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Useful stuff: Lambo & Mini USB test - we check out these miniatures for your laptop and fingers

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YW electric kiddy car race

Electric BMW & Mini - We hold our first electric kids car race - follow the race and tantrums!

Geneva Motor Show Aston Martin Cygnet

On March 9, 2010, In Auto Shows, Cars, City Cars, Motor Shows, News, by yellowwheels

Geneva Motor Show - Aston Martin Cygnet front 3/4

Aston Martin’s baby car the Cygnet has received mixed reactions from the press and public, so should they be dabbling in this segment of the market ?

Controversial designs can grow on one, so we decided to leave this post a while to see if the Toyota IQ based Cygnet would win us over. If you can cast the Toyota origins out of your mind, you are presented with quite a neat little city car from side and rear views. Move around to the front and there’s a styling compromise forced on the shape by imposition of the trade mark Aston Martin grill, bonnet louvers and wing top vents. There are just too many icons forced into a small space compared to the purer sides and rear.

Up front the IQ has a mean nasal disposition, but the Cygnet is not sure if it’s happy or sullen and resembles classic minis a tad too much, but with a hint of Pokemon. Inside, this show example, sported garish red leather with black honeycomb inserts. But the inserts were too shiny and the overall impression too brash. We’d like to see a tastefully trimmed version to judge better. As a practical proposition, though this car has to be encouraged – why should small cars be cheap and spartan ? BMW’s Mini, although not exactly small has demonstrated that there is a market for stylish compact cars. Smart’s FourTwo got people used to short stubby shapes. Parking an Aston Martin Rapide in town could be challenging, so why not take the Cygnet instead for those little shopping sprees? This is what Aston are banking on and why they are prioritising deliveries of the first Cygnets to Aston customers.

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Tagged with: 2010 • Aston Martin • Cygnet • Geneva Motor Show

Geneva Motor Show Porsche 911 GT3R Hybrid Racer

On March 8, 2010, In Auto Shows, Cars, Events, Hybrid, Motor Shows, Racing Cars, by yellowwheels

Geneva Motor Show Porsche 911 GT3R Hybrid Racer and kinetic drive

Not content to launch a new Cayenne in hybrid form and a stonking 918 hybrid concept at Geneva, Porsche showed a hybrid version of its new GT3R racing car. Set to race for real at the Nürburgring, this is no concept but a fully fledged 911 endurance racer. What sets it apart from the competition, particularly in the hybrid sense, is that it runs a flywheel type energy recovery, storage and power plant to supplement the 4 litre flat-six petrol engine engine in the tail rather than a battery pack.

Geneva Motor Show - Porsche 911 GT3R Hybrid racer

Electrically spun, the flywheel stores kinetic energy and transfers it back to twin front electric drive motors, effectively giving 4 wheel drive on demand. Braking electrically respins the flywheel for a 6-8 second burst of extra power and traction. No word from Porsche as to whether there are any negative gyroscopic effects in the corners (or at all), but it should be more stable at high speed if the flywheel mass is sufficient. The system appears to rely on its high rotation speed rather than pure spinning weight. And anyway most cars have four spinning gyroscopes covered in rubber; one at each corner

So how would you feel about sitting next to what looks like a personal nuclear fusion reactor ? Should be fine really as it’s just a disc spinning at, err, 40,000rpm….but at least it has been developed by Williams Hybrid Power Ltd and Torotrak so does have some F1 technology built in.

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Tagged with: 2010 • Geneva Motor Show • GT3R • Hybrid • Porsche • racer

Geneva Motor Show Hispano Suiza Granturismo

On March 8, 2010, In Auto Shows, Cars, Concepts, Events, Hybrid, Motor Shows, News, Supercars, by yellowwheels

Geneva Motor Show - Hispano Suiza Granturismo elegant profile

Hispano Suiza come back from the grave to give us the new Granturismo

Based in Inglostadt, Germany and funded by a wealthy Spaniard from Barcelona, the Hispano Suiza brand makes a comeback…..again. We say again, as there was a stillborn attempt a few years ago, where the only tangible product was a show car. So here we are again, but with an entirely new setup and backers. Our guide around the show car assures us that this one is a runner and about to undergo testing before production versions hit the streets in the autumn. They will have to prove that convincingly before anyone takes them seriously despite the impressive lineup of experienced designers and marketeers.

Geneva Motor Show - Hispano Suiza how they use to look

As for the car, it pretty much follows every other recent supercar upstart, by having a stratospheric price tag and performance to match. However, they have forged a distinctive styling path that will polarize opinions. The side profile works well with elegant window line, chrome faced air intakes, and pleasing, crisp, high waistline. Rear is neat and uncontroversial, but the nose is a love it / hate it pointed shark shaped beak, which would look more comfortable on a powerboat. The new Lamborghini Gallardo Superleggera carries off the arrow shaped nose a bit more convincingly. We’ll list the specs and hybrid options below but warn you first, that the normal cooking version ( if you can call a 205mph 330km/h car cooking ) costs a staggering €700,000. In the past Hispano Suizas were equally opulent, outrageous behemoths: the preserves of film stars, maharajahs and dictators so the price point was always breathtaking.

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Tagged with: 2010 • Geneva Motor Show • Granturismo • Hispano-Suiza

Geneva Motor Show Jaguar XKR

On March 7, 2010, In Auto Shows, Cars, Coupés, Events, Motor Shows, News, Sportscars, Supercars, by yellowwheels

Geneva Motor Show - Jaguar XKR now a Supercar?!

Jaguar XKR gets let off the leash

For a longtime now manufacturers have had a gentleman’s agreement to limit their high performance cars to 155mph/250kmh top speeds. This works well for containing the speed-one-upmanship that would otherwise break out between the makes and panders to the pressure to limit Germany’s speed-limit free motorways. But the XKR Jaguar has bees straining at the leash, dying to sprint beyond that artificial limit. Jaguar judge that the XKR, in its latest uprated form, is sufficiently specialist and powerful enough to warrant breaking out of its straight jacket. Indeed, they even refer to it as a supercar. If its new top speed of 174mph takes it into that territory, it had better have brakes and aerodynamics to match it’s new status. Painting the calipers red, and black chroming various addenda is not going to do it, so Jaguar have designed new front air dam/splitters and rear spoiler to keep it stable at high speed and fitted 20 inch rims. Let’s hope that the engine tweaks introduced to suit the new top speed haven’t affected lower speed tractability and usability. Although with 510PS and 625Nm of torque available we think that’s unlikely!

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Tagged with: 2010 • Geneva Motor Show • Jaguar • XKR

Geneva Motor Show 2010 VW Polo GTi

On March 6, 2010, In Auto Shows, Cars, Events, Motor Shows, News, by yellowwheels

Geneva Motor Show - Polo GTi front 3/4 showing new bumper spolier

Volkswagen World Premiere of the Polo GTi

What an easy recipe to follow: recreate the model that single-handedly changed the image of Volkswagen in the early eighties. Except that not all the evolutions were that great (notably the MK3 Golf GTi) as the Golf got bigger, heavier and stodgier as a consequence. So shift down a model to the Polo and you have a chance of recapturing that nimbleness and verve that made the GTi such an icon. We’ll have to wait till the car is on the road to judge the success of this latest iteration, but here are some images to appreciate the potential. The seats inside are clothed in familiar looking GTi check/tartan with red piping and stitching extending to floor mats and gear lever gaiter. You get smallish paddle shifters on the steering wheel to operate the 7 speed DSG gearbox. Supercharger for low rev grunt, superceeded by a turbocharger for the higher revs, means the power surge is available throughout the range. Outside, twin exhaust pipes, red piping on the honeycomb grill, red calipers, and some familiar looking rims complete the package.

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Tagged with: Geneva Motor Show • GTi • Polo • Volkswagen • VW

Geneva Motor Show Alfa Romeo Giulietta

On March 5, 2010, In Cars, Events, Hot Hatch, Motor Shows, News, by yellowwheels

Geneva Motor Show - Alfa Romeo Giulietta

Alfa Romeo displays its new Giulietta at Geneva Show

Like the Honda CR-Z, we were itching to see this car in the flesh too. Once we’d waited for the flesh ( actually leggy models precariously robed in black ) to close the doors and move around to the other side we got a clear view of this new Giulietta’s flank. Frankly, the show’s downlighter spots weren’t flattering the cars, especially the red ones on grey flooring. The white Quadrifoglio Verde ( Green Cloverleaf) however, worked better as it was picking up light from the metallic turntable it rotated on. Hard midday sun is a difficult circumstance to photograph cars in, and the stand’s designer effectively reproduced these conditions. They could learn a lesson or two from the Peugeot stand, where the soft overhead light panel would flatter even the ugliest of cars. Note to Manufacturers: get a car photographer as lighting consultant when designing your show stands! Back on subject – The 235 HP Giulietta 1750 TBi Quadrifoglio Verde (Cloverleaf) pictured here did win us over, and if this is the replacement for the 147, then bring it on fast, as although a 4 door hatch, with concealed rear door catches,it is well proportioned, elegant and horny with the optional 18 inch alloys. Alfa have deftly contrived a family face based on it’s heritage without looking corny or retro. This all started with the absolutely gorgeous 8C Competizione, and significantly, came off with the Mito (tricky with a tall narrow shell), and is maturing here in the Giulietta. Inside there’s less to be excited about, but it all looks neat and functional, although everyday use is the only proper test of an interior’s worth.