Feature: What is it like to ride in a Le Mans car?

Unless you're an F1 driver or a Le Mans car driver, a ride in a Palmer Jaguar JP1 is probably the closest you will ever get to experiencing an F1 or Le Mans car. At Brands Hatch you can have the opportunity to see what this is like. I strongly recommend this.

As I waited in the pit lane area at Brands Hatch, I had a look at the machine that would shortly take me around the undulating, twisty circuit that surrounds the pits area. Someone else was having a go before me, and it soon became clear that getting into one of these cars is a bit of a faff - with no doors and the car designed for speed rather than practicality, it is a bit of a squeeze.

You must lower yourself in, suspending yourself above the car with your hands while you swing your legs in and get your lower half into a small gap below the 'dashboard'. I have fairly long legs but when I later had my turn there seemed like an endless amount of room stretching beyond my feet once they were in, which was very surprising - racing cars are generally made to fit short drivers. Ken Block was recently turned away from his first F1 test because he was simply too large to fit into the car.

Still, the passenger was in, and after a fiddly 4 point safety harness had been adjusted for him, the driver dropped the clutch, spun the wheels and left some rubber down on the garage floor where the car had been. Make no mistake, racing cars are very loud, especially in garages. It's brilliant.

The noise of a high revving, screaming V6 announced the Jaguar's arrival at Paddock Hill Bend, which is out of sight from the pit lane, and an instant later a flash of red appeared amongst the greenery at Druids, taking a tight line in and a wide one out of the corner, the driver using all the road to his advantage. What followed was a series of very fast-looking laps from the Jaguar and its clearly terrified passenger, the car finding grip and speed where the fleet of customer driven BMW M3s simply could not. I had never seen an M3 look slow before that day, especially on a track.

The car came into the pit lane at great speed, only slowing down at the last minute to turn into the garage, seemingly expecting the small crowd there to move out of its way - luckily for everyone involved, the crowd dispersed quickly.

It was my turn.

Awkward strapping in sequence out of the way, my driver introduced himself as Mr Tony Trimmer, he then told me to lower my visor as we exited the garage and off we went. As soon as the light was green at the end of the pit lane, we were off. And I mean OFF. The acceleration is immense - not frightening, just very surprising. Enough to make you notice the grab handle and the barriers a bit more than usual, anyway.

Mr Trimmer launched the car into the blind and downhill Paddock Hill Bend - that is when you get scared. You simply have to trust that the driver knows what he's doing, and luckily, he did. What surprises you most as you lap a circuit in one of these cars is the sheer level of grip these things have. I have no idea how fast we were going, there was no speedometer that I was aware of, but as we entered the corners at frankly silly speeds, it just seemed inevitable to me that the car would fail to slow down enough, understeer and skid off into the tyre wall.

But it didn't - it hunkered down and seemed to lower itself like a tiger does before it pounces, gripping effortlessly to the track and launching itself at the next section of the track. It did this over and over again, the g-force moving me around significantly inside the cramped little cabin.

On a faster speed track I think the forces involved would be far too much for anyone who wasn't a racing driver, but the speeds are low enough at Brands Hatch that you notice the force without suffering. It's not painful, but it's certainly noticeable.

If you imagine the fastest, twistiest roller coaster you've ever been on, take that and multiply the experience tenfold and you will have something similar to the experience. If you ever get the chance to ride in something similar, take it, these machines are incredible. Just make sure you're not driving, because the chances are you'll end up in a wall. But before that, it'll be the most exciting and enjoyable crash you'll ever have.

BMW i3 Revealed

As well as the i8, BMW will launch the i3 in 2013 - an all electric BMW 1-Series sized car. Where the i8 is very low and wide, the i3 is a much more passenger-oriented car, opting for a taller, narrower body for greater practicality - its boot has a 200 litre capacity. 

The i3 will have an aluminium chassis with carbon fibre-reinforced plastic as its body shell, much like the i8. For such a small car it is relatively heavy at 1270kg, even with the weight saving body. It will be the smallest model that BMW make, even if you include the Mini, as it only measures 3845mm in length, 2011mm in length and 1537mm in width. 

A lithium ion battery will be mounted in the central section of the floor and liquid cooled, giving the car a lower centre of gravity than any other BMW model along with 'agile' handling at city speeds. The electric engine will be mounted over the rear wheels, powering them with a single speed transmission. The electric motor drives the wheels, while a small petrol engine will be packaged alongside it to power a generator that will maintain the charge in the batteries. 

Although clearly designed as a city car, the i3's performance is far from lethargic: 0-37mph in just 3.9 seconds, 0-62mph in a respectable 7.9 seconds. Clearly this is a car geared for the city though - its top speed is limited to just 93mph to protect the charge of the battery, despite boasting fairly promising acceleration below this speed.

The i3 does however take far longer to recharge its battery than the larger i8. A full charge will take 6 hours, although it is possible to charge the batteries to 80% in a one hour fast charge. Like the i8 the car does feature brake-energy harvesting technology quite heavily as well as a 'coast mode' which cuts the engine for certain periods of time.

The car's range also suits a city better than a long motorway haul: 80-100 miles is expected on most models, but later an REx model will be added that will use a longer range power-train. 

BMW i8 Revealed

BMW has launched its 'i' sub-brand with two brand new models - the i3 and the i8. The i8 has been designed as a 2+2 coupe: as fast as an M3; more economical than even the best hatchbacks. It will use a four-wheel drive system with its plug-in hybrid engine.

The main engine will be a 1.5 litre petrol engine with direct injection that develops 220bhp and 221lb ft of torque. This will be twinned with the 129bhp, 184lb ft electric engine to produce 349bhp and 491lb ft of torque overall. The car will run on its electric power alone or a combination of the petrol engine and the electric engine based on the state of charge and driving conditions. 

The car will be traditionally BMW in that it will use a rear-wheel drive system, but the engine will mounted in the rear, connected to a dual-clutch gearbox. Where the petrol engine powers the rear wheels, the electric engine will be mounted more traditionally in the front of the car, powering the front wheels using a twin-speed transmission. 

To give the car its incredible efficiency, BMW has ensured that the motors work very intelligently. In stop/start traffic situations the car will run entirely on its electric motor - pick up speed, or deplete the battery and the petrol engine will engage, enabling four-wheel drive and much more performance. 

And this performance? 0-62mph in 4.6 seconds. 50-75mph takes just 4 seconds flat and the car will easily reach its electronically limited top speed of 155mph. The car is not simply quick due to its power alone, though: it is fairly lightweight due to its carobfibre-reinforced plastic body at 1480kg, giving it a power-to-weight ration of 236bhp per tonne. 

The electric motor, light weight and lack of aerodynamic drag thanks to its swoopy design give the very fast car very good economy. BMW claims the car will get 104mpg on a combined cycle and 66g/km, and that these figures could get even better in optimal running conditions and an even more improved car by the time the i8 goes on sale in 2013.

The biggest problem with electric motors has always been their recharge rate. However, if all goes to plan at BMW, the i8 will be fully recharged in just 105mins on a standard household socket - leaps and bounds ahead of any other hybird technology on the market. 

The estimated range is around 400 miles because the BMW uses a start/stop system along with a multi-stage brake recuperation system.

It should handle well too, as the i8will come with double-wishbone front and multi-link rear suspension in a car with 50:50 weight distribution and a lower centre of gravity than any other BMW model. 

In size it is most comparable to the 3-Series coupe at 4623mm in length, 1955mm in width and 1280mm in height, and with a convertible planned, will the faster and much more economical i8 be a shot in the arm for BMW or the first car in an entirely new sector?

2013 Mercedes CLC Spied

All photos courtesy of Worldcarfans

Based on the upcoming new Mercedes B-Class, the CLC has taken inspiration from its bigger brother, the CLS. The name certainly isn't definite and Mercedes are still deciding whether to call it the CLA, BLS or stick to the CLC.

The CLC will use Mercedes' new compact platform (codenamed MFA) that will appear in the new B-Class as well as the upcoming GLC. The platform will also be used in short wheelbase form in the new, swoopier A-Class.

Models will come with front-wheel drive, although more highly specced ones including the AMG (yes, that has been confirmed) will have all-wheel drive to better accommodate the inevitably conspicuous amounts of power these models will possess.

A 2.0 litre 207bhp petrol engine with a 145mph top speed and 0-62mph time of 7 seconds will be offered as the first top of the range petrol. There will also be two turbo petrol engines, a 1.6 litre unit appearing in 121bhp and 154bhp forms.

There are two different diesel engines with two different power options available. The base diesel is a 1.8 litre unit that can pump out either 108bhp or 134bhp, whereas the 2.1 litre engine can produce either 168bhp or 201bhp.

The previously mentioned AMG model will be aimed squarely at the VW Golf R, using a twin-turbo 2.0 litre petrol engine developing 296bhp - 29 more than the R. Normal CLC models will have a 6 speed manual gearbox as standard, but the AMG will have a dual-clutch gearbox.

New Renault Twingo

So far only one picture has been released of the new Renault Twingo, due in January 2012, but it's more than just a good look at the new Twingo - it's Renault's new design language, due to appear on all new models from the new Twingo onwards. 

The new Twingo gets curvier, more elegant new bumpers than its predecessor along with sharper looking headlights and a larger Renault badge. The rear light clusters have also been moved slightly higher up the rear of the car and a pair of Juke-style fog lamps have been added.

The car will get the same 1.2 litre TCe engine that was used in the old Twingo, but there will be a RenaultSport version with a larger 1.6 litre engine. The smallest engine on offer will be Renault's new 0.9 litre 3 cylinder petrol.

More details and a full set of pictures will be revealed at the Frankfurt Motor Show in September.