2012 World Superbikes: Crescent Fixi Suzuki GSX-R1000 unveiled

The 2012 WSBK GSX-R looks hot! And we love that Yoshi exhaust...

Crescent Fixi recently unveiled their 2012 World Superbikes Suzuki GSX-R1000 and we quite like the way it looks. John Hopkins and Leon Camier will be riding the GSX-Rs this year and according to Team Principal Paul Denning, the 2012 GSX-R1000 has been updated comprehensively. ‘Yoshimura is working very hard on the motor and we are sharing a lot of development ideas together. The suspension and brakes are all new, the Motec electronics package is updated and every single detail on the GSX-R is being carefully considered. The Suzuki is a great all-round package,’ says Denning.

2012 Aprilia RSV4 WSBK racebike unveiled

The Aprilia RSV4 should be a serious contender in the 2012 WSBK season...

The 2012 World Superbikes season starts on the 26th of this month, with the first race of the season scheduled to be held at Phillip Island, in Australia. Aprilia won the 2010 World Superbikes championship with Maxi Biaggi (who finished third in the 2011 season in WSBK) and they are now back for the 2012 season, with Biaggi and Eugene Laverty riding their bikes.

‘My motivation remains unchanged. If anything, I have to say that it has increased even more after what happened in 2011. We were coming off a world triumph, with a lot of expectations and all eyes on our results, but things didn't go as planned. That's water under the bridge. Now we're looking forward to the new season with only one goal – to win,’ says Biaggi. ‘My relationship with the RSV4 is a particular one. We're a close couple. We have our rough spots, but we also know how to get through them. I think that the RSV4 still has a lot to say in this championship and, given the level of competition, I'll certainly have to bring the most out of it,’ he adds.

Ferrari FF is out in the cold

World rally champion in 1978, Markku Alen drives the Ferrari FF on a snow-covered forest trail...

Markku Alen raced in WRC from 1973 to 2001, with cars like the Ford Escort RS1600, Fiat Abarth 124 Rallye, Lancia 037, Delta S4, Delta HF 4WD and Integrale, Subaru Legacy RS and Impreza, Toyota Celica Turbo 4WD and Celica GT-Four, and Ford Focus WRC. So if anyone is qualified to drive a 650bhp, V12-engined Ferrari on a snow-covered forest trail, it would be him. So here, he drives a four-wheel-drive FF on the Arjeplog track, in Northern Sweden, about 100 km South of the Artic Circle.

At temperatures between -15° and -30° Celsius, on the steep inclines and challenging corners of the 14km 'forest track,' the former world champ shows he's lost none of his skill with hustling a fast car across challenging terrain... :-)

Pikes Peak: Racing to the clouds on a Ducati Multistrada 1200

In 2011, four riders chose the Ducati Multistrada 1200 on which to take on the Pikes Peak, in the 89th running of 'The Race to the Clouds.' This is their story...

20 years of the Jaguar XJ220

So it only had a V6 rather than a V8 or V12 as is the supercar norm, but the Jaguar XJ220 could still do 350km/h, and that was back in the early-1990s!

Launched in 1992, the Jaguar XJ220 was, for a very long time, the world’s fastest production car. Today, even twenty years on, only a handful of top-rung supercars can match the XJ220’s top speed of 350km/h. With its aluminium honeycomb bodyshell, the car only weighed 1,470 kilos and was fitted with a 3.5-litre twin-turbo V6 that produced 550 horsepower and 643Nm of torque. The engine was mated to a five-speed gearbox and was, of course, rear-wheel-drive.

Designed by one Keith Helfet, the XJ220 was signed off for production in December 1989, with TWR being Jaguar’s partner for the project. Riding on 18-inch wheels shod with 345/35 Bridgestone Expedia tyres, the XJ220 could accelerate from zero to 100km/h in less than four seconds and, as you might expect, the car cost a bomb – all of £470,000, back in 1992!

Smart ForTwo updated for 2012

More than 1.3 million Smart ForTwos have been sold worldwide since the first model was launched in 1998. In 2011, Daimler sold 101,996 units of the ForTwo...

One of the coolest small cars on the planet, the Smart ForTwo has been updated for 2012, with revised styling and upgraded interiors. Changes include a larger radiator grille with integrated logo, new front and rear aprons, horizontally arranged LED daytime driving lights, new side skirts and a new range of alloy wheels with wider tyres. New colours are also available, include matt anthracite and, for the ForTwo Brabus Xclusive, white.

The 2012 Smart ForTwo gets upgraded interiors with a new leather/fabric combination for the seats, imitation leather/fabric mix for the door trim and black imitation leather for the instrument panel in combination. The car will continue to be available in coupé and cabrio versions, with six engine and electric motor variants. Prices start at 10,275 Euros. We love this car!

Edgar Heinrich to head BMW Motorrad Design Studio from July 2012

After a two-year stint at Bajaj Auto, Edgar Heinrich (above) returns to BMW Motorrad later this year. Heinrich has been responsible for many of BMW's recent motorcycles...

From July this year, Edgar Heinrich, 53, will head the BMW Motorrad Design Studio, taking over from David Robb. With a degree in design, Heinrich started his career as a motorcycle designer with BMW back in 1986 and from 2007 to 2009, he was Head of Vehicle Design – Motorcycles, under David Robb’s overall direction. From July 2009, Heinrich has been working with Indian motorcycle manufacturer, Bajaj Auto, heading product design at the fast-growing company that also has a 40% stake in KTM.

At BMW, Edgar Heinrich has been responsible for bikes like the R1100RS and RT, K1200S and R, the HP Megamoto and the R1150GS and R1200GS. The S1000RR, theF800/650 series, the G450X, BMW’s six-cylinder touring bikes and the new maxi-scooters were also designed under Heinrich’s direction. An ardent motorcycle enthusiast, Heinrich is passionate about customizing sports bikes and restoring and collecting vintage motorcycles.

Aston Martin V12 Zagato to debut at Kuwait Concours d’Elegance

The strikingly beautiful Aston Martin V12 Zagato...

The first production Aston Martin V12 Zagato will make its debut at the Kuwait Concours d’Elegance, which will be held from 15-18 February this year. ‘We are excited to show the new V12 Zagato for the first time in production form at the Kuwait Concours d’Elegance. Over 50 years since the introduction of the iconic DB4GT Zagato, Aston Martin and Zagato have collaborated to create this modern interpretation which remains true to the original focus of craftsmanship, performance and exclusivity,’ says Dr Ulrich Bez, CEO, Aston Martin.

Aston Martin will only build 150 units of the V12 Zagato, with deliveries starting in late 2012. Hand assembled at the company’s global headquarters in Gaydon, England, the V12 Zagato is based on the V12 Vantage and features hand-crafted aluminium and carbonfibre bodywork along with a bespoke interior. The car is fitted with a 6.0-litre V12 engine that produces a rather satisfactory 510 horsepower and 570Nm of torque.

Shoichiro Irimajiri: “There was something exhilarating about the six-cylinder CBX…”

Shoichiro Irimajiri (above), a brilliant engineer who worked on Honda's GP racing bikes of the 1960s, was also the man responsible for the mighty CBX1000

The Honda CBX1000, with its six-cylinder engine, remains one of our most favourite motorcycles from the 1970s/80s. The Honda CBX was in production from 1978 to 1982 and a total of only 40,000 units were ever produced. Weighing in at 247 kilos dry and with 103 horsepower from its DOHC, 24-valve, 1047cc air-cooled inline-six (fuelled by all of six carburetors…), the CBX could blast through the quarter-mile in 11.36 seconds and hit a top speed of 225km/h. But the CBX was special way beyond its numbers – the visual spectacle, the sheer drama of the super-smooth, high-revving six-cylinder engine… it was, and remains, an incomparable motorcycle.

We are big fans of the CBX and keep scouring the Web for pictures of the bike. During one such recent hunt, we came across two letters written by Shoichiro Irimajiri, the man responsible for engineering and developing the CBX. As a young engineer, Irimajiri started working for Honda in the early-1960s and worked on Honda’s GP racing bikes of that era, some of which were pretty amazing. Irimajiri was, in fact, responsible for designing the engines of the 1965 RC147 and RC165. The RC147 had a five-cylinder 125cc engine that produced 32bhp and revved to 19,500rpm, while the RC165 had a 250cc six-cylinder engine that made 52bhp and revved to 14,500rpm.

Unveiled: The fastest Toyota Hybrid in the world

Toyota haven't released any power or performance figures but we do suspect the TS030 HYBRID may be a bit faster than your Prius...

Toyota Racing has announced details of its participation in the FIA World Endurance Championship and the new team, based at Toyota Motorsport GmbH (TMG) in Cologne, Germany, will make its race debut in May this year, at the Six Hours of Spa-Francorchamps, the second round of the FIA World Endurance Championship.

At the Six Hours of Spa-Francorchamps and the subsequent Le Mans 24 Hours, the Japanese company will enter two TS030 HYBRID cars – perhaps the fastest Toyotas ever built. Indeed, the TS030 HYBRID (TS is an acronym for ToyotaSport) is the spiritual successor to the TS010 and TS020 cars, which participated at Le Mans in the 1990s.