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Just how good is the Civic Type R?

Honda Civic Type R

The all-new Honda Civic Type R had an extremely long development cycle. It’s now been launched and has to go about living up to the hype Honda has generated.

Here Steve Sutcliffe from Auto Express takes the Type R to the tight Llandow Circuit in Wales to see how it compared with the Seat Leon Cupra 280 and the Renault Megane RS275 Trophy.

That’s all well and good, nobody would be surprised if the Type R was the quickest of that trio. But what if the Audi RS3 and BMW M3 are added to the list?

[Thanks to John for the tip]

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Seat Video

Australia is the best country in the world, except…

Dale Lomas with his new Seat Leon ST Cupra 280

Australia is one of the best countries in the world to live. If not the best. But there are two things we can’t do and that’s buy a fast Seat wagon and we can’t drive our own cars around the Nürburgring Nordschleife.

Yes, I’m sure that second part can be done, but not without a lot of red tape, a lot of hassle and, importantly, a lot of money.

Dale Lomas from Bridge to Gantry just bought himself a new car—a Seat Leon ST Cupra 280 estate—and on day one of ownership he ducked around to his favourite local road for a run. Bastard!

Oh yeah, that Harry’s Lap Timer setup seems pretty cool too, even advising of a yellow flag via the mobile phone app.

Settle in and enjoy the lap.

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Audi Bentley Lamborghini Porsche Seat Skoda Volkswagen

Volkswagen Group cracks 10 million annual sales

Volkswagen's Autostadt, Wolfsburg, Germany

In 2014, for the first time, the Volkswagen Group has achieved 10 million sales in a calendar year.

Across the group of companies a 4.2% increase in sales for the year resulted in 10.14 million vehicles being sold. Just 10 years ago the Group was shifting around 5 million units per year.

Volkswagen passenger vehicles make up the bulk of the sales, with the brand passing six million annual sales for the first time last year.

Audi sales across the globe increased by more than 10% and numbered 1.74 million.

Porsche managed 189,000 sales, up by a very healthy 17%, thanks in part to the launch of the Macan SUV.

Skoda reached a new high sales mark, passing 1 million sales for the first time. An increase of almost 13% on the previous year’s sales.

All this means that the Group’s Strategy 2018 is well underway to being achieved.

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Audi Seat Volkswagen

Turbo dramas for Volkswagen Group EA888 engine?

Volkswagen Mk7 Golf R

The current trend from Euro car makers to create big power out of 2.0 litre turbocharged four cylinder engines could be showing the first real signs of stress. Last week we brought you news of a Mercedes-Benz A45 AMG on fire in Sydney and now there’s reports of turbo dramas affecting the latest range of Volkswagen Group hot hatches.

While the cause of the fire in that A45 AMG is yet to be established, getting 265kW from a 2.0 litre with such high boost has raised many eyebrows for those considering long-term reliability. That’s not to say it can’t be done, but a quick look at relevant forums will show there’s plenty of A45 owners with issues of varying types.

Similarly, the latest EA888 engine from the Volkswagen Group which is tuned to produce up to 221kW and used in the Audi S3, Seat Lean Cupra 280 and Volkswagen Golf R is attracting a number of complaints, mostly to do with turbo failure.

According to an article published by Motor Authority the part number of the faulty turbo is 06K 145 702 N which they report is made by IHI Turbo. The relevant engine codes are CJXB and CJXC.

Motor Authority’s investigations point to a production fault for turbos made between April and May 2014, where there is a fault with the manifold sealing surface. Outside of this date range some owners of 2013 S3s are also reporting similar problems.

It’s been suggested Audi will be fitting a new turbo design for future S3s and has in turn delayed the launch of the TTS until the problem has been satisfactorily resolved.

Which begs the question, is the Mercedes v Volkswagen four-cylinder war one that is really worth winning?

[Source: Motor Authority | Thanks to Wayne for the tip]

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Audi Bentley Bugatti Lamborghini News Porsche Seat Skoda Suzuki Volkswagen

Volkswagen Group tipped to rebrand as Auto Union

Auto Union badge

Here’s a rumour from GoAuto that has grabbed our interest, according to its report Volkswagen Group is considering a name change to Auto Union.

A possible theory for the change would be to establish a greater sense of independence for each of the brands under Volkswagen’s control, by removing the Volkswagen name from the umbrella company.

Volkswagen Group controls or owns outright the following marques: Audi, Bentley, Bugatti, Ducati, Lamborghini, MAN, Porsche, Scania, Seat, Skoda, Volkswagen and Volkswagen Commercial Vehicles. In addition, the group is also the largest shareholder in Suzuki, with a 20% share.

Auto Union is not a new name in the motoring world and was the precursor to what we now know as Audi. Originally formed in 1932 and consisting of four companies—Audi, DKW, Horch and Wanderer—Auto Union was essentially dissolved by the Soviets after WWII.

However, soon after, in 1949, Auto Union came back to life building two-stroke DKWs. Daimler-Benz took a majority shareholding in 1958 and saw a return of the Auto Union brand and investment in the company’s Ingolstadt factory.

In 1964 Daimler-Benz began to offload its shares and later that year Volkswagen assumed control after it bought the rights to the Auto Union name and the Ingolstadt site. The Audi brand was revived in 1965 and remains as the sole survivor from those Auto Union days.

[Source: GoAuto | Pic: CarType/John Lloyd]

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Seat Video Volkswagen

Volkswagen Golf R v Seat Leon Cupra 280

Volkswagen Golf R v Seat Leon Cupra 280

Take two Volkswagen Group products to the track, in this case the Golf R and the Leon Cupra 280, thrash them about and see if you can come to a conclusion as to which is best.

The circuit in question is the tight and twisty Cadwell Park and Autocar scribe Steve Sutcliffe is telling the story. The Golf has a bit more power but thanks to its 4motion all-wheel drive system has a bit more weight than the Leon. Both cars share a 6-speed DSG. Remember, the Leon Cupra 280, for a brief moment, held the FWD lap record at the Nürburgring.

What do you think will happen next?

[Thanks to Mark for the tip]

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Motorsports Oh the humanity Seat

Lifting a racecar: How hard can it be?

Seat WTCC lift fail

Okay, is the crane on a secure footing ready to lift?
Yes boss.

Are the cables tied securely to the platform, ready to lift the car?
Yes boss.

And, finally, is the car secured to the platform so it can’t fall off?
Yes boss. Wait, what?!

This incident was filmed during the set up of a promotional event at a hotel in Pachuca, Mexico. Watch the video below to see what happens next.

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2014 Geneva Motor Show in pictures – part 2

2014 Geneva Motor Show

Here’s your second batch of photos from the 2014 Geneva Motor Show, that makes it 155 photos in all. We start part 2 with the very cool Maserati Alfieri concept and end with the very cool Volvo Concept Estate. Cool!

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Motor Shows Seat Video

Geneva 2014: Seat Leon Cupra 280

Seat Leon Cupra 280

Seat has launched its Leon Cupra 280 at the Geneva Motor Show and in doing so has officially confirmed its claim on the unofficial front-wheel drive lap record at the Nürburgring.

Of the record setting lap Seat says the Leon Cupra 280 was fitted with an optional Performance Pack, which includes uprated Brembo brakes and Michelin Pilot Sport Cup 2 tyres. Former Seat WTCC driver Jordi Gene handled the driving duties around the Nordschleife on a dry day with ambient temp of 10°C.

Interestingly the Seat UK press release also states the car used was fitted with a DSG transmission, but on the video published by Top Gear you can clearly see Gene changing gears with what appears to be a manual transmission.

The Leon Cupra 280 is powered by a 2.0 litre TSI four cylinder engine producing, as its name suggests, 280PS (206kW). It’s also available in a detuned state with 195kW on offer. Both tunes offer 350Nm of torque.

If this is all sounding a little familiar that’s fair enough, the engine is also found in Volkswagen and Audi models. Unlike its stablemates the Leon is not available with an optional all-wheel drive system.

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Seat

Seat Leon Cupra 280 breaks Ring 8-min barrier

Seat Leon Cupra 280

The Seat Leon Cupra 280—essentially a detuned Audi S3/Golf R—has set a new Nürburgring benchmark for a front-wheel drive production car. The official announcement is being saved for the Geneva Motor Show, but Top Gear has the scoop for now.

As you can see the lap time is 7:58:44, which is pretty bloody quick, obviously. It also cuts almost 10 seconds off the previous best, set by the Renault Megane RS 265 back in 2011.

Seat recorded the lap time late last year with factory touring car driver Jordi Gene at the wheel. His Cupra 280 was fitted with a 6-speed manual gearbox and super sticky (optional) Michelin Pilot Super Sport Cup 2 tyres.

[Source: Top Gear]

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Audi Bathurst 12 Hour BMW Ferrari Fiat Ford Lamborghini Lotus McLaren Mercedes-Benz Porsche Seat Subaru

Best ever field to take on 2014 Bathurst 12 Hour

2014 Bathurst 12 hour

Just a a couple of days from this weekend’s 2014 Bathurst 12 Hour race now is a good time to cast an eye over the official entry list. And what an entry list it is too!

There’s six classes in all, with the overall race winner expected to come from the 14-strong field of Class A (GT3 Outright) competitors. The #1 Erebus Motorsport Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG GT3 is back to defend its 2013 crown. Only Bernd Schneider returns for driving duties with Erebus, he will be joined by Maro Engel and Nico Bastian. Erebus will run a second SLS AMG GT3 (#63) to be crewed by Will Davison, Jack LeBrocq and Greg Crick.

Audi will have four representatives in Class A headlined by the #3 Phoenix Racing entry of Rahel Frey, René Rast and Laurens Vanthoor. Former winner Christopher Mies joins Marc Cini in his #9 R8 LMS Ultra along with Mark Eddy. The #5 Audi will be shared among a strong local crew of Jason Bright, Warren Luff, Rod Salmon and Liam Talbot. United Autosport rounds out Audi’s GT3 entrants in the #25 car driven by Marcus Winkelhock, Mark Patterson and Eric Lux.

Ferrari will be represented for the third year in a row by the #33 Clearwater Racing entry of Mok Weng Sun, Craig Baird and Matt Griffin. They’ve finished the race in third (2012) and second (2013) so will be hoping for another year of progression up the podium. The #88 Maranello Motorsport 458 GT3 will again attract attention with this year’s line up consisting of Craig Lowndes, John Bowe, Mika Salo and Peter Edwards.

Tony Quinn’s diversity in exotic racing ownership has extended to a McLaren 12C GT3 (#37) and he’ll be making that car’s debut in the Bathurst 12 hour with his son Klark and Andrew Kirkaldy.

Also making its B12hr debut is the #32 Nismo-backed Nissan GTR to be driven by Rick Kelly, Katsumasa Cyio, Alex Buncombe and Wolfgang Reip.

Class B (GT3) is dominated by Porsche 911s, with 10 of the 14 entries coming from Stuttgart. These cars are older-spec GT3 machines and two Audi R8s and a pair of Lamborghini Gallardos round out the category.

The stand out crew here is the #12 McElrea Racing 997 GT3 Cup (2012) driven by well-established racers Patrick Long, Alex Davison and David Calvert-Jones. A touch of Hollywood is represented by Eric Bana who is sharing the #99 Gallardo with mates Peter Hill and Simon Middleton.

A small field of three forms the Class C (GT4) field, including a Ginetta G50, a Lotus Exige Cup R and a Lotus Exige S.

Class D (Invitational 3001cc+) is headlined by the #7 Dean Herridge Subaru WRX STi, which will face stiff competition from a mixed bag of makes and models including a BMW 335i, a BMW E46 GTR, a BMW E92 M3, a Daytona Coupe and a pair of Seat Leon Supercopas.

Class E (Invitational up to 3000cc) consists of three Fiat Abarths, so if nothing else the Italian manufacturer is assured of a class win! Similarly, Class I (Invitational, non-production) is made of up of three Ford Focus GTCs and will see Grant Denyer at the wheel of the #70 entry.

All going well there’ll be 54 cars on the starting grid on Sunday morning, with the late withdrawal of the Vita4One Racing BMW team being the only downer, in what shapes as the most exciting and competitive Bathurst 12 Hour race yet.

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Alfa Romeo Audi BMW Chevrolet Citroen Ferrari Infiniti Jaguar Lamborghini Mercedes-Benz Motor Shows Nissan Porsche Rolls-Royce Seat Skoda Subaru Tesla Volkswagen

2013 Frankfurt Motor Show in pictures

2013 Frankfurt Motor Show

The lights have been turned off at the 2013 Frankfurt Motor Show and the mammoth task of dismantling the huge displays has begun. To recap what you may have missed here’s a selection of 120+ pics reminding you what was on show.