Latest news with #performancecar
Auto Express
2 days ago
- Automotive
- Auto Express
Car Deal of the Day: rapid Audi S3 for a tempting £391 per month
Discreet looks; prodigious power Well-equipped Black Edition model Just £391.09 a month Audi's S3 has arguably been the king of discreet hot hatchbacks for the last 25 years. Often in the shadow of rivals – and in recent years, the RS 3 – the S3 has always blended power, prestige and plush refinement so very well. Advertisement - Article continues below The good news is that this champ of posh performance is looking like great value right now. Through the Auto Express Find A Car service, Carwow Leasey is offering the S3 for under £400 a month, which makes it even more tempting than usual. This two-year deal requires an initial payment of £4,988.08 to get the ball rolling, while mileage is limited to 5,000 a year. But you can raise this to 8,000 a year for under a tenner extra a month – and, when you remember that this is a performance car you'll love driving fast, that higher mileage limit is probably a sensible option. In recent years, the S3 range has come in just racy Black Edition and (even) posher Vorsprung Edition versions, and with this deal you get the former. Black Edition gives you, unsurprisingly, plenty of black exterior trim, puddle lamps with an 'S' logo, Matrix LED headlights, LED rear lights, scrolling indicators all round, black Nappa leather upholstery, ambient lighting and all the tech you'd expect from a high-flying Audi model. High-flying is a good way to describe the power on offer, too. While the S3 has never been the last word in driver engagement, it has always been quick. The latest model, updated last year with more poke and tweaked looks, packs 328bhp from its 2.0-litre turbocharged engine. It's scintillatingly fast from a standstill, with 62mph coming up in just 4.7 seconds. All of this power is kept in check by Audi's famous quattro four-wheel-drive system, too. The Car Deal of the Day selections we make are taken from our own Auto Express Find A Car deals service, which includes the best current offers from car dealers and leasing companies around the UK. Terms and conditions apply, while prices and offers are subject to change and limited availability. If this deal expires, you can find more top Audi S3 leasing offers from leading providers on our Audi S3 page. Check out the Audi S3 deal or take a look at our previous Car Deal of the Day selection here…
Auto Car
5 days ago
- Automotive
- Auto Car
Lotus Evija road test: How the stunning 2011bhp EV ripped up our record book
Before you can understand how quickly the Evija can hurl itself into the middle distance, it is worth taking a moment to consider what's motivating it – and exactly how. Take a notional modern, four-wheel-drive, combustion-engined performance car for comparison. One weighing roughly what our Lotus does. Something like a BMW M4 Competition. Assuming the car in question has a driveline that distributes torque equally front to rear, when you select third gear the engine can probably gradually build up to send an effective 800lb ft to each of its wheels (accounting for the effect of the gearing). Which sounds like a lot, but then M4s aren't slow. The Evija is, in one sense, like a four-wheel-drive performance car that only ever needs third gear, because its motors can be permanently connected to its wheels, work from zero rpm, and rev to 17,000-. But each of them can – or, rather, could – send some 1800lb ft of effective torque to each of its wheels; do it from standing, the instant you asked; and then just keep on sending it for quite a long time without the slightest pause. They also combine to make four times as much peak power as that notional car's combustion engine could. And managing that kind of power and torque… well, it's quite some way beyond the remit of the average traction control system. Without any kind of electronic governance, the Evija would be undrivable. Just floor it, and within about a second you would have four wheels, each rotating at a rate commensurate with 217mph of vehicle speed, and an uncontrollable car making a lot of smoke but going just about nowhere. That's why the only system of equal influence on this car's performance as its electric powertrain is its vastly sophisticated torque-vectoring and traction control system. It has to be. It is the supercomputer that keeps this fifth-generation fighter jet in the sky. On the move and in full flight, the Evija feels less like one particular kind of performance car as it accelerates than three- or even four-. From rest to 60mph (2.8sec), it's fast but not vastly excessive; perhaps supercar-fast. Thereafter, up to 100mph (which it hits in 4.8sec), it begins to gather itself and open the taps a little, taking on what we might consider established hypercar pace. But only beyond 100mph does the Evija show its real potential - once there's enough downforce on the front wheels for the electronics to fully unleash the front motors, which, like the rest, don't even hit peak power until the far side of 110mph anyway. Even here, this car feels like it's engaged in a constant and incremental process of unshackling itself; of pitching massive power and increasing downforce against available mechanical grip, mass and drag – with Herculean results. It just goes, and goes again… and then goes again, somehow harder still. Giving a car like this its head, even in a straight line and with two lanes of a proving ground's mile straights to straddle, is an exercise requiring a lot of faith and commitment. Preparation, too: you won't want to do it before you have adjusted the pressure in the Trofeo R tyres, because cold, soft sidewalls inflated only to road-appropriate pressure simply won't support the load, weight and building downforce. And driving on flat tyres at 150mph, with 0.8g of forward thrust still in the mix, isn't much fun. But, at its very quickest and when properly dialled in, this car is an utterly staggering, eye-popping drive. The steering wheel jinks with every bump and newly vectored slug of torque. The whistling, whirring, high-frequency whine of the motors and transmissions, quite dramatic and noisy at first, is gradually drowned out by the increasing, reverberating roar of the tyres and wind. Your focus is fixed on a vanishing point, but the world is hurtling through your peripheral vision at a frankly incomprehensible rate. And all you can do is pick your braking point – and be damn sure to hit it – and then contemplate what's just occurred.
Top Gear
31-07-2025
- Automotive
- Top Gear
Be afraid: someone's given the Ford Mustang Dark Horse a whopping 788bhp
First Look Clive Sutton decides what Ford's pony car needs is 76 per cent more power Skip 10 photos in the image carousel and continue reading Somebody out there has decided that the Ford Mustang Dark Horse – an already very powerful V8 performance car – is woefully underpowered. Weedy. Scrawny. Less pony car, more puny car. That somebody has therefore given it a large injection of 'watch this!' to create what thine eyes have glazed over. It's officially called the CS800DH, and it is the work of London-based car specialist Clive Sutton. Advertisement - Page continues below You know the name. That's the chap responsible for any number of wildly overpowered Mustangs, and this one's no different. Chiefly because Mr Sutton has fitted a giant 3.0-litre Whipple supercharger to the Dark Horse's 5.0-litre V8 and turned everything up to 11. Power leaps tall buildings in a single bound, up from 447bhp to 788bhp – a 76 per cent increase for goodness sake! – while torque jumps up 61 per cent to 642lb ft. Naturally there's a custom Borla cat-back exhaust to unleash Full Supercharged V8 Noise, along with a short-shifter for the manual gearbox, and lower, stiffer MagneRide suspension. You might like It's also been driven through an ocean of carbon fibre and emerged with a new front splitter, side skirts, rear diffuser, new rear wing, bonnet and headlight surrounds all made out of the stuff. Slick wheels, too: a set of 20in bronzed Vossens wrapped in Michelin Pilot Sport 4S rubber. Inside, you'll find special Recaros able to both heat and cool your terrified soul, some Alcantara, and a full retrim. You can of course choose whatever colour you desire for the leather and Alcantara. Advertisement - Page continues below Hence the price. Each CS800DH will cost from between £135,000-£165,000, though this price also adds a full Ford Performance and Clive Sutton three-year warranty. 'Our customers love the Mustang and consistently turn to us to unleash its full performance capability,' said Sutton. 'With 788bhp, the full Ford Performance warranty, a glorious supercharger whine and our bespoke exhaust, there's nothing like the CS800DH Mustang.' Thank you for subscribing to our newsletter. Look out for your regular round-up of news, reviews and offers in your inbox. Get all the latest news, reviews and exclusives, direct to your inbox.
Top Gear
17-07-2025
- Automotive
- Top Gear
Honda hasn't completely shut down the idea of a new Prelude Type R
Hybrid As the Civic Type R leaves us and a new Prelude arrives, TG asks the obvious question… Skip 1 photos in the image carousel and continue reading The Honda Civic Type R is dead. Well, it will be once all 40 examples of the FL5's 'Ultimate Edition' are built and with their new owners. That leaves what we would consider to be a whopping great hole in Honda's lineup for a proper performance car. Thankfully, the Prelude name is back, and it's returning on a two-door coupe. We've had a brief go already in a pre-production car and came away impressed with its simulated 'S+ Shift' gearbox, but could a full-fat Prelude Type R be in the works? Advertisement - Page continues below 'It's a very difficult question, of course, and you can't expect a direct answer,' said the new Prelude's chief engineer Tomoyuki Yamagami. We knew this would happen, but it'd be remiss not to ask. 'We have been talking for years now about whether there will be a hybrid Type R in the future or a battery-electric Type R in the future,' Yamagami-san continued. 'What we've always said is that Type R is not dependent on the method of propulsion.' You might like Of course, it wasn't an outright no when TG asked about an all-electric 0 Series Type R at the beginning of this year, and the same could now be said for the hybridised Prelude. 'I remember when the first turbocharged Type R came on the market, and everybody was so disappointed,' said Yamagami. Advertisement - Page continues below 'Everyone was questioning the decision to go away from the naturally aspirated engine, but nowadays nobody even talks about that because the Type R badge is more than just a drive unit. It's the ability to enhance dynamic performance to its maximum, and as long as this attribute is being realised it doesn't matter whether it's hybrid, electric or a naturally aspirated petrol engine.' Dig the 324bhp 2.0-litre turbo four-pot, the six-speed manual gearbox and a giant rear wing out of the Civic Type R parts bin, Honda, then maybe strap a little bit of mild-hybrid assist in and you've got yourself a lightweight Prelude Type R. Perfect, no? Thank you for subscribing to our newsletter. Look out for your regular round-up of news, reviews and offers in your inbox. Get all the latest news, reviews and exclusives, direct to your inbox.
Yahoo
14-07-2025
- Automotive
- Yahoo
As If The C8 ZR1X's 1,250 Horsepower Isn't Enough, Chief Corvette Engineer Hints At An Even Wilder Model
We've hardly had a chance to wrap our heads around the absurdity of the 1,250-horsepower, 233 mph-capable Chevrolet Corvette ZR1X after it was unveiled last month, and Corvette's chief engineer Tony Roma is already hinting at the possibility of an even wilder C8. The Corvette ZR1X and its hybrid V8 powertrain may be the quickest, fastest, and most powerful performance car that Chevrolet has ever produced, but the latest hints add the wonderful qualifier of ...for now. In an interview with Top Gear, Roma said, "the ZR1X is not the end of the story, it's just the latest chapter." He goes on to say that the C8 Corvette's mid-engine platform is proving to be very capable, and that the engineering team is on board with pushing the Corvette's limits even further. The ZR1X uses a twin-turbocharged version of the 5.5-liter LT7 V8 found in the already very powerful Corvette Z06 to drive the rear wheels, and a front axle–mounted electric motor sending power to the front wheels. Its electric motor is slightly more powerful than the front axle motor in the Corvette E-Ray, the other high-performance version of the C8. Read more: These Are The Most Annoying Things About Your Cars Ford and its bonkers Mustang GTD usurped the title of fastest American car around the Nürburgring from the 2017 Dodge Viper ACR last year, with a blistering 6:52.072 lap time, and Chevrolet is itching for its chance at that title. Roma said, "Having the crazy lap times and ridiculous acceleration is part of what makes these cars what they are, so I think we are going to continue to make the car faster for those bragging rights, because our customers appreciate that. It's the same with any performance car manufacturer – we push each other with Nürburgring lap times for that reason. We've done some testing, and all I can say is... stay tuned. We want to be the fastest American car - that's an accolade we'd love to have." Whenever new mention is made about a more powerful Corvette, the internet sets ablaze with speculation that it might be the rumored Zora. Zora Arkus-Duntov was known as "The Father Of The Corvette" because he convinced Chevy that a proper performance car and halo car was a necessity for the brand in the sixties, and he championed a mid-engine design. The world has waited for an "ultimate Corvette" named after Zora for many years now, but such a model has yet to exist. Before the ZR1X's name was announced but it was known that a new and more hardcore Corvette was in the works, it was assumed to be the Zora, but those hopes faded once the ZR1X's name was made official. It is possible, though, that this latest rumor could finally be the fabled Corvette Zora, so we certainly will stay tuned and keep our fingers crossed. Want more like this? Join the Jalopnik newsletter to get the latest auto news sent straight to your inbox... Read the original article on Jalopnik.
