Tech writers at Stuff Magazine have voted the Nissan Leaf Car of the Year in the latest Stuff Gadget Awards.

The Stuff Car of the Year gong is one of 20 awards presented by the magazine and website writers. Previous winners include the Jaguar I-Pace and Tesla Model X.

“Cars are big gadgets on wheels,” said editor-in-chief James Day.

“Nissan’s Leaf has been a trailblazer for electric vehicles ever since its inception, and the latest model comes packed with a number of smart driver aids that guarantee massive grins when getting from A to B… or parking in a multi-storey.”

The Leaf’s relative affordability helped its case; prices start from £26,345, once the government Plug-in Car Grant is taken off.

The 2019 Leaf e+ variant’s extended 239-mile range and power boost to 217 hp helped, too(although it is more expensive, priced from £35,895 post-Plug-in Car Grant). And the judges liked its e-Pedal function and ProPilot driver assistance tech.

“The Leaf is packed with the kind of technology you wouldn’t expect from such an affordable family car.”

Nissan is almost certain to make much of the award in 2020: Stuff describes itself as the world’s biggest gadget magazine and website. It has both brand recognition and influence – a potent combination to help spread the word…

Motorists will drive 4.3 billion miles this Christmas with more than 1 in 4 planning to travel 500 miles or more.

The average driver will cover a total of 449 miles.

Nearly 6 million separate leisure journeys were estimated to have been driven on Boxing Day alone – and Friday 27th December will be equally busy, according to the survey by the RAC.

• Christmas congestion: 12 days of delays predicted

Saturday 28 December and Sunday 29 December will also see more than 5 million individual leisure journeys taken by car.

“This is very much a time of year when we tend to cover much longer distances than usual to ensure we get to spend valuable time with family and friends, regardless of where we or they live in the country, with drivers depending on their cars more than ever,” said RAC spokesman Rod Dennis.

The survey of 3,500 motorists about their festive driving plans showed that nearly 1 in 3 plan at least one long-distance trip of two hours or more.

A large proportion say they will take two or more lengthy journeys this Christmas.

Highways England customer service director Melanie Clarke added that a little planning beforehand could save a Christmas nightmare of suffering a breakdown.

“We know from experience that almost half of breakdowns can easily be avoided if motorists carry out simple vehicle checks before setting off.”

The roads are expected to be much quieter in the build-up to the New Year, adds the RAC’s Dennis.

Around 3.4 million leisure journeys will be taken on New Year’s Eve – and less than 2.5 million drivers will take to the road on New Year’s Day…

A McLaren Speedtail development car has reached 250 mph more than 30 times during high-speed testing at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida, USA.

Famously exuberant chief test driver Kenny Brack consistently reached the impressive maximum speed figure in Speedtail prototype ‘XP2’.

The tests are part of a high-speed validation regime that has already carried out flat-out runs at Idiada in Spain and Papenburg in Germany.

McLaren is making just 106 Speedtails, each boasting 1,070 horsepower – that’s enough to accelerate from 0-196mph in less than 13 seconds.

A 1.1-litre version of the Ford Fiesta, Britain’s best-selling car, takes 13.8 seconds to reach 62mph.

Each costs £2.1 million ($2.7 million). 

“It’s fitting that the Speedtail’s high-speed test programme concluded with multiple maximum-speed runs at a location strongly associated with pushing the boundaries of extreme performance and engineering excellence,” said McLaren Automotive CEO, Mike Flewitt. 

“The Speedtail is a truly extraordinary car that epitomises McLaren’s pioneering spirit and perfectly illustrates our determination to continue to set new benchmarks for supercar and hypercar performance.”

The Speedtail is McLaren’s tribute to the original McLaren F1 hypercar – like that icon, it even has a centrally-positioned driver’s seat within the three-seat cockpit.

The F1 factor is also why McLaren is only making 106 Speedtails: to match the number of F1s made. 

The Speedtail is a substantial 5.2 metres long (the same as a long-wheelbase Range Rover) and is described as the most aerodynamically efficient McLaren ever.

The Speedtail is also a hybrid: it has a petrol-electric drivetrain that self-charges when the vehicle is driven – although McLaren will also give owners a wireless trickle-charge pad to keep the hybrid system in peak condition.

McLaren says production of the first Speedtail hypercars is already underway at its Woking production centre. Deliveries will begin in February 2020.

McLaren Speedtail 250mph tests – in pictures

Lamborghini has shocked a family in Erie, Colorado by presenting them with a new Aventador S supercar. 

The unexpected arrival of the Aventador was to acknowledge the dedication of Sterling Backus, who has spent the past two years working to 3D print his own Lamborghini.

Although the real Aventador will be spending only a few festive days with the family, it will at least serve as a reminder as to what Backus is working towards.

From the screen to the street

The story began when Sterling’s 12-year-old son, Xander, was playing on the Forza Horizon 3 Xbox One racing game. Xander found himself consistently picking the Aventador to use in the game.

This prompted the simple question from Xander to his father of whether they could build their very own Lamborghini to use in real life. 

Working as a physicist, Sterling Backus decided it would be a cool project to attempt, and would also help promote science and technology subjects to kids. 

Armed with a $900 desktop 3D printer, Sterling then set to work designing and printing the various parts and panels needed to create a life-sized Lamborghini replica. 

Some 24 months later the project is still ongoing, with Sterling having spent around $20,000 on parts and materials to create the replica. The chassis beneath the body panels is made from steel and, unlike the V-12 engine in the real Aventador, this one is powered by a Chevrolet V-8.

Backus has been keen to point out this is not a direct copy of the Aventador, and has modified each body panel slightly with his own design touches. This should avoid any accusations of copyright infringement or intellectual property theft. 

The commitment of Sterling Backus to the project, which has been documented on his special Facebook page, has been enough to win approval from Lamborghini.

Story of authentic passion

Katia Bassi, Chief Marketing and Communication Officer of Automobili Lamborghini, commented that: “Lamborghini is against any attempt at counterfeiting. However, a true story of such authentic passion deserves to be featured, which is why we chose to tell of Sterling’s and Xander’s project in our 2019 Christmas video”. 

The video tells the story of how the project came to life, along with the reaction to Xander Backus finding a real Aventador S within the family’s garage. Driving the real Lamborghini more than likely going to inspire Sterling Backus to finish the project even faster.