Ford has revealed PCP finance deals for the highly acclaimed new Fiesta ST, and the headline launch offer is a three-year deal at 2.9 percent APR that prices an ST-2 three-door from £220 a month. 

This includes one of the two £745 ‘exclusive’ colours too, either Ford Performance Blue or Silver Fox (the sole ‘free’ colour is Race Red). Buyers need to find a relatively sensible £4,664 deposit (and £9,254 at the end if they don’t want to keep it). Annual mileage limit? A perfectly decent 9,000 miles a year.

• New 2018 Ford Fiesta ST first drive review

For what almost certainly will emerge as one of the best new cars launched in 2018, it’s an offer that’s sure to prove very tempting. 

The Fiesta ST already caused a stir when prices were revealed: it costs from just £18,995. The best-value pick of the range is the £19,995 ST-2, and it’s this version that the Ford Options PCP deal is based around. There’s also an ST-3 for £21,495, and five-door versions of the new ST for an extra £650. 

Ford’s finance package rubs salt into the wounds of pricier rivals. The new Suzuki Swift Sport, for example, seemed overpriced when it was revealed prices started from £17,999. Suzuki quickly rolled out a deal cutting that to £16,499, but although the related PCP deal was 0 percent finance, it was still £249 a month. 

That deal has since expired: the Swift now costs £199 a month… but on a four-year PCP at 5.9 percent APR, with a £4,396 deposit. 

That loud wail you can hear? It’s coming from the marketing department at Suzuki GB.

Oh, and if you don’t want to own a Fiesta ST outright, Ford will also lease you one for three years on Ford Personal Lease, for a £4,620 advance rental – and the same £220 a month payment. 

Around 18.5 million drivers are expected to hit the roads in the UK this summer, as families head off for their annual holiday. As the chance of a collision increases, parents are being warned to keep their children in rear-facing car seats for longer to reduce the risk of serious injury.

The warning comes from Axkid, the Swedish manufacturer of child car seats, with the company suggesting parents should follow Sweden’s lead in keeping children in rear-facing child seats until the age of four, an approach endorsed by the British Medical Journal.

In 2009, it said: “Rear-facing seats are safer than forward facing seats for children under four-years-old. Parents and guardians should be advised to keep young children in rear-facing seats for as long as possible.”

To turn your child's #carseat too early could mean the difference between life and death. The safest option is to travel #rearfacing as long as possible – all the way up to age of 6 years. #axkid #rearfacing #coolkidsridesafe 📸: Sophia Flygare pic.twitter.com/11nKGmNF3x

— Axkid (@Axkid_Intl) July 5, 2018

Axkid points out that countries that have adopted the concept of keeping children rear facing for longer have the lowest rates of infant mortality on the roads globally. In 2017, a report by Swedish insurance company, Folksam, found that “if a child is placed in a forward-facing seat, the child runs five times higher risk of being injured in a crash.”

In summary, the report said:

If a young child (0-4 years) is facing forward the head and neck will be exposed to a higher load during a crash than a rear-facing child. The mass of the head in relation to the rest of the body is much larger for children than for adults. Furthermore, a child’s neck muscles and ligaments are not fully developed. The advantage of a rear-facing CRS is that the head, neck and the rest of the body are decelerated at the same time and therefore the load to the head and neck is considerably lower than for a forward-facing child during a crash.

The law in the UK

With the Goodwood Festival of Speed as an impressive backdrop, McLaren Automotive used the event to unveil what the future holds for the next seven years.

It seems hard to believe that the brand only started producing supercars in 2011, when the first 12C rolled off the production line. Since then, the Woking-based firm has managed to build some 15,000 cars.

The brand has also just launched the latest, and most extreme, car in its entry-level Sports Series. Making a debut this weekend at Goodwood, it might be a stretch to call the new 600LT ‘entry-level’ with a list price of £185,500, though.

But whilst the 600LT is what McLaren Automotive is doing right now, the future looks set to be even more exciting. The £1.2bn business plan announced at Goodwood, branded Track25, will see substantial developments and innovations across the next seven years, seeing 18 new models launched.

Key to this is investment in the development of augmented driving technology, and enhanced battery capability. The latter includes the promise of a car capable of lapping a race track for 30 minutes on electrical power alone.

By 2025, 100 percent of the company’s range will be powered by hybrid tech.

This will include a successor to the dramatic P1 hypercar, which combined a twin-turbocharged V8 petrol engine with an electric motor to produce a total of 903hp.

Other innovations will include the development of over-the-air software updates, mirroring companies such as Tesla which already makes extensive use of the technology. Helpfully, enhanced cyber protection will also be part of the improved ownership experience.

Those owners will be brought in by an expanded dealership network. At present, the brand has 86 dealers across the globe, covering 31 markets. By 2025 McLaren, wants this to be 100 retailers, with eyes on growth markets such as Russia and India.  

Big news comes in the form of a commitment to increase production output by some 75 percent. This will take McLaren to building 6,000 cars a year. Although this may be still be less than rivals such as Porsche and Ferrari, it is still a significant volume for a relatively young supercar company.

Despite the proposed increases in production, McLaren says it remains committed to all cars being finished by hand at the Woking factory.

McLaren’s new Composites Technology Centre in Yorkshire will be of importance to achieving these bold numbers. It will also mean 57% of the content found within McLaren cars will be produced in the UK. In light of Brexit, this could prove useful for a sustainable supply chain.

The continued growth of McLaren Automotive, and the plans for the future, are described by CEO Mike Flewitt as the brand sticking to the “focus of building the world’s best drivers’ cars”. Flewitt also noted that the company had to “acknowledge the great effort, ingenuity, and competitive spirit” of the 2,300 employees that have made the achievements possible.

So even if McLaren’s Formula One team may be finding life hard, the road car subsidiary at least looks set for continued success.

Singer Vehicle Design has revealed a jaw-dropping new Porsche 911 reimagination at the Goodwood Festival of Speed. It has worked with Williams Advanced Engineering and other technical partners on the ‘Dynamics and Lightweighting Study’(DLS) of a period 1990 Porsche 964.

The car has a 4.0-litre air-cooled engine that produces an incredible 500hp at a dizzy 9,000rpm. Singer sought consultancy from the famed creator of the Porsche engine, Hans Mezger, and it packs in exotica such as titanium valves, magnesium materials and F1-inspired fuel injectors.

Williams Advanced Engineering developed the fearsome engine, and it also gave the car a full aero makeover, with the entire body assessed through F1-style CFD analysis. A redesign at the front has eliminated lift, the famed ducktail spoiler has been optimised and work on the roof channels and roof spoiler help it actually generate rear downforce at speed.

The bodywork is also fully carbon fibre, and each panel is unique to the Singer DLS. The only thing we don’t yet know is the final kerbweight, but as so much has gone into this incredible car, the figure itself is highly likely to be incredible…

Williams’ work hasn’t stopped there, either. It has given the suspension a full overhaul, and Bosch ABS and ESC has been fitted, along with Brembo carbon-ceramic brakes and bespoke Michelin Cup tyres. The wheels are forged magnesium and Williams has used its F1 experience to develop a centre-lock mechanism, made from aluminium and titanium.

Inside, the Norfolk Yellow-coloured cabin is totally bespoke and typically Singer, i.e. stunning. There are Recaro carbon fibre sports seats, a Momo carbon fibre steering wheel and the manual gearlever has been raised up, and its shift mechanism exposed (and remade in titanium and magnesium).

Even the instruments have been reimagined by Singer, with hand-applied markings. The instrument panel itself is also carbon fibre.

The car was commissioned back in November 2017 by Singer client Scott Blattner. He asked them to make his 964 a bit lighter and sharper, and the project went from there. Singer bought together all the technical partners, “strongly oriented toward lightweighting and dynamic gains,” and started work.

The result is the Parallax White Porsche 911 Reimagined by Singer DLS. A car so wonderful, it’s taking pride of place on Singer’s stand – and, amazingly, another one is going to give the car its dynamic debut by running up the Goodwood hillclimb.

Just for good measure, there are a further six Singer-restored Porsche 911s on show outside Goodwood House, providing an alternative take on 70-year-old Porsche’s most famous model. And if you’re unable to travel to England to be at Goodwood, fear not: the Singer DLS will be at Monterey Car Week in the U.S. from 23 August.

Click to see more images of the Singer Vehicle Design Dynamics and Lightweighting Study Porsche 911

The Volkswagen Up GTI is a pocket rocket of the highest order – and has been so well-received by GTI-loving Brits that Volkswagen has had to temporarily close the order books while it works on sourcing more cars for the UK. 

The £139-a-month GTI has been receiving rave reviews from the press, and it seems this has been enough to convince enthusiastic hot hatch buyers to sign up for Volkswagen’s newest GTI. And so many have done so, waiting lists now stretch almost to the end of 2018.

To ensure they don’t become too extreme, Volkswagen has thus temporarily paused sales of the Up GTI, so the factory can work on getting the cars already reserved out the door, and investigate how to, ahem, up supplies of the Up GTI for Britain. 

All cars ordered to-date will be delivered, confirmed a spokesman, meaning there will be a steady flow of Up GTIs through the dealer network during 2018. And the pause in sales is temporary: ordering will open again once current demand has been sated. 

Britain is Volkswagen’s biggest market in the world for hot hatches. Around 30 percent of Golf sales are hot GTI or R models, way higher than almost every other sales region. Deliveries of the new Polo GTI are also beginning in dealers, and the Up GTI gives the firm a three-pronged attack at the GTI sector. 

Now to rejig the factory so it can meet we Brits’ insatiable demand for VW hot hatches…

• Volkswagen Up GTI vs retro Lupo GTI
• 2018 Volkswagen Up GTI first drive review
• You can order a Volkswagen Up GTI from £139 a month