An updated, production version of the radical McMurtry Spéirling will be unveiled at next month’s 2023 Goodwood Festival of Speed.
With a 1,000hp electric motor and a ground-effect fan system to generate astonishing levels of downforce, the new McMurtry Spéirling Pure is pitched at wealthy track-day enthusiasts.
Only 100 examples of the electric hypercar will be produced, at a price of £984,000 including taxes. The first finished examples should be delivered to customers in 2025.
Downforce on demand
The Goodwood Festival of Speed is a fitting place for the Spéirling Pure to make its public debut. At last year’s event, with ex-Formula 1 driver Max Chilton at the wheel, the original Spéirling set a new record on the Goodwood hillclimb.
A time of just 39.08 seconds made it quicker than both a McLaren MP4/13 Formula 1 car and Volkswagen’s ID.R electric racer.
Key to the Spéirling Pure’s ability is the fan system, which literally sucks the lightweight machine to the road. The ‘downforce-on-demand’ setup can produce 2,000kg of suction – more than twice the weight of the vehicle itself.
New wider tyres and revised bodywork mean the Spéirling Pure can achieve cornering forces of up to 3G. A revised rear axle allows a top speed of 190mph, too.
Rapid performance, rapid charging
McMurtry has fitted the Spéirling Pure with a 60kWh battery suited to track days. It can cover 10 hard-driven laps of the Silverstone National Circuit, for example, before needing a recharge. The charging process is also ultra-rapid, taking just 20 minutes before the car is ready to go again.
Despite its diminutive dimensions, the single-seat Spéirling Pure comes with adjustable pedals to accommodate drivers up to 6ft 7in tall.
The 2023 Goodwood Festival of Speed runs from 13-16 July. Look out for the McMurtry Spéirling Pure in the Supercar Paddock.
European car makers are calling for a three-year delay in post-Brexit trade rules around electric cars – warning of both a loss of production and a potential €4.3 billion (£3.7 billion) tariff hit.
The restrictive rules on electric vehicle trade between the EU and UK are set to come into force in six months. These require ‘rules of origin’ compliance, meaning electric car batteries must be assembled in Europe to be exempt from tariffs.
The tightened rules, due from 2024, require all battery parts (and some battery material) to be produced either in the EU or UK to qualify.
At the moment, most electric car batteries are sourced from China.
If the rules aren’t changed, cars built in Europe and imported into the UK face a 10 percent tariff. The UK is the largest export market for the EU car industry, and accounts for one in four EV exports.
Three-year delay
“Europe has not yet established a secure and reliable battery supply chain that can cater to these more restrictive rules right now,” said Sigrid de Vries, director general of EU auto trade body ACEA.
“Time is needed to build up the required capacity… In the meantime, vehicle manufacturers must rely on battery cells or materials imported from Asia.
“We are asking the European Commission to extend the current phase-in period by three years.”
Huge cost
Without a delay, ACEA says the 10 percent tariff would cost nearly €4.3 billion over the three-year period from 2024 to 2026.
“This would be detrimental not only to the EU auto industry, but also to the European economy,” added Sigrid de Vries. “As we face increasing competitive pressures from abroad, the application of these rules would have severe consequences for electric vehicle manufacturing in Europe.”
The ACEA estimates that, without a delay, tariffs could lead to a cut in EV production in the EU by up to 480,000 units. This is the equivalent output of two average-sized car factories.
Chinese threat
Chinese-made EVs already make up around a third of the UK market, despite a 10 percent customs duty.
If European car makers are forced to pay the same tariff, said de Vries, “they will clearly lose ground to third-country competition. Failure to act now will hamper our ability to remain competitive… and lead to lost market share – which will be extremely difficult to regain.”
The European Commission has not yet commented on calls to delay the post-Brexit trade rules.
The new BYD Dolphin small electric five-door hatch arrives in the UK later this year with prices starting from an extremely competitive £25,490.
The entry-level model undercuts the best-selling Vauxhall Corsa Electric by around £8,500 – and even the top-spec long-range model is around £3,500 cheaper than the Vauxhall EV.
It also undercuts the MG4 EV, the 2023 UK Car of the Year: prices for the BYD Dolphin’s Chinese arch-rival start from £26,990.
The new BYD Dolphin is the Chinese EV brand’s second EV to launch in the UK, following the BYD Atto 3 electric SUV.
Measuring just under 4.3 metres long, the BYD Dolphin is actually larger overall than the Corsa, and only around 100mm smaller than the Vauxhall Astra family hatch.
It is similar in size to the Volkswagen ID.3 – and its pure electric architecture ensures plenty of interior space and a decent 345-litre boot.
This space efficiency is certain to draw interest from cost-conscious UK buyers, and give it an edge over the smaller EV models it also undercuts on price.
BYD Dolphin range
The BYD Dolphin is offered with a choice of two batteries. It launches with a 60.4kWh battery, delivering a 265-mile range.
In early 2024, a 44.9kWh battery arrives, with up to a 211-mile range in the entry-level Active variant.
The model range is a bit complicated, because BYD mixes and matches batteries and electric motors. In a nutshell, there are four models:
BYD Dolphin Active
44.9kWh battery
60kW DC rapid charging
95hp motor
211-mile range
£25,490
BYD Dolphin Boost
44.9kWh battery
60kW DC rapid charging
176hp motor
193-mile range
£26,490
BYD Dolphin Comfort
60.4kWh battery
88kW DC rapid charging
204hp motor
265-mile range
£29,490
BYD Dolphin Design
60.4kWh battery
88kW DC rapid charging
204hp motor
265-mile range
£30,990
All but the base BYD Dolphin Active have multi-link rear suspension, which improves handling and gives more sophisticated ride comfort on challenging roads.
They all also have the firm’s famous ‘rotating’ central infotainment screen. It goes from portrait to landscape format at the touch of a button.
The top-spec BYD Dolphin Design has a panoramic glass roof, two-tone paint, eye-catching tri-colour alloys, rear privacy glass and wireless smartphone charging.
It also has ‘vehicle-to-load’ functionality, which allows the car’s battery to power something else, such as laptop chargers.
A heat pump is standard, for better efficiency in cold weather, while BYD is proud of the Dolphin’s vegan leather.
Ordering is open now from the Chinese brand’s growing UK dealer network, with deliveries beginning towards the back end of 2023.
The latest Formula 1 World Championship has been a little predictable, thanks to the ongoing dominance of Max Verstappen. So, if you want to rewrite the record books for this year, say hello to EA Sports F1 23.
The brand new official Formula 1 video game is available to buy now, and is offered for Microsoft Xbox, Sony PlayStation and Windows PC.
Does it do enough to be a worthwhile upgrade from EA Sports F1 22, released less than 12 months ago? Let’s find out…
Las Vegas, baby!
It has been hard to miss the hype around the addition of the Las Vegas Street Circuit to the 2023 Formula 1 calendar. Although the real race does not take place until November this year, players of F1 23 can explore the new neon-lit track straight away.
EA Sports has also finally added Qatar’s Losail International Circuit to the track selection, too, after it was first used in the 2021 Formula 1 season.
Spain’s recently reprofiled Circuit de Barcelona Catalunya is included as well, along with the changes to Austria’s Red Bull Ring. Jeddah, Zandvoort, Miami and Baku receive minor tweaks such as new kerbs or extended grandstands.
All the latest car designs and liveries from the 2023 Formula 1 World Championship are, as you would hope, available from the off.
Braking the limit, again
Those who played the F1 21 game will remember the Braking Point interactive story mode. Although not present in last year’s game, it makes a return for 2023.
Braking Point 2 sees Aiden Jackson and Devon Butler, the protagonists from the original story, back again. This time they are placed at a fictional Konnersport Formula 1 team, facing the challenges of being teammates and driving for a brand new outfit.
They are joined by the character of Callie Mayer, introduced as the first woman to win the Formula 2 championship. EA Sports worked with three-time W Series winner, Jamie Chadwick, to gain her unique insight.
A point to prove
The gameplay for Braking Point focuses around scenarios during the 2022 and 2023 seasons, typically seeing the player chucked into the middle of a race with objectives to meet.
Away from the track, press interviews, social media posts and even team management decisions are all included. It does give a useful introduction for those new to Formula 1 games, but the scripted drama can be tough going.
The inclusion of a female Braking Point character marks an important step for the F1 franchise, even more so after the W Series entered administration earlier this month.
Lapping with precision
EA Sports is particularly proud of the new ‘Precision Drive’ feature, which is said to improve the experience for those using a games controller. Typically, using a controller has been viewed as less immersive than a full force-feedback steering wheel, and more suited to casual players.
Previous F1 games have made using a controller tricky. In our experience, it took a lot of experimenting with menu settings in F1 22 to feel confident playing with one.
F1 23, however, is instantly more playable with a controller. Alongside the improved physics and handling for the cars themselves, there are likely to be fewer moments of frustration this time around.
Driven by fan feedback
As part of developing this year’s game, EA Sports says it has taken fan feedback onboard about how to improve the F1 franchise.
Red flags make a return to F1 23 franchise after a surprising nine-year absence. This makes sense, given their increasingly frequent use in real-world Formula 1 races. Both offline and online modes can see the race red-flagged, usually due to collisions or bad weather.
Other tweaks have included the return of the popular 35 percent race distance, noted as the ‘sweet spot’ for combining strategy and speed of play.
Graphics tune-up included
Previous games in the F1 franchise often had graphics that appeared rudimentary, with a focus on performance over detail. Pleasingly, F1 23 has been given a major boost, with improved colour encoding and lighting dynamics.
There is a definite difference when placed side-by-side with last year’s title, and it makes for the most realistic looking F1 game to date.
New on-screen graphics can be seen when racing, designed to more closely mimic those viewed on TV broadcasts. This extends to updated driver grid rundown visuals at the start of each race.
Create your own F1 World
Replacing last year’s ‘F1 Life’ social hub is the rebranded ‘F1 World’ for F1 23. This allows access to both solo and multi-player racing, and delivers fresh daily, weekly and seasonal challenges.
It still allows for plenty of customisation, along with a new F1 World car that can be developed and enhanced. EA Sports hopes that F1 World will appeal to those familiar with other racing games such as Gran Turismo or Forza Motorsport, allowing more pick-up-and-play arcade action.
However, the usual options to play a complete Formula 1 season still remain, as does the ability to build your own team and driver. Updated real-world driver ratings have been added for 2023, bringing the game up-to-date.
Verdict: EA Sports F1 23
Developing and publishing a new video game in just 12 months will always limit just how dramatic any changes can be. This is a characteristic not only common to the F1 game franchise, but seen across the wider EA Sports range.
The addition of new circuits, along with the genuinely impressive Precision Drive for controller users, does deliver important upgrades to F1 23. Bringing back red flags, the 35 percent race distance option, and the visual upgrades are notable improvements as well.
On the flipside, Braking Point 2 will hold little appeal for those who just want an accurate recreation of the current Formula 1 season. Those who buy into the Drive to Survive-style drama will enjoy it, but more experienced players are likely to give it a miss.
For 2023, the positive additions to EA Sports F1 23 outweigh the features simply carried over from previous F1 games. This makes it easier to recommend for both experienced players, and those new to the world of virtual Formula 1.
Italian ‘ultra-premium’ EV startup Aehra has pulled the wraps off its second new car, due by 2026. The Aehra Sedan follows the radical SUV revealed last year.
Milan-based Aehra chose its local Monza Motor Show to unveil the Sedan, which shares around 70 percent of its components with the SUV. Along with sleek, very aerodynamic styling, both vehicles feature upwards-opening ‘elytra wing doors’ – similar to the Falcon Wing rear doors on a Tesla Model X.
The Sedan will feature the same electric drivetrain as the SUV, too. That means a 120kWh battery from Austrian company Miba, three motors and a power output somewhere between 750hp and 815hp. Not to mention genuine supercar performance.
A little bit of Lambo
Speaking of supercars, the Sedan’s coupe-like lines are the work of Filippo Perini, the former design boss at Lamborghini, whose credits include the Aventador, Huracan and Urus. “Adhering to Aehra’s doctrine that form must always follow function, the Sedan is the antithesis to baroque design culture,” says Perini. “It is devoid of unnecessary adornments, yet alive with emotion.”
The car’s body is made from recycled composite materials, including forged carbon fibre, with an elegant, flowing profile inspired by aircraft. It uses cameras instead of door mirrors and ‘active aerodynamic and cooling elements’ within a gaping front grille.
We haven’t seen inside the Sedan yet, but expect a similar layout to the SUV, with very few physical controls and a huge, full-width screen that rises out of the dashboard to provide a private cinema experience (although only when the car is parked).
Taking on the Taycan
A 925-volt architecture allows the Sedan to charge at up to 350kW – in line with the fastest public EV chargers installed in the UK. A target range of 800km (497 miles) is more than the 453 miles offered by the Mercedes-Benz EQS, currently the longest-range electric car on sale.
Rivals for the Sedan will include the higher-output versions of the Porsche Taycan, the Tesla Model S and more conventional super saloons such as the BMW M5. Aehra hopes to ramp up Sedan production to 25,000 cars a year, alongside a similar number of sales for the SUV.
There’s no word on prices yet, but a starting figure of around £140,000 looks likely. Watch this space.
Your own car could be immortalised as a die-cast scale model, with the return of the Hot Wheels Legends Tour.
The search is on to find the coolest cars across the country, with the winner going on to represent Britain in the Legends Tour final.
This lucky winner will then see their car recreated as a 1:64 die-cast model, and sold around the world.
To help kickstart the excitement for the 2023 Legends Tour, Hot Wheels has given us five die-cast car sets to give away. And you could win one of them!
New live UK final event
For the UK round of the 2023 Hot Wheels Legends Tour, a special event will allow the public to watch the judging take place.
The UK final will be part of the RADwood car show, taking place at Bicester Heritage on 2 September. Ten hand-picked Hot Wheels finalists will be on show, with fans able to see the cars up-close before the judges pick an overall winner.
For 2023, the judging panel includes modified car creator and TV presenter Helen Stanley, presenter and avid car collector Paul Cowland, and the Smith and Sniff podcast’s Richard Porter.
All 10 finalists will receive a Castrol Oils merchandise bundle, with the overall UK winner taking home a set of Falken tyres.
Prove your car has ‘garage spirit’
To potentially see their car made into a Hot Wheels model, owners must upload a short video to the Hot Wheels Legends Tour website by 4 August 2023.
Entrants will need to demonstrate why their car has the creativity, authenticity and ‘garage spirit’ to become a Hot Wheels icon.
Previous winners have included highly-modified Volvo P1800 Gasser, owned by Somerset-based Lee Johnstone.
The Grand Final for the 2023 Hot Wheels Legends Tour takes place in the United States this November. After the winning car is chosen, it will be turned into a 1:64 scale model.
Win Hot Wheels prizes with Motoring Research
To celebrate the launch of the 2023 Hot Wheels Legends Tour in the UK, we have five special Hot Wheels sets to give away.
The six-car sets feature a host of miniature performance machines, including a Porsche 911 GT3 RS and BMW M4.
In order to win one of the five sets, email contact@motoringresearch.com and tell us what you love about collecting Hot Wheels.
Five entries will be drawn after the closing date of Friday 23 June to receive one of the Hot Wheels sets – and have what they love about collecting Hot Wheels published on Motoring Research!
With Britain basking in hot weather, you may discover a puddle of water beneath your parked car – or indeed water dripping from the engine.
If so, you might assume the radiator has sprung a leak and the car is likely to overheat. However, it’s much more likely to be water dripping from the air conditioning system.
The excess water is caused by the air conditioning compressor working hard in hot conditions. Due to thermodynamics, the unit itself can freeze over as it takes moisture out of the car.
Check the water is clear and odourless
When the car is parked and the air conditioning is switched off, the ice on its surface will melt.
This is what causes the water underneath the car – and the hotter the weather, the larger and more alarming the puddle may be.
RAC spokesperson Rod Dennis revealed the car breakdown organisation receives plenty of calls from drivers worried by pools of water under their cars.
“The advice is to check whether this is simply odourless water, or if it has coolant in, with a definite smell and colour. If it’s the former, there should be no need to worry,” explained Dennis.
Hopefully, that’s panic over. Meaning it’s only the sunshine that will have you breaking a sweat during a heatwave.
Coryton Sustain Classic fuels allow classic car drivers to power their vehicles with plant-based petrol – with no modifications needed to the cars’ engines.
There are three types of petrol available, with up to 80 percent renewable content. Coryton engineers promise a reduction in greenhouse gases of at least 65 percent, compared with fossil fuels, from the most sustainable product.
The petrol has an octane rating of 98RON – equivalent to super unleaded – but it certainly isn’t cheap. Prices start from £3.80 per litre – that’s more than £17 a gallon…
Biofuel from waste
The Coryton fuels are second-generation biofuels, made from agricultural by-products. These include straw and waste crops that wouldn’t be used for consumption.
The fuels therefore use CO2 that is already in the atmosphere, which has been absorbed by plants as they have grown – rather than releasing additional CO2 locked in underground fossil fuel.
They also have a low, sub-one-percent mix of bioethanol, which has been specifically tailored to protect classic cars.
There are around half-a-million classic cars in the UK, and fuels such as these could bolster their sustainability for the future. However, Coryton adds that the fuel can be used by any vehicle running on standard forecourt fuel, not only classics.
Every little helps
“Every kilogram of CO2 we avoid adding to our atmosphere by replacing fossil fuel with sustainable fuel is a win,” said Coryton business development director, David Richardson.
“We don’t instantly have to go for the full switch to start making a genuine impact. As more feedstocks become available, these fuels will start to contain even higher levels of traceable sustainable elements.”
He added that current availability of truly fossil-free fuel components is limited, but development is underway.
“The industry will get there with the right support – which is why we think it’s important to start getting these products into the hands of consumers so they can see how easy and effective the switch could be.”
Coryton sustainable fuel at Bicester Heritage
Super 80
At least 80 percent renewable content
At least 65 percent greenhouse gas saving compared to fossil fuels
98RON
£4.65 per litre
Super 33
At least 33 percent renewable content
At least 25 percent greenhouse gas saving compared to fossil fuels
98RON
£3.80 per litre
Racing 50
At least 50 percent renewable content
At least 35 percent greenhouse gas saving compared to fossil fuels
Most car storage facilities are just functional and faceless warehouses. Kiklo Spaces is different. This unique venue in Hampshire – an hour away from London and 25 minutes from Goodwood – feels more like a dream garage for your money-no-object car collection.
“Cars are meant to be enjoyed – and this place gives you the ability to enjoy them,” says Luke Rebelo, facility director at Kiklo Spaces. “We don’t see ourselves as a storage company. This is more like a gallery for important automotive art.”
At the time of our visit, those objets d’art included an Aston Martin Valkyrie, Ferrari 250 GT California SWB and three examples of the legendary McLaren F1. Oh, and a Morris Minor. “We’re certainly not elitist,” adds Luke. “The Morris is looked after with exactly the same level of the same level of care as the McLarens.”
Cars and community
From the outside, Kiklo Spaces looks modernist and minimalist, like a beautiful, timber-clad villa you might discover in the hills above Malibu beach. Inside, it’s more like a Bond villain’s lair: expansive and immaculately white, with a huge hydraulic lift connecting two levels of car space.
Up to 50 vehicles are kept here, many of them with seven-figure price tags, and the levels of security and fire prevention are as rigorous as you’d hope – including an on-site reservoir for the sprinkler system.
Rover SD1 on display at Kiklo Spaces.
A successful works Group A touring car, prepped by TWR and driven by René Metge and Jean Louis Schlesser in 1983-84. pic.twitter.com/wklPb1OiBZ
However, Luke is keen to stress that Kiklo Spaces is about more than just the cars. “This is a community for like-minded individuals,” he explains, “allowing owners to meet up, share views and knowledge, see their cars on display, and drive them on local country roads.”
Newey meets Murray
Still, it’s the cars I’m most excited to see – and none more so than the Aston Martin Valkyrie (pictured above). Lurking menacingly in a corner, this 1,160hp V12-engined hypercar looks like a Le Mans prototype with number plates. Its aero-sculpted details are exquisite, its overall form utterly alien.
Parked next to Adrian Newey’s vision of the ultimate road car is a McLaren F1 – a car Gordon Murray designed in the early 1990s with a broadly similar brief. This particular F1, chassis number 43, was bought new by the Japanese founder of Ueno Clinic and remains wonderfully original. If we’re talking automotive art, this is my Mona Lisa.
Two era-defining hypercars here: Aston Martin Valkyrie and McLaren F1.
At the opposite end of the supercar spectrum is a wildly modified ‘Koenig Specials’ version of the Ferrari Testarossa (see top of page). Its twin-turbocharged flat-12 kicks out 1,000hp: good for 0-60 mph in 3.5 seconds and a top speed of 230mph – all without any electronic driver aids. I doubt Gordon Murray would approve, but I certainly do.
The presence of greatness
The facility also houses a number of important racing cars, none more so than Ayrton Senna’s championship-winning McLaren MP4/6 (pictured above). One of the final F1 cars with a V12 engine and a manual transmission, it seems to pulse with barely suppressed energy – even in the silence of this dehumidified, temperature-regulated room.
Lastly, returning to the real world, Luke lifts the cover on a Toyota Land Cruiser FJ40. The 1973 model was briefly used as a snow plough before being retired with less than 400 miles on the clock. Stark and functional, it’s a reminder that cars don’t need huge horsepower or a racing heritage to rouse our emotions.
Luke and I finish with a chat on one of the venue’s rather stylish sofas, drinking great coffee and talking about cars. If you’d like to do the same, or you have a special car to store, check out Kiklo Spaces on Instagram and join the community.
Photo credits: Alex Penfold, Henry Wood and Stephan Bauer.
This weekend’s 2023 24 Hours of Le Mans endurance race will see a NASCAR Cup Series Next Gen Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 line up on the starting grid.
Running in the experimental Garage 56 category, the NASCAR Camaro is there to demonstrate just how capable the latest Cup Series stock car racer is.
It’s also part of the celebrations to mark the 100th anniversary of Le Mans, along with commemorating the 75th anniversary of NASCAR’s founding.
Compared to the diminutive Le Mans Hypercar and GT racers, the hulking Chevy NASCAR will certainly be easy to spot on-track. If the V8 noise doesn’t give it away first…
Showing what a Next Gen NASCAR can do
The Garage 56 ‘Innovative Car’ category was introduced at Le Mans in 2012, designed to promote new technology and initiatives. Previous entrants have included the radical DeltaWing and hybrid-powered Nissan ZEOD RC racer.
Although Garage 56 entrants are classified in the actual race results, they are not eligible for outright victory.
This will matter little to Hendrick Motorsports. The hugely successful American racing team is fielding the Camaro in collaboration with NASCAR, Chevrolet, IMSA and Goodyear.
On driving duty will be seven-time NASCAR Cup Series champion Jimmie Johnson, 2009 Formula 1 world champion Jenson Button, and two-time Le Mans winner Mike Rockenfeller.
An all-star driving team
The car taking to the Circuit de la Sarthe is almost unchanged from the Next Gen Chevrolet Camaro ZL1s used in the NASCAR Cup Series.
This means a 358-cubic inch (5.8-litre) small-block V8 engine, combined with a five-speed paddle shift transmission.
Necessary modifications have included the addition of functioning headlights and tail lights for racing at night. A road course-specification windscreen wiper is also fitted, along with a larger fuel cell to enable the Camaro to complete longer stints.
Bespoke Goodyear Eagle racing rubber has been used, while carbon brake discs ensure the Chevrolet can make repeated stops from high speed.
Creating the full NASCAR experience
“From the beginning of this project, it was important to us that the car we bring to Le Mans is a true NASCAR stock car,” said Jim France, chairman and CEO of NASCAR.
“While there have been some adjustments to allow the car to compete in a 24-hour endurance race, fans in Le Mans will be treated to the full NASCAR experience”, he added.
This is not the first time a NASCAR has taken to the Circuit de la Sarthe, however. In 1976, a Dodge Charger and Ford Torino were entered at Le Mans, as part of an ‘exchange of classes’ between the two events.
Both NASCARs failed to finish in 1976, with a lack of preparation noted as contributing to their mechanical issues.
Flat-out to the finish
This time around, extensive testing has been undertaken since the project was announced in March 2022. Included in this was a 24-hour simulation, held at Sebring in February.
The Chevy has already looked impressive in Le Mans practice, posting quicker lap times than the fastest LM GTE cars. It reached a top speed of 185mph, too. A win by the Garage 56 crew in the annual Pit Stop Challenge also proves the Hendrick team is out for success.
However, simply being at the finish when the race ends on Sunday is likely to be the ultimate prize for the outrageous NASCAR.
