McLaren MP4-12C Can-Am (2012) racer revealed

By Ollie Kew

First Official Pictures

15 August 2012 09:59

McLaren will show this MP4-12C Can-Am racing car at the Pebble Beach Concours d'Elegance in August 2012. It's only a one-off design study at the moment, says McLaren, but the Can-Am racer could morph into an off-the-shelf racer for well-heeled enthusiasts keen to take their racing seriously - if there's enough interest.

Though the engine is ostensibly the same 3.8-litre twin-turbo V8 that nestles in the regular 12C, optimised cooling and recalibration ups power to 624bhp. That's 13bhp more than the 12C Spider, making the Can-Am can the most powerful 12C yet shown.

Adding to the car's potential performance is a weight figure of just 1200kg - around 270kg lighter than the regular hard-top road car. Of course, there's masses of aero at play here too. Pushing the Pirelli slicks into the track surface is a myriad of carbon addenda: a new splitter and front winglets team up at the front, and the rear is dominated by a huge fixed wing in place of the road car's active air-brake spoiler.

Because the Can-Am 12C isn't constrained by the same pesky FIA regulations that the MP4-12C GT3 has to conform to, its completely redesigned aero package produces 30% more downforce than the GT3 racer. This is one area where McLaren's extensive F1 know-how has genuinely come in handy.

It's a testament to the design of the standard 12C's carbon 'Monocell' tub that it sees duty in the Can-Am racer. Although the interior is stripped out and fitted with a roll cage, the car's basic underpinnings remain unchanged from the road car's, providing the all-important driver safety cell.

There are even two front seats inside the Can-Am 12C. However, even if it went into low-volume production (as seems likely for privateer racers), you won't be able to drive your trophy wife to a track day, as it's not road legal. 

The 12C Can-Am Edition wears the same shade of McLaren Orange as the cars of the company's namesake founder Bruce McLaren, and also Denny Hulme, which were successfully campaigned throughout the 1960s and 1970s. Poignantly, McLaren was killed while testing a new iteration of his Can-Am racing car on 2 June 1970, at Goodwood Racing Circuit.

If you want to pay your own tribute to Bruce, you can't just stroll out and buy a Can-Am 12C, though. McLaren confirmed to CAR that the concept is just that: a pure design study from which the marque will gauge public reaction, and only then consider production plans.

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Alfa Romeo Spider and Mazda MX-5 (2015): the new sports cars revealed

By Tim Pollard (artist's impressions by Christian Schulte)

Spy shots

10 August 2012 12:33

The Fiat Group's revelation in May 2012 that it would co-develop the next Alfa Romeo Spider alongside the Mazda MX-5 got everyone at CAR, and its digital audience, salivating. Today we can bring you the latest artist's impressions showing how this Japanese-Italian fusion could look on the road.

This is perhaps one of the most exciting prospects for years: a project marrying Italian design flair and Alfa Romeo style with the Japanese reliability and back-to-basics MX-5 purity. It could be a marriage made in heaven – we'll know for sure when we see this duo in 2015.

These are artist's impressions, remember. None of us yet know exactly how the sports car twins will look, but the rules of jigsaw identification mean we can have a good stab at how they'll turn out.

The MX-5 hasn't deviated much over the years from the original 1989 recipe, and our sources at Mazda suggest the same evolutionary style will continue, pepped up with the latest 'Kodo' design language seen on the new 6 family car. That means a pointier front face and exaggerated Mazda grille, but the essential footprint of the 2015 MX-5 won't change much.

This suggests the Alfa Spider won't be wildly different. The hard points of the architecture will be shared, but each brand will be allowed the freedom to graft on their own grilles and corporate jewellery. Let's hope they're allowed more flexibility than the identikit Toyota GT86 and Subaru BRZ twins.

While details remain scant on the Spider/MX-5 project, a few nuggets have been announced already in the formal statement.

'The study calls for both Mazda and Fiat to develop two differentiated, distinctly styled, iconic and brand-specific light weight, roadsters featuring rear-wheel drive,' the companies have confirmed. 'The Mazda and Alfa Romeo variants will each be powered by specific proprietary engines unique to each brand.

'The project assumption is that both vehicles will be manufactured at Mazda’s Hiroshima, Japan, plant with production for Alfa Romeo envisaged starting in 2015.'

Each brand will stick with their own engines, and CAR understands the Spider will use the 1750TBi four-cylinder, tuned to produce more than 200bhp and mated to a seven-speed twin-clutch TCT transmission.

CAR understands the Italian roadster will stick with a folding soft-top, rather than use the MX-5's folding hard top. Fingers crossed the rear-wheel drive purity of the Mazda comes as standard on the Alfa Romeo Spider.

>> What do you think of the 2015 Alfa Romeo Spider and 2015 Mazda MX-5 project? Click 'Add your comment' and sound off

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Mazda 6 (2012) revealed in teaser images

By Ollie Kew

First Official Pictures

25 July 2012 11:01

Mazda has released shadowy teaser images of its new 6 saloon, in anticipation of its world premiere at the Moscow motor show, running from 29 August - 9 September 2012.

The car's nose is very similar to the Takeri concept of 2011, continuing the new Mazda family face first seen in production trim on the new Mazda CX-5 crossover.

Like the CX-5, the new Mazda 6 will benefit from Mazda's 'SkyActiv' technology. SkyActiv brings a lightweight modular architecture and a range of cleaner petrol and diesel engines – which Mazda claims are nearly as frugal as hybrids without a bulky EV battery in sight. The Takeri’s 2.2 turbodiesel spat out 173bhp and 310lb ft, yet Mazda claimed just 104g/km of CO2.
Such cleanliness should be achievable on the new 6 in road trim, since it’ll sport SkyActiv staples such as stop/start, low-friction components and regenerative braking.

Dubbed i-ELOOP, this braking system harnesses energy when you dab the brakes and stores it in a capacitor to run the car’s electric systems. This saves battery drain and is claimed to stretch combined fuel economy by up to 10%.

Two bodystyles will again be offered – a four-door saloon or an estate/tourer – and we’d predict prices to kick off at around £20,000 for the base models. Mazda needs to keep prices and emissions low to continue the 6's strong fleet sales record.
Why no hatchback? Because Mazda polled the product ranges from premium car makers and saw that five-doors are deemed more mainstream, and who wants to be mainstream when you can aim for 'premium'? So four-door it is for the new 6, albeit with a coupe-like rakishness.

Tellingly, the worldwide reveal is taking place at the Moscow motor show. Alongside China, Russia is growing fast as a new car market consumer, and with the crisis in Europe ongoing, manufacturers are keen to capitalise on this greater demand in new markets.

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Europe’s most congested cities revealed

 Jams are a familiar sight for many motorists, with the worst in the UK being named and shamed in this new report

By Sophie Williamson-Stothert

Motoring Issues

12 July 2012 14:55

Drivers in Yorkshire face a delay of 36 minutes for every hour they drive in peak periods, according to a new study by sat-nav firm TomTom. It's enough to make Leeds-Bradford the seventh most traffic clogged city in Europe.

While Leeds-Bradford was labelled the most congested city in Britain, the report also identified London and Birmingham as traffic hotspots. Both are in the worst congested 20 cities of the 31 analysed.

Motorists in Birmingham spend 73 hours a year at a standstill and London drivers fare slightly worse, spending 74 hours caught in rush-hour. However, Leeds-Bradford trumps them both - drivers in Yorkshire spend an astonishing 86 hours a year stuck in traffic. 

And the traffic's getting worse in Yorkshire. Since last year there has been a 5% increase in congestion – the biggest rise anywhere in Europe.

On average, all cities analysed suffer from congestion 24% of the time, slowing journeys substantially in the rush hours.

There are even certain days when misery for motorists is ramped up further. Leeds-Bradford and Birmingham’s worst congestion periods strike on Tuesday and Thursday, especially at peak times. But TomTom records suggest Monday and Thursday are worst in London.

The top 10 most congested cities in Europe, ranked by overall congestion level

1. Warsaw 42% congestion level 
2. Marseille 41%
3. Rome 34%
4. Brussels 34%
5. Paris 32%
6. Dublin 30%
7. Leeds-Bradford 28%
8. London 27%
9. Stockholm 27%
10. Hamburg 27%

>>Do you suffer with traffic gridlock on a daily basis? Share your stories in the comments below

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Range Rover Sport (2012) the interior revealed

By Ollie Kew

Spy shots

20 July 2012 16:48

There are big changes afoot for the new 2013 Range Rover Sport's interior: it's come over all Evoque.

Our spyshots show previously unseen details of the sporty SUV's cabin, as well as more of that evolved exterior physique. The new Range Rover arrives first in early 2013, followed by the Range Rover Sport later in the year.

First off, the Evoque's Beckham-inspired cabin has clearly been a major influence on the new Range Sport. Gone is the chunky, squared-off centre console, and in its place is a steeply raked centre stack very similar to the popular Evoque's. To these eyes, the slope of the console is slightly akin to a Honda NSX's!

Decluttering the centre stack has been a priority: off-road functions are grouped around a single rotary dial control, while infotainment responsibilities are concentrated around the centre touchscreen, as with the majority of current Jaguar Land Rover vehicles.

It is indeed, which is most curious. Our previous scoop of the Sport's big brother showed that the full-fat Range Rover will be fitted with JLR's rotary gear selector, as first seen on the XF.

The Sport will shun that arrangement, with all its rising and glowing theatre, instead opting for a conventional stick-shift system, with a stubby little lever not dissimilar to what we've papped lurking inside the new Jaguar F-type.

Could it be that JLR is separating its racier models with this less sedate method of gear selection? You'll have to watch this space, but the clues are laid bare already.

The new Range Rover Sport is due to arrive in late 2013, around a year after the unveiling of the all-new L405 Range Rover. Expect the new RRS to sport a price tag somewhere around the £50,000 mark, meaning its market position won't change much.

What will change is the car's family-friendliness. Sources close to CAR have confirmed the new RRS will be available with a seven-seat configuration, giving a compelling practicality edge over its main super SUV-rival: the Porsche Cayenne.

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