Ten things we learned this week, September 18 2015 edition

It’s been a good week for those excited by the arrival of Ford’s 345bhp, four-wheel drive hot hatch (and if you’re not one of them, allow Ten Things to politely point you in the direction of the nearest heart clinic).

At the Frankfurt show, it was announced the Focus RS will start at an alarmingly reasonable £28,940 – undercutting the less potent VW Golf R and Honda Civic Type R – and now Ford UK has launched its online RS configurator, allowing you to configurise the hot hatch to your heart’s content.

OK, admittedly there’s not that much to actually configurigate: you’ve the choice of a few surprisingly sensible paint shades – of which ‘Nitrous Blue’ is very much our favourite – and the option to add Recaro shells, 19-inch black alloys, painted brake callipers and, well, that’s about it.

But you’ll still want to have a fiddle, if only to see just how very reasonable the Focus RS’s pricing really is. Can’t wait.

Spec your Focus RS here

In the run-up to the launch of the Bentayga, Bentley’s first SUV, Crewe bosses proclaimed – perhaps with tongue wedged in cheek – that they wanted to solve the headache for all those ‘who wanted to spend more than £150,000 on a 4x4’.

Well, they’ve found at least one. At the Frankfurt show, Bentley CEO Wolfgang Durheimer announced that recipient of Bentayga #1 will be… Her Majesty. Queen Elizabeth II.

“We have reserved car number one for her,” Durheimer proudly told the Telegraph.

Of course, that doesn’t mean the Queen will necessarily take Bentley up on the reservation. But even at a healthy £160,100 starting price – rising past £200,000 if you get ticky with the options – Ten Things suspects Her Maj’ will be able to foot the bill.

Last weekend saw the 2015 edition of the Goodwood Revival, Lord March’s annual tweed-laced time-warp, turn a corner of West Sussex into a rose-tinted interpretation of the 1950s.

And now the kindly chaps at Goodwood have released a video of the retro-tastic event, a video enhanced with modern technology for your visual benefit.

This revolutionary technology, we’re told, is known as ‘slow motion’.  It seems ‘slow motion’ is a natty effect whereby time appears to be slowed down. Witchcraft indeed.

Trendy kids on the street have dubbed the phenomenon ‘slow mo’, but we’re not sure if that’ll catch on. Anyhow, hit this link to see pretty-much-priceless race cars drifting. In ‘slow mo’.

People in tweed having good time. In ‘slow mo’.

Motorcyclists running in leather romper suits. In ‘slow mo’.

A flock of Ferraris spitting flames in slow motion. In ‘slow mo’.

Spitfires. In ‘slow mo’.

And a rather portly marshal pushing a broken down car. In… actually, it’s tough to tell. That one might be full speed.

Watch the video here 

OK, with a 503bhp V6 driving its rear wheels, Alfa’s new Giulia QV was never going to be pedestrian, exactly. But we didn’t expect it to be quite this quick.

Alfa this week announced its upcoming super-saloon has lapped the Nurburgring Nordschliefe in 7m39s, a full thirteen seconds quicker than BMW’s M4. 

Now, don’t forget that Nurburgring lap times are far from indisputable, with no independent governing body to verify claims, nor even a universally agreed start and finish point.

But even so, 13 seconds is potentially one hell of a gap, especially with the Giulia lugging a pair more doors than the M4 round the Green Hell’s tortuous 12.9 miles. Whichever way, 2016 could see one hell of an Italy-vs-Germany fist-fight…

Read the full story here

Yes, 10 big ones is a lot for a small lump of square metal that won’t even move under its own steam. Or petrol. Or diesel.

But just look at the Defender pedal car. Not only does it recreate the timeless lines (and pointy corners) of Land Rover’s ageing icon in perfect detail, but it even boasts working brakes. And proper suspension. And a functional horn.

The perfect gift for the tiniest member of the landed gentry in your life? It just might be…

Granite. A fine material from which to craft kitchen work surfaces. And paving stones. And mountains.

But now the resilient rock has been put to a new use: the poshing-up of posh French cars. Yes, the Crossback concept from DS – the brand formerly known as Expensive Citroen – features alloys, mirrors and roof bars trimmed in fine slivers of granite, a move quite literally putting its driver between a rock and a hard place.

DS insists the granite trim is far from a flight of concept fancy, stating it intends to put the, um, technology into production within 18 months. Lightweight construction? So 2014, darling.

Ten Things dearly hopes this heralds a new dawn of rock-based car components. Shale seatbelts? Basalt brakes? Migmatite manifolds?

Read the full story here

Like a Westcountry Hercule Poirot, our man Paul Horrell engaged Full Sleuth Mode at the Frankfurt show, cornering the most senior bosses of the world’s biggest car companies and mercilessly plumbing them for their deepest secrets.

Monsieur Horrell’s finest scoop of the week? That Ferrari engineers are working on a new two-seater, smaller and cheaper than the 488, and powered by a turbo V6. 

Though it’s far from signed off, the ‘new Dino’ would likely make some 580bhp from a mid-mounted 2.9-litre V6, with kerbweight not far over 1000kg.

Which would likely make it, real-world, pretty much as quick as the blistering 488 GTB. And a little easier to punt along a narrow British B-road without wincing at the potential cost of an interface between carbon fibre wing mirror surround and drystone hedge…

As well as much dubious tuning and many sausages, this week’s Frankfurt show saw Porsche and Mercedes offer up their visions of the future, through the medium of a pair of lovely concepts.

Porsche’s Mission E previewed the firm’s first all-electric offering, a 911-inspired 600bhp four-seater that, say company bosses, will do 0-62mph in under 3.5 seconds, and more than 300 miles on a single charge. Though not if you keep doing 0-62mph in under 3.5 seconds.

Mercedes, on the other hand, went big on aerodynamic efficiency, heralding its Concept IAA as the world’s slipperiest car, with a drag coefficient of just 0.19.

The trick to its mad aero skillz? Shape-shifting wheels and a telescopic rear end, which extends at speed to smooth air flow over the back of the car.

So there you go. The car of 2020 shall be (a) silent and (b) in possession of a hypnotic, extendable bottom. We can’t wait.

Ever wondered what Sebastian Vettel would look like if he'd been in Thunderbirds? Well, Madame Tussauds has got you covered.

Click this link to watch a frankly harrowing BBC interview with the creator of a pair of waxworks apparently honouring Vettel and Hamilton, waxworks that supposedly took between three and six months to complete and cost something like £150,000. Each.

Ten Things is no waxworking expert, and wouldn’t for a second wish to belittle the talent of those involved in the creation of the F1 doppelgangers. So we’ll assume instead the BBC studio was simply rather hot. And melty. And that real-life Seb has had some serious eyebrow-work since Monza.

This unmistakeable specimen is a 450bhp EV from Taiwan, constructed of a novel blend of carbon fibre, aluminium and steel.

All interesting details, but details that pale into insignificance beside its name.

Thunder Power.

Yes, Thunder Power. “Why the name? Because it’s electric,” company boss Wellen Sham explained to us at the Frankfurt show. There you go, then.

Sham promises a production version of the Thunder Power will arrive in 2017, costing around £48,000. If that wasn’t enough, it’ll be followed by a 1000bhp performance edition.

Ten Things dearly hopes to one day see an off-road version. The Thunder Power Ranger.

Thank you, and good night.