One of the many innovations Tesla has propagated in its short and action-packed lifetime is over-the-air updates. In other words, the ability to fix or improve its cars without physically touching them.
The car you climb out of one evening could have new and improved technology when you get back in the following morning. And Tesla’s latest update actually helps its cars get better over time.
Software Version 9.0 will be rolling out to all Teslas imminently. “Tesla owners will be waking up to a car that is smarter, safer and more intuitive than ever before,” says the company.
We’ll be sure to ask our friend with a Model 3 just how effective the update is. In the meantime, here are the highlights.
What’s new in Tesla Software Version 9.0?
Phone integration – the relationship between your car and your mobile phone is about to become more intricate. As well as initiating software updates remotely, you can send map destinations to the car’s navigation system.
Dash cam – You can now record 10 minutes of footage from onboard cameras (featured on cars built after August 2017).
Full 360-degree view – Eight cameras around the car will now help with data for Autopilot autonomous driving systems, which used to rely purely on ultrasonic sensors.
Atari games – Classic Atari arcade games now feature as ‘easter eggs’. “If you find them, your car becomes a game console”. OK then…
Say what you want about Tesla, it has always been a market disruptor – one that’s given every single established car manufacturer food for thought.
While the ‘Ludicrous’ pace and the electric drivetrains grab headlines, the exceptional connectivity of these cars is what will keep them competitive. It’s innovation we can’t wait to see spreading to other cars.
Read more:
Eco-Loco: The wild and wonderful world of the green car
Candice Brown, 2016 winner of The Great British Bake Off, has teamed up with Skoda to pay tribute to one of the coolest TV ads in modern memory.
Remember the life-size Skoda Fabia cake from 2007? Well, Candice isn’t quite baking an entire car. Today’s iteration is a tad more manageable – and you can even bake it yourself.
Candice’s miniature replica is comprised of six layers of fluffy lemon sponge held together with citrus-infused buttercream panelling. Fondant icing is used for the new LED headlights, wheels, windscreen wipers, front grille and Skoda badge. Read on for the full recipe.
Video: Candice Brown bakes a Skoda cake
“Everyone remembers and loves the original ad, so when I got the challenge through to recreate the new Fabia out of cake, I jumped at it” said Candice.
“We’re encouraging everyone and anyone to have a go to see if they can recreate the car.”
“The beauty of baking is that it doesn’t matter how good or bad you are, regardless of what it looks like cake is always delicious, so you can’t go far wrong…hopefully.”
Recipe: how to bake your own Skoda Fabia
Here’s the recipe for your very own Fabia, as seen on the Skoda website:
Baking the cake
Preheat the oven to 160°C fan (180°C/350°F/Gas Mark 4). Grease and line six 25cm cake tins
Sift the flour into a large bowl and add the butter, sugar, baking powder, eggs, lemon zest and juice. Mix together until smooth, fluffy and combined
Divide the mixture evenly between the six cake tins
Bake for about 20 minutes or until the sponges are risen and golden
Remove from the oven and turn out the sponges on to a wire rack to cool
While your cake is cooling, make your lemon buttercream
Combine the sifted icing sugar with the butter and add the juice and zest of one lemon
Mix together until smooth and creamy
Decorating the cake
Sandwich each layer of sponge with your buttercream to create six layers
Carve the cake to create a rectangle. Looking at the top of the cake find the middle point and start to carve down in a curve to roughly the third layer to create the windscreen and bonnet shape of your car
Cover the cake with the remaining buttercream
Roll out the fondant icing in the colour of your choice
Drape the fondant over the cake and smooth down
Using different coloured fondant carve out the shape of the windows, headlights, front grille, tyres and Skoda badge, and stick to the cake using a dab of water
Add your finishing touches
Share your bake using #FABIACake
Lastly, as a timely reminder, here’s the original Fabia cake advert…
Read more:
Uber drivers on strike from today: what you need to know
Toyota has opened online reservations for the new Supra sports car in the UK – but eager buyers had better be quick because just 300 order slots are available for 2019 delivery.
The firm is asking for a £1,000 deposit to secure a reservation for a Supra, and is taking bookings online via its customer website.
Those who place an online reservation will get the chance to place an official order when they open in early 2019.
Prototypes of the new A90-generation Supra have already appeared at the 2018 Geneva Motor Show and Goodwood Festival of Speed. Interest has been ramping up accordingly.
Toyota GB marketing director Andrew Cullis says that “with only limited numbers available, we want to give people the earliest opportunity to secure their vehicle”.
The best Japanese sports cars
To reserve a car, Toyota is asking for personal details as well as the £1,000 deposit – but it adds the sum is fully refundable if customers change their mind.
That’s why it says that, once all 300 places have been reserved, additional customers will be placed on a waiting list.
Official ordering will then take place in the New Year, when buyers will fully secure one of the first 2019 Supras.
Those who don’t fancy doing it online can also do it via their local Toyota dealer – and Toyota adds that full prices and specifications will be “announced soon”… with everyone who places a reservation “kept fully up-to-date with information as it is released”.
With a flashy launch event at Goodwood House, and the promise of a truly immersive driving experience, there is a lot to live up to. It’s a tough life, but we spent time on the sofa to work out whether it matches up to expectations. This is what we found.
Britain is apparently smaller than you think
After America, Europe, and Australia, the fourth iteration of Forza Horizon is set in Great Britain. With areas including the Cotswolds, to the Lake District and even the centre of Edinburgh, it’s geographically diverse.
Yet travelling from the Scottish Highlands, to the stereotypical English countryside, is thankfully only a few minutes drive. Horizon 4’s map is packed with the kind of driving roads British drivers love, but without the hassle of getting to them.
The landscapes are truly breathtaking
The locations chosen by developer Playground Games were not by accident. Britain itself, and the areas featured, were handpicked to create a dramatic backdrop to the racing action.
Combined with dynamic lighting, there are moments where the scenery can prove almost distractingly impressive. Should you be so inclined, you can also destroy large amounts of the landscape too. Thankfully, the organisers of the Horizon Festival seem skilled at rapidly repairing dry stone walls.
Seasonal changes matter
One of the most talked about features of Horizon 4 is the ability to experience all four seasons. Modelling an open-world map of this scale is an impressive feat in the first place, but to have it span an entire year of climatic changes is genuinely worthy of praise.
Progressing deeper into the game will see the season change on a weekly basis for all players. Competitions and challenges will be tailored to the current season, and your choice of car may well be influenced by the calendar.
The weather is classically British
It wouldn’t be Britain without weather. From torrential rain, to dazzling sunshine, or dense fog, no day in the Horizon Festival is the same as the next. Other cars kick up giant roosters tails of spray in the wet, making the neatly animated windscreen wipers a necessity.
Winter brings ample amounts of snow and ice. Crunching new tracks through freshly fallen snow is oddly satisfying, especially without the worry of whether you’ll get stuck or not.
You can be the King (or Queen) of the Castle
A new feature for the latest Horizon game is the option to purchase houses for your chosen character. These act as a base to tune and modify cars, plan your next challenge, or just as a backdrop for Forza’s photography mode.
Some homes are bigger than others. The above pictured Bamburgh Castle, a Grade II listed building in Northumberland, is one of the pricier purchases. At least in a video game there is no need to worry about the heating bill…
Barns are stacked with abandoned cars
If you’ve been to a car auction in the UK recently, you’ll know that every other lot seems to be a special ‘barn find’ or discovered classic. Things are no different in Horizon 4, with British barns seemingly stocked with priceless machinery that has been forgotten about.
Playing and hide and seek around the countryside can be rewarding, if a little frustrating. But these expeditions do deliver rare cars and exclusive motors to add to your collection.
You need to be an influencer
Mirroring the emergence of social media starlets, progress in Horizon 4 is measured by your influence. Win races, pull epic stunts, and see your follower count go through the roof. Thankfully you don’t have to start each race with “Hey guys” or ask them to “smash that like button” at the end.
For some the cheesy presentation of the Horizon Festival experience will start to grate. Countless cut scenes and staged dialogue can be a pain when all you want to do is drive. It’s a small, but annoying, price to pay for the giant open world on offer.
Speed cameras can be celebrated, not feared
Horizon 4 may be set on normal public roads, but the fictional organisers have seemingly made use of legislation to allow for high speeds on the highways. However, there are still speed cameras dotted throughout the landscape.
These form part of the myriad of additional challenges on offer, goading drivers to try to set the fastest speed through them. Other features include gigantic jumps and zones dedicated to pulling lurid drifts.
There are car choices to suit every taste
In common with previous Horizon titles, the motoring choices range from humble superminis through to flame-spitting hypercars, and ridiculous off-road weapons. These fit the core classes of Horizon competition, split between tarmac and loose surfaces.
To progress throughout the Festival series, you’ll need to become a master of all types of racing. Fortunately, there are hundreds of beautifully detailed cars to choose from, all of which can be customised to your individual preferences. Oh, and you can damage them, too.
Racing a Unimog is as exciting as it sounds
One of the most pleasing aspects of the Horizon series of games is finding pleasure in something truly crazy. Charging around the countryside in a Mercedes-Benz Unimog – with a top speed of less than 80mph – is as ridiculous as it sounds.
This is ultimate escapism
Very few people will get to drive a Lamborghini Countach at full speed across moorland roads in real life, but here is the opportunity to recreate it. The same goes for drifting a Chevrolet Corvette along Princes Street in Edinburgh, or drag racing a muscle car along an empty beach.
The presentation may grate at times, but fundamentally Forza Horizon 4 offers the opportunity to drive and race cars through familiar environments. There are no speeding fines to worry about, petrol to pay for, or even the need to wash your car afterwards.
Which optional extras do you value most? Following the 68-plate transition, Go Compare investigated which boxes buyers are most keen to tick. The results are interesting…
Parking sensors are by some way the most popular add-on, according to the survey of 2,000 drivers. Sixty-five percent of drivers said they’d pay extra for them. Oddly, tyre pressure monitoring came second, with 58 percent saying they’d specify it.
A total of 45 percent and 44 percent respectively said they’d choose automatic headlights (third) and windscreen wipers (fourth). Automatic emergency braking came fifth, on 42 percent.
In sixth is cruise control, at 34 percent, because we’re all about doing as little of the driving as possible. Lane-departure warning follows in seventh (31 percent).
Climate control, memory-adjustable seats and self-parking take eighth, ninth and 10th places respectively.
Matt Oliver from GoCompare attributes our sweetness on parking sensors to the increasing size of our cars: “According to Driver and Vehicle Standard Agency data, reverse parking is one of the main reasons people fail their driving test, so it’s perhaps unsurprising that technology which makes reverse and parallel parking easier is so popular with drivers.
“In recent years, the size of cars has grown considerably – both in width and length, while the average size of parking spaces hasn’t changed – making parking even more of a challenge.”
The challenge of driving more generally is perhaps what motivates the ‘driver assistance’ theme in the options top 10.
European Union ministers are discussing proposed CO2 targets for 2025 and 2030 tomorrow (October 9th) and they’re likely to be gunning for even more ambitious reductions.
The knock-on effects of the diesel cheating scandals of the past three years have been exponential. As people have lost trust in carmakers, so too legislators have lost faith in their ability to regulate the internal combustion engine and meet tumbling CO2 targets.
The feeling, then, is that the suspected doubling-down on target reductions will act as an incentive to develop zero-emissions cars. A quick way of reducing CO2, after all, is to make sure most cars don’t emit it.
At present, electric vehicles have a 1.5 percent market share in Europe. Contrast that with the fact that cars account for more than 10 percent of the continent’s CO2 emissions.
Ambitious targets
Previously set-out targets of 15 percent and 30 percent reductions in automotive CO2 output by 2025 and 2030 respectively have already been increased to 20 and 40 percent. The percentages relate to the 95g/km target for 2021.
Since this ongoing conversation on emissions reduction in cars began in 2008, the automotive industry has kept a firm grip of the reigns, letting governments know when a proposal isn’t what it would call realistic. The 130g/km target of 2015 was originally intended for 2012, but was pushed back after pressure from carmakers. The 2021 target was originally 2020 before it was extended, again following industry pressure.
The EU is keen to get on-track in the fight against climate change – and the cheating of emissions tests has made its governments less inclined to offer leeway.
Knock-on effects
Innovation, however, is expensive. If research and development aren’t spread out across periods of profit, the prices of products go up. And what we’ll wind up with, warn car manufacturers, is clean cars that cost a lot more. There could also be a knock-on effect in terms of jobs.
One way or another, the EU is keen to drag the industry, compliant or otherwise, into 2021, 2025, 2030 and beyond. Let the kicking and screaming commence…
Read more:
Going the distance: electric car range from shortest to longest
Nissan has introduced a new 1.3-litre DIG-T turbo petrol engine that replaces not one, but two outgoing motors: the 115hp 1.2-litre turbo and 163hp 1.6-litre turbo.
Offered in both 140hp and 160hp guises, the new engine represents a fair step up in power over the strong-selling 1.2-litre DIG-T. It’s also useful more economical, averaging up to 53.3mpg and emitting 121g/km CO2.
The previous lowest CO2 figure for a petrol-powered Qashqai was 129g/km.
Even better, the new 1.3 DIG-T engine has been tested to the stricter new WLTP fuel economy regulations, meaning that 53mpg should theoretically be more attainable in real-world driving.
It also has 36lb ft more pulling power and service intervals have been extended from 12,500 miles to 18,000 miles.
The engine is a Renault-Nissan Alliance motor, and is fitted with a gasoline particulate filter for reduced NOx emissions (downsized turbocharged direct injection petrol motors can produce surprisingly high levels during certain situations). Nissan says because it has more pulling power at lower revs, it’s quieter than the sometimes hard-worked 1.2. Acceleration and overtaking shove are better, too.
It follows Nissan’s recent upgrade of its 1.5 dCi turbodiesel, to which it’s added NOx-reducing exhast aftertreatment tech.
Alex Smith, MD of Nissan Motor GB Ltd, noted the importance of the new engine as buyers move away from diesel: “The launch of this all-new 1.3-litre unit is the right response to changing market conditions, meeting customer demand for a highly effective petrol engine that delivers outstanding driving performance and fuel efficiency.”
Prices start from £19,595 for a Qashqai Visia 1.3 DIG-T 140, up to £28,595 for the top-spec Qashqai Tekna 1.3 DIG-T 160. All cars get a six-speed manual gearbox, with a seven-speed DCT auto set to follow from November.
The launch of the new engine is also good news for Qashqai retained values. CAP HPI says a 1.3 DIG-T 140 Acenta Premium will be worth 50.1 percent of its list price after three years and 30,000 miles, which should be good news for competitive PCP payments.
The fact that even high-tech petrol engines are generally cheaper than their diesel equivalents should also help here. Nissan’s indicative pricing suggests the 1.3 DIG-T is around £1,500 cheaper than an equivalent-spec 1.5 dCi turbodiesel.
The new Lexus UX compact SUV crossover arrives in the UK in March 2019 and the firm has announced prices will start from £29,900.
A rival to the Audi Q3, BMW X1 and Jaguar E-Pace, the long-awaited junior Lexus SUV will offer an all-hybrid line-up, based around a 2.0-litre UX 250h petrol motor.
The firm is continuing with its rather ambitious ‘self-charging hybrid’ phrase for the conventional hybrid system.
Base models will be front-wheel drive, with the E-Four all-wheel drive system offered for £1,250 extra: it is standard on the top-spec version. The UX is the first Lexus to be based on the firm’s new C-platform global architecture, called Lexus GA-C.
Lexus will be hoping the UX proves considerably more successful than its current compact offering, the Lexus CT200h.
There will be three variants – the base UX, F Sport and Takumi. All models feature climate control, sat nav and the Lexus Safety System+.
F Sport upgrades base 17-inch alloys to 18-inch, and adds an F Sport spindle grille and sports seats, rear privacy glass, electric heated front seats and a heated steering wheel.
Then there’s a big jump in price up to the Takumi, with the haul of equipment to match: ventilated ‘smooth leather’ seats, 13-speaker Mark Levinson stereo, 10-inch infotainment display, head-up display, sunroof and various other gadgets. Five options packs are offered, for UX and F Sport: the Takumi gets it all as standard.
A combination of hybrid technology as standard and strong equipment levels means the Lexus UX seems fairly competitively priced alongside rivals. The outgoing Audi Q3 starts from £27,915, the BMW X1 is priced from £28,930 and a Jaguar E-Pace costs from £29,280
It’s time for yet another Toyota hybrid recall. The news follows the announcement last month that a selection of hybrid vehicles were to be recalled for fire risk.
What’s the matter this time? Well, more than 2.4 million hybrids manufactured between October 2008 and November 2014 are being recalled due to a fault that could cause power loss.
The problem can occur in situations where the car needs to enter fail-safe modes due to issues with the hybrid systems – but subsequently can’t. Toyota says “while power steering and braking would remain operational, a vehicle stall while driving at higher speeds could increase the risk of a crash.”
There are no accidents attributed to the fault, and it’s only said to occur in “rare situations”. The marque will contact customers to visit dealers for free software upgrades as soon as possible.
Of more than two million cars affected globally, roughly 800,000 are thought to be US-based, with around 55,000 in the UK.
Couldn’t get on that oh-so-exclusive list of buyers laying out £750,000 on a McLaren Senna? Few had a chance, frankly: the track-focused hypercar was virtually sold out on arrival. Fear not, though, as McLaren is now offering an alternative of sorts. Meet the 720S Track Pack.
No, it’s not the full aero-splattered monster the Senna is. Nor does it have that car’s 800hp power figure. But the 720S isn’t exactly a slouch. It might be a third of the price, but it’s certainly not a third of the car.
What is the McLaren 720S Track Pack?
The Track Pack puts a bit of circuit-focused garnish on what is an already prodigiously capable supercar.
Weight loss comes first, with a 24kg saving versus the standard 720S. It achieves this with a carbon rear spoiler, carbon race seats, super-lightweight forged alloys and a sports exhaust.
Inside, you’ll find extended gearshift paddles, an Alcantara-wrapped steering wheel, a six-point harness mounted to a titanium bar and those race seats. The McLaren Track Telemetry system uses three cameras and data-logging to monitor driving performance and identify how you can improve.
All of that together represents a bit of bang for your buck versus buying the pieces individually. Nevertheless, £28,360 on top of the cost of a 720S is no small outlay.
The release of the 720S Track Pack comes as McLaren progresses with its development of the 720S GT3. This customer racing car goes into production next year, with prices starting from around £440,000.
Toyota has opened online reservations for the new Supra sports car in the UK – but eager buyers had better be quick because just 300 order slots are available for 2019 delivery.
Nissan has introduced a new 1.3-litre DIG-T turbo petrol engine that replaces not one, but two outgoing motors: the 115hp 1.2-litre turbo and 163hp 1.6-litre turbo.
The new Lexus UX compact SUV crossover arrives in the UK in March 2019 and the firm has announced prices will start from £29,900.
