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Road & Track names its 2013 Performance Car of the Year

Road & Track recently staged its first annual Performance Car of the Year test, pitting 13 new and updated performance cars against each other on track, then graduating the top six to a road test before picking a winner. Additionally, the magazine staff picked the best automobiles of the year in eight categories.
But first, let's cover the PCotY segment. Here's the list of cars brought to the comparison test: Audi R8 V10 Plus; BMW 435i; BMW M6 Competition Package; Chevrolet Corvette Stingray Z51; Ferrari F12 Berlinetta; Ford Fiesta ST; Jaguar F-Type V8 S; Jaguar XFR-S; Mercedes-Benz E63 AMG S-Model Wagon; Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG Black Series; Mini John Cooper Works GP; Nissan GT-R Track Edition; and Porsche Cayman S.
To find out the results of the comparison, head over to Road & Track's website or check the press release below, where you'll also find the magazine's top-rated vehicles in eight categories. Want more? Head over to the 2013 PCotY hub. But before you do that, take a stab at guessing the winner of PCotY (we'll give you one hint: it isn't a Porsche).

Mercedes sues Ferrari-bound F1 engineer for stealing secrets

Mercedes is suing one of its Formula One engineers, one Benjamin Hoyle, claiming he was planning to take sensitive data to a competitor. An experienced powertrain engineer, Hoyle came to Mercedes AMG High Performance Powertrains in 2012 with previous experience at Prodrive and Cosworth. One of four team leaders at the company, Hoyle headed up the performance application department until he notified his employers of his intention not to seek renewal of his contract that expires at the end of this year. Once they found out that Hoyle was switching to Ferrari, the higher-ups at Mercedes reassigned him to other, less sensitive duties, however Hoyle was reportedly discovered accessing race reports and other sensitive data relating to the performance of the team's engines. In response, Mercedes has filed suit against Hoyle, claiming that he "and potentially Ferrari have gained an unlawful advantage." The German automaker is seeking the return of all documents and the payment of its legal fees. It also seeks to prevent Hoyle from working for another F1 team throughout next season. Mercedes AMG High Performance Powertrains is the Daimler's F1 engine division. Based in Brixworth, UK, it was founded back in 1983 together with Ilmor before Mercedes bought it outright. Aside from the company's own works team, the outfit this year powered Williams, Lotus, and Force India, and previously worked with McLaren as well as Sauber. This is not the first time that a case of industrial espionage has emerged in F1. A similar controversy erupted in 2007 surrounding engineers Nigel Stepney and Mike Coughlan. The highly publicized incident became known as "Spygate" or "Stepneygate" and involved the illegal sharing of secrets between Ferrari, McLaren, and Renault. News Source: BloombergImage Credit: Martin Meissner/AP Government/Legal Hirings/Firings/Layoffs Motorsports Ferrari Mercedes-Benz F1 industrial espionage

Ferrari shows off SF90's four powertrain modes in new video

The Ferrari SF90 is the newest foal in the Maranello stable, and Ferrari continues to parade it for the crowds. A new video shows how the plug-in hybrid's four powertrain modes work, controlled by buttons on the lower left side of the steering wheel. The greenest mode gets a button marked "eD," for electric driving (now that Smart's effectively dead here, someone had to pick up the eD moniker). In that guise, the 7.9-kWh battery mounted transversely behind the seats sends energy to the two e-motors up front, and can power the SF90 for up to 15 miles as a front-wheel-drive coupe. Next up, the "H" button turns the SF90 into a hybrid, with a priority on maximum efficiency. The battery sends its power to the dual e-motors in front and the third e-motor between the engine and transmission, with the 4.0-liter twin-turbo V8 firing to work the rear wheels as well. Under low loads, the control logic can switch from Hybrid mode to pure electric driving, then reengage the ICE on demand. Above that, a checkered flag icon represents Performance mode. Here, the ICE is always running, with the priority on keeping the battery charged. The gutsiest mode gets a clock icon, representing Qualify. This extracts all the performance available, the video indicating this is where the 1,000 CV, or 986 horsepower, comes into play. It isn't clear if Qualify is the only mode that unlocks peak horsepower, of if Performance can do so as well. In fact, we're still not sure what the SF90's effective horsepower is; Ferrari added the V8's 769 hp to the three e-motors' 217 hp to reach that total output figure, which isn't how this is usually done. We'll undoubtedly get more answers once the first drives hit the interwebs. We already have a lot of questions about that intense steering wheel and its "View Max" touch controller, and the rather comely 16-inch display.