By Mark Atkinson for MSN Autos

If you've been living under a rock for the last few months, you'd be forgiven for not knowing that British race- and road-car builder McLaren is building a successor to its legendary F1 supercar. It revealed the shape and a few details about P1 at the Paris Motor Show last fall, and now is following up before Geneva to fill in plenty of the blanks.

First, the P1 uses full carbonfibre construction to keep its weight down, along with active suspension and aerodynamics introduced on the 14C supercar. It just plain looks stunning with vents, curves and LED lights everywhere... the brake lights are perhaps the coolest ever, ringing the, ahem, cooling ducts for the mid-mounted engine. Like modern Formula 1 cars, the P1 also uses a drag-reduction system (DRS) that lets the car cut through the air up to 20-ish per cent better, meaning rediculously fast acceleration.

That engine is a serious evolution of the 3.8-litre twin-turbocharged V8 found in the 14C, only here in the P1 it makes around 700 horsepower. However, the gas engine is supplemented by a powerful electric motor that's fed by a Formula 1-style kinetic-energy-recovery-system (KERS) that uses a big battery to store energy recaptured during braking. Total system power is 903 horsepower and 600-ish lb-ft of torque, and the driver can also call upon an instantaneous boost of 175 horsepower for short periods of time. As a bonus, the P1 can function as an electric car for up to about 20 km in city driving.

The transmission is a beefed-up seven-speed dual-clutch unit, while the brakes promise to deliver race-car levels of stopping force. McLaren tapped their Formula 1 team supplier Akebono to produce a system that's lighter than ever thanks to a new space-race-era ceramic compound. 

Acceleration numbers are quoted as being head-bashingly fast: 0-300 km/h takes less than 17 seconds, which McLaren says is 23 per cent faster than the McLaren F1. Zero-100 is under three seconds while 0-200 km/h a measly seven seconds... Top speed is limited to 350 km/h as the company claims it has no interest in taking on the Bugatti Veyron Super Sport for those honours. We've also heard rumours that the P1 is currently smashing track records everywhere it goes so we'll be very interested once those details get clearer.

What is perfectly clear is that McLaren is banking on exclusivity again with the P1: only 375 will be built at a cost of over $1.5 million Canadian.

 

 

By John LeBlanc for MSN Autos

Fiat’s Jeep division didn’t intentionally want to peeve-off their traditional buyers. But that’s the reaction they got when images of the new 2014 Cherokee (seen above) were leaked (then officially released) last week ahead of the compact crossover’s official debut at next month’s New York auto show.

By Mark Atkinson for MSN Autos

It's no great secret that I love off-the-wall wagons as much as the next guy, and let me tell you, when some rich dude wants a custom-built performance luxury five-door, all I can do is cheer. So one loaded Aston Martin customer went to Italian design house Bertone and asked for a station-wagon version of the Rapide sedan. Since this is both Aston's 100th birthday and 60 years of working with Bertone, obviously the people in England quickly said, "Sure, why not?"

The result is the Bertone Jet 2+2, based on the current Rapide mechanicals with everything aft of the B-pillars being all-new and melded perfectly with Aston's design. It uses a 470-horsepower 6.0-litre V12 from the 'old' Rapide rather than the upgraded 550-horsepower version from the new Rapide S. Still, who'll complain?

New seats, woods and aluminum have been used inside to give it a more custom feel, while the rear two seats do fold flat to increase cargo room. 

This isn't the first Bertone/Aston Martin 'shooting break'. The Bertone Jet 2 is essentially a wagonized version of the old Vanquish, a dozen DB5's were similarly modified by company owner David Brown, some DB6's, and of course, the Sultan of Brunei's fleet of modified Virages.

It's pretty much a tie in my books between this and the Maserati Quattroporte Bellagio Touring from a few years back. What's your vote? What other high-end sedan or coupe would you like to see turned into a station wagon or shooting break? Let us know!

By Mark Atkinson for MSN Autos

Jimmie Johnson won his second-ever Daytona 500 on Sunday afternoon, despite not leading many laps along the way. Johnson restarted in the lead with only six laps to go, and despite a charge by Earnhardt Jr. and Mark Martin, Johnson wasn't really challenged at the checkers.

“It’s a very, very proud moment. Plate racing has been a little tough on the 48 the last few years," Johnson said.

It was the first win for Chevrolet with its new Gen-6 SS racecar, and it also took six of the top-10 finishers. Ford had three while Toyota had only one, although it was third-placed Martin.

Matt Kenseth, Jeff Gordon and Denny Hamlin were the most dominant in terms of laps led, but finished poorly in 37th, 20th and 14th respectively.

For those wondering, Danica Patrick set another record on Sunday by becoming the first woman to lead a Cup race at Daytona. She was racy all day and was into the mix until the final lap where she dropped from second to eighth.

Bad luck also gave Patrick's teammate and boss Tony Stewart a headache when he wrecked out early despite having won the infamous crash-filled Nationwide race the night before. Despite being Sprint Cup champ at least twice, he's never won the big one at Daytona.

Overall, the race turned out to be more a snoozer than NASCAR was hoping for. Apparently the Gen-6 cars were safe enough on their first outing, but it was difficult to pass and run two or three wide. However, the focus for the new Sprint Cup cars is to improve the 'show' at the mid-sized 'mile-and-a-half' tracks that make up the bulk of the schedule, not the two-mile 'plate' tracks like Daytona and Talladega.

Did you watch the race? What did you think? Were you rooting for Danica to win or crash out? Let us know in the comments.

 

By Mark Atkinson for MSN Autos

Well, that's a bummer.

We spent plenty of time checking out Chevrolet's new SS performance sedan during its coming out party at Daytona International Raceway last weekend. The full-size four-door SS is essentially a cleaned up version of the old Pontiac G8, which of course was an Australian Holden Commodore. The SS - and yes, that's its name, not Beaumont or Chevelle - is essentially Chevrolet's take on the Dodge Charger and Chrysler 300, meaning it's got a big V8, is rear-wheel drive and pretty large.

The 6.2-litre V8 produces 415 horsepower and an equal amount of torque and is backed up by a six-speed automatic transmission. The SS has big Brembo brakes and near-perfect weight distribution, which is impressive for a vehicle this large. Chevrolet figures it'll do the 0-100 km/h run in five-ish seconds.

Sure, the exterior styling looks like you'd lose it in a rental-car pickup lot, but some of its potential buyers probably appreciate a modern-day sleeper. Chevrolet is only building - well, importing them from Australia, really - 5,000 of them, and at a price of around $28,000 (according to Automotive News). 

But - and this is a big 'but' - don't expect any of those 5,000 cars to be sold in Canada. Fellow MSN-er Michael Bettencourt broke the bad news in The Globe and Mail, saying that GM Canada spokesman George Saratlic confirmed the rumours.

Considering how much I enjoyed driving the G8 when it was around, I'm pretty disappointed, but given how few G8s were ever sold in Canada, I understand where GM Canada is coming from.

Would the new SS interest you? Or do you think Dodge and Chrysler already have that portion of the market covered perfectly fine? Let us know.

By Mark Atkinson for MSN Autos

The standard to obtain a drivers licence in North America is generally pretty low and inexpensive, which is why far too many people have poor skills and judgement behind the wheel. In Europe, however, the bar is set significantly higher. Getting your full licence in, say, Germany runs about $2,000 and includes between 20-40 hours of intense study and practice. And the standards are so high that most people fail at least once along the way. That's kind of the gold standard, but even places like Great Britain are generally more intense than those found on this side of the pond.

By Mark Atkinson for MSN Autos

Bentley's 'entry-level' Flying Spur sedan - if there is such a thing as an entry-level Bentley - has proved to be a reasonable success. A twin-turbocharged W12 engine, all-wheel drive and a sumptuous leather, metal and wood-lined interior just drip with excess, but the exterior? Uh, more a mess than drop-dead gorgeous. But we'd gather laying claim to the title of world's fastest sedan and the flying 'B' that comes with it play larger roles in its popularity.

Thankfully, judging from the photos released today, Bentley's taken the criticism to heart and delivered on a much more flowing design for the second-generation 2014 version. The front still shares most of its parts with the Continental GT coupe, but from the sides and out back, the shoulder line and rear lights crib styling cues form the range-topping Mulsanne. It's a significatnly more coherent package that we'd love to examine more closely.

The interior is still the same hide-covered cocoon as before, although updated with Bentley's current dash, technology and steering wheel. We'd guess the Flying Spur does the whole 'biz-jet' cross-continent high-speed travel thing very well.

Especially since the 6.0-litre engine produces a ridiculous 616 horsepower and 590 lb-ft of torque, which means the standard car now has more power than the previous top-end Speed. The 0-100 km/h run should take just 4.4 seconds, while top speed is rated at 322 km/h (200 mph). All this performance plus a 2,475-kg curb weight and Bentley still figures it'll improve fuel efficiency compared with the old one.

Price? We'd bet just under $200,000 before options...

What do you think? Like where Bentley's going with the latest Flying Spur? Wish it were more subtle? Let us know in the comments.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

By John LeBlanc for MSN Autos Canada

What you’re looking at, above, is the new Toyota Auris Touring Sports Hybrid, a gas-electric hybrid version of the formerly gas-only Auris wagon we first saw at last year’s Paris auto show. And if you’re thinking what I’m thinking, then yes, it should be sold in Canada as a Corolla Wagon when that model gets redesigned later this year.

By Mark Atkinson for MSN Autos

Whether watching television, reading a paper or listening to the radio, all everyone kept hearing was the news that Florida, the leading location for Canadian vacationers during colder months, was going to require non-Americans to carry an International Driving Permit. The IDP isn't a replacement for a traditional drivers licence since it doesn't require any form of testing to acquire. What it does do is translate the information on your current licence into 10 different languages to make it easier for local police to understand.

Canadians were understandably nervous and vocal about the new law, especially since it had gone into effect on January 1, 2013 but hadn't been publicized. Even the CAA, the body that provides IDPs to Canadians, had no idea and no warning of the changes. According to the National Post, "even the CAA said it only learned of the change when an American Automobile Association worker in Florida called to discuss the new rules two days ago."

As a result, thousands of spooked Canucks lined up before their CAA clubs to get IDPs, a document that costs $25 and requires two passport-style photos. However, unlike passports, an IDP must be renewed every year and are only available to people 18 years and older. Of the Canadian provinces and territories, only Quebec has drivers licences printed solely in French, meaning only a small percentage of potential travelers whose documents might be more difficult for the Floridian police to read.

However, late Thursday, there was some pretty fast back-tracking after two solid days of bad PR. According to a statement by the Florida Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles, “the requirement may violate the Geneva Convention on Road Traffic (1949), an international treaty to which the United States is a signatory. Therefore, the Florida Highway Patrol will defer enforcement of violations of the amended statutory section until a final determination of the alignment of the amendment with the treaty can be made.”

So where does that leave Canadians? Not sure. Currently, the state says it won't enforce any penalties, but CAA says that since Florida's legislature won't be back in session until some time in March, it could leave foreign drivers at the mercy of individual police officers having a bad day. Not wanting to risk the possibility of big fines or jail time, it suggests carrying one just in case.

What do you think? Big goof by Florida or is this a reasonable request? Are you visiting Florida in the next few days? If so, have you gotten an IDP or are you gambling that you won't need one? Let us know!

By Mark Atkinson for MSN Autos

Never one to shy away from on-screen vehicular carnage, the latest installment of the Die Hard franchise looks set to establish a new level of craziness.

According to USA Today, the new Die Hard takes Bruce Willis as John McClane to Europe for the first time, more specifically Moscow. His long-ignored son is in trouble and the reunion obviously doesn't go as planned...

Anyway, over the course of the movie, over 600 separate vehicles were used, from old Ladas to Lamborghinis, along with a bevy of high-dollar Mercedes-Benz products, including Unimogs, Sprinters and Zetros trucks. Of those, 132 were smoking unfixable wrecks, while 518 still needed significant work to fix.

"With Die Hard it's about how audacious the action is," director John Moore says. "So you have to drive over a Lamborghini. An actual one. And yes it hurts me. I'm a car fanatic."

The whole sequence boils down to 'several' minutes and, in the end, the final tally was over $11 million.

As crazy as that sounds, that's still nowhere near the most expensive cost for a movie car chase. That honour still goes to The Matrix Reloaded, where they actually built a 1.4-mile loop of freeway and over 300 cars. Cost? Over $40 million.

I'm eager to get out and see how the movie turns out... Has anyone already seen it? Worth the ticket price or wait until it hits Netflix?