LaFerrari Aperta revealed at Paris
show and it’s sold out already!
Ferrari has revealed the droptop LaFerrari at the 2016 Paris
Motor Show – and confirmed it
will take the Aperta name.
Unveiled as part of a lavish
press conference outlining the
Maranello firm’s plans for its
70th anniversary year, Ferrari
said just 209 soft-top
LaFerraris would be made,
with each one already
accounted for.
200 of these will be sold to
regular customers, and the
final nine will be used by
Ferrari to promote its 70th
anniversary.
The LaFerrari Aperta takes the
same 800hp V12 petrol engine
as the regular model,
combined with an electric
motor. It’ll complete the 062mph run in 2.9 seconds, the
same as the hard top, and max
out at 217mph.
The manufacturer says buyers
have been given a choice of a
removable carbonfibre hardtop and a more conventional
soft-top. Meanwhile, the
chassis has been heavily
tweaked to “retain the same
torsional rigidity and beam
stiffness as the coupe version.”
Ferrari is keeping quiet about
how much wannabe owners
have had to shell out for the
LaFerrari Aperta, but it’ll be
more expensive than the
£1 million standard LaFerrari.
Some reports suggest buyers
are shelling out as much as
£3 million for the limited-run
supercar.
Also attracting attention on
Ferrari’s stand is a series of
five liveries launched to
celebrate the anniversary.
900,000 motorists never drive
after passing their test
A study has found that around two per cent of motorists have not
driven since passing their driving tests.
Of the 3,002 drivers questioned during the survey, which was
conducted by price-comparison site CompareTheMarket.com, two
per cent had not got behind the wheel of a car since passing their
test. Another 10 per cent claimed not to have driven in the
previous 12 months.
With 45 million driving licences issued in Britain, those numbers
suggest that 900,000 motorists who've passed their test have
never taken up the opportunity to drive.
According to 37 per cent of those respondents, the cost of driving
is too high, while 25 per cent said they had lost the confidence to
drive.
One of the factors behind this is that more people pass their test
at the age of 17 than at any other age, and 21 per cent of young
drivers admitted during the survey that they hadn't looked into the
costs of driving before taking their test.
The statistics show that although women are less likely to be
involved in accidents, they're also less confident drivers. Almost
three times as many women admitted to not feeling confident on
the road, while 22 per cent who haven't driven since passing their
test said they don't drive because they're scared of having a
crash. This compares with just seven per cent of men.
Simon McCulloch, commercial director of
CompareTheMarket.com said, “It can be extremely hard and
expensive for ‘parked' drivers to get back behind the wheel. It's a
good idea to take it slow and get professional help when you do
hit the road again.”
Favourite car colour revealed
Nearly a quarter of all cars on the road are silver, making it the most
popular colour for drivers in the UK.
At the end of the first quarter of 2016, there were 6,841,315 cars in
silver or aluminum. This is 22.5% of the total 30,459,456 licensed
cars in the UK, though a fall from the 25% of silver cars on the road
in 2013. However, silver was still able to fight off competition from
its closest rivals to keep its position at the top of the chart.
According to the data, which comes from analysis of DVLA figures
by RAC Cars, black is the next most popular colour among drivers.
MINI plug-in hybrid power
MINI has announced that the
development its first plug-in hybrid
electric vehicle (PHEV) is almost
complete. Although some specifics are
being kept under wraps, the official
photos indicate the first model to get this
new set-up will be the second-generation
MINI Countryman SUV, which is due to
launch imminently.
Plug-in hybrids can operate as pure
electric vehicles, with the engine
powered purely by a battery that has
been charged at an electric charging
point; a hybrid, meanwhile, charges the
motor’s battery from its petrol or diesel
engine. This means PHEV owners whose
journeys remain within the battery’s
range can avoid using any petrol or
diesel at all. This technology is one of the
reasons that the Mitsubishi Outlander
PHEV has been such an enormous
success.
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MINI says the its PHEV will start in
electric mode by default but that the
petrol engine can be activated by
pressing the accelerator “very firmly”.
This indicates the car should be easier to
drive in all-electric mode than some
hybrids, where only feather-light right foot
will keep the car running from the battery.
According to MINI, its PHEV models will
have “unparalleled acceleration”
compared to regular petrol or diesel
MINIs, and the electric motor and
batteries will allow for “catapult-like”
getaways. No official performance figures
have been released yet, and fuel
consumption and CO2 emissions are
also unavailable.
The MINI plug-in hybrid will comprise of
an engine driving the front wheels and an
electric motor driving the back - hence
the MINI will be four-wheel drive as
standard.
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