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Jon Burke and TST Cameraman/Editor/Producer/Co-Driver Tom Morningstar win the High Desert Trails Rally 2013. Here's the best-of onboard footage from the Up2Mtns Subaru STI Rally Car . . Photos...

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First collaboration between BMW and Pininfarina results in V12-engined coupé concept; set to be revealed at Concorso d'Eleganza Villa d'este 2013

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The BMW Gran Lusso Coupé Pininfarina, previewed here in a series of teaser shots, will be revealed in full at the Concorso d'Eleganza Villa d'este 2013 show.

Co-designed with Italian car design firm Pininfarina, the coupé is claimed to be "the embodiment of sheer elegance". It continues a design theme that was seen on last year's distinctive Zagato Coupé.

Power comes from a front-mounted V12 engine, most likely the twin-turbo 6.0-litre unit found in current iterations of the 7-series. This unit is rated at 544bhp and 550lb ft, which would give the coupé suitably rapid and smooth performance.

The new coupé features typical BMW proportions, including short front and rear overhangs, a long bonnet and a sizeable wheelbase.

Little else has been revealed about the concept's features or specifications, and the interior is yet to be seen. BMW says, however, that the cabin of the coupé demonstrates the "successful combination of modern elegance and luxury".

BMW's Gran Lusso Coupé Pininfarina concept could potentially be the basis for a new generation of BMW 8-series, the last of which rolled off the production line in 1999.

The 8-series was also a front-engined, rear-drive coupé - and it was similarly offered with a V12 engine. Rivals of the time included GTs like the Porsche 928.

The new BMW Grand Lusso Coupé Pininfarina concept will be revealed in full on 24 May.

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Petrol price 'rigged for a decade'

MPs and energy experts tonight raised fears motorists have been “taken for a very expensive ride”, after officials searched the offices of BP and Shell for evidence of price-rigging.

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BP and Shell raided after allegations they colluded to rig oil prices

European commission carries out 'unannounced inspections' to investigate claims prices were rigged for more than a decadeBP and Shell raided after allegations they colluded to rig oil prices

European commission carries out 'unannounced inspections' to investigate claims prices were rigged for more than a decade

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Oil company offices raided in EU pricing probe

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What cars have you owned that have caused you to lose all hope and leave to someone else or led it to the scrap yard to join the great motorway in the sky?

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The Lamborghini Egoista has been unveiled in Italy, taking the brand’s reputation for extreme models one step further.

Revealed at a ceremony in Sant’Agata marking the end of the Lamborghini 50th anniversary grand tour, the Lamborghini Egoista is designed as “a gift from Lamborghini to Lamborghini”.

Penned by Volkswagen Group’s head of design Walter De Silva, the Egoista pays homage to Lamborghini’s trait of being made with passion and heart more than with the head.

“This is a car made for one person only, to allow them to have fun and express their personality to the maximum.

“It is designed purely for hyper-sophisticated people who want only the most extreme and special things in the world.

“It represents hedonism taken to the extreme, it is a car without compromises, in a word: egoista (selfish).”

Made from aluminium and carbonfibre, and powered by a 441kW 5.2-litre V10 engine borrowed from the Gallardo, the Lamborghini Egoista is a single-seat supercar inspired by the world of aviation, specifically the Apache attack helicopter.

Featuring a special antiradar material, removable cockpit section that can be ejected in an emergency, automatically operated aerodynamic flaps rather than fixed spoilers, two roof-mounted lights (red and green), orange anti-glare glass, and a head-up display unit, the Egoista takes the theme very seriously.

This is culminated with the exit procedure that requires ‘pilots’ to “remove the steering wheel and rest it on the dashboard, open the dome with an electronic command, stand up in their seat, sit down on a precise point of the left-hand bodywork, then swivel their legs 180 degrees from the inside of the cockpit to the outside of the vehicle”. Only at this point can drivers touch the ground and stand up.

While the exterior is aimed at mirroring the profile of a bull with its horns lowered preparing to charge, the interior is focused on functionality with a racing seat, four-point harness, and stylised open-wheel-type steering wheel.

“It is a fanatical vehicle”, De Silva said. “Egoista fits it well.”

The Lamborghini 50th anniversary grand tour saw 350 cars and 700 people from 29 countries drive 1200km from Milan to Bologna to celebrate 50 years of the Raging Bull.

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I served 25 years in the US Air Force, I was the Chief Prosecutor for the Terrorism Trials at Guantanamo Bay for more than two years, and now I need your help.

I personally charged Osama Bin Laden’s driver Salim Hamdan, Australian anathema David Hicks, and Canadian teen Omar Khadr. All three were convicted … and then they were released from Guantanamo. More than 160 men who have never been charged with any offense, much less convicted of a war crime, remain at Guantanamo with no end in sight. There is something fundamentally wrong with a system where not being charged with a war crime keeps you locked away indefinitely and a war crime conviction is your ticket home.

As of April 29, 2013 – 100 of the 166 men who remain in Guantanamo are engaged in a hunger strike in protest of their indefinite detention. Twenty-one of them are being force-fed and five are hospitalized. Some of the men have been in prison for more than eleven years without charge or trial. The United States has cleared a majority of the detainees for transfer out of Guantanamo, yet they remain in custody year after year because of their citizenship and ongoing political gamesmanship in the U.S.

That is why I am calling on Secretary of Defense Charles Hagel to use his authority to effect cleared transfers from Guantanamo and on President Obama to appoint an individual within the Administration to lead the effort to close Guantanamo. Obama announced on April 30 that he plans to do his part to close Guantanamo, but he has made this promise before. Now is the time to hold him to his promise and urge him to take the steps necessary to dismantle Guantanamo Bay Prison.

If any other country were treating prisoners the way we are treating those in Guantanamo we would roundly and rightly criticize that country. We can never retake the legal and moral high ground when we claim the right to do unto others that which we would vehemently condemn if done to one of us.

It is probably no surprise that human rights and activist groups like the Center For Constitutional Rights, Witness Against Torture and Amnesty International have been outspoken critics of Guantanamo. It may surprise you that a former military prosecutor and many other retired senior military officers and members of the intelligence community agree with them.

The Patriotic thing, the American thing, the Human thing to do here is to Close Guantanamo. Please join us in the fight by signing this petition.

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So many of you ask us about our equipment, and what we use to film cars, that I decided to make a little behind-the-scenes video showing some (but not all) o...

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Audi TT ultra quattro concept gets more power and sheds 300kg - and it could lead to a small production run

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Wow.
Chalk up another huge accolade for the Tesla Model S electric car: Consumer Reports has awarded it 99 out of 100 points, and said it's the best car the magazine has tested since 2007.
In fact, the magazine's descriptions of the luxury sport sedan brim with adjectives.
The Tesla Model S "is brimming with innovation, delivers world-class performance, and is interwoven throughout with impressive attention to detail," writes the normally sober consumer publication.
Driving the Model S electric car is "like crossing into a promising zero-emissions future," and the version tested, with its 85-kilowatt-hour lithium-ion battery pack, is "easily the most practical electric car we’ve tested."
CR reports that it gets a real-world 200 miles from that capacity, which is rated by the EPA at 265 miles of range. (The 60-kWh version is rated at 208 miles.)
The Model S was lauded for its quiet operation, its acceleration and roadholding, and its efficiency.

It wasn't perfect, CR noted, suffering a broken windshield that had to be replaced and a problem with the radio (fixed by a software update that was downloaded through the car's mobile-network connection).
The missing point was docked because the Model S takes roughly six hours to recharge its battery pack.
Jake Fisher, CR's head of auto testing, put even that drawback in context when he enthused: "If it could recharge in any gas station in three minutes, this car would score about 110."
Clearly the CR staff pretty much fell in love with the electric sport sedan.
That stands in harsh contrast to its experience with the Fisker Karma range-extended electric car, which died during a track test and was raked over the coals in a scathing test report.
The Tesla Model S doesn't yet receive a "Recommended" rating from Consumer Reports, because the magazine doesn't yet have reliability data on the car, which has only been delivered since last summer.

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The new Cadillac ATS has been lavished with praise by the motoring press. And that's because, when you're a journalist, the ATS offers pretty much everything...

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There may be. But let me tell you how car recommendation posts go, and why we don't allow them here:

Hi, I'd like to buy a car. I like red ones with 2 doors.
1: Well, what do you DO with your car?
2: Oh yeah...you should totally get a miata.
I drive it to work. It's like 5 miles away. I need to pick up groceries too, and I have two fully grown golden retrievers.
1: Well, a 2 door might not be the best fit.
2: Yeah, I don't think you'll get two dogs in a Miata
3: Here's another question: where do you live? Do you have to deal with snow or anything?
2: That doesn't matter. If you know how to drive rear wheel drive with snow tires is fine.
Oh yeah, I do live in Michigan. I don't really know anything about that other than most people up here don't drive them. But I really want a mustang. Is that a good car?
1: You aren't going to be very comfortable with a Mustang and two big dogs. Are you looking for a sports car, or just something sporty?
4: lol, dude, Mustangs aren't sports cars. OX CART SUSPENSION LOLOLOLOL
2: And they're death traps in the snow.
Well, I guess I see your point. What else would work?
1: Well, if you want something sporty and small but big enough for your dogs you probably want to look at something like a Corolla S. Maybe a scion FRS, but that would be tight.
4: Lol...one suggestion for BORING and one for HIPSTER
Oh, I didn't think about that. But I just googled the Corolla and it has 4 doors.
1: Well, yeah....are there any cars other than a Mustang that you like in particular? And what's your budget? You might be interested in some of the 2 door Audi or BMWs?
4: German crap. Overpriced, it's all an electrical nightmare.
Oh, I didn't know that. I heard they are really expensive too.
2: Not really....
5: Look at CPO Audi A5. They have a decent sized back seat and they're fun to drive.
Oh, that looks nice, but they're too expensive.
This thread continues on with some good advice and mostly horrible advice for 2 days. 4 different posters are banned or probated for getting into arguments over manufacturers, suspension, whether lap times around Nurburging counts as a practical performance metric, and the correlation between sexual orientation and vehicle preference.
The original poster never comes back, and bought the Mustang they obviously wanted anyway. They hate it, got into an accident the first snow storm they drove it in and now don't drive in the winter anymore but have no choice other than keeping it because they are upside down in their lease, so they take the shame train to work if there is any threat of precipitation at all.
The dogs destroyed the back seat, passenger's seat and center console within 2 weeks of ownership.
The end.

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