Mazda RX8 R3 CAR review

Mazda has been producing rotary engines since the year dot and they’ve become the company’s trademark long after others have given up on the idea. Yet rotary engines – like the new Mazda RX-8’s – are hard to justify.
Compared to a piston engine, they were always known for gobbling fuel, using oil and suffering from premature wear. The upside is they sound fantastic and go like the clappers, the RX-8’s revving to 9000rpm before the rev limiter calls time.
The Mazda RX-8 was originally launched in 2003 and has just undergone a facelift emerging as the RX8 R3. It’s got the latest RENESIS twin-rotor engine in which, after donkeys years of development, most of those problems have been licked. It’s also had a makeover in other areas too.
Right, so what’s new on the Mazda RX-8 R3?
Externally, there’s a standard Sports Styling Pack with new front bumper, side skirts, rear wing and the RX-8 also gets 19-inch wheels clad with 225/40 tyres. But as you discover from the driving seat in the first half mile, there have been a few changes under the skin.
The bodyshell has been stiffened and dampers, springs, bushes and anti-roll bars revised including the use of Bilstein sports suspension and a urethane-filled front cross member. At the rear, the multi-link suspension has been tuned to improve both the ride and handling.
The RENESIS rotary engine has undergone a few subtle changes too, such as an improved oil metering system (the engine mixes tiny amounts of oil with the fuel to lubricate the rotor tips) and there’s a new type of knock sensor.

U-turn! VW's Up will be front-engined

By Phil McNamara
19 July 2008 13:51
Shock news from Volkswagen: the Up city car and spiritual successor to the original Beetle will switch to a front engine/front-wheel drive layout, CAR can confirm. Despite the 2007 concept being rear-engined like the iconic 'people's car', VW suits have approved a switch to a front-mounted three-cylinder engine. 'For cost, design and aerodynamic reasons, we will probably have to put the engine at the front,' a VW source told CAR. Our further investigations reveal that a front-engined Up is a done deal – and it's mostly for cost reasons.
By ditching a standalone rear-drive platform, the Up will have much greater drivetrain and component commonality with other front-drive VWs. It will also be much easier to integrate on existing production lines. All told, the decision will save Volkswagen hundreds of millions in investment.
Our sources vow that the Up concept's wonderful looks and proportions won't be compromised. 'The show car's small front overhang stays. In fact, the front-engined car is more faithful to the concept than the rear-engined package we developed,' one insider revealed.
Packaging a front engine means the four-seat production car will measure 400mm longer, taking the Up to around 3850mm – fractionally longer than Ford's outgoing Ka. Power will come from a 1.2-litre three cylinder engine, both naturally aspirated and turbocharged to provide a range of outputs.
A source also said that the engine switch would also eliminate some tail-happy instability in cross winds, as well as eliminating the complexity of channeling coolant from the front-mounted radiator to a rear engine.
Expect the Up to go on sale in 2010, with deluxe versions for western customers and budget versions to tap growing demand in the developing world.

BMW 7-series (2009)

From launch there will be three engines, including an all-new diesel, a revised twin-turbo 3.0-litre petrol and the forced-induction V8 from the . The X6 will also donate its to the 7-series, with a launch expected by the end of the decade. The engine line-up is as follows:
Diesel730d – 3.0-litre straight six, single turbo, 241bhp and 398lb ft
Petrol740i – 3.0-litre straight six, twin-turbo, 322bhp and 332lb ft750i – 4.4-litre V8, twin-turbo, 402bhp and 442lb ft
A revised six-speed automatic gearbox is standard and BMW’s new Dynamic Driving Control unit allows you to modulate the dampers, throttle response, steering and gearshift settings via three modes.

Jeep Renegade

Of the three concepts unveiled on the Chrysler stand the one most likely to see a production line is the Jeep Renegade. Whether it does so with its current tree hugger-pleasing power source is unlikely, but stranger things have happened.
Socket to ’em
Outdoor enthusiasts will be pleased to hear that Jeep has plumped for a hybrid diesel electric engine in the Renegade. A 200kW electric engine over each axle makes it genuine four-wheel drive and a 1.5-litre diesel engine cuts in when required to give extra boost. The combination gives a 400-mile range, meaning it’s unlikely you’ll be left stranded on a rain-lashed hillside looking for somewhere to plug it in. And unlike some of its pure electric concepts, it’s much less likely you’ll run out of gas entirely.
Jeep has concentrated on paring weight from the Volkswagen Polo-sized two-seater by using composite bodywork and giving it a stripped-out cabin. The overall result is an impressive claimed fuel return of 110mpg. The car’s a proper fun machine too, with no roof, a speedster windscreen and drainage holes in the floor so you can hose it out if you really go off-road.
Buggy off
A healthy dose of the classic 1960s beach buggy including a beefy rollover bar and ‘doors’ with see-through panels in them combine with the seven-slot grille and round headlights to make the Renegade look the part. And according to sources within Chrysler it could end up in production as a ‘baby’ Wrangler, aimed at drivers who want a fun and relatively affordable car for off-roading. Prices would start at around £16,000 putting it in similar territory to the Patriot.
If you think that’s unlikely, remember this is the second buggy-style concept that Jeep has done in recent years. The wild 2005 Hurricane concept trod similar ground, albeit with twin engines rather than the Renegade’s more fashionable planet-saving power plant.

Mercedes McLaren SLR speedster (2009)

CAR Online has scooped the farewell edition of the SLR – a speedster version of Mercedes and McLaren's outrageous supercar. Our spy photos and video conclusively reveal the chop-top SLR that's somehow even more shocking than the and Just look at those mini windscreen lips and imagine the speed at which flies will be rammed into your throat at 200mph. Utter madness. Our new spy photos of the aero-screened machine turned up today and the camouflage seems pretty pointless to us; this is clearly an open ‘speedster’ style SLR. Just check out the amusing third headlamp camo detail. Yes, it's pretty difficult do disguise a 200+mph windscreen-less hypercar! Indeed. The SLR’s lines are unmistakable despite the loss of the windscreen. The rear deck features twin roll hoops and double-humps – reminiscent of Mercedes’ classic ‘Silver Arrows’ racers. It’s not known what it’ll be called, but it's internally codenamed Z119. What is certain is that it will be the most expensive SLR ever built, with a price tag in the region of €750,000 (£600,000). Yikes. That’s a huge amount of cash. What does it buy you? Quite simply it’s a windscreen-less SLR. The existing models already use rigid carbonfibre so removing the windscreen is a relatively simple job for the engineers at McLaren's HQ in Woking where the SLR is assembled. Numbers will be limited – it's thought that only 75 of these radical speedster SLRs will ever be built.