The new McLaren Speedtail has concluded its final testing phase with a series of 250mph runs at the Kennedy Space Centre in Florida. A development prototype, named XP2, was taken to its top speed more than 30 times on the Johnny Bohmer Proving Ground’s three-mile runway, confirming its status as the fastest car McLaren has yet built. That title was originally held by the firm’s iconic F1 hypercar, which achieved a 231mph top speed following its launch in 1994. McLaren’s chief test driver Kenny Brack was at the wheel of XP2 for the high-speed runs, which followed previous tests at locations including Idiada in Spain and Papenburg in Germany. The company calls the £1.75m Speedtail “a showcase for the brand’s expertise in lightweight engineering”, and notes that it is more aerodynamically efficient than any of its previous models. The hypercar is McLaren’s first series-production hybrid model since the 789bhp P1, and its first three-seater since the F1. At 5137mm long, it is also the longest production car to come out of Woking. McLaren CEO Mike Flewitt said: “The Speedtail is a truly extraordinary car that epitomises McLaren’s pioneering spirit and perfectly illustrates our determination to continue to set new benchmarks for supercar and hypercar performance.” At its unveiling in 2018, McLaren said the Speedtail will be a true driver’s car. It has been designed as a ‘hyper-GT’, and is said to balance “a mature, stiff ride with comfort and speed”. Exact details of the Speedtail’s 1055bhp petrol-electric powertrain remain under wraps, but McLaren claims the battery pack has a power density of 5.2kW/kg, giving it “the best power-to-weight ratio of any automotive high-voltage battery system”. With testing now complete, the Speedtail has now officially entered production at McLaren’s Woking factory, with deliveries of the 106 cars already sold set to begin in February
Origin: New 2020 McLaren Speedtail hits 250mph in final tests
hits
New Cupra Formentor hits the road ahead of mid-2020 debut
Seat sister brand Cupra will finally put its first standalone model, the Formentor, on sale in the middle of next year, and new spyshots preview the final car’s design. As expected, the design stays wholly faithful to that of the earlier Geneva motor show concept, with the same profile and surfacing visible beneath this disguise. It’s the second production model to be badged a Cupra following the Cupra Ateca, and the first not to be based on a model from parent firm Seat. Cupra says the Formentor offers “the benefits of a performance car with the qualities of an SUV”. The Formentor takes styling cues from the Seat 20V20 concept shown at Geneva in 2015. As a coupé crossover, it also fits Seat’s vision for Cupra as a ‘premium performance’ brand, rather than as a producer of pure high-performance vehicles. The Formentor sits lower than most crossovers and features a sloping roofline, sharp sculpted lines on the side, a two-tone body and pronounced rear haunches. The front grille of the car takes cues from the Seat Tarraco large SUV, while the rear features a single LED light strip running the length of the car’s boot lid. While Cupra has yet to provide the Formentor’s dimensions, we know it’s lower, wider and longer than the Ateca on which it’s based in an effort to improve ride and handling as well as looks. . The concept car presented at Geneva features a 1.4-litre TSI petrol engine mated to an electric motor, providing a combined system output of 242bhp, and a WLTP-certified electric-only range of around 30 miles. The power is delivered via a dual-clutch DSG transmission. The use of a hybrid system such as the fits Seat’s plans to use Cupra as a ‘technological flagship’. Autocar understands a pure petrol version will be offered, too, but it’s not clear yet if this will come at the same time as the launch. The Formentor features the Volkswagen Group’s DCC chassis set-up system and differential lock along with progressive steering. Cupra says the system has been tuned so that it handles “majestically.” While no interior images have been revealed yet, Cupra says it features a leather-clad steering wheel and bucket seats, dark chrome trim on the dashboard, a digital cockpit and a 10-inch infotainment touchscreen. The Formentor takes its name from a peninsula on Majorca, following parent firm Seat’s convention of naming cars after Spanish geographical features. A production version of the Formentor forms a core part of Cupra’s plans to reach 30,000 sales within three to five years. The brand sold 14,400 models last year, a figure that includes Seat-badged Cupra models such as the Leon Cupra R. Cupra design chief Alejandro Mesonero-Romanos previously told Autocar that the new Formentor was “100% designed as a Cupra”, but added that “there could be Seat versions” of it in the
Origin: New Cupra Formentor hits the road ahead of mid-2020 debut
LA Auto Show Hits and Misses
Here in LA-LA land, the Auto Show is and has mostly been all about going green. The exception was the celebration of 50 years of Hemi muscle power and the fossil fuel needed to run a quarter mile. At least that was a genuine celebration and not the lip service paid to a pressing need that many manufacturers spouted — leaving bluer skies for future generations. As Driving does at every auto show, we pick the best and worst on the floor. Here are the team’s picks for the shiners and horrors!Check out all of our latest auto show coverage hereDavid Booth was ready to pick Karma’s new SC2 concept. With 1,100 horsepower and a shape that’s sensual enough to make Ferrari jealous, it seemed like a certainty. Then Toyota announced the 2021 RAV4 Prime plug-in hybrid. It has 302 horsepower and scoots to 96 km/h in just 5.8 seconds. Fuel economy and performance are wrapped up in an old-faithful of a package. As Herr Motor Mouth opined, “a Gold star for the boys from Toyota.”Andrew McCredie was of the same mind. “Not only does this all-new plug-in hybrid have a full electric range of just over 60 kilometres, it will be the second-fastest Toyota in the automaker’s lineup when it shows up in Canadian showrooms next summer.” The acceleration and horsepower at play that’s fired through a good all-wheel-drive system leaves but one question. “When can I drive one?” My pick as highlight was going to be the Audi RS Q8. How can you not love a high-riding crossover that can run with the RS 6? Sadly, it was not at the show, so I picked the E-tron Sportback. It takes the frumpy and puts some swagger in the e-tron’s all-electric step. It is not going to set a sales record, but the funky headlights complete with the 1.2-million pixel chips that allow five logos to be flashed on the road along with the cool outer façade and the improved aerodynamics sure worked for me.Our resident video guru, Clayton Seams, picked the Ford Mustang Mach-E as the pick of the show. It is “a solid car, with the right variations to cater to a broad owner base.” With two 75.7-kWh models, the EV will be offered in rear-drive and all-wheel-drive. It is a ride many will aspire to for all the right reasons.Curiously, it was also the miss of the show for Seams. “It is just not a Mustang no matter how hard they try to convince people the styling cues like the rear taillights stay true to the original.” Key is the fact that it is more crossover than sports car and the Fu Manchu moustache (the black trim that drapes around the grille) or, as another opined, a very poorly drawn horseshoe. The consensus was it needs to be rebadged something other than a ’Stang! Ford Mustang Mach-E Nadine Filion David Booth’s miss was the Hyundai Vision T concept. “Not because it was ugly (it isn’t) or that Hyundai won’t sell a boatload of them when it comes to market (and it will), but because its press release had not a single iota of technical detail regarding its electrification. All we learned is that it glows blue when it’s recharging and that its styling is “sensually sporty,” but as to the kilowatt-hours of battery, the net horsepower of gas/electric combination or the fuel economy advantage that combo might engender, there was not a peep. Consumers are eager for practical plug-in SUVs. “They want hard, factual information, not a bunch of fluff that wouldn’t pass muster at an art house tea party.”My sentiments echo David’s — Hyundai Vision T plug-in hybrid concept presser was 20 minutes of my life I will never get back. It was full of blah, blah, blah about how the styling is going to set the world on fire, along with promises of transcendental meditation for the inner soul, or some such guff. Not a peep about how the second coming will save the planet with its plug-in technology. Charging port glows blue. La-di-da. Handout / Hyundai Andrew McCredie picked Bollinger as his miss. This Detroit-based all-electric truck builder has been bringing its dog-and-pony show in the form of its retro-inspired SUV and four-door pickup to auto shows for what feels like a decade. “They’re taking orders and speaking with unbridled enthusiasm about the capabilities of their all-electrics, but mysteriously they keep pushing back their delivery dates. A couple of years ago they promised production models by late 2019.” Here we are at the end of 2019 and now the company is saying early 2021. “Call me skeptical, but I can help but think this company is taking a page from the ‘promise-them-the-world-and-get-bought-up-by-a-big-company’ playbook.” Hey, it worked for EV-pickup-rival Rivian and the half-billion investment it got from Ford, so maybe there’s still hope for Bollinger. Don’t bet on it.So, there you have it, some very cool hits at the 2019 LA Auto Show, but sadly the clangers won the day. LISTEN: What do car dealers think about electric vehicles? Are they keen to have them in their showrooms? We talk to Vancouver GM dealer Blair Upton about this and much more during this week’s
Origin: LA Auto Show Hits and Misses
Hits and misses from the 46th Tokyo Motor Show
At every auto show, the Driving team is tasked with scouring the show floor to pinpoint the highlights and lowlights. This years 2019 Tokyo Motor Show was no different. While quieter than it has been in past years with the likes of the Volkswagen Group and Ferrari conspicuously absent among others, the 46th edition of the Show still managed to produce a few gems and some real clangers. Here are our choices for the brilliant and the busts.Motor Mouth, aka David Booth, and Andrew McCredie both picked Mazda and the MX-30 as the show highlight. It is an all-electric crossover with a 33.5-kWh lithium-ion battery in the floor. It delivers a driving range of around 200 kilometres. Now, before the handwringing about the limited all-electric range begins, the MX-30 has an ace up its sleeve: a rotary engine range-extender yes, as in the little engine that made the RX-7 one of the greats along for the ride. It runs on gasoline, but could use hydrogen down the road. The effect would be a clean ride that can be refueled quickly while leaving nothing but water in its wake. It is a future all of us at Driving can get behind!Check out all our latest Auto Show coverageFor me, the highlight and lowlight of the Tokyo Motor Show were one in the same car. The highlight is the Lexus LF 30 Concepts powertrain. Heres a harbinger of what the company that redefined luxury expectations with the launch of the LS 400 in 1989 will do to electrify its portfolio in coming years. The key is found the four in-wheel electric motors that twist out 536 horsepower and 516 pound-feet of torque from rev-one the instant-on acceleration brings a run to 100 km/h in just 3.8 seconds and a realistic 500-kilometre electric-only range from the large 110-kilowatt/hour lithium-ion battery. The layout of the motors and the operating logic behind them brings front-drive, rear-drive and all-wheel-drive depending upon the need. And, with the ultimate in individual wheel control, it delivers the very best in real-time torque vectoring. The thought of an all-electric LFA-like ride is a mouth-watering proposition and a potential ambassador for the electric movement if it makes it to market. 2020 Mazda MX-30 EV Handout / Mazda The LF 30s style was the lowlight. Back in 2011, Lexus revealed the then-new GS sport sedan at the Pebble Beach Concours dElegance. It was roundly panned as boring. The criticism spurred the company on to reinvent itself and re-imagine the now-familiar spindle grille. With the LF 30 Concept Lexus has not only found yet another new grille expression, it has invented the spindle car! Sometimes too much of anything is not such a good thing after all.David Booths lowlight was the general malaise and lack of excitement found on the show floor. The fact Toyota did not show the rumored replacement for the GT 86 illustrated the fact. Tokyo, of all shows, is where you expect the hype around future technologies to abound. It could be found, but it required a lot of effort. Andrew McCredie took Nissan and Toyota to task for talking the talk, but failing to walk the electric walk. Yes, Nissan makes the Leaf, but it is aging and is in need of a replacement and the Ariya Concept on display at the Show is just that a concept that wont likely see production. Ditto Toyota. It has plug-ins and hybrids galore, but the promise of an all-electric ride remains just that, a promise. Yes, there is the Mirai fuel cell, but its availability is limited. There is a new all-electric vehicle ride being announced in November that will be based on a current Lexus crossover, but it is not coming to
Origin: Hits and misses from the 46th Tokyo Motor Show
News Roundup: Foolish mall parker gets boxed in, jerk Jaywalker hits a pole and more
Welcome to our weekly round-up of the biggest breaking stories on Driving.ca from this past week. Get caught up and ready to get on with the weekend, because it’s hard keeping pace in a digital traffic jam.Here’s what you missed while you were away.Mall customer parked in the wrong spot gets instant paybackA shopper at an Argentinian mall who thought they’d found the perfect oversized parking spot for their small Peugeot 208 hatchback was instead served up a lesson in properly reading signs. The car was parked in the shopping cart area of the mall, but that didn’t stop the employees responsible for returning the carts to their home. A photo taken by another shopper and posted to Facebook shows the car surrounded on all sides by row after row of carts, and judging by the 7,000+ shares, few people feel sorry for the bonehead Peugeot driver. Quebec moves up mandatory winter tire date by two weeksQuebec residents have fewer than 80 days to have snow tires installed on their vehicles if they plan to keep (legally) driving them on provincial roads this coming winter season. As of December 1, 2019 – a full two weeks earlier than last year’s date – all cars must be wearing the appropriate tires as outlined in a significant 80-point revision of the province’s Highway Safety Code. Those cars that don’t have winters from Dec 1 to March 15 not only run the heightened risk of an accident, but may also face fines of $200-$300. Study reveals top 10 cars kept the longest by original ownersA recent study conducted by online car search engine iSeeCars has rounded up the top 10 vehicles that owners keep the longest. On the list are five sports cars, three SUVs and one sedan. Toyota vehicles took four of the ten spots, with the Land Cruiser leading the list with an average ownership period of 11.4 years. The second longest-kept vehicle is the Chevrolet Corvette at 10.4 years, while the third spot goes to another sports car, the Mercedes-Benz SL-Class. Find out if your trusty ride made the list right here. Watch karma instantly and hilariously repay this stubborn jaywalkerIf you scrub to the 3:49 minute mark in the above video, you can clearly see the crosswalk a few metres up the road from where the man decides to cross in downtown Hamilton. When the car, which has a dashcam, honks but stops to allow the pedestrian to jaywalk across the street, the man stares down the driver HARD. But when he gets to the other side, eyes still locked on the driver, he walks right into a pole on the sidewalk. Is there anything more satisfying than watching a jerk get his comeuppance? Why a U.K. driver spent nearly $50k fighting a $165 speeding ticketA British man and former RAF electronics specialist has spent nearly $50,000 and three years disputing a $165 speeding ticket he received for allegedly doing 57 km/h in a 50 km/h zone. The man, who was sent the fine after being captured by a traffic camera, claims he’s been wrongly ticketed due to something called the “double Doppler effect,” which can cause cameras to incorrectly measure a vehicle’s speed when radio waves bounce off a second vehicle. Years and tens of thousands of dollars later and the man has given up and paid the fine. He still owes over $10,000 in legal fees, however, and is considering whether to go for another
Origin: News Roundup: Foolish mall parker gets boxed in, jerk Jaywalker hits a pole and more
Aston Martin shares fall as uncertainty hits sales
Shares in Aston Martin have dived as the Gaydon-based car maker cut its sales and profit forecasts, attributing the fall to weak markets in the UK and Europe and economic uncertainty. The luxury marque said it was “taking immediate actions to improve efficiency and reduce the costs base as (it) heads into 2020”. Shares fell 22% in early trading, taking them down to around £8, a 55% fall over the £19 price which valued the company at £4.3bn when it first floated in October 2018. Aston Martin’s revised wholesale volumes are now 6300 to 6500 vehicles for the full year, down from the 7100 to 7300 units forecast at the time of its annual results in February. Wholesale car sales fell 22% in the UK and by 28% in Europe, the Middle East and Africa, while it was a rosier picture elsewhere: in America, now Aston Martin’s biggest market, volumes rose by 20% in the first half of the year. Aston Martin said retail sales grew by 26% in the first six months of 2019 but the poor performance in wholesale – which grew by only 6% globally – prompted a downgrading of full-year financial expectations. Along with a revised outlook on volumes, Aston Martin is expecting full-year figures to see an adjusted EBITDA (earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortization) margin down 20% and profit margin down 8%. Aston Martin said: “We anticipate that this softness will continue for the remainder of the year and are planning prudently for 2020.” Chief executive Andy Palmer has previously warned of the potential impact a no-deal Brexit could have on the car industry. The marque said that production of its DBX SUV and Valkyrie hypercar “remain on plan”. It added: “During the first half, we have been disciplined, as appropriate for our luxury positioning in maintaining the quality of sales with core wholesales up 9% supporting a continued reduction in dealer inventory as we prepare the network for DBX.” Palmer commented: “Whilst retails have grown by 26% year-to-date, our wholesale performance is adversely impacted by macro-economic uncertainty and enduring weakness in UK and European markets. We are disappointed that short-term wholesales have fallen short of our original expectations, but we are committed to maintaining quality of sales and protecting our brand position first and foremost. “We are today taking decisive action to manage inventory and the Aston Martin Lagonda brands for the long-term. We remain focused on the successful execution of the Second Century Plan and on delivering sustainable long-term
Origin: Aston Martin shares fall as uncertainty hits sales
New 400bhp Audi RS Q3 Sportback hits the road in new shots
Audi’s seventh SUV range addition – the new Q3 Sportback – is due to be revealed late tonight, and our spy photographers have caught the hot RS variant testing. The Range Rover Evoque and BMW X2 rival will be revealed to the world in the first images and details ahead of an expected Frankfurt motor show public debut in September. We’ve seen the standard variants in disguise several times, but the RS Q3 Sportback has now been captured with less camo. Identifiable by its dual oval sports exhaust tips, Audi Sport logos on the brakes, and the air intake, grille and wheel styling, the RS Q3 Sportback is expected to use an all-new 2.5-litre five-cylinder petrol engine that produces up to 400bhp. As with the previous spy pictures, the new shots show the style-focused, coupé-SUV design of the new machine, which is based on the latest-generation Q3. The front-end design shares much with the recently launched Q3, but it has a distinctly lower roofline and a sloping rear windscreen that meets a squarer tailgate. Audi exterior design boss Andreas Mindt previously said the Q3 Sportback was “a bit more than a coupé version of the Q3; to my eyes, a lot more”. He confirmed the designers had finished the styling last year, and that it had one feature in particular to really set it apart from other Audis. The German firm previously confirmed the Q3 Sportback would be produced in 2019 at its plant in Győr, Hungary. It will be part of a growing line-up of style-led SUVs, spearheaded by the electric E-tron and range-topping Q8. The Q3 Sportback will sit on the same MQB underpinnings as the second-generation Q3. It is scheduled to arrive in showrooms towards the end of 2019 at a base price of around £28,000. With the Q3 having grown in size in order to provide space in the range for the Q2, the Sportback looks set to be larger than its closest rivals. Audi insiders have revealed to Autocar that it will be at least 4500mm long – slightly longer than the Q3. Plans for the Q3 Sportback were originally revealed by Audi in the form of the TT Offroad concept, which first appeared at the 2014 Beijing motor show. Inside, the Q3 Sportback is set to benefit from a range of developments already under way at Audi and parent company Volkswagen for inclusion in the next generation of MQB-based models. These include full-HD instrument displays, gesture control functions, a 9.2in touchscreen, wireless smartphone charging and the latest connectivity features. Among the engines earmarked for the Q3 Sportback is a new generation of 1.5-litre four-cylinder turbocharged petrol and diesel units and updated versions of today’s 2.0-litre four-cylinder petrol and diesel engines. The new line-up will also feature a petrol-electric plug-in hybrid Sportback E-tron model with an electric-only range of up to 31 miles, as prescribed by China’s green vehicle
Origin: New 400bhp Audi RS Q3 Sportback hits the road in new shots
New Skyactiv-X engine hits Mazda3 order sheets in Europe
2019 Mazda3 Mazda’s new ground-breaking compression-spark-ignition gasoline engine has officially gone on sale in Europe, being recently made available in the compact Mazda3, where it achieves excellent fuel economy while offering some oomph for sporty car drivers, too. The gasoline-powered Skyactiv-X engine uses technology similar to a diesel’s, and can be switched from spark-ignition to compression-ignition to increase fuel economy. The engine has a compression ratio of 16.3:1. The revolutionary design is the first to be offered in the mass-market, and Mazda claims it helps the vehicle achieve a 4.3 L/100 km to 5.6 L/100 km rating in the European test cycle. Along with the huge gas savings, the engine also makes 178 horsepower and 165 lb.-ft. of torque, more than enough to have some fun. Yes, the current 2.5-litre four-cylinder makes more power – some 186 more horses, to be exact – but the combination of decent enough power with excellent fuel economy coupled with all-wheel-drive will make this a serious contender in many segments, and an excellent all-rounder. Mazda will also give something for the enthusiast to fawn over: a six-speed manual transmission that can be had with either front-wheel-drive or the more enticing all-wheel-drive option. For now though, only the hatchback will be available with AWD, not the sedan. Whether or not the manual transmission will make it to Canada remains to be seen; same goes for the mileage claims. But Mazda has been good to buyers in the past by offering most of the same options in North America that it does
Origin: New Skyactiv-X engine hits Mazda3 order sheets in Europe
B.C. car show scene hits top gear
Cams favourite car on the planet, a first generation Acadian, Pontiac Canadas answer to the Chevy II.Cam Hutchins Want proof the car show season is hitting top gear? There are no less than 19 events this weekend, along with a couple of unconfirmed events that didn’t make my roundup. Not exactly sure of my plans this weekend but Friday’s slalom in Pitt Meadows seems like a no-brainer, and as I’ve yet to make it out to a Friday night street car race this year that should be on the list too. As I’ve written may times, the B.C. car community is the best in the world, and last weekend that was proven again to me. My niece’s Grandpa isn’t doing well, and when asked if he had any last requests all he wanted was to go for a ride in a convertible. Since our Healey is a bit small, I put the word out and in less than 20 minutes I had lots of cars and their owners available. Needless to say, I am humbled by and grateful for the response. Last weekend’s 50th annual Coastal Swap Meet was crawling with all kinds of carnuts, one being Tom Spouse who built and raced a homebuilt ‘Skoda Special’ at the old Abbotsford Airport road race course in the Fifties. Tatras and Skoda used to be sold in Vancouver before the Iron Curtain dropped. But it was a car that had me dropping to my knees at the swap meet. A white, two-door, first generation Acadian, the exact car I had looked for before getting my classic Chevy truck. And there was no shortage of cool old cars for sale, including an Edsel, a 1940 Ford Deluxe and a dilapidated 1964 Chevelle that ‘runs and drives.’ Inside vendors were offering all sorts of cool stuff, and I grabbed a few magazines featuring stories on the early days of Bonneville Speedweek. August of 1949 was the first running of the famed event for hot rods as they were delegated to the hottest week of the year. But they proved tougher than the big budget streamliners who ruled the salt up until then. This year marks the 70th anniversary of Bonneville Speedweek so I encourage all of my carnut friends to think about this for a great summer road trip. You will not be disappointed, especially if you take a kid with you! SHOWS MAY 31-JUNE 2 What: 17th Annual Saanich Firefighters Rock Roll for Little Souls Invitational Car Show Where: GR Pearkes Recreation Centre, Victoria When: Friday 4 p.m. to 8 p.m. Saturday 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Sunday 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Admission: By donation Website: rockforlittlesouls.com What: Cactus Jalopies Desert Wine Tour 2019 When: Friday: 6 p.m. Welcome Reception at Gyro Park. Registration, Garage Tour, Wine Tour and Poker Run, Garage Tour all starting at host hotel, Watermark Beach Resort. Saturday: 9 a.m. to 10 p.m. Cactus Jalopies Show Shine at Gyro Beach. Sunday: Wine Country Racing Assoc. Drag Racing at Osoyoos Airport. Gates open at 9 a.m. Time Trials at 10 a.m. Racing at 1 p.m. Info: 778-870-7012, morgan@serenapr.com or cactus.jalopies@gmail.com Website: cactusjalopies.ca or winecountryracing.ca JUNE 1 What: Burnaby Hats Off Day Show Shine Where: Hastings Street between Gamma and Willingdon When: 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Admission: Free Registration: 9 a.m. to 10:30 a.m. at Alpha Secondary (Alpha/Parker). $20 for vehicles, $10 for motorcycles, with proceeds donated to Burnaby Community Services. Open to all classics, hot rods and motorcycles. Info: 604-294-8899, 604-802-0490, bonnie.game@gmail.com Website: hatsoffday.com What: Jaguar and Friends In The Meadows Show Where: Harris Road Sport Park, Pitt Meadows When: 10 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Admission: Free Registration: Early bird registration fee is $25 for first car, $15 for second car. On site registration fee is $35 Info: 604-465-7244, silver007@telus.net or jsmethurst@uniserve.com What: 6th Annual British Invasion Car Show Where: Douglas Park, Langley When: 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Admission: Free Registration: All British car welcome but space is limited. Pre-registration is required. $15 with proceeds to the Langley Food Bank Info: 604-240-1847, g.parkinson@eastlink.ca, 604-838-2145 or milesfamily@telus.net Website: oecc.ca/vcb What: Clinton Auto Swap Meet Admission: Free Info: 250-319-8289 or pioneerservice@bcwireless.com What: Canal Days Cruise-In Burn Out Pit Where: Canal Flats, Columbia Valley When: Car Show Noon to 4 p.m. Burnout Pit 5 p.m. Admission: Free Registration: Car Show $20 per vehicle. Car Show/Burnout pit $25 per vehicle, Burnout Pit $10 per vehicle. Open to all types of vehicles Info: 250-919-2104, sjacpronk@hotmail.com or 250-341-5209 What: 10th Revelstoke Mountain Paradise Show Shine Where: Downtown Revelstoke When: 9:30 a.m. to 3 p.m. Admission: Free (no dogs or bikes please) Registration: 8 a.m. $15 and open to all vehicles Info: 250-814-7087 JUNE 2 What: 31st anniversary Model A Sunday Where: Farm Museum, Fort Langley When: 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Admission: Free Registration: Drop in after 9 a.m. Open to Model As and Ts and any make older than 1932 Info: 604 856-9796 What: Hefley Creek Show Shine
Origin: B.C. car show scene hits top gear
New 2020 Mercedes-Benz C-Class hits the Nurburgring
Mercedes-Benz is well into the development phase of its next-generation C-Class, and prototypes have now been seen testing on the Nurburgring. Seen on the infamous track in typical disguise ahead of an early 2020 debut, the compact exec has been given an evolutionary redevelopment to restore its competitive edge against the new BMW 3 Series. The bulk of the changes are focused more on under the skin advancements than a big external revamp. Key to the changes is a reworked platform, new hybrid drivetrains, a revised chassis and a much more advanced 48V electric architecture. Insiders suggest it will offer new autonomous driving functions, including hands-off driving at speeds of up to 81mph. Mercedes hasn’t departed greatly from the design lineage of the popular fourth-generation C-Class, but closer inspection of the prototypes reveals some detailed changes including a lower front end and a more heavily angled rear window that serves to shorten the length of the bootlid. The new C-Class has also undergone extensive aerodynamic development. Officials suggest it has a Cd of just 0.25, representing best in class for aerodynamic efficiency. These early prototypes of the new C-Class, codenamed W206, also reveal it will be close in size to its predecessor but adopt a slightly longer wheelbase. The model is based on a modified version of the current C-Class’s MRA platform, with new aluminium structural elements to boost rigidity, though sources say it won’t be much lighter. Inside, the new C-Class is set to adopt an interior similar to that used by the new EQ C, with a dual-screen infotainment and instrument panel and conversational gesture control. The next C-Class will launch with electrified drivetrains across the range. All petrol and diesel engines, including four-, six- and eight-cylinder powerplants that will continue in AMG performance models, are set to be combined with a 48V electric system and integrated starter motor. The system recuperates energy under acceleration, allows off-throttle coasting and could also offer a boost function for extra power in short bursts. Additionally, it will receive a number of plug-in hybrid drivelines in both petrol-electric and diesel-electric guises, all planned to offer an electric range of up to 50 miles in combination with a larger-capacity lithium ion battery than the 13.5kWh unit in use in today’s
Origin: New 2020 Mercedes-Benz C-Class hits the Nurburgring
All about car 