Aston Martin could race an adapted version of the Valkyrie at Le Mans if the regulations are rewritten to allow race-modified versions of hypercars to compete at the top level of the sport, according to CEO Andy Palmer.

Speaking to our sister publication, Autocar UK, Palmer said he had been consulted by motor racing’s governing body, the FIA, on future regulations for sportscar racing.

The sport is currently in a state of flux because Toyota is the only works team confirmed to compete at the top LMP1 level following the withdrawal of Porsche, Audi and Nissan in recent years.

When asked directly if Aston Martin would compete with the Valkyrie if the rules were changed, Palmer said: “Watch this space.”

The Valkyrie is the result of a collaboration between Aston Martin and Red Bull Racing, with the technical design led by renowned Formula 1 designer Adrian Newey. The partners have already confirmed that they will develop a race version with less weight and more power than the road car for a launch in 2020, although it is thought that a sportscar racing version would have to be more extreme again.

The Valkyrie AMR track model, of which just 25 will be made, costs more than £3 million – around £1m more than the standard road Valkyrie – with all cars already sold out. Aston Martin famously won Le Mans outright in 1959, when Carroll Shelby and Roy Salvadori took victory in the Aston Martin DBR1.

Courtesy :  Autocar

The Bajaj Pulsar has captured the imagination of Indian bikers for over a decade. Ever since its debut, the Bajaj Pulsar has been the go-to motorcycle for Indian bikers who wanted a taste of performance without having to shell out a fortune. Such has been the success story of the Pulsar that the iconic Indian bike has crossed the 1 crore sales mark globally! The Bajaj Pulsar is sold in over 70 countries across the globe and is among the highest exported two-wheelers from India. To celebrate this momentous occasion, Bajaj has launched special edition variants of the Bajaj Pulsar 150, Pulsar 180 and the Pulsar 220F.

Commenting on the introduction of the Black Pack Pulsar edition, Eric Vas, President – Motorcycles, Bajaj Auto Ltd., said, “Pulsar has been India’s No.1 Sports motorcycle brand in the country since its launch in 2001. Bajaj Pulsar is sold in over 25 countries worldwide and is market leader in most of them. We are proud to have achieved the milestone of 1 crore Pulsar customers around the world. To commemorate this achievement, we present the unique Black Pack edition.”

The new special edition bikes have been named “Black Pack Edition - Pulsars” and as the name suggests, will be offered only in a shade of black. The Black Pack Edition Pulsars will also feature white alloy wheels, restyled graphics and satin chrome finish on the exhaust muffler. Apart from the cosmetic updates, no mechanical changes have been made on the three bikes. The Bajaj Pulsar range had received an update earlier this year to make it comply with new BS-IV emission norms. Prices for the new Black Pack edition remains unchanged, the Pulsar 150 retails for Rs 76,723, while the Pulsar 180 has been priced at Rs 81,651 and the Pulsar 220F carries a price tag of Rs 93,683 (all prices are ex-showroom Delhi).

Courtesy :  Autocar 

The Honda FCV Clarity is the first fuel cell vehicle I’ve been around and I can’t seem to understand what the fuss is all about. I’m to be driven around a short course before taking the wheel myself a few minutes later, but from whatever I’ve seen of the car in action at Honda’s R&D headquarters in Tochigi, Japan, it doesn’t seem like a science experiment on wheels. Even when I get inside, I find that the doors shut with a nice thud, the rear seat has space for three (a big deal, as I learn later) and though the seating position on the rear bench is a bit knees-up, it’s quite a comfortable place to be. It’s so, for a lack of a better word, normal; the fact that the Clarity feels like this actually means a job well done by the team responsible for the car. Feedback from FCX Clarity (predecessor to the FCV Clarity) leasers was for a car that was as practical as a like-sized petrol-powered sedan.

Honda has been working on fuel cell vehicles for over two decades and the FCV Clarity that was launched in Japan, and parts of Europe and USA last year, marks a big step in the journey. Like on other fuel cell vehicles, here too hydrogen stored onboard reacts with oxygen in a cell, creating electricity which powers the drive motor, with water being the only by-product of the process. The big breakthrough on the Clarity, however, has been in reducing the size of the fuel cell stack while increasing its volumetric power density. The FCV Clarity’s fuel cell stack is a third smaller than the FCX’s and the smaller size has allowed it to be positioned under the bonnet rather than in the centre tunnel, making a middle rear seat possible. The entire fuel cell powertrain comprising the fuel cell stack, hydrogen and air supply system, and drive mechanism are now combined in one package that is similar in dimension to a petrol V6. Peak power is 130kW or about 177hp. Two high-pressure tanks of differing sizes store the hydrogen while a lithium-ion battery pack under the floor stores electricity generated from the fuel cell and regenerative braking.

Driving the Clarity feels like driving a standard battery-electric car. Initial acceleration is strong and the Clarity responds well to throttle inputs on the go, but power also tails out quite soon. Expectedly, there’s little noise except a mild whirr from the air compressor force-feeding air to the fuel cell stack. It’s an unemotive means of transport, really. Actually, make that unemotive means of long-distance transport. Honda claims a filling time of 3min and a cruising range of as much as 750km. Sure beats charging a battery electric vehicle every other day.

So the Clarity has a long range, emits only water and uses hydrogen, only the most abundant element on earth. Sounds too good to be true? There is a catch. Hydrogen is generally found in compounds with other elements (including in fuel) and separating it is an expensive process and, depending on the method used, also polluting. Storage and distribution are other roadblocks which is why the availability of hydrogen fuel cell vehicles is so far restricted to small pockets the world over. For us in India, the closest hydrogen pump is a few thousand kilometres away.

You can safely rule out fuel cells coming to India in the next decade or two but who knows FCVs like the Clarity could just become the new normal elsewhere in the world in the very near future.

Courtesy : Autocar

Five years on from its rule-breaking P1 hypercar, McLaren has unveiled a second member of its range-topping Ultimate Series in London last week. Named after the grand prix team’s greatest champion, Ayrton Senna, the new 800hp hypercar has been dubbed an “ultimate road-legal track car”.  McLaren Senna is the first model from Woking to have styling described by its creators as “brutal” and “unforgiving”.

Revealed at an exclusive launch, the Senna's unique looks result largely from the extreme active aerodynamics that sprout from its basic teardrop shape. The car has a huge rear wing and front splitter (both with active elements) plus straight flanks, exotically shaped wheel arches, air-gulping scoops and inlets, and more subtle air dams and strakes.

According to the Ultimate Series' vehicle line boss Andy Palmer, the Senna’s engineering and design team spent two years adapting McLaren’s now familiar-recipe of a carbonfibre chassis and panels, compact, mid-mounted twin-turbo V8, race-bred interconnected suspension and electrohydraulic power in an effort to create the most extreme McLaren since the company’s modern era began, in 2010.

The result is a car with the unprecedentedly low dry weight of 1,198kg (undercutting the already light 720S by 220kg). Throw in a 9 percent power hike for the 4.0-litre engine and the Senna has an eye-watering power-to-weight ratio of 669hp per tonne. It is not surprising that the factory claims it’ll turn in the quickest lap times of any production McLaren, yet.

McLaren won’t be declaring the Senna’s official performance figures until January; but it is already clear that the car will have P1-level straight-line performance, with probable 0-96kph acceleration in 2.5sec and a top speed well beyond 322kph.

Unlike other McLarens, which claim a breadth of capability, the Senna focuses squarely on lap times, offering “the purest connection yet between driver and car of any road-legal McLaren”. Besides, while the P1 was a hybrid (as half of McLaren’s production cars will be, by 2022), the Senna is a solely fossil-fuelled car whose lack of electrification is one reason for its amazingly low weight.

Courtesy : Autocar

Ducati has launched its Scrambler Mach 2.0 in India at Rs 8.53 lakh (ex-showroom, India). The new variant of the Scrambler is inspired by the Mach 1 250, launched in 1965, internationally.

In terms of design, the Scrambler Mach 2.0 sports a paint scheme created by Roland Sands, a California-based designer. The colours are meant to evoke typical West Coast design from the 1970s.

Further differentiating it from its Scrambler siblings is the Mach 2.0’s low-slung tapered aluminium handlebars, a Flat Track Pro seat, black-finished exhaust and cylinder head covers – as well as café racer-style brushed cooling fins.

Mechanically, the Mach 2.0 shares the 803cc L-twin engine with its siblings. The engine produces 73hp at 8,250rpm and 67Nm at 5,570rpm. The six-speed gearbox is also common.

The Italian bike maker has confirmed that the Scrambler Mach 2.0 is available across all seven Ducati showrooms in India and bookings for the new bike have already commenced.

Including the new Scrambler Mach 2.0 variant, Ducati currently sells the Scrambler in a total of six trims – the Icon, Classic, Full Throttle, Desert Sled and Cafe Racer.

Ducati is also expected to bring the new Monster 821, Panigale V4, Multistrada 1260 and Scrambler 1100 to India in 2018.

Courtesy : Autocar