Changan Eado EV will launch in China in January 2015

The new Changan Eado EV will be launched on the Chinese EV market in January 2015. The Eado EV is an electric vehicle for China based on the Changan Eado sedan. Price will start around 290.000 yuan before green car subsidies from central and local governments. Subsidies on a vehicle like the Eado EV can be as much as 90.000 yuan ($14.460) so sticker price at the dealer will be some 200.000 yuan ($32.140).

Blue ornament on the front fender. Blue = Green.The Eado EV is powered by an electric motor with 120 hp and 123 Nm, mated to a 80aAh/320V lithium-ion battery. Top speed is rated at 140 kilometer per hour, and range is rated at 160 kilometer. Charging takes eight hours on 220V for a full charge, or 30 minutes on a fast charger for an 80% charge.

It is interesting to see that more and more Chinese automakers are moving into larger EV sedans, instead of just focusing on mini cars and minivans. The latest generation of batteries apparently good enough to propel the bigger and heavier vehicles around town safely and charged.

Blue grille will come standard on Eado EV. Blue, it should be remembered, = Green.

First drive: new Smart ForFour

Germany’s rear-engined answer to the Renault Twingo is here. Sam Philip attempts ill-advised drifting

What's this?
Big brother to the ForTwo, first cousin to the new Renault Twingo: it's the new Smart ForFour! Sharing its hard points with Renault's rear-engined city car, and built at the French firm's Slovenian plant, the ForFour sees Smart returning to the four-seat market for the first time since the not-very-fondly-remembered Mitsubishi tie-up of the same name a decade ago.

So is this just a Twingo in German drag?
The ForFour's platform - which sees the engine slung down on the back axle, driving the rear wheels - is identical to that of the Renault, as are its engines: a 71bhp, 1.0-litre naturally aspirated three-cylinder, and a turbocharged 90bhp, 898cc unit of the same configuration. A five-speed manual is standard, with a six-speed double-clutch transmission to follow.
However, Smart says 80 per cent of the ForFour's exterior is new, while 30 per cent of the components beneath are unique. Certainly this is rather more than a badge engineering exercise: from both inside and out, the ForFour looks quite different to its Renault relation.
How does it drive?
We tested the more powerful petrol mated to the manual gearbox, in which spec the ForFour drove, perhaps unsurprisingly, rather like that Twingo.
In other words, smartly enough, and without surprises, but perhaps lacking some of the vim you might expect from a rear-engined, rear-wheel drive car. We'd have to test the Renault and the Smart back-to-back to determine any differences in handling, but suffice to say any variations should be marginal.
Smart has clearly worked hard to engineer out any surprises from the ForFour's reactions: tip into a corner too fast and you get plenty of understeer, followed by - if you keep jamming the throttle - a heavy smothering under the Smart's electronic safety blanket (and no, you can't switch the ESP off). With our road-tester hats on, it's all a touch frustrating, especially as the chassis seems strong and the turbo engine is a cheery little thing.
Of course, to most potential ForFour buyers, this won't matter a jot. They'll care more about the ForFour's excellent turning circle - such is the advantage of front wheels unencumbered by an engine or tasked with delivering power to the road - and its refinement, which is a world away from the Peugeot 108s and Fiat 500s of this world.
On the motorway, the ForFour feels composed and grown-up. Smart says it employs 30 per cent more sound-deadening than the Twingo, and though we couldn't say for sure if it's quieter on the move than the Renault, it's certainly more than hushed enough.
Is it as practical as an especially practical thing?
It is. Smart has gone big on making the ForFour's modest interior as functional as possible: the rear seats fold flat, while their squabs can be flipped forward, leaving space for a 50-inch flatscreen telly (so we're told) where the rear passengers' legs would normally live.
The rear doors open to 85 degrees - so virtually at right angles to the car - making it easier to load children and other possessions into the back. The front passenger seat hinges right forward, too, providing load-space, Smart asserts, for a 2.2-metre flat-pack bookcase. Waddyamean, you don't commute every morning with a 2.2-metre flat-pack bookcase beside you?
Bootspace is inevitably limited by the presence of an engine perched on the rear axle, but this remains a clever piece of packaging.
So should I buy one?
Costing just £495 more than the equivalent ForTwo, this certainly looks good value against Smart's smaller offering. However, the ForFour is rather dearer than the Twingo: prices start at £11,620, just over two grand above the basest Renault. Of course, you get a bit more kit on your Smart as standard, but still, that's a hefty chunk of cash at this end of the market.
And, subjective as it may be, Top Gear doesn't feel the ForFour's styling carries off the city car joie de vivre thing with quite the same panache as the Twingo. Make your own mind up on that one: if you can get down with the styling and make the pricing work for you, the ForFour joins the Twingo at the very top of the city car class.

 

Buy an actual Red Bull F1 car

Mark Webber’s 2007 actual real life RB3 is up for sale. Yours for a mere £250,000

TG has stumbled across an advert for a second-hand Renault. Specifically, a second-hand, fully operational and genuine ex-Red Bull Racing Formula One Renault.

Yep, it's the actual car Mark Webber drove in the actual 2007 Formula One season, codenamed ‘RB3'. Designed by Adrian Newey, this is a car that competed in the Australian, Malaysian, Bahrain, Spanish and Monaco rounds.
It's up for £250,000, hardly pocket change, granted, but cheaper than a Lamborghini Aventador and significantly more exotic. A fine bit of TG maths you can employ should you need to explain the purchase to your significant other.
Or indeed, sod the maths, and just turn the thing on: the RB3 came with 2.4-litres of naturally-aspirated Renault-engined V8, kicking out many, many horsepowers all the way up to an 18,000rpm redline. So it'll sound ballistic if you've just gotten used to this year's turbo V6s.
It's hooked up to what proved to be the car's Achilles' heel - a hydraulically actuated paddleshift gearbox that was designed to give completely instantaneous gearshifts, but only served to make the RB3 dreadfully unreliable.
Though because you are not a Mark Webber, and will likely need some spares, the seller has thrown in a veritable truckload. Different aero packages with high- and low-downforce set-ups, extra wheels, engine covers, headrests and floor panels are all included to sweeten the deal.
If you do buy it, might we suggest loaning it to Vettel for the remaining two races? He might be in need of a decent motor...

First picture of McLaren’s new baby

Woking reveals first official image of its entry-level ‘Sports Series’. Here’s everything you need to know

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This is your first official look at the new ‘baby McLaren' - the Porsche 911 Turbo-rivalling two-seater, codenamed P13 and set to land early next year. And we now know its real name, too: this week, Woking revealed that its most affordable sports car ‘will be known as the McLaren Sports Series'.

Confused? We were too, not least because ‘Sports sounds like a potential Jenson Button menswear range. So we gave McLaren a call and were cheerily instructed that the name of the entire range will be ‘Sports Series', and each car within it (a coupe, and drop-top spider, and other as yet unknown versions) will get individual titles.
Beyond that unusual naming strategy, here's what we know about the junior McLaren, which is expected to arrive around April 2015.
At the heart of the car is a spin-off of the carbon fibre tub known as MonoCell in the old 12C and current 650S, and MonoCage in the hybrid P1, on account of its integral roof structure. That's right: McLaren's Porsche 911 Turbo and Mercedes-AMG GT S rival will use super-stiff carbon construction - a wild departure from the aluminum monocoques favoured by its rivals.
The body panels themselves will be aluminum: those in the 650S are carbon fibre. It's said to cost two-thirds of a 650S's ask, which pitches it at around £135,000 - smack-bang between the Porsche 911 Turbo and faster 911 Turbo S.
Powering the whole shebang is a bespoke iteration of McLaren's familiar 3.8-litre, twin-turbo V8 engine. McLaren told TG earlier this year: "All our cars will use the V8, with the same block dimensions and bore centres, so it's a related version in the P13 [the Sports Series codename]. After all it's only three years old, and has lots of development left in it."
Pinching the pricier cars' engine will mean nicking their gearbox too - a seven-speed dual-clutch paddleshift job will continue to be McLaren's one and only transmission.
To put clear water between the Sports Series cars and the 650S, insiders point to a power output in the region of 450-500bhp. A chunk down on the 512bhp 991 Turbo, yes, but the carbon-tubbed, rear-drive McLaren will be lighter than the all-wheel drive, all-metal Porsche. Game on!
If you're expecting some sort of wieldy Cayman-sized sportster, think again: McLaren says the two-seater Sports Series will be about the same size as a 650S.
"By the time you've packaged that engine and two people, that's how big it has to be," CEO Mike Flewitt explained. "We always make the exterior as small as possible. We didn't make the 650S big just to get road presence - that's not us."
Under the skin, the Sport Series gets yet more goodies from its big brothers. McLaren's ProActive Chassis Control system is an anti-roll bar-free suspension which uses hydraulic fluid pressure to stiffen each shock absorber independently, which is why the 12C, 650S and even fire-spitting P1 have become legendary for their decent ride comfort when you're cruising, and super-stiff behavior when you're gunning it.
It'll be fascinating to see how the Sports Series Maccas get on against the new hybrid Honda NSX V6, which is also due in mid-2015. Why? Well, from next year, McLaren's recently rubbish F1 team will switch from Mercedes to Honda engines. We smell one hell of a road-car grudge match on the way...
McLaren won't start pumping out the Sports Series models until the last of the 375 P1 hypercars has been sent to its lucky owner - unlocking the necessary factory capacity for what will be McLaren's biggest-selling motor car ever. From Stuttgart to Tokyo via Modena, they'll be watching with interest. So will we.

Win a drive in the Lexus RC F...

UK readers of TopGear.com, here's a rather nice opportunity for you all. Top Gear magazine is giving one of you, plus a guest, the chance to win an incredible trip to the Ascari race track in Spain where you will be driving the brand new Lexus RC F. The prize includes return private charter flights from the UK to Malaga, overnight stay in the 5 Star Villa Padierna Palace Hotel in Marbella and a gala dinner with Lexus.

During your stay you'll be taken to the private 5.5km Ascari race track which will include a fast lap in the Lexus RC F. You'll then have the chance to be one of the first to drive it yourself, with instruction from professional racing drivers. In addition, on the day you'll be able to have a go at drifting in an IS-F and a Lexus Hybrid drive experience.

What It’s Like to Attend the Insane, Awesome, and Closed-to-the-Public SEMA Show in 35 Photos

The annual SEMA show in Las Vegas is technically an automotive trade event but has evolved into a no-holds-barred display of tuning and customization genius. There are always hundreds of lifted trucks, slammed imports, and engine-swapped muscle cars. Yet there's far more to the show than that—the parties, the celebrities, the high-octane demos, the excess of it all. (And the Rascal scooters. Seriously, we saw a guy from Road & Track on one.) Unfortunately, SEMA isn't open to the public, but that doesn't mean you can't experience what it's like to attend the craziest show on the automotive calendar. Enjoy!