2019 Mclaren 600lt on 2040-cars

Auto blog

UK car output falls 14% in March, may get worse with no-deal Brexit

LONDON — British car output fell for the 10th month in a row in March, hit by a slowdown in key foreign markets, and the sector stands to suffer a lot more if the country leaves the European Union without a deal, an industry body said on Tuesday. Output tumbled by an annual 14.4 percent to 126,195 cars in March, the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders said. Exports, which account for nearly four out of every five cars made in Britain, were down by 13.4 percent. The SMMT said analysis it had commissioned predicted output would fall this year to 1.36 million units from 1.52 million in 2018, assuming London can secure a transition deal with the EU. If Britain has to rely instead on World Trade Organization rules for its trade with the bloc, which include import tariffs, output is forecast to fall by around 30 percent to 1.07 million units in 2021, returning to mid-1980s levels, the SMMT said. The forecasts were produced for SMMT by AutoAnalysis, a consultancy. Prime Minister Theresa May has secured a delay to the Brexit deadline until Oct. 31, giving her more time to try to break an impasse in parliament over the terms of Britain's departure from the EU. Foreign minister Jeremy Hunt traveled to Japan earlier this month to try to persuade the Japanese government and Toyota, which has a big presence in Britain, that London was determined to avoid a no-deal Brexit. "Just a few years ago, industry was on track to produce 2 million cars by 2020 — a target now impossible with Britain's reputation as stable and attractive business environment undermined," SMMT chief executive Mike Hawes said. "All parties must find a compromise urgently so we can set about repairing the damage and diverting energy and investment to the technological challenges that will define the future of the global industry." (Reporting by William Schomberg, editing by David Milliken)

Race Recap: 2015 US Grand Prix was wet, wild, and historic

Hurricane Patricia made landfall in Mexico this weekend, and made her presence known throughout the South. For two of the three days of the grand prix weekend it rained non-stop in Austin, so badly on Saturday that qualifying had to be postponed until Sunday morning, and then it only stayed dry enough to conduct the first two sessions. At the end of a tricky, slippery Q2 Nico Rosberg had put his Mercedes-AMG Petronas on the front row, one tenth ahead of teammate Lewis Hamilton. The German had done the best he could to keep his hair-thin chances of a World Championship fight alive. Daniel Ricciardo lined his Infiniti Red Bull Racing chassis in third ahead of teammate Daniil Kvyat, both drivers having moved up a place because Ferrari driver Sebastian Vettel took a ten-spot grid penalty for using a fifth engine and dropped to 13th. Continuing the two-up theme, Sergio Perez and Nico Hulkenberg were fifth and sixth for Force India. After that came variety: Felipe Massa in seventh for Williams, Max Verstappen for Toro Rosso in eighth, Fernando Alonso looking good in the rain for McLaren in ninth, and Romain Grosjean for Lotus in tenth. When the lights went out, Turn 1 set the tone. Pole position is on the outside line at Circuit of the Americas, and Hamilton had got himself far enough under Rosberg by the time the two got up the hill that Rosberg had to stick to the outside through the corner. At the corner exit Hamilton used the entire track, pushing Rosberg wide, their cars touching. As Rosberg left the track and dropped back to fourth, Hamilton radioed to the team to say the contact was unintentional. The two Mercedes' and two Red Bulls animated the front. Rosberg passed Ricciardo at the end of a Virtual Safety Car period employed to let the marshals clean the debris at Turn 1. Kvyat started chasing down Hamilton until the Russian ran wide and let Rosberg and Ricciardo through, then Rosberg ran wide on the next lap to let Ricciardo through. On Lap 15, Ricciardo passed Hamilton through the esses to take the lead. After the first round of pit stops the Aussie still had the lead, followed by Rosberg, Kvyat, Hamilton, and Vettel. Then Rosberg got around to take the lead and Vettel closed in on Hamilton as the Brit duked it out with the Russian. Rosberg showed excellent speed, building up a nine-second gap on Ricciardo, but a Safety Car period erased that when Marcus Ericsson had to park his dead Sauber on the inside of the track after Turn 10.

McLaren Elva is the next Ultimate Series model, with 800 horsepower

McLaren's latest Ultimate Series hypercar has been revealed, and its name is Elva. The McLaren Elva is an open roadster named and themed after the open race cars built by founder Bruce McLaren and the Elva sports car company in the 1960s. This new car is the lightest and one of the quickest cars from McLaren yet. The new Elva's resemblance to the classic race car is clear with undulating, exaggerated wheel arches, discreet rear air scoops, low nose and completely exposed cockpit. But it has trademark design cues from modern McLarens such as the squinting headlights, slender taillights and a tail dominated by air vents and a diffuser. The Elva has no roof or windows, but it does have McLaren's typical butterfly doors, and a windshield will be available as an option. Hidden under the voluptuous body is a version of the McLaren Senna's twin-turbo 4.0-liter V8, but thanks to a high-flow exhaust, it now makes 804 horsepower and 590 pound-feet of torque. It's coupled to a seven-speed transmission that sends power to the rear wheels only. McLaren says the engine will propel the car to 62 mph in under 3 seconds, and it will hit 124 mph (200 kph) in 6.7 seconds, which is faster than the Senna. This is in part made possible by the Elva being the lightest McLaren road car yet. A final weight hasn't been announced, but we know it's less than the 2,900-pound Senna. Much of the credit for the weight savings goes to the new carbon fiber chassis and body, plus the lack of any kind of driver enclosure. McLaren doesn't even include an audio system as standard (it's a no-cost option) to help keep the weight down. The seats are made of carbon fiber. Even the brakes, which are based on the already light setup in the Senna, get titanium calipers that save about two pounds in total. While light and serious, McLaren has still tried to make the driving experience reasonably comfortable. It has implemented a fancy set of vents, vanes and deflectors in the front of the car called the McLaren Active Air Management System to channel air around the passenger compartment. That way, the "cabin" is still tolerable even if you're not wearing a full-face helmet. If you do decide to wear a helmet, there is a storage area under the cowls behind the seat that has space for your headgear. The seats can be covered in a variety of materials from leather with additional protective coatings to a new durable, breathable fabric.