The H logo on the red background with white paint, newly modified engine and red Recaro seats” A short phrase to define the type-R version from Honda. Type-R stands for Type Racing which was develop to satisfy the need for speed lovers. It was started in Japan at the beginning of the year 1990.

However, the project wasn’t start as a type-R project so you can’t actually call it a type-R. It started from the Civic SiR product line with the vehicle body code EF9 in the year 1991 and later EG6 and EG9 SiR in the year 1992. This version of Honda Civic is the first version came with a B16A engine, sporty interior and a fully modified suspension for the additional horsepower.

Later in the year 1992, the first type-R product line was released to the market. It is the special edition Honda NSX type-R. Honda produced the NSX-R in a limited amount and the car weight was reduced from 1,350 kilograms to 1,230 kilograms.

The type-R was well known for being a modified version for the Honda Civic EK body and the Honda Integra, a sport from the same fundamental during 1,998,000-2,500,000 Yen or only about 670,000-825,000 THB while the NSX reach 10 million yen or about 3 million baht, an affordable price for middle class people who are addicted to speed.

The Civic type-R under body code EK9 comes with a B16B engine which was modified for additional horsepower, the 1.6 liters engine with the total amount of 185 horsepower. It is a well recognized engine without the air compression system or known as NA for being one of the best engines that can produce the most horsepower per 1 liter engine. While the DC2 Integra with a B18C-R engine, 1.8 liters and 200 horsepower with a 5 speed manual transmission.

5 years later, the code EK9 and DC2 sill recognize by the Honda Civic and Integra fans but the Honda motor company doesn’t stop so they came out with the new EP3 Civic and DC5 Integra with the newly change engine from the B family engine to the K20A, 2.0 liters i-VTEC which can yield approximately about 200 to 220 horsepower.

The Honda NSX-R role was decrease and they came out with NSX type-S Zero instead in the year 1997. The NSX-R came back again in the year 2000.

Why the type-R logo must come with the H logo on red background? It is because the first Honda formula-one car that won the grand prix in the year 1960 was painted in championship white and the H logo on red background. Their intention is to keep the sensation of the race from the track to the present Honda cars. In the present there are only the type-R version, all race car and formula one cars that are currently using this logo.

Previous Jaguar XK, which was produced in 1996 and terminated in June of 2005, is considered a good selling sport car in the previous time. It is quite a challenge of new XK that the design and automotive engineering must be better than the old one. New XK improves the progress in automotive engineering very much and is more than Jaguar’s expectation in the production of sport cars. It is because its development in aluminum body, transmission system, modern and luxury inner design. Debut a new Jaguar XK, which is fully improved in design, engineering, and thrust, is considered an extreme excitement.

New Jaguar XK was debuted in the beginning of 2006, and it showed the leadership of light-weighted automobile technology and still stayed beauty. A quality production of new XK will show the performance, luxury, and Jaguar design.

New XK is categorized in large-sized luxury sport car. Its market has high rate of growth and competition. During 1996-2006, sport cars market around the world has been growing over 200 percent, from 48,000 to 99,000 cars, as well as the quantity of competitors, from 4 to 7. It is predicted that in the next 5 years, there will be at least 8 competitors.

Generally, there are 2 main groups in large-sized luxury sport cars, which are Grand Tourers, high class luxury and comfortable one, and Overtly Sporty Cars, great performance and control. For XK, the significant property that draws both kinds of customers is the luxury sport cars and has great performance and control. In the past, when customers were going to buy one, they would have to consider which kind of sport cars they would really want, between luxury and comfortable or a great control.

New XK can interest customers who want a luxury car. That means they are looking for Grand Tourers that indicates wealth and extra but still sport, or in other words, luxury in sport style.

New XK has an incredible appearance which shows Jaguar-ness and high performance. Furthermore, customers will see the inner design which is very well-blended. Everything will focus on the driver. For instance, high quality materials, color tone, and many technologies play a part in comforting the drivers which makes the cars their highest performance.

The modern technology will help produce customers’ driving experience and get their hearts. For example, an automatic reverse variation speed controlling and touch screen display in center console. We can say that new XK is the best sport car that can very well satisfy the customers in both sport style and luxury.

If you would like a car that looks almost ordinary, but that is as fast as many supercars, buy the BMW M5. Yes, on the outside, this is an ordinary European sedan – but under the hood is a 500 bhp V-10 engine that you might imagine came from a sports-racing car! Will it do 180 mph? No, it could, but it won’t because BMW uses a limiter to prevent you going faster than 155 mph on all its hot cars. Actually, BMW says it will do over 190 mph without the limiter in operation.

The BMW M5 is powered by a very advanced 5.0 liter V-10 engine, ad fits neatly into the standard engine compartment. This is a very special engine, being built in small numbers and at high cost by BMW’s M Center. It’s a 90-degree V-10, which means that it won’t be quite as smooth as some – in theory, at any rate.

ADVANCED 500 BHP V10 ENGINE

Maximum power is 500 bhp at 7,700 rpm – a real screamer this – while the maximum torque of 380 lb ft is produced at 6,100 rpm. Boy, you’re really going to keep this revving if you want to use all that power. Still, when it’s just mooching along at 4,000 rpm, this amazing unit produces quite a chunk of power.

Needless to say, it has all the features you’d expect in a supercar engine, such as a stiff aluminum block, twin overhead camshafts per bank of cylinders and and narrow 4-valve heads. BMW uses its variable valve timing system, and drives the inlet camshafts on each bank by chain, with a gear drive to the exhaust camshaft, a system pioneered by Toyota to save space.

SEVEN-SPEED SEQUENTIAL GEARBOX

Coupled to this marvel of a power plant, which would seem more at home in a slinky coupe, is a seven-speed sequential gearbox. This is the latest development of the BMW sporty semi-automatic. BMW claims it’s the first seven-speed box of its type. Mercedes-Benz has a seven-speed automatic, and Audi has a CVT with seven stages, but these are not quite the same.

Why all these seven-speed boxes? Well, for maximum acceleration, and so that you have the right gear coming out of any corner, the more gears the better. When you’ve got that many gears, the shift pattern gets pretty complicated with a manual box, so they’re going for either automatics or semi-automatics.

To go with the powerful power train are bigger brakes than standard, wider wheels and tires, and stiffer suspension. The handling is surprisingly good for such an ordinary-looking car.

HOT PERFORMER, QUIET LOOKS

The result of putting this engine in the BMW 5 Series is very hot acceleration for such a big car: 0-60 in 4.7 seconds, and 0-125 mph in 15.6 seconds.

Will people pay over $100,000 or so for a 500 bhp sedan? You bet they will. There are a lot of people out there that want supercar performance, but don’t’ want to have to struggle to get in and out of the car. They also want to travel with plenty of luggage, and have room in the trunk for two sets of golf clubs – and more.

And they’ll get a real kick from burning off cheeky guys in sports cars who get in the way. Cars that are much faster than they look, which we used to call Q cars, have quite a market. What’s it like to drive? Well, at normal speeds, the car is very quiet, and you would not know how power you had. In fact, there is a switch on the steering wheel which limits power to 400 bhp. To get the full 500 bhp, you need to press that.

So, most of the time you’ll drive with 400 bhp, and the problem is that the engine does not have a lot of power until you get to 5,000 rpm, an the power keeps coming in until you get to 8,000 rpm. You need deserted roads to use that power, but the car works pretty well in traffic and normal commuting. Not quite so good in everyday use is the gearbox. It does not have a torque converter, so it can be quite jerky when you shift up.

DIESELS are still gaining popularity in Europe, thanks to low gas mileage and good performance. The latest diesel cars can take on gasoline engined cars and come out on top!

All turbocharged diesels generate much more torque than gasoline engines, so you get better mid-range acceleration. In other words, from, say, 40-80 mph, a good diesel will see off a good gasoline engine car of the same apparent performance.

Jaguar has introduced a special version of a V-6 2.7 liter diesel that has been developed in Europe jointly by Ford and Peugeot. This is the most advanced diesel around at present, with the brand-new piezo-electric injector operation, the latest common rail injection system and twin turbochargers.

PIEZO-ELECTRIC INJECTORS

What are piezo-electric injectors? Cunning little ceramic devices, and when an electric current is applied they produce a pressure, and so can be used to force fuel into the cylinders. The thing is that they can be operated four times faster than other electro-mechanical injectors so the injector can be opened and closed incredibly quickly. Also, the amount of movement is very small, and you get less noise that you get from mechanical injectors.

Like I said, very cunning, and they all go with high pressure injection to give high power, low noise, emissions and gas mileage. It’s developments like these that mean we’ll have some diesels in Fast-Autos soon - but not a lot!

As a result, the fuel is injected at horrendously high pressures with incredible accuracy. The result? Masses of power, and almost no smoke, the weakness of old-fashioned oil burners, like the dreadful engines GM introduced about 20 years ago.

This new Jaguar S-Type diesel, develops 206 bhp so it lives up to the Jaguar tradition of high performance. Maximum torque is 320 lb ft (430 Nm) which is more than the 4.2 liter gasoline engine can manage without a turbocharger. Although performance is not sensational, it is definitely not what you’d expect from a diesel.

The Jag diesel will push the S-Type automatic up to 60 mph in about 8 seconds, and top speed is 140 mph. You’ll get the idea that Jag regards this as a sporty engine from the fact that it has a six-speed manual or automatic box - both are supplied by ZF. Of course, the most powerful S-Type is the S-Type R.

BMW HAS AN EVEN MORE POWERFUL DIESEL

BMW is also ready with a very powerful 3.0 liter diesel engine which turns out 272 bhp, which would be considered very nice thank you from most makers of 3.0 liter gasoline engines - Ford’s top version of its nice 3.0 liter V-6 develops 225 bhp. BMW uses twin-stage turbocharging to get this much power. In this system, one small turbocharger provides power at low speeds, and a bigger turbo is matched to high speed requirement. It is switched in when the speed and load increase sufficiently, and so can generate as much power as a gasoline engine of the same size.

If that is not enough power consider the latest news. Audi is racing diesel-powered cars at the Le Mans 24-hour race! These V-12 engines develop more than 600 bhp, and will challenge the best gasoline engined sports-racing cars.

It’s the time of year again when convertible lovers take to the road to enjoy open air motoring and the feeling of swashbuckling adventure. Whether whizzing along the highway or ambling down a country road, spring brings back the fun of alfresco motoring.

In the beginning all cars were open, derived from carriages and buggies. But as cars became more reliable and were used year round, motorists sought better weather protection. By 1925 more closed cars were being sold than open ones.

But although they shrank to a small part of the market, convertibles were still the glamour wagons of the automotive world.

Their allure and romance never died.

Following the unhappy 1930s, and the deprivation of the Second World War, people were ready to celebrate the good times and optimism of the 1950s and ’60s.

Convertibles flourished. Who can forget those beautiful 1955-’56-’57 Chevy convertibles, so popular then and still sought after today. Or low two-seater Thunderbirds, early Corvettes and little English sports cars. Or the huge, tailfinned, chrome-laden 1959 Cadillac Eldorado convertible that wags called the epitome of Wretched Excess, but is now one of the most popular collectibles.

Or those sporty little 1960s Mustangs.

But then the 1970s brought oil crises, emission controls and fuel economy concerns. Motoring fun died, and the American convertible with it. The 1976 Cadillac Eldorado was called “The Last Convertible in America.”

Better times brought them back, led by the 1982 Chrysler LeBaron convertible, followed by Buick, Ford and Chevrolet.

Convertibles are now flourishing, and better than ever, some with metal retractible power roofs like the Pontiac G6 that offer alfresco motoring as well as snug closed car comfort.

Led by General Motors with six convertibles, including the exciting new Saturn Sky, it’s once more a golden age for the open car.

- News Canada