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British sports car maker Caterham is looking to build on an impressive five straight years of growth with further expansion into European markets following its successful meeting of EU5 emissions regulations.

The company has had to make tweaks across its engine range to meet the stringent regulations which apply to all volume manufacturers and is beginning to reap the benefits despite a model range that dates back to the 1950s.

Now that its range meets the EU5 requirements Caterham is able to sell its cars across the European Union and looks forward to widening its customer base.

International business development manager, David Ridley, said: “Caterham is really bucking the trend at the moment – while most car builders are suffering because of the economic climate, we are going from strength to strength.

“We see no reason why our success in overseas markets will not continue unabated – the Seven is every bit as popular today as it always has been.”

The south east England-based company has already begun to publicise its range through a one-make series it launched in France last year.

Source: http://uk.autoblog.com/2011/03/23/caterham-looks-to-expand-in-europe/

When you’re ripping along at 253 mph, your mind is not drifting aimlessly. Your senses are cranked up to full volume to detect any hint of impending catastrophe in the maelstrom of wind rush, tire thrum, mechanical thrash, and exhaust roar that surrounds you.

Is that slight shift in the whistling wind caused by a body panel coming loose? Does that vague vibration signal a tire starting to delaminate? Does that subtle new mechanical whine presage a failing bearing that’s about to lock up the powertrain?

No such problem developed on the Bugatti Veyron 16.4, because it is not a half-baked aftermarket or boutique road burner. It is a production car developed and tested to the standards of Volkswagen, Bugatti’s parent company. With a top speed of 253 mph, it is also the fastest production car ever built.

Production, of course, is a relative term. In the case of the Veyron, Bugatti plans to build only about 50 cars a year at a price of €1 million, which is about $1,250,000 as this is written. To this rarefied market Bugatti has brought an unusual level of sophistication and engineering necessitated by the promise of 1001 metric horsepower (or 987 American horses) and a top speed of 252 mph, a pledge from former VW boss Ferdinand Pich when he unveiled the production-intent Veyron at the 2001 Geneva auto show.

Achieving 1000 horsepower in a racing engine is one thing, but to do so in a reliable, refined, durable, and emissions-legal configuration is much harder. The energizer in the Veyron is a WR16 displacing 7998cc and turbocharged with 15.8 psi of boost. You can think of it as two Passat WR8 engines put together and pumped up by four turbos.

But the Bugatti engine has more cylinders, more displacement, more power per liter, and more output overall than any other engine in the WR family tree. When I ask Bugatti development boss Wolfgang Schreiber to explain how the same engine can be rated at 1001 SAE net horsepower at 6000 rpm for the U.S. but only 987 horsepower (1001 PS) for Europe, he laughs, saying, "The production engines are all putting out between 1020 and 1040 PS—enough to cover both promises."

The engine’s torque peak is equally mighty at 922 pound-feet, developed between 2200 and 5500 rpm. The four small turbos minimize throttle lag, and the 9.3:1 compression ratio ensures reasonable torque even before boost develops.

All that twist required a dedicated transmission. The Veyron gets a King Kong seven-speed version of VW’s twin-clutch gearbox, called DSG. Like the DSG available in the Audi TT, it operates with an automatic mode or a full manual mode via paddle shifters. Because gearchanges occur with one clutch disengaging as the other engages, shifts are uniformly smooth and swift.

With about as much engine output as two Corvette Z06 V-8s, it’s no surprise that Bugatti engineers decided to go with all-wheel drive. We don’t have many details about the driveline, but the front-to-rear torque split is automatically adjusted to suit dynamic conditions and can range from 100 to 0 percent at either end.

An engine—particularly a turbocharged one—that develops four-digit power throws off more heat than a dozen pizza ovens. Consequently, in the nose of the Veyron are three coolant radiators, one heat exchanger for the twin air-to-liquid intercoolers, and two air-conditioning condensers. There are also transmission and differential oil coolers on the right side and a large engine-oil cooler in the left-side air intake. To help heat escape from the engine compartment, the big WR16 sits in the open, enclosed by no cover of any kind. This powertrain propels the 4300-pound Veyron as effortlessly and gracefully as Tiger Woods belts a 300-yard drive.

My experience with the car took place at Ehra-Lessien in Germany, Volkswagen’s test track and high-speed theme park not far from VW headquarters in Wolfsburg. At least it will soon become a theme park because Bugatti plans to let Veyron owners bring their cars to this 13.0-mile circuit to explore the top speed of their cars. In addition to finding out how fast the Veyron can go, I was a guinea pig for this ultimate high-speed thrill ride.

Article source: http://www.caranddriver.com/reviews/car/05q4/bugatti_veyron_16.4-first_drive_review

Source: http://www.eurocarblog.com/tag/abarth

The Italians are impatient to see what the next will look like, perhaps something like the rendering above or the Abarth

after the jump. It is only a question of when the new Abarth Punto will be presented, as

has already confirmed the for 2010: the Punto Evo, the 500C and perhaps even a 500 TC.

The is sure to have the new with 170 hp, meaning in the future the EsseEsse model will have 200 hp. The 500 TC stands for “Turismo Competizione” and was originally the name given to race cars based on street-legal models.

The big question is why Abarth should focus on just two models and get extreme handling out of the A and B segments represented by the and . Frustrated with these tuned versions and lack of style, some Italians are asking where Alfa Romeo is in all this. Alfa represents a true, stylish sports brand with plenty of pedigree, and the Italians want to know why Abarth should be the only brand representing Fiat in the world of racing.

Perhaps Sergio Marchionne knows something we don’t about Alfa Romeo and its future, or perhaps we should wait a little longer and see what comes out of the Alfa-Abarth-Maserati mix. Whatever the case, there’s more than one Fiat/Alfa Romeo fan peeved that the 500 and Punto get the tuned treatment when money could be invested seriously in Alfa Romeo sports style, too. As one comment on Autoblog.it reads: “You can’t ever be a passionate fan of cars until you’ve got yourself an Alfa Romeo.”

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