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Everything you need to know about cars this week: 31 Jan '21
A 200mph Tesla Model S, the most powerful BMW M car ever and a one-off Ferrari breadvan
VW Golf GTI Clubsport vs Honda Civic Type R
"These two are from the more hectic end of the hot hatch spectrum. For VW the Clubsport is about broadening the GTI’s repertoire beyond the standard 242bhp model (something it will do again soon with the arrival of the 4WD R). For Honda, this is its natural habitat. VW is invading territory Honda shares with cars such as the Renaultsport Megane and Hyundai i30N. Cars that are about driving first, the business of being a hatchback second."
Advertisement - Page continues belowA range of brand-new Lotus sports cars is coming
"‘Lotus Type 131’. It’s got quite an exciting ring to it, and so it should: it’s the codename for a brand new Lotus sports car which will see the light of day later in 2021, sitting at a more accessible price point than the £2m Lotus Evija. It’ll be part of a new range of sports cars, previewed in the image above."
720bhp AMG GT Black Series: Stig's most sideways lap ever?
Ever wondered what goes on at the Top Gear test track when the show's not being filmed? Well it's this. Constant, non-stop THIS. Yep, Stig's got his hands on the latest 720bhp Merc-AMG Black Series and wants to bonfire some tyres...
Advertisement - Page continues belowJenson Button has launched an Extreme E team
"Woah, Extreme E is really starting to bag some momentum and big names. It’s just been announced that another Formula One world champion has jumped on the EV rally-raid bandwagon, following in the footsteps of Nico Rosberg and Lewis Hamilton."
Bloodhound is up for sale. Again
"Bloodhound LSR is up for sale. Ian Warhurst, the man who saved the project from the scrapheap two years ago, and took it to a 628mph run in South Africa, has announced a last bid for sponsors or new ownership."
McLaren Elva: first test of wild 804bhp roofless supercar
"For 149 speed-obsessed nostalgic old gits like me – and a couple of the inevitable and permanently priapic influencers – the Elva is like being strapped to your favourite love interest and dipped in warm chocolate. Officially, it’s the fifth car in McLaren’s Ultimate Series, follows on from the OG F1 back in 1994 and has the demonic P1, physics-upsetting Senna and stretched Speedtail as siblings. But, unofficially and importantly for me, it’s a modern reinvention of a car that allows one last chance of living and driving the McLaren Can-Am dream."
Revealed: the one-off, Ferrari 550-based ‘Breadvan Hommage’
"This is a ‘new’ Ferrari. By which we mean, it’s an old Ferrari, recast and reformed to commemorate a really old Ferrari. Welcome to one of the most spectacular shooting brakes you’ll likely ever see."
Advertisement - Page continues belowThe Brabus-tuned Merc-AMG A45 S has 444bhp
"Brabus has remapped the little 2.0-litre turbo, fitted a new duct for the air box and added something called a BoostXtra adapter. Brilliant. The result is a rather ridiculous 444bhp and 406lb ft of torque, with the adapter apparently creating racecar-like blow-off noises. Oh Brabus. "
The new BMW M5 CS is the most powerful M car ever
"The fastest and most powerful BMW M production car ever. Given what’s in the back catalogue, that is quite the statement."
Advertisement - Page continues belowDoes the new Mini look better or worse than before?
"It’s facelift time for the good ol’ Mini. And as is the norm with BMW nowadays, the new car has quite the snout."
Bentley Flying Spur V8 review: the driver’s limo?
"It’s the same 542bhp 4.0-litre twin-turbo V8 that powers not just the Bentayga and Continental GT, but a number of top spec Audis and Porsches. So immediately it loses out on heritage to the almighty six-and-three-quarter litre V8 that headed off into the sunset with the Mulsanne. The 4.0 is so jaw-droppingly refined in this application, though, I doubt you’ll be dewy-eyed for long."
Review: Jaguar XF
"The class-leading dynamics have been preserved and the new interior is in a different world, but whether it's enough to reverse the model’s drift towards market indifference is moot"
Say hello to the Jaguar C-Type Continuation
"Welcome to Jaguar Classic’s latest project. To celebrate the legendary C-Type’s 70th birthday, it’s building eight ‘continuation’ cars to the exact same spec as the one that won Le Mans in 1953."
SSC Tuatara hits 282.9mph on second top speed run
"Tuatara owner Larry Caplin managed 279.7mph on his northbound run, and 286.1mph on his southbound run. If verified, it pips the Koenigsegg Agera RS’s 277mph run that currently stands as the fastest production car in the world. (The Chiron’s 300mph+ was only run in one direction, don’t forget.)"
Is this 911 Turbo and Targa combo the best Lego set yet?
"This is a 1,458-brick kit that features what Lego calls ‘dual building routes’. Essentially, it’s a two-in-one set that you can turn into either a wide-bodied, whale-tailed 930 911 Turbo or an open-roofed 911 Targa."
New Tesla Model S: 1,100bhp, and half a steering wheel
"For the first time, Tesla has completely rethought the layout of its cabin and simplified things as much as possible. Including chopping the steering wheel in half, Knightrider style."
BMW 128ti vs VW Golf GTI vs Ford Focus ST
"For all BMW’s garish grilles and kamikaze social media ads, for some this will be its biggest crime: a front-wheel-drive performance car. The company’s smaller hatches and crossovers have rocked FWD for a few years now, but this is the first dedicated performance car to come out of Munich without a semblance of a rear driveshaft."
Audi e-tron S review: what’s the point of a 500bhp electric SUV?
"Total output is 500bhp, but that’s dwarfed by a titanic 717lb ft of torque. Audi ought to offer flanged wheels as an option and sell these things to freight train companies. It’s a ruddy locomotive."
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