With the clocks about to be pushed back an hour, there's every excuse to shelter from the doom and gloom to catch up with all things PH. This week we have a new Hero welcomed to the ranks, the latest McLaren supercar, electric Aston Martins and plenty more. See it all in the PistonHeads Motoring Week!
Better once you're inside. Honest
It's here! After the 'Black Swan' teasers, the spec deliberation and the preview videos, we've finally driven the
McLaren 570S
. With rivals as diverse and talented as the Audi R8 V10, Porsche 911 Turbo S and Mercedes AMG GT, the McLaren needed to be excellent. Does it succeed? Click the review!
Initially, the new Mini JCW could only be specced as an auto. We have one on the PH Fleet and it actually works pretty well. There's now a manual though and we had to have a go. Without wishing to give too much away, the JCW is now the fast Mini it should have been from the start. Also new to the Mini range this week is the Mk3 Convertible, now with the option of a Union Jack roof (!). A Cooper S is £22,430, which also buys quite a lot of MX-5...
Others may have cottoned on to the appeal now, but Audi really was the first to make the fast estate desirable. The RS2 was its original but this week its successor was celebrated. The
B5 RS4 Avant
is now a PH Hero thanks to its monstrous speed, he-man looks and rarity. How does an A4 look that good in yellow?
Furthermore, the 2015 fast Audi range has been bolstered with the introduction of the RS6 and RS7 performance. How does 605hp and 124mph in 12 seconds grab you?
In less exciting positive news for the VW group, the EA288 diesel engines have been confirmed as legal for sale in Europe.
But could the post-'dieselgate' world be seeking an entirely fuel altogether? Many manufacturers will be hoping so, including Aston as of this week. A RapidE concept was on show during the Chinese President's visit to the UK, indicative of how significant Chinese demands now are to luxury manufacturers. Expect it in showrooms within two years...
Finally, for something a little more old fashioned, this weekend sees the Porsche sale from Silverstone Auctions. Predictably there are plenty of 911s, but also a few lovely 924s, 928s and 914s. Take a look!
Here is why we need more green cars!
Green is a colour that is disappearing from manufacturers colour palettes, which seems a shame. Particularly so when certain customers take the chance and create cars as interesting as this British Racing Green
Jaguar XJR
. There are a few more green beauties thrown into the story as well... In a rather Audi-dominated week - it wasn't planned - Shed picked an apparently tidy
Audi Coupe
with a comprehensive service history to back up its hefty mileage.
Dan goes against the grain and chooses to defend NEDC mpg tests in his most recent blog post. His argument is that the test should be kept but that more questions should be asked about how these results are being used.
With October 21, 2015 passing this week, obviously we had to celebrate Backto theFuturePart II. It's now a film about the past, rather sadly. But there are still DeLoreans for sale on PH and now it seems that self-lacing trainers may not be far off either!
Also this week there has been updates from our competition winner Matt Purdon and his Capri, a Fleet update on the BMW M4 and another PHTV episode. Enjoy the weekend and return for more from Monday!