Top Gear magazine - October issue

The new issue of Top Gear magazine is out today, and the big news is that we've got the full inside story on the awesome new McLaren: the MP4-12C. The successor to the F1.

Click through our preview gallery to find out all the excitement that lies within the hallowed pages of our October edition. And then go and buy a copy. 

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First off, the incredible McLaren. No other magazine has got as intimate as we have with the hypersonic Ferrari killer, or grilled the boffins responsible for creating the tech-tastic supercar that makes everything else - literally everything else - look so very last century. 

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Let's start with the engine: a brand-new 3.8-litre twin-turbo putting out 600bhp and 443lb ft of torque, the world's most efficient internal combustion engine. Couple that with a design capable of producing unprecedented lateral g figures and downforce and you've got a hypercar to destroy anything on the planet. 

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Under that sleek, swept-back body is a chassis of welded aluminium extrusions, underpinned by a revolutionary new one-piece carbon-fibre tub. The entire structure weighs just 81kg, and McLaren is the first company to create a single section tub. Oh yes, it's every bit as innovative as the old F1 was.

You want more tech? How about hydraulically interconnected dampers, brake steering and a spoiler-mounted air brake? You want even more? You'd better get hold of a copy of Top Gear, then...  

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And if the MP4 wasn't enough Brit brilliance for you, we've also got an exclusive audience with the Ghost, the all-new smaller, cheaper Rolls-Royce. That's if you can call a five-metre, 563bhp, £200,000 saloon either small or cheap. No, us neither.  

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Need even more Brit brilliance? We've gone behind the scenes with the top bods at Brawn GP to find out just how they managed such a flying start to the season... and whether Jenson can cling on for the title.  

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From one white-suited racer to another. We set the Stig on the Mugen Civic Type R - the even harder, even faster version of Honda's already seriously hard and fast hot hatch - and told him to do his worst. He did.  

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Not content with thrashing just one car, Stig then hijacked our sensible hybrid twin test - between the Toyota Prius and Honda Insight - and started jumping the poor cars off a ramp. No, really, he did.  

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Stateside, we dropped into the glitzy Pebble Beach meet for a first look at the Bentley Mulsanne, the spangly replacement for the venerable Arnage...  

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...but as a last goodbye to the old warrior, we convinced NASCAR legend Richard Petty to take us for a spin in the Arnage T. The man is a superstar and we want to be him.  

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Back on British shores, we signalled the passing of summer - all three days of it - by taking the finest posh cabrios to the beach for a big group test. Audi A5, BMW 3-Series, Infiniti G37 and Lexus IS250C - which emerged victorious from the sand fight?  

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It's a sensible month in our road test section, with Lamborghini's mental rear-wheel-drive Gallardo Balboni heading the list. Tom Ford explains exactly why this is a supercar to handle with care...  

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...much like the 400bhp Mitsubishi Evo FQ. If you're hankering for something a little more sensible, we've also reviewed the Vauxhall VXR Bathurst, the Corvette ZR1...  

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...and the Range Rover Sport. OK, we drove a few sensible cars too - the Vauxhall Zafira Ecoflex, Fiat 500 Stop-Start, Mercedes C250 CDI and Skoda Fabia Greenline all get a thorough TG working-over.  

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Our Metal opener is the too-gorgeous-for-words Maserati GranCabrio, the purdiest four-seat convertible in many a year. Matt Master explains exactly which three gorgeous companions you'll need on the passenger seats.  

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We've also got a first look at the Mercedes SLS, the gull-winged supercar inspired by the iconic 1954 300SL. A 571bhp V8 and a 0-62mph time of 3.8 seconds? It's fair to say we're excited.  

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But will it be able to keep up with the incredible McLaren? Get hold of a copy of Top Gear magazine and find out who we're tipping in the ultimate supercar showdown...

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Seen our outtakes videos yet?