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Road & Track names its 2013 Performance Car of the Year

Road & Track recently staged its first annual Performance Car of the Year test, pitting 13 new and updated performance cars against each other on track, then graduating the top six to a road test before picking a winner. Additionally, the magazine staff picked the best automobiles of the year in eight categories.
But first, let's cover the PCotY segment. Here's the list of cars brought to the comparison test: Audi R8 V10 Plus; BMW 435i; BMW M6 Competition Package; Chevrolet Corvette Stingray Z51; Ferrari F12 Berlinetta; Ford Fiesta ST; Jaguar F-Type V8 S; Jaguar XFR-S; Mercedes-Benz E63 AMG S-Model Wagon; Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG Black Series; Mini John Cooper Works GP; Nissan GT-R Track Edition; and Porsche Cayman S.
To find out the results of the comparison, head over to Road & Track's website or check the press release below, where you'll also find the magazine's top-rated vehicles in eight categories. Want more? Head over to the 2013 PCotY hub. But before you do that, take a stab at guessing the winner of PCotY (we'll give you one hint: it isn't a Porsche).

Lister introduces 666 hp, 208 mph limited edition Thunder

Lister is one of the most storied nameplates when it comes to Jaguar-based racing cars, with tons of Le Mans heritage on its shoulders. The company says it's Britain's oldest surviving racing car company. As well as racing cars, Lister has produced several road-going specials, such as the widened XJ-S derivative called Le Mans and the Storm, whose 7-liter V12-engine was not only based on the XJR-9 racing car, but also the biggest V12 engine fitted to a production car since WWII. Now, in addition to continuation specials like the reborn Knobbly, there is a new Lister on the market — boldly called the Thunder. The Thunder is based on the F-Type, but its supercharged 5-liter V8 has been re-engineered to reach 666 horsepower. It will reach 62 mph in just 3.2 seconds, 100 mph in 6.8 seconds and go all the way to 208 mph. To compare a production F-Type SVR to the Thunder, the Jaguar-badged car has 99 less horsepower and takes half a second longer to hit 62 mph. There will only be 99 units built, and they are priced at almost $200,000 in the UK — we reached out to Lister for a confirmation whether the cars will be made available to U.S. buyers. But they are selling out soon, as Lister today announced that in the 24 hours since the unveiling of the Thunder, 22 customers already put in an order, worth in excess of $4.37 million. But the Thunder will be much more than a limited edition plaque in the dashboard (and that 99 extra horsepower); the paintwork and the interior will be bespoke to the specially built car. The modifications to turn an F-Type into a Lister Thunder will be carried out at Lister's historic facility in Cambridge, UK. Related Video: Featured Gallery Lister Thunder Aftermarket Jaguar Luxury Performance lister

Jaguar Land Rover planning to allow owners to earn cryptocurrency

Jaguar Land Rover, Britain's largest auto manufacturer, said on Monday it is testing software that will allow drivers of its cars to earn the IOTA cryptocurrency as a reward for sharing data. The company is developing what it calls "smart wallet" technology to be installed in its automobiles. This would reward Jaguar car drivers with IOTA coins for actions such as enabling their vehicles to automatically report useful data, such as traffic congestion or potholes to navigation providers or local authorities. Drivers could also earn rewards if the car participates in a ride-sharing program, Jaguar said. The tokens earned could be used to pay for tolls, parking and charging for electric cars. The overall goal was to "achieve zero emissions, zero accidents, and zero congestion," the company said. Global car companies are exploring blockchain applications, figuring out different ways in which they can leverage the technology to suit their different needs. Blockchain, the system powering cryptocurrencies like bitcoin, is a shared database that is maintained by a network of computers connected to the internet. The British car company is testing the technology at the new Jaguar Land Rover software engineering base in Shannon, Ireland, where engineers have already equipped several vehicles, including the Jaguar F-PACE and Range Rover Velar, with "smart wallet" features, the company said. It does not yet have a timetable for when it will be commercially available, said Jaguar, a subsidiary of Tata Motors. The IOTA token is based on a distributed ledger technology that enables people and machines to transfer money and data without any transaction fees. IOTA trades on digital asset exchanges and was last at 27 U.S. cents per token. "The smart wallet technology ... can be easily adapted into all new vehicles," Dominik Schiener, IOTA co-founder and co-chairman of its board, told Reuters on Friday. "IOTA wants to enable interoperability with all these different players. So there is no Jaguar coin, no BMW coin, but one universal token for this machine economy," he added.