Fast Lane: New highly configurable Bentley, Lamborghini updates GT3 racing car

The new Bentley's cabin's ambient lighting takes the form of Bentley Diamond Illumination. PHOTO: BENTLEY

New Bentley to offer highly configurable interior

Bentley will announce a fifth model to join its stable next week. It says the new model will allow an unprecedented level of personalisation, with 24 billion possible configurations of trim specification alone.

Available configurations include the new Bentley Airline Seat, said to be the most advanced seat in a car, with 22-way adjustments. The cabin's ambient lighting takes the form of Bentley Diamond Illumination, where light is emitted through small perforations in the car's soft-feel door trim.

Lotus' new factory

Lotus has officially opened its new manufacturing facility in Hethel, a village in Britain. Named in honour of the company's founder, the Chapman Production Centre is already building the Emira, the last petrol-powered car from Lotus.

The centre is part of a £100 million (S$172 million) investment by Lotus in Britain. It is also an investment in the skills and passion of the Lotus team, which has more than doubled since 2017 when China's Geely became the company's majority shareholder.

New Abarth with adjustable spoiler

PHOTO: ABARTH

Forty years since the last Abarth 131 Rally official race, the Fiat sub-brand is paying homage to it with the launch of the Abarth 695 Tributo 131 Rally.

Limited to just 695 units worldwide, the car is equipped with a 1.4-litre turbo engine making 180hp and 250Nm of torque at 3,000rpm. Its maximum speed is 224kmh and acceleration from zero to hundred takes 6.7 seconds.

It sits on Koni FSD shock absorbers on both axles, with aluminium Brembo brakes. A rear spoiler with 12 adjustable positions provides variable aerodynamic load.

Ex-Ferrari boss to head Aston Martin

Aston Martin Lagonda has named former Ferrari boss Amedeo Felisa as its new chief executive. Mr Felisa will take over with immediate effect from Mr Tobias Moers, who joined the company in 2020 from shareholder Mercedes-Benz's high-performance AMG brand, reported Reuters.

Mr Felisa currently serves on Aston Martin's board and led Ferrari between 2008 and 2016 when it was still part of the Fiat group. Billionaire Lawrence Stroll drove to the rescue of James Bond's car brand of choice less than two years ago while it struggled after a disastrous initial public offering.

Lamborghini updates GT3 racing car

PHOTO: LAMBORGHINI

Lamborghini presents the new Huracan GT3 EVO2, a race car based on the Huracan STO, with which it shares important design elements, rear-wheel-drive only and a naturally-aspirated V10 engine.

Compared with the Huracan GT3 EVO, which was homologated in 2019 and based on the Huracan EVO road car, the GT3 EVO2 fully complies with the new International Automobile Federation 2022 technical regulations and features all-new aerodynamic solutions and intake system.

The car will be delivered to customers from the second half of 2022 and the previous Huracan GT3 EVO model can be upgraded to GT3 EVO2 specifications with an evolution kit. Its track debut is slated for the 2023 Daytona 24 Hours.

Autonomous cars operate in heavy snow

Finnish self-driving technology company Sensible 4 has carried out a successful autonomous driving pilot in Tampere, Finland, amid the worst winter in years.

The 21/2-month pilot, which started in January, involved two self-driving Toyota Proace vehicles plying a tram trunk line in a suburb of Tampere. The vehicles were driven in temperatures well below minus 20 deg C on slippery roads with snow-covered lane markings and with high piles of snow along the route.

They clocked 5,569km, carried 1,663 passengers and travelled at a maximum speed of 30kmh.

New Fisker electric GT promises longest range

PHOTO: FISKER

Project Ronin will be Fisker's third vehicle, following the Fisker Ocean and Fisker Pear.

The all-electric sport grand tourer will feature innovations such as a battery pack integrated with the vehicle's structure. It is slated to offer the longest range of a production electric vehicle, and will feature unique doors for better ingress and egress as well as a luxurious, sustainable vegan interior.

Fisker expects to reveal Project Ronin in August 2023, with production starting in the second half of 2024.

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