Latest car, EV, sportscar, supercar and motoring news, facts and industry gossip from Smart-Motoring.com.
Motor-Vision is proud to announce that our good friends over at Oakley Design have had their cars chosen as part of the exclusive calibre of vehicles in the new Fast and Furious film, which has been conquering the UK box office since its premiere on 7th May. This fantastic honour was awarded to the guys at […]
Fast and Furious 6 Debut for Oakley Design Lamborghini Aventador and Ferrari 458! Read Post »
Many moons back I remember setting out in my old Beetle on a drizzly morning to go and have some pretty major surgery performed on the old car down Bristol way at Beetles UK Ltd. I was going to get a traditional style ragtop sunroof cut in. I was pretty excited and nervous at the
Get a brand new classic Camper Van this summer before it’s too late Read Post »
This weekend sees the return of the much anticipated Modified Nationals at Peterborough Showground. Modified Nationals is the UK’s largest indoor and outdoor car show and presents the craziest show cars with magnificent modifications along with amazing daytime and evening entertainment. With over 2000 cars representing their Car Clubs in the outside area you can
Performance Direct Offers – BUY 1 GET 1 FREE Modified Nationals 2013 Tickets Read Post »
Tuning or modifying cars is a costly and time-consuming process that can bring joy, excitement, high blood pressure and bankruptcy to those that do it. Messing around with what car manufacturers spend a ton of money ‘perfecting’ is clearly a risky manoeuvre – so why do so many of us do it? Well, I’ve built
Why do we tune cars? Read Post »
I’ll eat my Davy Crockett hat if you don’t play this Audi R8 V10 plus dyno video at least three times. It’s short, very sweet and burrows deep into a petrolhead’s pleasure cortex – or whatever that bit of your brain is that makes you feel all warm and fuzzy inside.
Video heaven from the Audi R8 V10 plus Read Post »
The Aston Martin CC100 Speedster is a stunning celebration of the brand’s heritage, blending old-school racing aesthetics with modern performance. Designed as a tribute to Aston Martin’s 100th anniversary, this one-off concept car draws heavy inspiration from the iconic 1959 DBR1 race car, while showcasing the company’s forward-looking design language.
CC100 Speedster – Marks 100 years with Aston Martin Read Post »
Colin Chapman, the famed Lotus engineer of old, would design his cars using his now well-oiled mantra: Adding power makes you faster on the straights. Subtracting weight makes you faster everywhere. Wise words indeed and a formula that continues to work well for those little Lotus and Caterham nippers still on sale today. But…
Porsche 918 Spyder hybrid supercar defies weight with clever tech and serious shove Read Post »
Another day, another even faster Mercedes AMG breaks cover. It seems that the AMG engineers have upped their coffee intake recently and ECUs are getting reflashed and cam timings fettled in a seemingly endless surge for even more grunt behind the potent AMG badge. Still, that’s all good for thumpin’ V8 Merc fans!
Ooo, Mercedes-Benz AMG, you are really spoiling us… Read Post »
As motor enthusiasts we love attending specialist events and with our love of TVR’s we were first in line at the TVR Car Club Event held at Brooklands on the weekend. Gracing the Paddock and the other areas around the Clubhouse and soaring up the Test Hill were an array of British beauties and we
TVR – The British arrive at Brooklands! Read Post »
It’s not new news that Honda is to resurrect their highly respected NSX supercar moniker, with the new hybrid NSX scheduled to go on sale in 2015. What is news however is that the all-new car will be engineered and built at the firm’s new Performance Manufacturing Centre in Ohio, U.S.A. Cue sucking of air
New Honda NSX supercar to be engineered in America. Oh dear! Read Post »
More power, exclusive styling and a quicker to-62mph sprint time earn the fastest ever E-Class super-saloon its £83,740 price tag…
New Merc E63 AMG S Model jumps to 585bhp Read Post »
Back for its 11th year, Japfest, Europe’s biggest Japanese car event, returned to Castle Combe Saturday. Being deep in rural Wiltshire, getting to the circuit can be an issue, with some people queueing into the afternoon for last years event. Despite some doubters though, it seems the improvements made this year alleviated the epic queues.
A little over ten years ago, on a miserable rainy winter Sunday I was sitting on a sofa in a local pub with a couple of friends. We were wondering how to generate enough excitement in our lives to keep us going until the summer came back. We decided to book a week in Cornwall
The last ever Run to the Sun is coming Read Post »
Kicking off on Saturday 11th May, Street Nationals proved once again its working combination of grass-root participation motorsport and real drag racing competition from top modified car racing classes- with no speed limit!! Plenty of makes and models were on show and there was something for everyone this year, whether you were there to take
Street Nationals at Santa Pod Raceway 2013 Read Post »
It will come as no surprise to you that a car’s health is pretty important for our own collective well-being. It goes fast and then needs to stop. Basically, a bit like life. Part of ensuring that your car (and consequently you) remain healthy is making sure that the replacement safety parts that you have
Is America's fake car airbag problem going to affect the UK? Read Post »
Nine times world rally champion Sebastian Loeb’s been trying out his new 875bhp Pikes Peak Peugeot racer, and the flying Frenchman excitedly reports that it goes like a rocket! Indeed, it’s unlikely that there’s any rocket anywhere that can hit 62mph in 1.8 seconds – that’s faster than a Formula One car. All he has
Seb Loeb’s Peugeot 208 T16 Pikes Peak racer hits 62mph in 1.8 seconds! Read Post »
It seems that the petrolheads at VW aren’t going to let their Spanish cousins at Seat steal all the motorsport-inspired thunder at this year’s VAG enthusiasts Wörthersee show in Austria, on Lake Wörthersee. While the new Seat Leon Cup Racer may look pretty darn sweet, it’s blown well into the weeds by this here ‘Design Vision
Golf GTI gets 500bhp motorsport treatment Read Post »
All things Italian hit Brooklands once again this year at the Auto Italia event – Italian Car Day on May 4th 2013 and our friends over at Performance Direct were there to soak up the action! Admirers were keen to walk the stands and displays especially with the new Ferrari F12 showing it’s wheels. Gates
Catch up on the action from Auto Italia – Italian Car Day 2013 Read Post »
A hardcore, full racing spec Seat Leon Cup Racer has been unveiled to customer racers and modifying fans all over the world, with a £60k price tag, 325bhp turbocharged motor and ultra aggressive, super-wide aero. Stick an MOT on it and get it on the road!
New Seat Leon Cup Racer attacks the track Read Post »
Sixty-two mph in just 3.4 seconds should do the trick, right? That’s 240bhp, around 450bhp per ton on the power-to-weight scale, and a top speed of around 150mph. Yes, wig wearers beware, it’s the new Caterham Seven 485, and it’ll be snarling up the streets this summer.
Fastest ever Caterham Seven for the summer Read Post »
You’ve got to hand it to McLaren. Not only do they build some deliciously vicious road cars, they also produce some suitably serious videos to promo their next motor – the 903bhp P1 hypercar. Just released is this video of one of the development drivers putting the P1 through its chilly paces on a snow
Video: McLaren P1 snow-boating! Read Post »
Ever fancied getting away from it all in something a little cooler than the family hatchback? Well, as family camping and road trip transport goes there’s surely not much more too-cool-for-school than these VW campervans, right? Now, these fully-camping-equipped, four berth V-Dubs don’t come cheap to buy, but fear not, these ones are rented, and
Test drive: Classic VW campervan and modern-classic VW campervan Read Post »
We’re back at the famous Santa Pod drag strip and show ground again – where Performance Direct sponsors the left-hand drag racing lane – and this time we’ve got a nice ‘n’ juicy Motor-Vision show report for all you bus fans out there. And we don’t mean those over-stuffed red things chugging around London! The Big
Show report: Big Bang Camper & Bus Show 2013, Santa Pod Read Post »
It looks like the engineers at Audi get to have all the fun. They’ve just built this hot new TT ultra quattro concept to wow the crowds at the upcoming Wörthersee show in Germany; a huge event that celebrates all things motorsporty from the Volkswagen Audi Group. And there will be plenty to celebrate when
Pretty, potent: Stunning new Audi TT ultra quattro concept gets 306bhp Read Post »
