Jack Martin

Christian von Koenigsegg has once again created a hypercar of the highest order – the new Agera R is capable of approaching 400 km/h and features so much innovation that we’re not going to even attempt to squeeze it all into the introductory paragraph. The 5 litre V8 bi-turbo engine is the lightest and most compact hypercar engine in the world, and produces 1100 hp on E85 bio fuel with peak torque of 1200 Nm spread over over a 3300 rpm rev range. It’s most notable feature though, is a Thule Roof Box which ensures you can take all your gear as well as having a show car with the standard roof when you get there.  Read More

The cyclecar was a cross between a motorcycle and a car that popular a 100 years ago, mainly because the extremely light weight and powerful big V-twin motorcycle engine gave it sporting performance. Only one of the original cyclecar manufacturers still exists today – Morgan – and in a remarkable announcement, the entire concept has been updated and will sell for GBP25,000 powered by a big 115 bhp S&S V-twin, a five-speed Mazda gearbox and a cockpit modeled on a WW1 fighter plane.  Read More

While retractable hardtops have the edge on their softtop siblings by virtue of reduced road and wind noise, improved insulation and aerodynamics, they lack the typical cabriolet look. EDAG is set to show a completely new type of roof system at the Geneva Motor Show which combines the advantages of a soft top and a retractable hardtop.  Read More

Lexus' LFA supercar is, or was, the most exclusive vehicle ever built by the world’s largest automobile manufacturer – only 500 of the exotic carbon fiber 200 mph V10s will be sold at US$375,000 apiece. Now the racetrack-focused “LFA Nürburgring Package” is set to be revealed. Only 50 such 562 bhp vehicles will be produced with revised aerodynamics and technical refinements designed to fine-tune the exotic two-seat sports coupe to be capable of lapping the fabled Nürburgring Nordschleife circuit under 7:20. Now the average Gomer needs more than just a wad of cash, industrial-sized gonads and a sweet handling, brutally powerful car to get around the “Green Hell” inside eight minutes, let alone seven twenty, so the price includes special instruction sessions on the circuit into the bargain. The car can be had in white, orange or black at US$445,000 or in and matte black for US$465,000, making it the most expensive Japanese road car ever.  Read More

Korea’s Daewoo is to build the world’s largest ship for Mærsk line. The US$190 million, 400 meter ‘Triple-E’ class behemoths will carry 18,000 TEU containers, 2500 more than the current largest, Emma Mærsk. Superior economies of scale will enable the new monsters to surpass the industry record for both fuel efficiency and (20% better) CO2 emissions per container moved. In a move set to impact global shipping transport costs and efficiencies, ten Triple-E ships will go into service between 2013 and 2015 with a further 20 ships optioned. If the same number of containers were loaded on a train, it would be 110 km long. If they were stacked on top of one another, they’d reach beyond the stratosphere (47 km).  Read More

Porsche added another hybrid to its range overnight. The new four-seat Panamera S Hybrid shares the power train (3.0-litre supercharged 245 kW V6 plus a 34 kW electric motor) of the Cayenne S Hybrid, offers a best case fuel consumption of 6.8 l/100 km (NEDC), CO2 emissions of 159 g/km and claims the mantle of the most economical Porsche of all time thanks to the aerodynamic advantage it has over the Cayenne. That’s also streets ahead of any other hybrid production vehicle in the luxury car class yet it still delivers Porsche acceleration all the way to its 168 mph top speed.  Read More

Definitely in the “don’t try this at home” category is Juha Kankkunen’s new 205.48 mph (330.695 km/h) world speed record for driving on ice. Kankkunen drove the world’s fastest soft top, an all-wheel drive, 6-litre, 12-cylinder Continental Supersports convertible running on biofuel to capture the record on the frozen waters of the Baltic Sea, off the coast of Finland. Kankkunen bettered his own 2007 world ice speed record of 199.83 mph (321.6 km/h) set in the Continental GT at the same location. Not surprisingly, the challenges of driving on a 16.5km track of frozen ocean are many - temperatures as low as minus 30 degrees, sudden snow blizzards and potentially dangerous crosswinds not to mention the frailties of the 70cm-thick layer of sea ice.  Read More

As we suggested it would a few weeks back, LG finally pulled the wraps off its 3D smartphone at Mobile World Congress 2011 today. The LG Optimus 3D has a dual-core, dual-channel and dual-memory architecture – all firsts for a smartphone – but it’s the phone’s recording, viewing and sharing of 3D content without glasses that will draw the most attention. The LG Optimus 3D’s dual 5MP lens camera captures still and moving images in 3D and the 4.3-inch WVGA display recreates 2D (up to 1080p) and 3D (up to 720p) without the use of glasses. The big question the phone is likely to answer is “who cares?” and there are a lot of people in press rooms around the world who are betting that the answer is “not many people.”  Read More

No matter how I look at this, it still seems like science fiction – a combat aircraft without a pilot that is capable of flying itself, making its own decisions, recognizing and neutralizing threats, and taking off and landing on an aircraft carrier. Last Friday (Feb 4), the Northrop Grumman-built U.S. Navy X-47B Unmanned Combat Air System Demonstration (UCAS-D) aircraft successfully completed its historic first flight at Edwards Air Force Base in California. The era of the unmanned combat plane is fast approaching.  Read More