a little brother for the yet-to-be-unveiled SLC supercar is on the way.

The future mini supercar could use the underpinnings of the 3rd generation of the SLK-Klasse, which should hit the streets in 2011. The rumoured SLK Gullwing will feature a hybrid powertrain:a 3,5 litres V6 internal combustion engine(probably, the current one, which boasts a 305 BHP output/360 Nm max. torque and an electronically-limited max. speed of 250 km/h) and an electric unit coupled to Li-Ion batteries.

Specifically, those state-of-the-art technology batteries are the reason for planning such a dramatic SLK version. Mercedes-Benz intends to install them in the side sills, so there would be no room for the conventional doors.

The 2012 Mercedes-Benz SLK Gullwing will try, as best as it can, to protect the environment:regenerative brakes and START/STOP function to be fitted, a 150 g CO2/km gas emission, an average 5,9 l/100 km fuel consumption, 193 km of all-electric autonomy. However, the car won't forget its main objective as a sports car, so it will ensure a 0-100 km/h sprint in approximately 5 seconds.

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