New Car Hybrid, Car Review and Car Photo

The Audi S3 was ahead of its time. While all-wheel drive and turbocharged four-cylinders are common in modern hot hatches, this pocket-rocket arrived in 1999, when they were comparatively rare. Did someone say ‘future classic’?  In contrast, there is some old-school hardware mixed with the then new. You have a six-speed manual gearbox, for example, with an intuitive shift action. There’s also some classic turbo lag to contend with, although many will likely enjoy the thrill of the surge.  Once on boost, you’ll be deploying 207bhp from its 1.8-litre engine – if your Audi S3 is a pre-2001 example. After that year and until production ceased in 2003, the model came with 222bhp. The all-wheel drive system the power is sent through, while called quattro, is actually the Haldex set-up often found in Volkswagen Group cars. This means it is primarily front-wheel drive and sends power to the rear only when needed. And it puts that power down well – provided the car is on decent tyre

The BMW M2 is a time machine. It’s a sports car that harks back to M-cars of old, when they were smaller, lighter and less expensive than today’s counterparts. Perhaps it became a hit precisely because of this.  Its predecessor, the limited-run 1M, had certainly confirmed buyer interest in the concept. The M2 simply picked up where that car had left off – albeit on a larger scale. While BMW only built 450 1Ms for the UK, it upped that figure to 2000 for the original M2. We say ‘original’ due to the later arrival of the Competition and CS, but we’ll save those for later on.  For 2016 to 2018, the M2 received a turbocharged 3.0-litre in-line six with 365bhp. It’s essentially an uprated version of the lesser BMW M135i’s unit; and it allows for 0-62mph in 4.2sec with the dual-clutch automatic gearbox, or 4.4sec for the six-speed manual version.  Peak torque of 369lb ft is available from just 1400rpm, so it pulls like a train everywhere and, if provoked, is happy to unstick its

Nissan has revealed its new car for the upcoming Formula E race season – and technology from the racer could be used on future production models.  Called Nissan e-4orce 04, the car has 40% more power than last year’s challenger and a top speed of over 200mph. Its new red and white livery features a cherry blossom design, in tribute to Japan’s national flower.  The firm says the livery celebrates its Japanese heritage and that its dedication to Formula E highlights its commitment to an electrified future.  Nissan Motorsport managing director Tommaso Volpe told Autocar the e-4orce 04 employs several technologies that could feature on future production cars in an adapted form.  The e-4orce badge currently represents the car maker’s electrified four-wheel-drive model range, consisting of the Nissan Ariya and Nissan X-Trail. Nissan says data gathered from the race car will “directly contribute" to the development of its electrified tech and powertrains.