Lotus Evora Police Car in the UK

Lotus Evora, British police sports car, was officially unveiled at the show this week at the Autosport International Show at Birmingham’s NEC. Once his duties are to see the sports car manufacturer presented the keys of the Evora to the West Midland Police, who will view the car for a period of two weeks of testing.

As you likely already know, that’s where the Evora comes in. It’s massively larger than the Elise—21.9 inches longer, with a 10.9-inch stretch in the wheelbase—which puts it on par with other sports cars such as the Porsche 911 and Cayman. The Evora is roughly five inches shorter than the 911 but still manages to squeeze in similarly sized (i.e., tiny) back seats that are designed to fit very small adults or children up to about 10 years old. It also has a narrower doorsill and a 2.5-inch-higher seating position, making it far easier to get into and out of, which is one of the Elise’s setbacks. Two six-foot-plus males can sit in comfort without their shoulders touching, which is inevitable in an Elise. In fact, this six-foot-five driver didn’t even have to put the front seat back all the way to get comfortable.

The Evora is planted and secure, yet it picks apart corners with a light and playful feel that always makes mid-engine cars feel so special—think Ferrari F430, only with better steering. The Evora’s handling is so natural and fluid that you get the sense it actually enjoys being pushed. Braking is similarly spectacular, with immediate bite and extremely linear behavior. Despite weighing about 100 fewer pounds than a 911, the Evora wears 13.8-inch front brakes that are larger than the Porsche’s. Lotus says they’ve been designed to easily shrug off track use.

PC Steven Rounds from, CMPG said: “The Lotus is a visually stunning machine which offers us the opportunity to engage with the public, reinforce and promote the life-saving messages of road safety.”

Specifications

VEHICLE TYPE: mid-engine, rear-wheel-drive, 2+2-passenger, 2-door coupe

ESTIMATED BASE PRICE: $75,000

ENGINE TYPE: DOHC 24-valve V-6, aluminum block and heads, port fuel injection

Displacement: 211 cu in, 3456cc
Power (SAE net): 276 bhp @ 6400 rpm
Torque (SAE net): 258 lb-ft @ 4700 rpm

TRANSMISSION: 6-speed manual

DIMENSIONS:
Wheelbase: 101.4 in Length: 170.9 in Width: 72.8 in Height: 48.1 in Curb weight: 3050 lb

PERFORMANCE (MFR’S EST):
Zero to 60 mph: 4.9 sec
Zero to 100 mph: 12.3 sec
Standing ¼-mile: 13.5 sec @ 105 mph
Top speed (drag limited): 162 mph

FUEL ECONOMY (C/D EST):
EPA city/highway driving: 19/28 mpg

2012 Aston Martin V8 Vantage S

Aston Martin has announced a new addition to its Vantage expanding their V8 Vantage lineup with the addition of the S version, which is available in both coupe and roadster body styles. The Aston Martin V8 Vantage S is ‘beefed’ up by a host of features that take the standard Vantage to the next level. New S models borrow certain styling cues from the V12 Vantage and also come with increased power, a new transmission and a tweaked chassis.

Aston Martin’s own 4.7 litre V8 engine has been engineered to deliver peak power of 430 bhp (436 PS / 321 kW) at 7300 rpm and torque of 490 Nm (361 lb.ft) at 5000 rpm and is coupled with a new ground-up developed Sportshift™ II transmission specifically designed for the Aston Martin V8 Vantage S with seven short ratio gears to deliver the most engaging and intense driver involvement.

“The Vantage S epitomizes every attribute of the V8 Vantage and pushes the driver experience beyond what we have offered before”, says Dr. Ulrich Bez, CEO of Aston Martin, “It combines dynamic exhilaration with all the charming finesse, beauty and practicality already associated with the Vantage range”.

Cadillac's Super Cruise

In the 1991 comedy What About Bob?, Bob Wiley (Bill Murray) is a fear-stricken adult bouncing from psychiatrist to psychiatrist. His newest doctor, Leo Marvin (Richard “I was in Jaws” Dreyfuss), gives Bob his newest book entitledBaby Steps. Wiley takes this seriously; hilarity ensues.

Baby steps are exactly what the automotive community is experiencing when it comes to fully automated cars. It started with cruise control in the early twentieth century and each baby step taken gets us closer and closer to fully autonomous motoring.

The newest baby step, though still in its infancy, is what GM calls Super Cruise (don’t confuse it with sustained, supersonic-level flight without afterburners). As expected, Super Cruise will make freeway driving autonomous. This makes sense because the controlled environment of a restricted-access road limits the variables: the cars are (hopefully) going the same direction and relative speeds between them are fairly similar. Super Cruise utilizes all the current safety systems (like lane-departure warning, collision prevention, blind-spot monitoring, and stability control) for real-time data. Other data collectors include cameras, GPS, radar, and ultrasonic sensors.

A myriad of sensors with 360 degrees of detection helped GM overcome what it says was the biggest hurdle: keeping a Super Cruise–equipped car in the middle of its lane. For example, GPS data can communicate upcoming curves in its path. Cameras and other sensors will spot people, lane markings, and pinpoint the relative location of other cars on the road.

Like Sex Panther, Super Cruise will work 100 percent of the time, some of the time. Rain and snow, for example, reduce the usefulness of some sensors to nil. If that is the case, the driver will have to take the helm. We’re not sure how the car will cope with switching from autonomous mode to driver-controlled, but we would suggest a warning that could not be ignored.

The hope is to have Super Cruise in production by the middle of this decade. A betting man would say this technology will roll out on the Cadillac XTS or a possible future Cadillac flagship, trickling down from there. This time frame does not seem completely unfeasible. Think about it: In the last decade, cars have started to automatically brake if an accident is imminent, detect and warn the driver about pedestrians, tell you when you’re sleepy, control spins, and warn of surrounding cars. Those are all fairly significant baby steps in a short amount of time.

Alpina B3 GT3 BMW 3-Series Coupe 2012 Pictures

Being one of only 99 made and with a price tag of £74,000 or 90,000 Euros, we expect great things. Indeed there`s an upgraded exhaust system with an Akrapovic titanium rear silencer and an additional 8hp bringing the total to 408hp. Its top speed is now 187mph and it sprints to 62mph in 4.6 seconds.

Maruti Suzuki Ertiga : First Drive

Once bitten, twice shy might be the reason for MSIL to go slow on launching a people mover of this nature for offering an MPV isn’t a new idea to the company. They have witnessed success with the Omni, but that vehicle has finally dwindled to being a last mile courier operator or a taxi. The second vehicle MSIL tried their luck with was the Versa, and while it did offer numerous creature comforts, being based on a van platform and not really catering to the private buyer market led to its demise. Yes, MSIL has managed to resurrect the Versa as the Eeco, but that is solely for the commercial segment and has found few takers in the private space. 

Having said that, there was a moment of brilliance that caught our eye at the 2010 Auto Expo in Delhi. Maruti showcased a prototype van, namely the RIII, which boasted everything that one might desire from a people mover while keeping the private buyer in mind. While the RIII isn’t the direct concept that has resulted in the Ertiga, it definitely is the ‘idea car’ which allowed MSIL to gauge customer interest in such a vehicle. With a lot of positive response and the desire for a car-like MPV, the decision to make the Ertiga finally received the green light and the result is an exciting new car from MSIL which has a lot of potential, both at winning the private buyer’s heart as well as market dominance.

To ensure a brand connect and play a safer game than announcing a whole new line, MSIL has stated that the Ertiga is part of the Swift family of cars. While it does share the same floorpan as the Swift, albeit with an added extension close to 300mm in order to factor in the extra space needed to incorporate the third row, it looks like the result of designers dipping deep into the MSIL parts bin and putting together a vehicle that should look the part. Surprisingly, the Ertiga has turned out to be quite a head turner.