Steve Davies

Sometimes - on very rare occasions - our friends from across the pond produce better car ads than their European counterparts. Volkswagen comes to mind with their recent Super Bowl ads, or those hilarious off-beat VW Academy ads with Saturday Night Live comedian Bill Hader. Land Rover are another brand that have blurred the lines between the normally dull commercial and a genuine piece of entertainment.

Before you go and remind yourself of the lap times set by Chevrolet's ZR-1, Nissan's GT-R or Porsche's 911 GT2 RS around the Nordschleife - fear not, Peugeot were not gunning for an outright record, but instead the lap record for a fully-electric vehicle.

You might be forgiven for thinking that the most economical version of Porsche's GT saloon would be the Panamera S Hybrid - what with all its clever energy recovery tech and green credentials - but you'd be wrong. Porsche have turned to a more conventional means of propulsion for its most environment friendly poster-child.

After numerous leaks during the past months, most recently of the European price list and official pictures, Porsche have officially revealed details of its 911 GT3 RS 4.0 which will go on sale in July 2011.

If you've been following this morning's announcement of the acquisition of Caterham Cars by Team Lotus Enterprise (TLE), then you'll already have spotted this tasty looking Caterham Seven - decked out in the Team Lotus Formula One squad's colours - posing for photos with the official 2011 Team Lotus F1 cars.

After the spec sheet leaked out a couple of weeks ago (see below) on the Teamspeed forums, we've now received a batch of official pictures to whet our appetites for the latest - and perhaps greatest Rennsport model from Porsche.

I have always found the Corsa VXR to be the most endearing of Vauxhall's VX range - there's an honesty about its performance that matches the way it looks on the road, a playful nature that makes a MINI Cooper S seem... well, a bit sensible and a Clio Cup feel like it's trying too hard. Each has their place in the affections of the hot-hatch enthusiast, so it's good to see Vauxhall continue developing the Corsa VXR with this new Nürburgring Edition.

Well it's been a fascinating few days since news of a tie-up between Team Lotus and Caterham emerged. The Hingham-based outfit announced a major press conference to be held at Duxford Airfield next week , prompting rumours about what's likely to be on the agenda.