Audi A1 Clubsport Quattro (2011)

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Audi A1 Clubsport Quattro (2011): a 496bhp mini!

By Mark Hamilton

First Official Pictures

31 May 2011 16:00

This is the Audi A1 Clubsport Quattro concept, a 496bhp racing concept built for the 2011 Worthersee Tour.

The Audi A1 Clubsport Quattro: A gift to VW Group fanatics

Each year European VW fans gather on the shores of Lake Worthersee in Austria to celebrate their favourite brand, with an emphasis on the Golf GTI. VW Group has usually provided a suitably insane tuned Golf concept for the occasion, and on the GTI's 35th anniversary that would have been the expected option. But Audi has crashed the party with its premium 'mini instead.

What supplies those 496bhp under the Audi A1 Clubsport Quattro's bonnet?

Audi have taken the 2.5-litre five-cylinder engine from the TT RS and RS3, and pushed power from 335bhp to the headline figure. Torque takes a similar leap, from 332lb ft to a hearty 487lb ft. That's almost as much power and significantly more torque than the Audi R8 V10 manages, thanks to substantially upgraded turbocharger, intercooler, intake and exhaust systems. The custom exhaust has also been re-routed to exit ahead of the left rear wheel arch, inspired by the Audi A4 DTM racer.  The TT RS donates its six-speed manual transmission and four wheel drive to keep the A1 travelling in a straight line, and hopefully around corners.

Audi claims a 3.7 second 0-62mph, and top speed of 155mph for the fun-size Quattro.

Vauxhall Zafira Tourer (2011)

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Vauxhall Zafira Tourer (2011) first official pictures

By Ben Pulman

First Official Pictures

18 May 2011 00:01

It’s not the new Vauxhall Zafira, it’s the new Vauxhall Zafira Tourer. Why the new name? Because the current Zafira will continue to be sold alongside the new Zafira Tourer, which lands in UK showrooms in early 2012.

Vauxhall claims its new MPV sits above the current car and will ‘raise the bar for design, luxury, flexibility and innovation in the MPV sector’. In other words, it’s now going directly after Ford’s excellent S-Max.

Right, what will my family like about the new Vauxhall Zafira Tourer?

The clever Flex7 technology (allowing five seats to quickly become seven) that debuted on original Zafira remains, but it’s been updated: the third row still folds flush with the floor, but the second row is no longer one big bench but three separate seats. Each one can be folded and moved forward and backwards through 210mm, to give kids (or unfortunate adults forced to ride in the back) a little extra legroom. 

Pay a little more and the middle seat in the second row folds and rotates to become armrests for passengers either side, whose seats in turn can slide by 280mm and inboard by 50mm for some additional space. The Meriva also donates its FlexConsole to the Zafira, the trick central storage system running between the front seats.

There’s a bigger boot too, now 710 litres in five-seat configuration (up 65 litres on the current car) and a whopping 1860 litres (up 40 litres) with all the rear seats folded flat. But all this space hasn’t been found from nowhere – the new Zafira Tourer features a 57mm longer wheelbase and wider tracks (up 96mm at the front and 78mm at the rear), and is 190mm longer overall.

Audi A6 Avant (2011)

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Audi A6 Avant (2011) first official pictures

By Ben Pulman

First Official Pictures

18 May 2011 20:00

This is the new Audi A6 Avant, a crucial new model for Audi UK as the current car makes up 43% of A6 sales here in Blighty. The new Audi A6 Avant is bigger, lighter and better all round than the model it replaces.

Important stuff first – how big is the boot on the new Audi A6 Avant?

We’ll get there in a moment, but first let’s mention the optional ‘gesture-controlled’ boot lid. We quote: ‘a particular movement pattern below the rear bumper activates the system and the hatch opens automatically’. 

Quite what weird movement you have to make around the back of your A6 we don’t know, but once you’ve gestured to the rear hatch to open – and it has – inside you’ll find a boot that boasts 565 litres of carrying capacity. Alas that’s exactly the same capacity as the existing A6 Avant, and with the seats folded down the 1680 litres on offer is only 20 more than the current car. Blame the sloping D-pillars for the lack of any worthwhile increase in boot space.

The rest of the Avant’s interior is standard A6 fare… which means top-notch build quality, class-leading materials, and the same massively improved user interface that’s shared with the A7.

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Aston Martin V12 Zagato racer (2011) news

By Tim Pollard

First Official Pictures

24 May 2011 11:27

Aston Martin has released this rendering of its new V12 Zagato racer, which will compete at the Nurburgring this summer.

The 2011 Aston Martin V12 Zagato made its world debut at the Villa D'Este concours d'elegance at the weekend, where it won the Concorso d’Eleganza Design Award for Concept Cars and Prototypes.

Design director Marek Reichman said: 'It is an honour to win this award in Italy, where many great designs originated from, and this victory shows that Aston Martin has successfully developed their own renowned design language over the past years. The result is a car that incorporates the core values of the Zagato design language which we perfectly translated into Aston Martin’s modern design DNA.'

Mini Life Ball (2011)

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Mini Life Ball (2011): Mini's latest one-off charity special

By Mark Hamilton

First Official Pictures

25 May 2011 11:30

This is the Mini 'Red Mudder'. a one-off custom Mini created by Canadian fashion designers DSQUARED² for the Life Ball, an annual AIDS charity event held in Vienna.

Mini Life Ball (2011): the lowdown (err, jacked-up)

DSQUARED² are Canadian twin brothers Dean and Dan Caten, who launched their first fashion collection in 1995 and have been flummoxing sub-editors of non-fashion publications with their company name ever since.

Taking a Mini Cooper S hatchback as their canvas, the Catens decided to equip it for the Canadian outdoors - visually at least. The suspension has been raised and all-terrain tyres fitted, but don't go looking for Mini's All4 four-wheel-drive system underneath. A front nudge bar, extra spotlights on the nose and roof, and a tailgate mounted spare tyre complete the exterior transformation.

Inside, the Canadian duo removed the rear seats and created a ruggedised storage area with removable locker and fuel cans. Add DSQUARED² maple leaf logos inside and out, choose a patriotic Canadian read and black colourscheme and the 2011 Life Ball has its outdoorsy party piece.