Ten things we learned this week: 21 April 2017 edition

During a recent Nürburgring industry pool day (basically a very expensive track day for upcoming cars), a heavily camouflaged Corvette was spotted by one of those industrious YouTubers that live in the trees around the circuit where cars have a tendency to fall off.

Wearing a tarmac-scraping chin spoiler, bulging bonnet and a rear wing fit for a GTE car, it’s more than likely that this is the new ZR1. And with the supercharger whining off the big V8 and that angry bodywork, it doesn’t half look aggressive.

But you may also notice a set of funny exhausts protruding out the back of the car at 90 degrees. Well, they’re not likely to make production, rather fitted to reduce the racket coming out the back by deflecting the noise to the other side of the track so not to annoy the Sound Police who get all excited if a car reads over 100db.

So, one thing we do know about the new Corvette is that it’s loud. Good.

Last Sunday, Billy Monger, 17, was trapped in his Formula 4 car for 90 minutes after a horrific crash where he collided with a stationary car at 120mph during a race at Donington Park. Tragically, the extent of his injuries meant Billy had to later have the lower parts of both legs amputated.

To help his recovery, a JustGiving page has been set up to ease the costs of the care, treatments and therapies required to help Billy return to a full and active life.

Shocked by this news, the motorsport has rallied together to help reach the £260,000 target for Billy. Donations have come from everyone from children - offering their pocket money - to F1 drivers like Max Verstappen and Jenson Button (the latter donated £15,000). Billy's former F4 rival, Devlin DeFrancesco, made the biggest donation of £26,000.

Result? The £260,000 aim was smashed in the first day. At the time of writing, the total raised is £673,437 (and counting) proving how consolidated and caring the motorsport community is in times of adversity.

All the best, Billy.

This week Tesla issued a voluntary global recall for some Model S and Model Xs. Why? Well, there’s a problem with the parking brakes.

The US electric car manufacturer (best known for making vehicles adored by YouTube drag racing commenters) says about two per cent of the 53,000 vehicles built from February to October 2016 are affected, but all of those cars are being recalled.

There have been no incidents or injuries due to this fault, but Tesla says the electric parking brakes installed on Model S and Model X "may contain a small gear that could have been manufactured improperly by our third-party supplier". If the gear were to break, the parking brake would continue to keep the car from moving, but would be stuck in place.

So, if you’ve got a Tesla that was built between those dates, it might be worth booking it in for a check-up.

We know that the new Aventador S works in heavy rain, but how about when that heavy rain solidifies and becomes sheet ice? Turns out it works there too, as you’ll see if you click on these blue words.

Besides much talk of one’s ego, the video features – and for no apparent reason – a skier and a Lambo-branded acrobatics aircraft.

The spectacle is quite something – especially because snow and ice are two things most Aventadors will never see. If you need reminding, the Aventador S is basically a facelift that offers up an extra 40bhp and a very clever, very effective rear-steer system. Read our big review here.

Food truck proprietors have done their upmost to ruin the Citroen H Van, but none have succeeded. We still think they’re cool – and so does sportswear brand Le Coq Sportif. It’s teamed up with Citroen to celebrate the van’s 70th birthday.

The result is this red, white and blue special that also acts as a kind of mobile bicycle workshop. It will be shown alongside a similarly kitted-out version of the new Jumpy at the Commercial Vehicle Show in Birmingham next week.

It’s not quite the Mazda 2 hot hatch we’re crying out for, but the fine-driving supermini has been given some intriguing little tweaks.

They’ve ditched diesel engines, for starters, leaving a naturally aspirated 1.5-litre petrol – in various states of tune – as your only choice. This, dear reader, is a very good thing.

All 2s get Mazda’s trick ‘G-Vectoring’ technology, too. In short, it makes Mazda’s front-driven cars more agile in corners, by mildly recreating the effects of a good throttle lift mid-corner. It’s a nerdy but excellent solution.

Top of the range is a new GT Sport model, which has 113bhp, leather seats, LED lights and 16in alloys. Like we said, not quite a hot hatch. But we’ll bet our various hats that it’ll be good.

Okay, you have to wade through a reasonable amount of marketing chat here – which may or may not be scrolling across an autocue.

But our first listen of this new engine is important. The F-Type prides itself on brutish V8s and howling V6s, so a downsized four-cylinder version could be a worry. Certainly for rose-tinted curmudgeonly purists like us.

So, if you’ve no patience for mere words, flick to 0:55 and 1:35 on this video for very short blasts of the new 2-litre four-cylinder engine. Sounds good, no?

If we’re honest, we’ve been mulling this one over all day and we’re still none the wiser. This is the Lanmodo, an electrically deployable umbrella-cum-tent that you fix to the roof of your car to shelter it from rain, hail, sun and bird droppings. It opens in eight seconds, and one charge will last 45 days, since you ask. 

Supposedly, it’s the perfect accessory for camping sorts who want to keep their tow-car clean and temperate. And a flying car on a budget, once the wind gets up.

If you live in Britain, you can buy an Aston Martin V8 Vantage S Roadster for as little as £103,995. But what if you live in China but would like to own Aston’s baby sports car and celebrate the land of its birth? Well, now there’s this Great Britain Edition, on sale in China only, to accomplish just that. 

Basically, it’s lots of blue and white accents plus the warm glow of knowing only five such cars will be made. And the price? Well, thanks to the rarity and Chinese import taxes, it’s the equivalent of £235,000. So, if anyone asks you what price you put on patriotism, there you have it...

This week, a Welsh Suzuki dealership handed over not one but two Flame Orange Ignises (Igni?) to the Baglan School of Motoring. Apparently, its instructors fell for the Ignis because of how comfortable its seats are, which is handy when you’ll spend 45,000 miles a year sat opposite a jerky, nervous learner driver with feet hovering over dual-control pedals. Just in case.

Funnily enough, as you can read here, comfort isn’t really the Ignis’ strong suit. Not compared to say, cuteness, or lightness. It’s a bit tinny, a bit rough and ready around the edges compared to say, a VW Up. But it does have a reversing camera, and if that means fewer embarrassing prangs per lesson, that’s fine by us.