Ten things we learned this week

"The 488 doesn't have quite the tingling effervescence of the 458, doesn't goad you to the redline in quite the same way, doesn't sing so lustily when you get there..."

So said we when we got our oppo-applying mitts on Ferrari's new V8 supercar a couple of weeks ago. And it would appear the wise, presumably lead-footed judges of the International Engine of the Year Awards - yep, that's a thing - agree.

The 458 Speciale's wondrous 4.5-litre V8, in all its 597bhp naturally aspirated goodness, has just picked up the ‘Above 4-litre' trophy for the second year on the trot, following wins for the F12 Berlinetta's V12 and the regular 458's V8 in the years before.

We're intrigued to see if the 488 can continue the run of success when the Speciale has shuffled its way off this mortal coil. Of course, that twin-turbo V8 will be competing in the sub-four-litre class...

Mere days after Jaguar threw the facelift treatment at its XJ super saloon, the big Brit limo has been turned into a chase car for Bloodhound SSC.

It joins a blue'n'orange liveried F-Type as one of the (fingers crossed) 1,000mph record-breaking car's Rapid Response Vehicles.

It's no longer a luxury-rich limo, the XJ's back seats ripped out and replaced with all manner of rescue equipment, including various fire-fighting foams and some cutting equipment.

Ensuring it reaches the hopefully hypothetical accident in good haste, the XJR's 542bhp supercharged V8 is in charge of propulsion.

The coolest fire engine on the planet?

Unsurprising news of the week: throw loony power at a two-tonne-plus posh-roader and, if you enter a corner too hot, it will understeer.

Do this on a track with minimal run-off towards its snarling metal barriers, and that understeer will very rapidly become expensive.

Audi's engineers appear to have slammed front wing-first into these conclusions this week, after testing of what looks to be the new SQ7 off-roader - the fast version of the Q7 uber-SUV, of course - at the Nürburgring went Armco-wards.

And don't forget the ‘Ring charges a ‘call out fee' of 150 Euros for Armco repairs. Plus 10 Euros per metre to remove the damaged barrier. And other 31 Euros per metre to replace it with fresh stuff.

Here's hoping Audi factored such lofty sums into the SQ7's development costs.

Well, this girl can, apparently garnering a new record in the process.

Shemika Charles reckons she's the first person to have shimmied her way under a car. The bendy 22-year-old did so after seeking a new challenge having been unable to better her world-record 8.5inch limbo - the height of a beer bottle.

Charles trains for six hours a day, performs limbo for a living and has been described as a "freak of nature" by her chiropractor. Mercifully for anyone with eyes, this is a record TG will not be attempting to beat...

Good news, nervy overtakers: help is at hand. Samsung has developed something called ‘The Safety Truck', a lorry that uses a camera up front and telly screen out back to project the road ahead to frustrated drivers stuck behind.

Dangerous jabs onto the wrong side of the road to seek an overtaking opportunity are a thing of the past, then, providing you've got faith in the technology. Here's hoping there's no lag in the system.

Whether the big TVs can be linked up to media players to entertain gridlocked traffic jams hasn't been confirmed, though the potential DVD content of a lorry driver's cab may have immediately marked that out as a bad idea.

If this gasp-inducing video is anything to go by, Samsung needs to roll that technology out as soon as it possibly can.

One chap's test drive of a Ferrari around its Maranello home town will have you watching through your hands, as an exceedingly ill-advised overtake relies on some perfectly timed steering applications and the quick wits of the oncoming Mercedes driver, who has the temerity to be driving on his own side of the road.

Most co-drivers dragged into a life-threatening scenario would be livid, vomiting, or an unappealing mix of the two. The man chaperoning the Ferrari?

A thumbs up, a "numero uno!" exclamation and a handshake for the really rather lucky man behind the wheel.

You couldn't make it up.

Bentley's going to get a reputation. Only a small handful of months after christening its SUV ‘Bentayga', to the dismay of people who like nice words, the Crewe firm has bestowed the word ‘Beluga' upon this Flying Spur special edition.

Beluga Specification basically sportifies your large, fast saloon, serving up "more athletic stance and purposeful visual appeal" via some 20-inch machined alloy wheels and gloss black detailing on the outside, with deep pile carpets and knurled gear shift paddles inside.

The poshness of it all ought to answer the following question: does its name refer to the Beluga whale, or Beluga caviar?

It's been a thoroughly excellent and, we hope, hungover week for Porsche, as the dust settles on the team's return to Le Mans success. The 919 Hybrid, in case you missed it, ended Audi's streak of victories at the twice-round-the-clock race last weekend.

As part of its promotional activity surrounding Le Mans, the following image has surfaced. The car in the left should be recognisable as the one that took the chequered flag at La Sarthe.

But on the right? Why, it's something mysterious cloaked in a cover daubed ‘future sports car'.

The rumour mill has naturally churned at double speed, many speculating this is the long-rumoured mid-engine supercar from Stuttgart.

We reckon those lines are recognisably 911, though, and with the car set to get hybridisation in its future - and the 919 to the left now a champion of such tech - do you reckon we're right in adding two and two together by declaring this a teasing glimpse of the 911 Hybrid? And, if so, is it a good idea?

The Cozy Coupe may be the world's best-selling ‘car', but Toyota has left it looking less than smart.

The Toyota Camatte Hajime, to give it its fullest title, is a car for kids offering far more than some cheaply assembled plastic requiring imagination and brum-brum noises.

It's a real working machine, and doesn't it look, well, flipping brilliant? At 3 metres long it sits somewhere between a Smart Fortwo and Forfour, and it's nearly as wide too.

But it looks heaps more fun, even if Toyota hasn't released a power figure for its electric motor. The much bigger question is this: can big kids have a go too?

F1's glory days were all about oversteer and ill behaviour outside of work hours. Nowadays, though, the most talked about topic is tyres.

Like it or not, tyres - and teams' pit-stop strategies surrounding their use - make or break races, as Lewis Hamilton knows only too well.

So the fact Michelin is trying to get the job supplying tyres for the sport from 2017 is potentially big news.

The French vulcanisers have not been in charge of rubber since 2006, and Bernie Ecclestone has apparently suggested they're not favourite to nab the contract from Pirelli, either.

Michelin wants tyres to actually grip, rather than be deliberately fragile for accelerated degradation, while it has also radically suggested a switch from 13 to 18-inch wheels, linking F1 cars and their rubber much more closely with road car technology.

Such crazy talk will never catch on, surely?