Jim Miles Fast Cars

After plenty of teaser shots and even some video, it’s not Lamborghini who is unveiling the new Aventador LP700-4 but a leaked image courtesy Evo Magazine Croatia.

Taking design inspiration from the Reventon, powering the successor to the Murcielago is a 6.5-liter V12 rated at roughly 690-hp. It will be 18 percent more powerful than the Murcielago, while also emitting 20 percent fewer emissions. As for the transmission, Lamborghini will make use of its new ISR 7-speed transmission – the first use of a 7-speed with a V12 in the industry. With five gear settings, (auto strada, auto sport, strada, sport and corsa) the innovative transmission will be able to deliver shift times of just 50 ms in Corsa – which is almost as quick as a Formula 1 car.

Weight is kept to a minimum thanks to a carbon fiber chassis and the LP700-4 will get a pushrod suspension setup, similar to those found on race cars.

As for the rest of the car, it will be more ergonomic than even the Gallardo, with space for larger drivers. The dash will feature a new TFT instrument cluster, meaning that it won’t have traditional physical gauges, but that all instrumentation will be displayed on a screen.

The Aventador is set to debut at the Geneva Auto Show in March. Until then, see AutoGuide’s complete 2011 Geneva Auto Show Preview here.

MINI’s rumored city car, set to debut at the Geneva Auto Show, now has a name. According to reports, the more mini MINI will be called the Rocketman and will make use of parent company BMW’s carbon fiber investments to showcase an entirely carbon fiber spaceframe chassis. This should give it an incredibly low curb weight.

Sitting roughly half-way between the current Cooper hatchback and the original, it will be the same height and share the same track.

Powering the small car will be a turbo-diesel 3-cylinder engine, which is expected to arrive shortly in the next-generation version of the Cooper. In this package it is expected to deliver fuel economy as high as 80-mpg.

BMW has confirmed a new sub-brand called i, through which it intends to market a range of advanced standalone hybrid, range-extender and plug-in electric models.

Among the first cars to carry the new badge will be the i3 and i8, both of which are planned for introduction in 2013. “These cars have been designed specifically for their respective alternative drive systems. We’re using an innovative architecture to cancel out practically all the extra weight of the batteries,” revealed Klaus Draeger, head of BMW’s R&D operations.

The new architecture, which goes under the name LifeDrive, uses an aluminium chassis to house the driveline, with the passenger cell constructed from carbonfibre-reinforced plastic developed in partnership with US-based SG Carbon.
The two-plus-two i3, previously known under its internal working title MegaCity Vehicle, is BMW’s first production model to be conceived specifically for urban driving environment. It boasts an upright one-box silhouette revealed in an official sketch generated by BMW late last year.

The first i3 will be powered by an all-electric driveline similar to that found in the 1-series ActiveE, which uses a 170bhp electric motor in combination with a lithium ion battery pack for a claimed range of 100 miles. Other versions of the i3, including a range extender, are also under development.

The i8, previewed the EfficientDynamics concept car first shown in 2009, will use a hybrid driveline likely to combine BMW’s upcoming 1.5-litre three-cylinder petrol engine with the same electric motor used by the i3.

The i3 and i8 will be produced on a dedicated line at BMW’s Leipzig factory, which is being lined up for €400m (£336m) of fresh investment.

Following a quiet debut at the Belgian Auto Show last month, specialty automaker Imperia Automobiles has released full details and pricing of their revival model.
The Imperia brand from Belgium had its heyday between 1900 and 1950. Work got under way in 2008 to revive the brand as a retro styled vehicle along the lines of a Wiesmann or Morgan. Despite its styling from the past, the Imperia is equipped with the latest in hybrid technology propulsion.
Available from 2012 the Imperia GP will be priced at a modest 89,950 euros (including VAT). However for those with some cash burning a hole in their pockets, the first edition is available this year for a premium of 120,360 euros (including VAT).
The Imperia GP uses a 1.6 liter turbo engine in addition to an electric motor. Power output is 210 PS (207 bhp / 154 kW) with 250 Nm (184 lb-ft) and 136 PS (134 bhp / 100 kW) respectively. The resulting takeoff to 100 km/h is a thumping 4 seconds utilizing hypbrid mode (engine and motor together). Alternatively using electric mode only the 100 km/h mark is hit in 6 seconds.
This is very respectable performance given the Imperia renders an average fuel economy rating of 1.9L/100km (149 mpg imp) and CO2 emissions less than 50 g/km. Furthermore, a single charge in full electric mode will provide 70 km (43 mi). Recharging only takes 4.5 hours.

Emotiv’s mind-reading EPOC headset may not have changed the face of video games, but it looks like it’s proven to be more than adequate for a team of German researchers, who’ve used it as the key component in their BrainDriver project. Yes, that’s a mind-controlled car and, after a bit of training, is does appear to have performed reasonably well — albeit with a slight delay that makes any real world test a worse idea than it already was. Interestingly, this latest effort actually follows some previous attempts at a completely autonomous car by the same group of researchers at the Freie Universität Berlin, and they say that the two could eventually be combined at some point in the distant future — for instance, in a taxi that’s able to drive itself but also responds to the thoughts of its passengers. Head on past the break for the video.

Rolls-Royce will take a big step towards bringing to market an electric vehicle, debuting an electric version of its flagship Phantom model at the Geneva Auto Show in just over a weeks time.

Rolls has announced it will debut the car, known as either the 102 EX or Phantom Experimental Electric (EE), and then take it on a world tour, testing the technology as well as gauging interest from customers.

“We have engineered the world’s first battery electric vehicle for the ultra-luxury segment,” said CEO Torsten Müller-Ötvös, speaking from the company’s headquarters in Goodwood. “With this vehicle, we begin an exploration into alternative drive-trains, seeking clarity on which alternative technologies may be suitable to drive Rolls-Royce motor cars of the future.”

The most regal of luxury brands maintains that this car will not see production, but that it is designed to create a debate about whether pure luxury and EVs can coexist. To help frame the conversation, Rolls-Royce has launched a new website www.electricluxury.com as a place to debate EVs in the luxury segment, while delivering updates on the car’s journey.