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Top Gear drag races VW Golf R against McLaren 675LT and Porsche 911

Top Gear's latest quarter-mile drag race in the collects three very different performance vehicles: the 296-horsepower Volkswagen Golf R, 424-hp Porsche 911 Carrera GTS, and 666-hp McLaren 675LT. While each of these cars sit near the top of their segment, they each come from totally different rungs of the sports car price ladder. Spoiler alert, the Golf R doesn't win. But the final results illustrate the diminishing returns of price and performance. For example, the McLaren is only about a second quicker than the Porsche to 60 miles per hour, but the 675LT costs over 2.5 times more that the GTS. Related Video:

Top Gear names BMW i8 Car of the Year, Corvette, Ferrari, Mercedes also win big

The lads at Top Gear have released their listing of the finest cars of the past year, handing the ultimate honor to BMW's revolutionary i8 plug-in-hybrid supercar. "The i8 is a milestone in the annals of automotive history and a glorious statement for an exciting and positive future. The i8 delivers - and then some," the British mag wrote. The i8, though, was far from the only hybridized car to take victories. James May and Richard Hammond both highlighted hybrids as their personal cars of the year, with May saluting the Ferrari LaFerrari and the Hamster, unsurprisingly, heaping praise on the Porsche 918 Spyder. Jeremy Clarkson, meanwhile, opted to shock many by selecting not only an American car as his best of 2014, but giving the honor to of all things, a Corvette. Clarkson wasn't the only person to honor the USA's iconic sports car, with the new, 650-horsepower Z06 variant being named TG's Muscle Car of the Year. Other big winners include Mercedes-Benz, which TG honored for S-Class Coupe (Luxury Car of the Year), the new AMG GT (Sports Car of the Year) and the not-for-US C-Class Estate (Family Car of the Year). The 458 Italia Speciale A snagged a second win for Ferrari. The best of the rest include the Citroen C4 Cactus, Renault Twingo, Volkswagen Golf R, Lamborghini Huracan and Audi TT. Take a look below for the celebratory press blast from BMW. The BMW i8 wins Top Gear Car of the Year The BMW i8 has been named as Top Gear magazine's global Car of the Year 2014. The plug-in hybrid performance vehicle beat off some stiff competition from a host of other premium and luxury manufacturers to win the overall award. The editorial team of Top Gear commended the BMW i8 for its breadth of abilities. Its 1.5-litre three-cylinder turbocharged petrol engine combined with an electric motor gives searing acceleration and driver enjoyment but all wrapped in a package that takes BMW's EfficientDynamics philosophy to the extreme courtesy of CO2 emissions less than 49g/km and a 135mpg combined cycle figure. Charlie Turner, Editor in Chief at Top Gear magazine, said: "The BMW is a milestone in the annals of automotive history and a glorious statement for an exciting and positive future. The i8 delivers – and then some. It's the kind of car we should celebrate, a beautiful vision of the future, delivered now.

Volkswagen delivers with new Caddy van

As many models as the Volkswagen Group offers in North America, it has even more that never make the journey: models like the Scirocco and Polo but also entire brands like Seat, Skoda and Volkswagen Commercial Vehicles. That's the brand that gives us models like the Amarok, the Transporter and this – the new VW Caddy. Now entering its fourth generation after 1.5 million units sold around the world, the Caddy takes some of its underpinnings from the Golf and some from the Touran minivan to make a small work van, similar to the Ford Transit Connect or Nissan NV200, only more, you know... German. The new model obviously benefits from revised sheetmetal to bring its styling more in line with other VW models, but also gets new equipment as well. There are new safety features on board and a revised interior with an upgraded infotainment system. There's an array of engine options including a 2.0-liter diesel four in four states of tune, three gasoline engines (including a 1.0-liter three and 1.2- or 1.4-liter fours) and even a 1.4-liter EcoFuel version running on natural gas. And buyers will be able to choose as well between passenger and panel-van cargo versions. Unfortunately, as with the rest of its commercial vehicles lineup, Volkswagen doesn't offer the Caddy in North America. So if this is the type of vehicle you're looking for, you'll have to make do choosing from models like the Ram ProMaster City, Chevy City Express and the aforementioned Ford and Nissan. The new Caddy – always the best choice – world premiere for the fourth generation of the best-seller - Entry-level price reduced due to new versions - Emissions and fuel consumption reduced by new EU6 engines - Safety increased by new driver assistance systems - Design refined with clear edge Hannover/ Poznan, 04 February 2015: Volkswagen Commercial Vehicles is showing the fourth generation of the hugely popular Caddy for the first time. Around 1.5 million of the award-winning previous generation were sold worldwide during its eleven years in production. A success that the new Caddy is intended to continue because the urban delivery van and its privately used brother have been enhanced and refined in every area.