With just the one working week now remaining until Christmas it really should be time to begin the party season and start on the mince pies. Right? Never! It's been another week full of great content, from hot hatches to V8 super coupes via whatever the Mercedes GLE is. We have our final Sunday Service this weekend too so it would be great to see as many of you at Goodwood as possible. If not then content yourself with this round up of PH's best bits since Monday; enjoy!
Worthy contender if the M4 doesn't do it for you
It's always nice when you can talk about a good few V8s in a week of PH content. We've had a full European test of the
Lexus RC F
, found two rare V8s in the classifieds (the
Mercedes E500
Ford GT
) plus seen one of our favourite V8s, the Mercedes E63 AMG, tuned by
Vaeth to 750hp
. While we're on Mercedes it's probably worth mentioning
the GLE
should get a V8 at some point. It's got to have one redeeming feature, right?
That's not the end of the eight-cylinder goodness either. With the future of V8 Supercars apparently in doubt, a superb highlights vid from the early 2000s had to feature. What a great motorsport.
Another week, another seven days full of hot hatch news! Maddest of all has to be the
Abarth 695 Biposto
: two seats (clue's in the name), no air-con and thinner plastic is just the start. Option it up with the dogring 'box, carbon packs, Lexan windows and you're not only left with a crazy little hatch but also an invoice for over £50K! Bonkers.
It certainly made a 231hp Mini Cooper S JCW look rather tame. Should be a great car to drive though, if not to look at...
For (slightly) more grown up hot hatch customers there will be the next Focus RS. Watch out Civic Type R? And for those who are actually quite mature, the Audi RS3 should suit nicely. Still does 174mph after all.
What else has been making the news? There's the 450hp Volvo for a start! The S60 Drive-E Concept previews Volvo's future turbocharged engines and the early signs are very good. There's Matt Becker's departure from Lotus too, and a trip to the Isle of Mull with an Audi TT. Finally on the hot hatch theme, there could be a Fiesta ST rival from Hyundaisoon. Really.
Just the thing for Canada!
There's one story that's had everyone talking in the office and forums since Thursday: Jenson Button will stay at
McLaren for 2015
. Great news for Brit F1 fans and also those who like a bit of rivalry as he and Alonso appear to be disagreeing already. Furthermore, to mark the occasion, it seemed appropriate to dedicate
POTW
to the last pair of McLaren-Honda teammates...
As for the rest of our regulars, there are another pair of £100K Garages to glance over (see Monday and Wednesday, plus new submission are always welcome) and a Porsche Turbo in Carpool. Ford are back in stop motion action for Christmas and there's a very clever Lego builder in need of PH support too. Last but by no means least, Shed has picked his own hot hatch hero with a Renault 5 Monaco.
The team will be down at Goodwood this weekend so do say hello if you're around. Keep an eye on the site next week for a full round-up!