Vans, Cars and Leasing

Meet the car that makes a Bugatti Veyron seem slow! It’s called the GT9 – and can claim to be one of the fastest roadgoing models ever made.

German tuner 9ff has been developing the Porsche-based machine for a number of years. But this is the first time pricing and details have been released.

The front end is borrowed from a 911 GT3, although the rest of the chassis is unique, and has been constructed using strong yet lightweight carbon and kevlar fibre. With its low roof, the car is only 1.18 metres tall, while an extreme bodykit practically scrapes the road surface. Both features are crucial to help achieve the 254mph top speed – 1mph higher than a Veyron!

Under the bonnet, the GT9’s engine is sourced from the 996-generation Porsche 911 Turbo. Reworked turbos, dry sump lubrication and a gold-finished induction plate boost power to 973bhp and torque to 964Nm. And as the car weighs only 1,326kg, it should cover 0-60mph in 3.4 seconds.

Potential buyers need to be just as quick to get their hands on a GT9, though – only 20 examples will be made, each with a price tag of £394,000.

The lid has been lifted on Honda’s green future! The Japanese firm wowed crowds at the British Motor Show with its stunning OSM (Open Study Model) concept.

Making its world debut here in London, the rakish two-seater points the way toward an eco-friendly successor to the company’s S2000 roadster.

Penned by staff at the manufacturer’s design studio in Frankfurt, Germany, the newcomer claims to offer class-leading fuel economy and CO2 emissions, thanks to slippery aerodynamics and a lightweight construction. Bosses at the company also hinted that the model could get a powerful hybrid powerplant.

Take a look at the OSM, and it’s clear that style is as important as its environmental credentials. The shark-like nose features a gaping grille and slim wraparound headlamps, while the gently rising waistline sweeps up to a high-set tail. Here you’ll find distinctive LED rear lights that run the full width of the car.

Climb aboard, and the sporty theme continues to the cabin. The two heavily bolstered seats are low set and trimmed in blue leather. In front of the driver is a cowled binnacle packed with dials that are illuminated with a cool blue light.

No official announcements have been made about what’s under the bonnet, although a hybrid powerplant is likely. This would be connected to a semi-auto gearbox operated via a normal lever or paddles behind the steering wheel.

Bosses at Honda claim that this concept won’t make production. But with the hybrid CR-Z coupe getting the green light and the hydrogen-powered FCX now on sale, a showroom ready OSM could appear within the next five years.

Take a look at the eagerly anticipated V10-powered replacement for Honda’s NSX.

The grand tourer – which wears the badge of the firm’s Acura luxury arm in our pictures – is due in 2010. It’s expected to cost £100,000, and will challenge the Aston Martin V8 Vantage, Maserati GranTurismo and Jaguar XKR.

Its 5.5-litre V10 generates upwards of 600bhp and around 600Nm of torque, which is sent to the rear wheels via a six-speed twin-clutch gearbox. When cruising, five of the 10 cylinders are deactivated to save fuel and cut emissions. Our insider revealed Honda has taken ideas from its Formula One programme to generate maximum downforce and straight-line stability. That enabled the coupé to set a record time of seven minutes and 37 seconds for a lap of the Nürburgring track in Germany on its first attempt.

Honda achieved this by focusing on aerodynamics – and the biggest secret to the performance is hidden under the car. According to our spies, the rear section of the coupé resembles one big wing.

The newcomer will tip the scales at around 1,500kg – that’s over 250kg less than the recently launched Nissan GT-R.

There’ll be an all-new Mexican flavour at the British Motor Show! Sports car manufacturer Mastretta will be there with its 150mph MXT coupe, the first car ever to be designed and built in Mexico.

It makes its world debut in London on July 22, in ‘penultimate prototype’ form. RHD production is expected to start in January 2009, and is limited to 80 cars per year.

It’ll be worth getting your name down quick, though. As well as its impressive top speed, the MXT can hit 60mph in under five seconds and its 2.0-litre supercharged Duratec engine produces 240bhp. With the car weighing just 900kg, that means 267bhp per tonne – almost 50bhp more than a Porsche Cayman S manages.

The Mastretta also vastly undercuts the German coupe, with a price tag of £32,995. You can see it on Stand N10 at the ExCeL arena.

Honda has lifted the lid on its next S2000 roadster – and it will have you going green! The Honda OSM (Open Study Model) shown in this official sketch will be unveiled at next week’s British Motor Show as an eco-friendly concept car. But the sleek drop-top also gives us a tantalising early look at the forthcoming S2000.

Officially a ‘design study’ at this early stage, Honda will use the OSM to “gather feedback from customers at the show to guide any future developments”.

That means the Japanese firm is intent on making the next S2000 a seriously desirable sports car when it hits the showrooms in 2010. And judging by this concept, Honda looks like it could have another big success on its hands.

The new car will be as green as it is good looking, thanks to a number of mechanical and aerodynamic features designed to reduce consumption and emissions. Honda will reveal all at the expo, but an efficient, lightweight petrol engine – possibly boosted by a small electric unit – will sit inside a body featuring class-leading aerodynamics.

Shaped by up-and-coming young designers at Honda’s studios in Offenbach, Germany, the OSM will sit alongside the zero-emissions FCX Clarity fuel cell car and the CR-Z hybrid sportscar – both making UK debuts at the British Motor Show.

Police forces across the country are facing massive fuel cost overruns, leading to recruitment reductions and calls for the Government to provide emergency funding.

Hampshire Constabulary’s director of finance Michael Coombes said: “The constabulary is having to deal with steep increases in the price of fuel in recent months. This situation has placed a strain on the budget.”

Along with many other forces, Hampshire only budgeted for only a 5% rise in fuel costs this year, taking the amount it had set aside for fuel to £1.95 million.

“Assuming the cost of fuel rises to £1.50 per litre by the end of the summer, as some commentators suggest, we would be facing a shortfall of around £1 million,” said Mr Coombes

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As a result, Hampshire police will recruit fewer student officers this year. “This is in light of various budget pressures of which the rising cost of fuel is one,” said Mr Coombes.

It is a similar story in Norfolk where the increase in fuel costs will affect a recruitment drive.

“Fuel costs have increased dramatically and we have to deal with that.

“This comes at a time when we are increasing staff numbers but those plans have to be subject to winds of change,” chief constable Ian McPherson told Norfolk Police Authority.

“We cannot legislate for decisions that are made in Saudi Arabia.”

Metropolitan police officers have been told buy fuel from the cheapest local petrol stations.

In addition, the Metropolitan Police Service (MPS) has begun trialling electric Smart cars.

Four versions of the two-seater car, which can achieve the equivalent of around 300 miles per gallon, are being trialled.

The Home Office said no extra money will be made available as a result of rising fuel prices.

“Government funding for police authorities is increasing by 2.9% in 2008/9,” said a spokesman.

“It is for chief constables and police authorities to decide how best to use the resources available to them.”

The Association of Chief Police Officers (ACPO) seems to have its hands tied and can offer little in the way of help to police fleet managers.

Commenting on the inability of many police fleets to get extra funding, ACPO said: “It will then depend on how forces have developed their budgets as to what the immediate effect will be.

“Some forces will have been able to make provisions for rising fuel cost, others won’t and therefore it will vary from force to force what the exact impact will be.”

The National Association of Police Fleet Managers (NAPFM) is working hard to limit the impact of fuel on their frontline operations.

“NAPFM is having to seriously consider a variety of options regarding the issues around both fuel cost and resilience with regard to industrial disputes, etc, and is working closely with its respective ACPO management as well as directors of finance and resource to establish a variety of initiatives that will assist in reducing fuel utilisation, whilst not affecting frontline policing and response capability,” said NAPFM spokesman John Bradley.

Liberal Democrat deputy leader Vince Cable said: “The emergency services have no choice as to which vehicles they use.

“It would not prejudice the Government’s overall financial position if some allowance were made to tide them over this difficult period.”

Toyota is set to get pulses racing at this year’s British Motor Show. The Japanese firm has commissioned a wild one-off version of its Aygo to appear on its stand.

The £100,000 Aygo Crazy has a 1.8-litre turbo from the MR2 roadster, producing 197bhp and 240Nm of torque – enough for 0-60mph in under six seconds and a top speed of 127mph.

A unique hand-built bodykit and 17-inch wheels are fitted, while a race-inspired roll-cage, Sparco steering wheel and four-point harnesses continue the motorsport theme inside. Unlike most super-stylish show concepts, the race-bred pocket rocket is fully road legal and capable of causing one or two surprises in the supermarket car park!

Muscle Cars are performance cars made for the most part in Detroit, Michigan from 1964 through 1974. The muscle car manufacturers placed large V8 engines in mid-sized vehicles, giving them high levels of performance and setting off intense competition between the manufacturers to produce the most powerful and fastest muscle cars for sale during those times.

Although auto makers had sometimes experimented with placing the performance based V-8 engines in a lighter mid-size platforms, and full-size cars such as the Ford Galaxy and Chevrolet Impala had high-performance models, Pontiac received most of the credit for starting the muscle car era with its Pontiac GTO. Started by Pontiac a, the GTO was far more popular than anticipated, and inspired many imitations and a  movement towards performance, both in the true muscle car class of intermediate vehicles as well as smaller cars like the Ford Mustang, Plymouth Barracuda and AMC AMX, and more luxurious and expensive cars such as the Buick Riviera.

Nevertheless, a large part of the appeal behind muscle cars was that they were mostly reasonably priced models that young drivers could manage to pay for. For instance, Chevrolet placed an extremely large 396 cubic inch motor in its compact Nova body. This would be comparable to taking Chevrolet Cobalt and putting a  Corvette Z06 engine in it. Mopar also had several low-cost models, such as the Dodge Super Bee and Plymouth Roadrunner.

Between 1964 and 1970, the Detroit companies were in competition for the bragging rights to the highest horsepower motor and offer the fastest muscle cars for sale. Horsepower numbers generally hit their peak in 1970, with the Chevelle SS 454 from that year is generally considered to have had the highest output, producing 450 horsepower. By 1971, most muscle cars began to fall out of favor and fade away, with Pontiac’s Trans AM model being the last one by 1975.

While they were fast cars in a straight line, most had poor performing brakes and suspension setups, and tires which were insufficient to handle the acceleration and speeds the engines made possible. These factors have all been to some degree addressed by after-market suppliers.

Bosses at Audi won’t rest until every possible niche has been filled – and now, the four-door coupé market is in their sights.

These exclusive images provide the best look yet at the new A7. It’s Audi’s challenger to the Mercedes CLS, as well as the forthcoming BMW 8-Series, and promises a strong combination of luxury, style and performance.

The A7 will showcase a raft of technology, including the second-generation of Audi’s MMI cabin control system. And according to insiders at the Ingolstadt company, it will raise the bar even higher in terms of interior quality.

Under the skin is a stretched version of the platform which underpins the stylish A5 coupé, although the newcomer will ride on air-suspension to provide an impressive balance of sharp handling and a smooth ride.

Six engines will be available from launch: a trio of V6 diesels, including an all-new 3.0-litre twin-turbocharged unit, as well as V6 and V8 petrol powerplants.

Hot S7 and RS7 models are in the pipeline, too. The latter will use a revised version of the 5.2-litre V10 in the current RS6, albeit tuned to give more than 600bhp.

Fleets could face substantial charges and administration costs following confirmation that Manchester is set to become the second city in the UK to levy a congestion charge. The Government announced last week that it was awarding Manchester £1.5 billion to help pay for the congestion charge scheme, as well as deliver public transport improvements.

To try to alleviate fears, Manchester City Council will conduct a public consultation before going ahead with the scheme that could see motorists charged £5 to enter and leave the city at peak times from 2013.

But major concerns about the scheme are already being voiced. LeasePlan said the new congestion charge could “signal the beginning of a major headache for all UK firms running vehicle fleets”. Manchester, unlike London, will rely on electronic tags and beacon technology, which will be supported by automatic numberplate recognition cameras.

“The danger is that business drivers will have to register separately for each scheme,” said David Brennan, managing director of LeasePlan. “The lack of any central responsibility could hit companies hard, particularly those that have employees regularly travelling in or between the two cities.”

The problem could become worse as other cities develop their own congestion charges. Birmingham, Bristol, Bath and Cambridge are expected to announce plans shortly.

“The endorsement of the Manchester scheme is the biggest step so far towards a fragmented and regionalised congestion charging approach in the UK – a nightmare scenario for companies that run fleets of vehicles,” warned Mr Brennan. “As well as the added administration, many companies could see their fleet costs rocket as their drivers travel between different charging zones.”

Ian Middleton, managing director of Sandicliffe Motor Contracts, added: “The fleet market could find itself in a situation in years to come whereby a good proportion of company car drivers visiting cities across the UK could be running up some very significant bills.”

Several local companies have formed the Greater Manchester Momentum Group to oppose the charge.