Ariel Atom Mugen

To celebrate 10 years of Ariel Atom production, 10 special Ariel Atom Mugen cars will be built for general sale. The 'No Screen. No Roof. No Doors' leftfield company from Yeovil have already had a stella year, releasing the Atom V8, and have topped off their 10th anniversary, with this special edition. The AA Mugen features an N/A Honda K20Z Tyre R engine, tuned by Mugen Euro in the UK, generating 270bhp, and will be shown at the Autosport Show in 2011, when full specs will be released. Simon Saunders of Ariel Motor Company said: "The union of Ariel, Honda and Mugen had resulted in a very special car that takes the trackday car to another level." Having long been a lover of the Atom, and Mugen engines, we can not wait to test this special edition out...  

Skoda Fabia S2000 to enter Intercontinental Rally Challenge

Skoda UK Motorsport will tackle the Intercontinental Rally Challenge (IRC) with a Fabia S2000 and driver Andreas Mikkelsen (& co-driver, ola Floene) in 2011. The campaign gets underway with the classic Rallye Monte Carlo, January 19-22 – a fitting tribute to Skoda Motorsport celebrating its 110th anniversary, I think you will agree? See www.ircseries.com to keep up with the action!

McLaren GT3 Racing for MP4-12C

McLaren and UK-based CRS Racing are in partnership to develop a GT3 racing car, based on the new MP4-12C road car, with first customer cars planned for the 2012 race season. The 12C's strong, one-piece moulded carbon "MonoCell" chassis, light weight and efficient aerodynamics make for an interesting racing recipe. And motorsport fans around the globe are sure to be glad to welcome the return of a legendary McLaren name – arguably the most successful motor racing team in history. It's 15 years since the McLaren F1 GTR won the Le Mans 24-Hr on its debut, and 12 since the 'longtails' last raced there. Further information can be found at www.mclarengt.com.

Porsche GT3 R Hybrid gets UK debut

Porsche will unveil their all-new GT3 R Hybrid race car to the UK at Autosport International, January 13-16, at the NEC. The GT3 R Hybrid made its race debut in the thrilling VLN Championship at the Nurburgring in 2010, and has subsequently raced at Road Atlanta in America and Zuhai in China. The car features an electric front axle drive with two electric motors, each pumping out 60 kW, supplementing the familiar 4.0-litre, 480bhp flat-six 'boxer' petrol engine. Racers can call on the extra grunt provided by the electric motors on command to give them an added edge – overtaking, for punch out of bends and to save on fuel. Interesting developments eh folks?

Nick Mason's Ferrari Enzo - Into The Red DVD

Road friend and driver training guru, Mark Hales, lets rip and gets up and over the limit in Nick Mason's 217mph Ferrari Enzo on circuit, for a blast down country lanes and takes a closer technical look back on the ramps in the workshop in this latest DVD from www.intotheredfilms.com. Priced at £14.95 plus postage, this exclusive DVD makes the ideal Christmas present. Who doesn't want to watch a driver of Mark's talents take the 660bhp, 485lbft V12 supercar to its limit on the track and have a natter with the ex-Pink Floyd legend? Enjoy this little taster session video above, and at: www.vimeo.com/channels/intothered. We love it!

New 431PS Vauxhall VXR8

One of our favourite, fun and fruity cars is back – the Vauxhall VXR8. Get ready for oversteer! The new VXR8 will hit dealers in March 2011, priced at £49,500 (inc. 20% VAT). Its now based on the high-spec Holden HSV E3 GTS model and features a revised exterior and interior (full leather), magnetic ride control, launch control (!) and live data streaming ("Enhanced Driver Interface, EDI") sending power, torque, lap times, drift angle etc. to the in-car computer screen. Best of all though, it's packing a fourth generation, 6.2-litre LS3 monster V8 – offering 431PS, 550Nm of torque, 0-60mph in 4.9s and a limited 155mph. It'll also have an uprated mechanical LSD and six-speed gearbox. We had too much fun testing this at Oulton Park last year, and can not wait to try out the new version in 2011. Serious V8 sideways action has never been so affordable. You likey? We at Road HQ certainly do.

Road Magazine Issue 10 'Evil Diesel' special live NOW!

Road Magazine issue 10 – all focused on mileage-munching, performance diesels – is live to read now at: http://www.issuu.com/roadonlinemagazine/docs/road_10_new
This issue features classic road trips to the Scottish glens in the new All-Wheel-Drive Impreza 2.0D RX, the brand new Mitsubish Lancer Juro tested in the Lincolnshire Wolds and an epic long distance haul to Cornwall, on one tank of fuel, in the phenomenal VW Golf BlueMotion. Does their lack of revs and audio stimulation make these fast and frugal diesels dull? Road investigates the talents of three modern day oil-burners over three monster road trips.
NB: This issue is out early for a Happy Christmas from Team Road! The January issue, will be out 25.01.11

2011 Prodrive MINI Countryman WRC in testing

Check this angry little beastie out! Ex-WRC Champion Marcus Gronholm and Marko Martin have been busy testing the new-for-2011 MINI Countryman WRC at Ponte De Lima in Portugal, with their new British team, Prodrive. Kris Meeke is already signed up to drive the 1.6-litre turbocharged MINI in some of the 13-rounds of the WRC next year, starting in Sweden, February 13th. See www.wrc.com for more news. And expect a full test of the MINI WRC in ROAD Magazine in the new year, courtesy of Road friends, www.prodrive.com... oh yes! We can't wait to see how the new WRC cars, and the MINI in particular, get on... what do you think? Good luck Prodrive!

Insurance Companies Penalising Winter Tyres

The BBC has revealed some insurance companies are charging punters who fit Winter tyres up to 20% MORE money – despite the specially-designed tyres being considerably safer in wintery cold, wet, icy and snowy conditions. The AA even said some insurers were REFUSING to cover cars fitted with Winter rubber! We at Road think this is an outrage. Most of Europe fit Winter tyres seasonally, with reductions in premiums for doing so. And, with increasingly harsh Winter conditions, folk should be rewarded, not penalised financially for fitting specialist rubber. What do you say?

New BMW 1 Series M Coupe

BMW have launched the much-anticipated 1 Series M Coupe, opening up the M-Power audience to the compact car market. It comes with a high-revving in-line six cylinder VANOS power plant, fitted with twin turbos, knocking out 340bhp and 500Nm of torque. Top speed? A limited 155mph. 0-62mph? 4.9-seconds. And BMW claim 29.4mpg combined. It boasts exclusive 19-inch rims, M-suspension (with 55mm wider track than 135i), aluminium construction, Variable M differential lock, 360mm/350mm brakes and will be available in white, black and orange (pictured). BMW say it will be faster around the Nordschleife than the previous E46 BMW M3. Naturally, with all that jazz, it ain't going to be cheap... and will cost £39,990. It's on sale from May 2011.

Welcome new Road blog and magazine followers

WELCOME new Road Magazine and blog followers!  Hopefully you will find our daily blog updates – with latest news, must-see videos, special offers exclusive to Road blog followers and much more – of interest. We upload something new every day. Bookmark us, get following, join us on Twitter and Facebook! And do please comment on posts, so we know what you wanna see more, or less of! You can also find the latest issue of our monthly Road Magazine – just click on the image, top right, to read it FREE! We publish the magazine here, the last week of every month. And you can read back issues of the magazine you may have missed at www.issuu.com/roadonlinemagazine. The next issue will be live here next week – an early Christmas present, FREE! We really hope you enjoy our publications. Enjoy!

New Michelin Pilot Super Sport Tyre

Just launched out in Dubai, this new state-of-the-art Michelin rubber should be top of any man's Christmas present to himself list! Tested in extreme wet and dry conditions on the Dubai Autodrome, in a variety of high performance cars fitted with the new Michelin Pilot Super Sport 2, versus identical cars with other leading rubber boots, the new Michelin romped home. The new tyre has been developed with help from BMW M-Power, Porsche and Ferrari and using Michelin's experienced gained from 13 consecutive Le Mans wins. It is available in a variety of fat sizes and is suitable for Audi R8, Porsche 977, Turbo S, Carrera GT, BMW M3, Impreza STi, Nissan GT-R and Ferrari 458 and 590 GT), and more. See www.michelin.co.uk for further details.

1-2-1 Driver Training Offer

Fancy booking a spot of 1-2-1 driver training, at special discounted rates, for Road blog followers? We are offering fabulous introductory prices for sessions booked now, for 2011, on and off-track, or at private airfields we have on our books. Visit www.roylemedia.co.uk for more information on the bespoke courses available, and to contact us directly.  

Revised 2011 Nissan GT-R will do 0-62mph in 3.0s!

Nissan has revealed the updated 2011 GT-R will be faster still – nailing the 0-62mph dash in 3.0-seconds dead! That's just half a second slower to 62mph than the £1,000,000, 1,000bhp Bugatti Veyron. Not bad for a £70,000 motor eh? It's a full 0.6-seconds faster than the £109,000 Porsche Turbo. The added performance comes thanks to a tune of the hand-built 3.8-litre V6 twin turbo engine, which will knock out 523bhp (was 478bhp). There will also be revisions to the suspension and subtle styling tweeks. We at Road can not wait to test it. What do you think?

Maserati FIA GT Championship Glory

Six seasons in the international FIA GT Championship – and now a fifth drivers' title and sixth team's title for the Maserati MC12. Not a bad record eh? Maserati say "reliability and competitiveness are the two key factors in our prolonged series of success... the car comes without innate flaws, with a highly rigid carbon fibre monocoque chassis, excellent weight distribution between front and rear, equally excellent aerodynamic balance and a very low centre of gravity." Its aspirated 6-litre V12 engine has been de-tuned, to meet regulation changes, from a thumping 750bhp to 630bhp in 2005 and now 560bhp, yet still shone with its phenomenal balance, cornering speed and low tyre wear. And, next year, we can all share in its race-bred success, with the forthcoming Maserati GranTurismo MC Stradale – which will be the fastest, lightest and most powerful Maserati in the range. See www.maserati.co.uk for more details.

FREE Road Magazine car insurance offer with Adrian Flux

You only have until the end of December to enter the Road Magazine and Adrian Flux FREE year's car insurance special offer - so get entering! All you have to do is click on the link below and input your email address to stand a chance of winning a year of quality, FREE car insurance, and save yourself a packet. So, get on with it!!! www.adrianflux.co.uk/competition/rom-2010

Subaru's winter top towing tips

With its legendary permanent All-Wheel-Drive, oft the vehicles of choice to rescue stranded mates in the snow and ice, Subaru, have released their top seven tips for winter towing: Pay attention Impreza, Legacy, Outback & Forester drivers, indeed, all 4WD motorists:
1. Tether via towing eyes, and use a specific, strong tow rope.
2. Take the strain and use 2nd gear to pull away, gently.
3. Tow in straight lines only.
4. Ensure the towed vehicle's wheels are pointing in the right direction and steering wheel is not locked.
5. Towed vehicle should be in neutral, with ignition and engine on.
6. Tow for minimum distance only.
7. Alert other road users!
See www.subaru.co.uk for more towing tips.

KW launch suspension kits for VW Golf R

Road advertisers, KW Suspensions, have just launched a range of spring, damper, anti-roll bar, top mount and coilover kits for the excellent VW Golf R – which we tested up a snowy Kirkstone Pass in the recent German Special: www.issuu.com/roadonlinemagazine/docs/road_8.
The innovative suspension kits start from just £660.10. And, if they are anything like any other kits we've tested previously at Road from KW, they will be superb. Check them out at www.kwautomotive.co.uk and for a bespoke DISCOUNTED price to ROAD blog followers – until the end of 2010 – contact KW direct on 0870-990-7536, quoting this special Road code... KWR001. Happy Christmas!

Colin McRae Legacy Ice Rally

Want to really know how to drive on snow, at pace? Check this out... 1992 Arctic Rally. Colin McRae testing the then new Subaru Legacy WRC. Grab a cuppa, sit back and enjoy driving skill at its very highest. ROAD misses you Colin.

Bugatti Veyron drifting in the snow!

Testing cars for a living is a tough job... but someone has to do it! And this lucky lad must have had a really dull day, with 1,000bhp under his right foot, 4WD, the ultimate £1,000,000 supercar at his disposal and no chance of crashing into anything hard on a frozen lake in Sweden. What do you reckon? Cool, literally...

How to drive properly in the snow...

Road good buddy, Tim Schrick, shows us all how to drive properly in the snow, in a Porsche 911... on the toughest track in the world - the Green Hell (white Hell here!). Having been out for many laps with Tim, Road can safely say he's the most natural driver we've ever lapped with, along with the much missed Colin McRae, RIP. Go Tim!!! What do you reckon folks? Balls of steel eh?

Ken Block's Gymkhana GRID Invitational Officially Awesome Hype Commercial!

The title says it all really...

MSV advent calendar = Fun games and prizes!

Motorsportvision.co.uk have launched their online advent calendar today, containing a range of exclusive competitions, quizzes and special offers – starting with a chance to learn your lines around the new-for-2011, Snetterton 300 race circuit, in a digital BMW M3! The top 20 times will go into a prize draw to win a BMW M3 for the weekend, so get racing! We're addicted in the Road office! Sign up at http://xmas2010.motorsportvision.co.uk/