(NEWS) Sorry Again...

We're nearly up and running again. The new equipment has arrived and been assembled. By tomorrow it'll be ready to go... and we'll have a load of catching up to do!

(NEWS) Technical Problems...

Yes the gremlins are in the system again. Updates will be sluggish for the next couple of days - and have been for the past week or so. Apologies for this, steps are being taken to remedy the problem and normal service will be resumed shortly.

(Basically my PC blew up, so until the new one arrives...)

(NEW CAR) Sexy Brit Loses Head...

Aston Martin have done the obvious and lopped the top off their gorgeous V8 Vantage couple.

The result is the work of art you see to your left, the V8 Vantage Roadster (it seems Aston have dropped the Volante monicker).

0-60 in 4.9, top speed on 175mph. That makes this a reasonable potent poseur.

There's no doubting though that this is the softer choice in the Aston range. The King's Road cruise-mobile, and that's fine - its handsome enough and the slack-jawed totty owners will be prising into the passenger seat won't know it sits at the bottom of the AM range.

Still we wouldn't kick one out of the SuperLeaded garage. We'll be hoping our Lotto numbers come up in the second quarter of 2007.

(NEWS) (COMMENT) C-Charge: Daylight Robbery Continues...

London Mayor Ken Livingstone's plot to turn all capital-dwellers into medieval peasants reliant on buses full of gun-wielding maniacs or tubes that blow up every time someone with a rucksack steps on board appears to be continuing.

The newt-loving former Communist now wants all 'polluting' cars to be charged a whopping 25 quid for entering the Central London Congestion Charge zone. On top of this people who live in the zone will lose their 90% discount and don't forget that the zone is being massively increased to stretch as far west as Earl's Court.

Owners of these cars, muses Livingstone, are able to afford to buy whatever car they choose and can therefore pay the ridiculous penalty.

Well Mr Livingstone, my car is probably in your very high band. It cost me £900 and I can't afford to replace it. Am I therefore able to afford your £25 per day tax? Of course not.

Now frankly fuck off and play with your newts. I for one am sick of being labelled a serial killer just because I can't afford to piss away thousands of pounds on a Toyota that looks like a dildo and drives like a sponge pudding.

(NEW CAR) Move Over Veyron Here Comes a Real Fighter...

Ask a hundred people to name as many supercar - producing car firms as they can and the odds are not one will mention Bristol.

The company's high-powered, old-fashioned muscle cars are seldom seen, or heard of - and frankly up until now they've had little impact outside a circle of odd celebrities who like to tool around in something different (Noel Gallagher for one).

Now though the world is starting to sit up and take notice. Why? Because the new Bristol Fighter T is the most powerful production car the planet has ever seen. Its 8 litre twin-turbo V10 pumps out a staggering 1,012 bhp and 1036 lb ft of torque. Suffice to say then that it shifts.

60 comes up in around 3.5 seconds, and it could hit 270 mph if it didn't have an electronic limiter that caps the fun at a more reasonable 225 mph.

£351,000 is the price to pay for such awesome performace, but next to the similarly powerful Bugatti Veyron that looks like a bargain.

Admittedly the Bugatti is a more useable car with astounding build quality and VW group reliability, but we like the idea of pushing past 400 km per hour in a hand-built British oddity.

We love the way Bristol describes the 6 speed manual gearbox as having "increased torque capacity". No shit.

More info here.

(NEW CAR) More Front Wheel Drive Madness from Seat...

Seat's are often seen as being poor man's VW's - but that's not how the company wants to be perceived.

Now, the Spanish auto-maker wants to be known instead for its sporting credentials - and its the Cupra models of their mainstream cars that lead the line on that front.

The latest Leon is a car we can't really make our minds up on. Styling wise it is at least bold - if a little misproportioned in places. The interior is okay, but not class-leading, and the same can be said for the driving experience.

Chuck in 230-odd bhp though and things might start to get interesting. Avialable in March for less that 20 grand, the Leon Cupra is sure to be something of a torque-steer handful as its 2 litre turbo engine propels it from 0-60 in just 6.4 seconds.

We'll await the lines of thick rubber on the UK's roads with some anticpation, then.

(NEWS) MPH Highlights... Bowler Nemesis

Bowler are a small company headquartered in a rural Derbyshire farmyard.

They make bespoke offroad and Rallycross racers from Land Rover bits; and this is their new baby.

Following on from the devastating;y powerful Wildcat - which was largely based on the Defender, the Nemesis - shown at MPH in Prototype form - get it's DNA from the Range Rover sport.

Engine wise, the Rangey's 4.4 V8 has been whittled down to 4 litres, with a shorter stroke. The six-speed manual gearbox is straight from the V6 Discovery with other bits donated by the RR Sport.

SuperLeaded can reveal that when we last visited Bowler around a year ago the firm were in talks with Land Rover to use the Range Stormer name last seen on LR's original Range Rover Sport concept. Sadly it seems this hasn't panned out, so Nemesis it'll have to be.

The car makes its competition debut next year. If you want to buy one, expect to pay between 70 and 130 thousand pounds.

(NEWS) MPH Highlights... TechArt Cayman GT Sport

What does a hundred grand buy you these days? In supercar terms, not a great deal. No 911 Turbo. No Ferrari F430. No Aston Martin DB9. Not even a Lamborghini Gallardo.

In fact, if you're budget is limited to just a pound over five figures the choice is somewhat limited, unless you want a poor-man's 911 or an Aston Vantage.

But how about this? 385bhp, German, Mid-engined, stunning to look at and so exclusive you've got more chance of being murdered twice than ever seeing another one on the public highway.

Sound tempting? Then perhaps sir would like to examine the TechArt modified Cayman: the GT Sport.

Let's start with the exterior. Many aftermarket bodykits can look tacky, some are over agressive and others simply take a great-looking car and make it slightly worse. TechArt, though, have something of a knack for making slightly staid Porsches into something special - and that's no more evident than with their Cayman mods.

The GT sport pack adds aggressive front and side spoilers, gorgeous wheels and a huge 911-style rear wing. It makes the Cayman look uncannily like a lower, sleeker, mid-engined 911 turbo - and that's no bad thing.

But its under the bonnet where the real magic happens. They take a standard Cayman S and bore the engine out from 3.4 to 3.8 litres. They then replace or fettle just about every other part of the engine to up power by nearly a hundred horse power.

We're not alone in thinking the standard Cayman S is a great chassis in need of far more power, and TechArt can oblige.

We've not got behind the wheel, but here's betting a GT Sport driven well would give a 911 Turbo a run for its money around the 'Ring. We like. We like lots.

Send money, now!

(MPH is an annual motorshow held in October/November each year at the NEC in Birmingham and Earls Court in London. Over the next few days SuperLeaded will be bringing you selected highlights from this year's show).