Steve Davies

We are hearing that the Lexus LFA Nürburgring Package Edition has improved upon the 7:22.85 lap time of the Nürburgring Nordschleife set back in June, recording a 7:14 in the hands of Gazoo Racing driver Akira Iida.

For the 2012 season Porsche have upgraded the 911 GT3 R, adding a further 20 bhp (now 493 bhp), providing quicker steering wheel mounted paddle-shifts, a softer anti-roll bar on the front axle to reduce understeer and an automatic throttle blip control, making it almost impossible to miss a gear and over-rev the engine. The 911 GT3 R remains based on the 997 platform rather than the latest 991.

Infiniti have teased out a few more details on the Sebastian Vettel inspired FX model that we mentioned last week, with a new batch of images and some details about its technical specification.

It's motor show time, so Lotus have given us another riddle to solve - 3 new cars, 2 new options AND 1 special limited edition. Thankfully they've given us part of the answer, but they're keeping 2 of the new models a secret until they're revealed on 13 September in Frankfurt.

The W16 engine fitted to the Bugatti Veyron produces 1,250 newton metres of torque and a little over 1,000 bhp. It's the fastest production car in the world and most people accept it's unlikely ever to be beaten either in terms of those headline power figures or straight-line performance - after all, we live in a period of austerity and environmental consciousness, where a car's CO2 emissions now lead our new vocabulary for desirability.

Honda have provided us with a quick glimpse of the New European Civic, prior to its launch at the Frankfurt motor show next month.

The image shows the New Civic's rear-end with its combination lighting that also works as an aerodynamic spoiler, managing air flow over the top and sides of the car. It looks to be something of an evolutionary change from the 8th generation Civic, which shocked us back in 2006 with its radical new profile and even more radical interior design.

For those of us open to change, the DC100 is a pure tease - we want it NOW, Land Rover should cancel those design clinics and start producing it immediately, but this is a Defender Concept and Land Rover didn't get to where they are now by ignoring the preferences of their most loyal customers.

This is the Ford Evos, a new design concept that bears a striking resemblance to a futuristic Mustang, or Capri, or.. who cares, let's just hope they build it.

Ford describe it as "..the ultimate expression of Ford’s design and technology vision.." and that "..the Evos Concept introduces a new design direction for Ford.."