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Bye Bye hot-hatch

The Honda Civic Type R will not go alone. Joining the hot-hatch in to the grave will be the Ford Focus ST . Like the British built Honda’s high revving 2.0-litre four pot, the Ford’s 2.5-litre turbo five-cylinder does not meet Euro 5 emission standards, which will come into force for all new cars in next year.

According to Autocar UK, who broke the news, other engines that are facing the chop for the same reason includes Alfa’s tuneful 3.2-litre V6, the Mazda RX-8′s rotary engine and the VW Group’s 5.0-litre V10 TDI engine. This will affect models like the Alfa Brera/Spider and the VW Touareg.

Ford may decide to resurect the ST in the future with a modern direct injection four-cylinder Ecoboost engine.

DS3 R3 off to good start

The Citroën DS3 R3 made its competitive debut at the Ulster rally last weekend and claimed the two-wheel drive and Group R victory titles on the Irish roads ending the event in fifth place overall.

Drivers, Bouffier and Panseri steadily built up their pace over the course of the weekend, but the DS3 R3 dominated its class right from the beginning. The opening day on Friday allowed the Frenchman to get used to the car and the conditions, and he got quicker and quicker with every stage. After the 53 miles that made up the first leg, Bouffier returned to parc fermé in seventh overall. During the morning loop of Saturday’s stages, the Citroën DS3 R3 continued its progress by making up another place. The crew ended on a high by setting four blistering stage times and claiming fifth overall at the finish.

Frédéric Bertrand, in charge of the customer competition department at Citroën Racing, said: “This great debut result has underlined our belief in the ample capabilities of the DS3 R3. The car has been reliable and we’ve not encountered any problems at all throughout the rally. Of course it proved to be extremely competitive as well, so now we just need to refine the set-up to suit all the different types of conditions that we might encounter. Sealing a result like this on the Ulster Rally is an important moment, because this is a very specialised rally that is well-known for pushing cars to the limit. The whole team has done a very good job and the crew drove a perfect rally. We have also been able to rely on the performance of BFGoodrich tyres. Putting all these elements together has resulted in an excellent fifth place at the finish. Given that this was only our first time out, it’s extremely encouraging for the future.”

Stig to reveal all...

Some say he's a god, and that a portion of his autobiography is written in Morse Code. All we know is, he's annoyed his bosses at the BBC by seeking to publish his memoirs. According to UKPA and ESPN, the tame racing driver has written the tale of his life and wants to share it with the world. The only problem is doing so would violate the confidentiality agreement in the Stig's contract. The BBC is also arguing that revealing his identity would ruin Top Gear for the millions of fans around the globe.

There are only a privileged few who know the Stig's real identity, including Jeremy Clarkson, James May and Richard Hammond. As the UKPA points out, each of those presenters has gone on to other money-making projects outside of the Top Gear band-wagon - leaving the poor Stig to take out his frustrations on the reasonably-priced car.

The city of Turin looked to the sky today to see the new Lamborghini Reventón flying over-head.

The Lamborghini Reventón was carried by military helicopter over the automotive capital of Italy, thanks to the special co-operation of the Italian marines. It landed on the rooftop of the Lingotto building, and closed a conference hosted today by Lamborghini, entitled ”Lamborghini and speed – a project in record time”. The conference explored the extraordinary timescales and design and production abilities demonstrated by Lamborghini in producing its € 1 million euro supercar, of which all 20 units have been sold worldwide. The conference was attended by local, international and academic VIPs including representatives from the automotive industry. Lamborghini’s conference was part of the “Turin 2008 – World Design Capital” programme of events.

JAGUAR LAND ROVER ANSWER THE CALL

Jaguar Land Rover has agreed to become an official supporter of England’s 2018 Football World Cup bid. The agreement sees the two iconic British brands, Jaguar and Land Rover, provide courtesy vehicles to the World Cup bid.

As the official car supplier Jaguar Land Rover will be supplying four Range Rovers, one Discovery 4 and four Jaguar XJs for the FIFA inspections who will arrive later this month. Jaguar has already supplied two Jaguar XFs to assist the 2018 bid.

Andy Anson, England 2018 World Cup Bid Chief Executive said: "Jaguar and Land Rover are premium British brands that are ideally suited to support our FIFA World CupTM bid. At England 2018, we are committed to proving we have the qualities required to stage the world’s biggest tournament and to have the support of brands that are so recognisable across the entire globe is tremendous news.”

Jonathan Gregory, Director of Partnerships said "Jaguar Land Rover are a fantastic addition to our sponsor family, the brands are synonymous with design, quality and excellence. They are dedicated to providing first class vehicles for our bid and we are really looking forward to working with them."