Driving Spirit

New Hot Hatches Ready For Paris

Chris — Fri, 27 Aug 2010 15:04:08 +0000

It’s nearly time for the 2010 Paris Motor Show, which starts on October 2nd, and it’s going to be an important event for hot hatch fans as two new performance models are set to be unveiled.

The new Vauxhall Astra has been out for almost a year but up until now we’ve only had access to the five-door version. Vauxhall are all set to show us the sporty 3-door with its coupe-like styling, and that also means that they might be willing to tell us a bit more about the next Astra VXR.

Little has been announced about the new VXR, other than a few concept screenshots appearing on the web. However, Vauxhall have been caught napping by their competitors as the power battle has increased. The VXR now languishes behind models such as the Focus RS, Golf R and Leon Cupra R, and so speculation is rife about what will be under the bonnet. The most likely scenario is a Focus RS-rivalling 300bhp from a reworked version of the familiar 2.0-litre turbo.

Another big unveil will be on the Ford stand where they’ll be showing off the all-new Focus, set to hit showrooms next year. A new model means there’ll have to be a new Focus ST, and it’s believed that Ford will be showing off a pre-production version of this new hot hatch.

Thanks to the demise of the 2.5-litre 5-cylinder (thanks to melting rainforests or something) the next Focus ST will be powered by a 2.0-litre Ecoboost engine and is tipped to have around 250bhp and 260lb/ft of torque. Not enough to rival the Astra VXR, but that will be the job of the next Focus RS – expect this to exceed 300bhp and maybe even feature some electric hybrid technology to boost the output from a smaller petrol engine.

Expect more news to leak from the PR departments as the show gets closer.

New Hot Hatches Ready For Paris is a post from Driving Spirit.Are you ready for the release of Gran Turismo 5 on November 2nd?

Powerbulbs Discount Code

Chris — Thu, 26 Aug 2010 10:38:28 +0000

I’ve just been doing a bit of shopping around for some new bulbs for the family Mondonkey and thought I’d try a set of Philips Blue Vision bulbs for a change. Powerbulbs have got them in stock at £25.49 with free Philips Premium W5W sidelights and free delivery, so I was going to grab a set.

But even better than that, a quick look on the internet for ‘powerbulbs discount codes‘ led me to a discount code for the checkout – just enter ZXRCX111 for 10% off the total price. So that saved me another £2.55 on top of the free sidelights and delivery.

I think the code applies to anything on the site, from expensive but snazzy LED bulbs to Philips Xtremes (highly recommended, check out my instructions on fitting them to my Focus). If you’re interested in upgrading your headlights then get in there while you can, you never know how long this code will last.

Powerbulbs Discount Code is a post from Driving Spirit.Are you ready for the release of Gran Turismo 5 on November 2nd?

Pistonheads Member A Winner At Best Of The Best

Chris — Wed, 25 Aug 2010 12:56:01 +0000

I’m not a natural gambler and gave up on the lottery a long time ago, but there’s one competition I do like to play every now and then and that’s the supercar and sports car draws at Best Of The Best. Now some cynical types might think that the prizes aren’t real, but if you’re a regular on the Pistonheads forum you might have heard of member Alun Rowe’s amazing bit of luck.

Alun entered the recent sports car competition and bought five tickets at £3 a go. A few weeks later he got an unexpected call (you can listen to it here) telling him that he’d won first prize and could choose from four different cars or take £25k in cash. Great news for Alun, less so for me – I’d entered the same competition and also bought five tickets, but obviously my spot-the-ball guesses weren’t close enough!

Alun, you jammy #@%&

Alun posted up the good news onto Pistonheads along with pictures of his prize car – a new Porsche Cayman. Not a bad result for £15 of tickets.

So if you thought Best Of The Best was too good to be true then you’re wrong. The prizes are genuine, the tickets are cheaper than you might think and the odds are much better than winning anything on the lottery.

If you’re up for a flutter there’s the chance to win a stunning Jaguar XKR 75th anniversary edition plus £20,000 in cash, with tickets costing as little as £10. Other prizes include a Ferrari California, Aston Martin V12 Vantage or £90k in cash!

Fancy A Jaguar XKR 75 With £20k Cash?

Or you could enter the latest sports car competition where tickets start at just £3 and prizes include:

Porsche Boxster S
Mini Cooper S convertible with £10,000 in cash
Abarth 500 with £10,000 in cash
Caterham Superlight R300
Audi Q5
£25,000 in cash

If you want 20% off your tickets just use the code PHSUPERWIN for the supercar competition or PHSPORTSWIN for the sports car competition.

If you do decide to enter I would have wished you good luck, except I’ve just bought my tickets and I’ve got my eye on that 300bhp Boxster!

Pistonheads Member A Winner At Best Of The Best is a post from Driving Spirit.Are you ready for the release of Gran Turismo 5 on November 2nd?

Citroën DS3 Racing Priced, It Ain’t Cheap

Chris — Wed, 25 Aug 2010 07:46:24 +0000

Unveiled at the Geneva Motor Show last March, the Citroën DS3 Racing was an unexpected announcement from the French firm who seemed to have abandoned the hot hatch market.

Now they’ve officially revealed the price and specification of the DS3 Racing. Limited to just 1,000 units with only 200 right-hand drive examples coming to the UK, the DS3 Racing will cost £23,100. That’s big money for a small hatchback, even if you consider that the price includes VAT at the higher rate of 20%.

DS3 RACING SPECIFICATION
Engine	1.6 Turbo
Power	207 bhp
Torque	203 lb/ft
0-62mph	6.5 secs
Max Speed	146 mph

Starting life as a DS3 DSport, the 1.6-litre turbo is tuned up to 207bhp and 203lb/ft of torque. That’s makes the DS3 Racing good for 0-62mph in 6.5 seconds and a top speed of 146mph.

Chassis tweaks include new dampers and modified suspension settings, while the ride height is 15mm lower and the track is widened by 30mm front and rear. Brakes are upgraded to 4-piston callipers with bigger discs, and a set of wider 18-inch alloys help to improve grip.

As far as looks are concerned the DS3 Racing remains similar to the orange and black concept car. The graphics are gone but the Sport Orange roof remains to contrast with the Obsidian Black pearlescent paint. If you’re not keen on that combination there is one other choice – Polar White with a Carbon Black roof. For both paint schemes the roof colour is carried through to the alloy wheels, door mirrors, front grille, rear spoiler and the dashboard trim.

I’m sure the Citroën DS3 Racing is going to be a great hot hatch and second-hand values will remain reasonable strong thanks to the exclusivity, but is it really worth £7k more than a Renaultsport Clio 200 Cup?

[Show as slideshow]

Citroën DS3 Racing Priced, It Ain’t Cheap is a post from Driving Spirit.Are you ready for the release of Gran Turismo 5 on November 2nd?

Top Gear Sues The Stig? Madness, But True

Chris — Tue, 24 Aug 2010 11:53:00 +0000

One of life’s greatest mysteries (and worst kept secrets) is the identity of the Stig from Top Gear. Depending on how closely you follow the show you may already know the answer to the question – who is the Stig? Well, the BBC are so desperate to keep the answer a secret that they’re actually suing the man beneath the helmet.

So who is the Stig? There have been various rumours, and there seems to be some suggestion that there is more than one Stig, but the hot favourite was ex-racing driver Ben Collins. He’s been outed before as the likeliest suspect, once when a builder working on his house told newspapers that he’d seen the Stig’s white costume in Collins’ wardrobe. Collins has also worked on the show undisguised on a number of occasions, including the stunt where a parachutist tried to drop into the back of a moving Mercedes cabriolet – Collins was behind the wheel.

Now it seems to be official as the BBC have set their legal Rottweilers on Collins in an attempt to stop the publication of his memoirs. Collins has been busy writing his book, including details of time spent working on Top Gear as well as other roles such as a stunt driver in the Bond film Quantum Of Solace. He was all set to release the book when the BBC caught wind of his plan and slapped a court order on it, claiming that Collins was breaching the confidentiality terms in his contract.

The BBC are worried that identifying the Stig will remove the mystique surrounding his character, ruin the show for Top Gear viewers and have a big hit on merchandise sales. Kind of a stupid move – by taking Collins to court the BBC confirm that there is something to hide, and so have managed to give away the secret they were so desperately trying to keep.

According to financial papers from Collins’ own company, Collins Autosport, the driver received a huge pay increase in 2003, coincidentally the same time that White Stig took over from Black Stig. The income (between £5k and £10k per show) was described as “driving services provided for the BBC, mainly in the Top Gear programme” and that there was “good long-term prospects for continuing income”.

So what’s going to happen to the Stig? With another series of Top Gear due to start next year it seems unlikely that Collins will be happy to continue his role as the man in white. So can we expect to see a fatal ‘accident’ on the show?

Source: Telegraph, Autoblog

Top Gear Sues The Stig? Madness, But True is a post from Driving Spirit.Are you ready for the release of Gran Turismo 5 on November 2nd?

Mcchip Volkswagen Golf R Gains 45bhp

Chris — Sat, 21 Aug 2010 05:55:36 +0000

With ‘only’ 267bhp the Volkswagen Golf R is a bit behind the times for a top-rank hot hatch, especially with the Ford Focus RS500 boasting 347bhp in standard trim. But if you’re a Golf fan and you’re feeling a bit of engine-envy then you could take a trip to Mcchip.

How does an additional 45bhp sound? The new Mcchip ECU remap frees up the extra power, taking the total to 313bhp with torque going up from 350Nm to 440Nm (an increase of over 25%). The cost of the upgrade is 899 euros and is said to be compatible with both the manual and DSG transmissions.

Although it’s only a remap, Mcchip have decked out their showcar with some of the extra modifications they offer, including a very nice set of set of black 19-inch OZ Ultraleggera rims wrapped in Michelin Pilot Sport Cup tyres. The wheelarch-filling look is helped with a set of H&R lowering springs.

Mcchip Volkswagen Golf R Gains 45bhp is a post from Driving Spirit.Are you ready for the release of Gran Turismo 5 on November 2nd?

Euro 5 Claims Ford Focus ST

Chris — Fri, 20 Aug 2010 16:12:53 +0000

Hot on the heels of the Honda Civic Type R, the Ford Focus ST is the latest hot hatch to be axed thanks to the tough new Euro 5 regulations that will soon be coming into force.

While this might seem a shock at first it’s not quite as bad as you might think. Sure, the Foxus ST is a great hot hatch and its 2.5-litre 5-cylinder turbocharged engine has a wonderful soundtrack, but it’s always had a drink problem and reducing emissions was going to be tough.

The Focus ST would have been axed soon anyway as there’s an all-new Focus due soon. It always takes time for the hotter versions of a new car to arrive so even without Euro 5 we would have faced the prospect of no ST model for a short period of time.

Don’t be too hard on the Eurocrats for spoiling our fun because it won’t stop the motor manufacturers from satisfying the demand for fast cars. All it means is that Ford’s engineers are going to have to work a little bit harder, downsize the engine to a 2.0-litre turbo and concentrate on weight saving. The 1,400kg Focus ST is a bit of a lardy arse, so the prospect of a lighter, more nimble replacement should be something to be excited about.

It’s just a shame that we’ll lose that five-cylinder warble.

Oh, and keep an eye on the Clio 200 – that’s facing the chop too unless Renaultsport can get it to conform to Euro 5.

Euro 5 Claims Ford Focus ST is a post from Driving Spirit.Are you ready for the release of Gran Turismo 5 on November 2nd?

NSFW – How To Sell Boring Stuff On Ebay

Chris — Mon, 16 Aug 2010 16:54:11 +0000

Ebay is a crowded place these days, and if you’re a business trying to make a living you need to find a way to make your auctions stand out from the crowd. One enterprising seller has found a great way of brightening up the auctions of his carbon fibre bonnets. They’re not exactly the most stimulating of things to buy at the best of times, so why not stick some pert buttocks in front of them and see if that helps them sell?

If you look really carefully at the picture below you might be able to make out the vague outline of the bonnet for a BMW 3-series:

Here are some close-ups of the bonnet. Notice the carefully crafted weave in the carbon fibre? Nope, I didn’t either.

LOL! Hell, I’d be tempted to buy that even though I don’t own a BMW! At the very least you’d want to carry out a careful inspection of the goods before buying.

NSFW – How To Sell Boring Stuff On Ebay is a post from Driving Spirit.Are you ready for the release of Gran Turismo 5 on November 2nd?

Alfo Romeo MiTo Turismo Sport

Chris — Sun, 15 Aug 2010 22:46:59 +0000

It may have Sport in its name, but the Alfa Romeo MiTo Turismo Sport isn’t as sporty as you might think.

The Turismo Sport is a limited edition of the MiTo. Available in just three colours (red, black and white), it can be ordered with a choice of two engines – a 95bhp 1.4-litre 16-valve petrol or a 95bhp 1.3-litre diesel. With 0-62mph taking over eleven seconds with either engine this is hardly the stuff of dreams, but at least the Turismo Sport gets loaded up with extra goodies – £1,610 worth in fact, including 16-inch alloy wheels, cruise control, Blue & Me technology, fog lights and a leather steering wheel.

The MiTo Turismo Sport is on sale now, with the 1.4 petrol starting at £12,895 and the 1.3-litre diesel costing a little more at £14,410.

Alfo Romeo MiTo Turismo Sport is a post from Driving Spirit.Are you ready for the release of Gran Turismo 5 on November 2nd?

BBR RS400 Takes Focus RS To Another Level

Chris — Fri, 13 Aug 2010 21:23:10 +0000

How does 404bhp through the front wheels sound? A bit of a handful? Maybe, but it hasn’t stopped tuners BBR from pushing the Ford Focus RS to its limits.

BBR have spent 18 months working on the Focus RS and have ended up with no less than four different upgrade kits. From 342bhp all the way up to 404bhp, each stage of the upgrade process releases a little more from the RS’s 2.5-litre engine.

Starting at Phase One, BBR apply a Starchip ECU upgrade to improve throttle response and driveability. The fact that it also releases another 40bhp is the icing on the cake. BBR also fit a new silicone induction hose, as they noticed that the standard item is prone to distortion, restricting the flow of air into the engine. A bit of a bargain at just £595 (excluding VAT).

On to Phase Two, and BBR start to include some mechanical modifications. Dubbed the BBR RS355, the kit takes the ECU upgrade from phase one and adds a new intercooler that is more efficient than the standard item and improves performance at high boost levels. All air inlet hoses are replaced with high flow silicone items to get rid of any airflow restrictions, while a replacement air filter improves breathing further. Priced at £1245 with fitting costing another £195, the phase two kit results in 355bhp and 378lbs/ft of torque.

Not enough? Then try Phase Three and the BBR RS380. Taking Phase Two as a starting point, this step reaplces the entire exhaust system with a new BBR 3-inch stainless steel exhaust that includes a sports catalyst (that manages to remain street legal). On top of that the engine gets a new set of larger fuel injectors to keep up with the demands of the increased boost and power levels. The result is 382bhp for a total cost of £2495.00, with a fitting charge £345.00

The full-fat upgrade is Phase Four, resulting in the BBR RS400. This phase replaces the standard turbocharger with a higher flow motorsport spec item and a new fuel pump is added to cope with the engine’s new thirst for unleaded. The result is 404bhp at 6,220rpm and 408lb/ft of torque at 3,380rpm, although the price is up to £3,895 with a fitting charge of £595.

Having increased the power by almost 30% it’s probably a good idea to make sure the chassis can cope, and BBR have got a couple of choices for RS owners. First up is BBR’s own high performance springs which lower the Focus’s ride height, but BBR also recommend the fitting of their Koni dampers. Designed in collaboration with BBR, the Koni dampers are adjustable and remove the harsh edge from the Focus RS’s ride.

BBR RS400 Takes Focus RS To Another Level is a post from Driving Spirit.Are you ready for the release of Gran Turismo 5 on November 2nd?