Car Throttle

One of the highlights of the Geneva Motor Show next month is the fastest Audi TT yet. The new TT RS Plus is exactly what it says on the boot lid: a TT RS plus more power, more torque and more speed. The original TT RS comes with a 2.5-litre, 5 cylinder direct injection petrol with 335bhp and 332 lb ft of torque which gives it a 0-62mph time of 4.6 seconds, the same as the standard R8, and a limited top speed of 155mph. That isn't enough for some people, though, so the Plus gets a revised inlet manifold and increased turbocharger boost to deliver 355bhp and 343lb ft of torque meaning the 0-62mph is down to 4.1 seconds with the S-tronic gearbox. That's just

Every car lover's calender starts with a new batch of machines on show in Motor City. I'm talking, of course, about the North American International Auto Show in Detroit, Michigan. The city is famous for being the beating heart of the American motor industry and at the start of every year all the world's manufacturers congregate and show off their new products to see what our stateside friends think of their latest offerings. Here's a half-time round-up of the motors on show for 2012 from each stand from the day so far. Bentley Two new Continentals broke free from the covers at the Bentley stand; the V8 coupe and V8 GTC Cabriolet. Little differences to tell these from the bigger W12 on the outside include a gloss black

Take a bite... outta news!  I'm back again with today's News Bites, where I hand-feed you today's automotive this-and-that with a humorous spoon.  So what's news today? Cadillac's ATS has been circulating the rumor mill for a while now.  This small, rear-wheel-drive sedan is pitched directly against BMW's all-conquering 3-series and Audi's A4.  We've known a bit about it's underpinnings for a while now - it will sit on GM's new Alpha RWD chassis, which fits below the Zeta RWD chassis - G8, Camaro, CTS, etc.  GM announced what you'll find under the hood, and there's reason to get excited.  Not about the base model, which will be powered by a 2.5L I4 (likely the same one in the new Malibu, with 190bhp/180lb-ft).  No, the mid-level

If you're a car guy, chances are you're a fan of the Mercedes-Benz SL.  Benz's top of the line sports car has been with us since the 50's, providing top-down joy to well-endowed bankers, dentists, and stock brokers everywhere.  The formula has always remained basically the same:  big engine up front, two seats and a drop top in the middle, driven wheels at the back.  People continue to buy them, despite the fact that Mercedes replaces the SL about as frequently as the Vatican replaces the Pope. Seriously!

• Generation 1 (W121 190SL/W198 300SL): 1954-1963 (9 years)
• Generation 2 (W113 SL): 1963-1971 (8 years)
• Generation 3 (R107 SL): 1972-1989 (17 years)
• Generation 4 (R129 SL): 1989-2002 (13 years)
• Generation 5 (R230 SL): 2003-2011 (8 years)

Sometimes I realize I have a certain lack of perspective when it comes to the car thing.  Perhaps it's a regional thing.  I'm in Los Angeles for a few days (a family member is getting married), and some of the cars that raise eyebrows in Raleigh would be taxis around here.  If there's an area in the US that embraces car culture more fully than the city of Angels, I'm not sure what it is.  This is a place where a C-class Mercedes is like a Taurus, and you routinely see more than ten Bentleys a day.  It's special.  My shutter finger has been getting tired.  Check it out. See, in the middle of the eastern seaboard, a CL55 AMG Supercharged is the kind of

For those who love the idea of the Mini Coupe but don't want a roof that looks like a baseball cap, I bring great news. Mini has released images of a new convertible version of the coupe called the Roadster. The new Roadster has a fabric roof, just like in the bigger Mini Convertible, but unlike it's bigger brother, the fabric roof folds away into its own storage compartment instead of lying on the back end. The roof is semi-automatic meaning that to put it down you would unlock a latch yourself and then the roof will fold away by itself. There are other differences with its bigger convertible sibling. The Roadster sits 20mm closer to the ground, the

Bangle.  Chris Bangle. That's all I can think of when I look at a BMW Z4.  I can see his trademark styling all over these cars, and when Bangle's Bungles first started hitting the road, all it made me want to do was punch babies and scream.  "How can he do this to us?  Our cherished BMWs!  He's ruining them!" But you know, the Z4 has been on US roads now since 2002.  That's 9 years to soak up the Z4's unusual styling, and to be honest it's rather grown on me.  Not to mention the fact that the Z4 wasn't actually styled by Bangle, the styling was directed by Bangle.  So if you want to punch someone, look up Anders Warming. Really though, the (E85-chassis)

The favourite car of 800,000 or so hairdressers since it first appeared in 1989, the 900,000th Mazda MX-5 Miata rolled off the Mazda assembly line over in Japan recently. I suppose the remaining 100,000 were bought by motoring enthusiasts. But jokes aside, this little open top sports car managed to capture the spirit of classic British open top motoring. It heralded a second coming for affordable open top motoring and is actually what a small roadster should be – light, agile and mechanically uncomplicated. It has been debated that the Miata is more British than the current crop of British sports cars. Imagine that, the quintessential British sports car is Japanese. Anyway, what better way to celebrate this milestone by featuring one right here on CarThrottle.

Let's talk about the Caterham 7.  When the dealership took over production rights to the original minimalist Lotus sports car in 1973, I doubt they knew how many people would still be making copies and derivatives of it today.  Heck, I doubt they knew they'd still be making it today.  Wikipedia lists a few brands that make Lotus/Cateram 7 clones, copies, and spin-offs.  Here's their (surely incomplete) listing: Almac, Alpha Sports, Aries Motorsports, Barnard, Birkin, Boes, Brunton, BWE, Chevron, Chinkara, Cobra, Dala7, Daytona, Dax Rush, Diardi, Donkervoort, Elfin, Esther, Fraser Clubman, Gillett, Gregory, HKT, Irmscher 7, Leitch Super Sprint, Locust, Luego, Mac #1, Martin, Mitsuoka, MNRacing, MK, Nota, Pegasus 7, PRB, Quantum, RaceTech, Raw, Robin Hood(!), Shawspeed, Superformance (S1 Roadster), Sylva, Tiger, Tornado, Vindicator, WCM

Last week, we were out of town and had the opportunity to stop in at Tesla Silicon Valley in Menlo Park, California. This dealer is where a lot of Tesla sales take place, in the heart of California's tech industry and Tesla's backyard. It just so happened that the updated Roadster 2.5 was recently announced and on display at the dealer. The cars on display had already been sold, and there was a customer in the dealer in the process of a purchase. The particular model we saw on display was a Roadster Sport 2.5 in Simply Orange. It looked extremely good with the carbon fiber accents, and we loved the orange color. The updates for the 2.5 versus the 2.0 are subtle, but improve the look.