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And the Top Gear UK Cars of the Year for 2013 are...

Those loony Brits at Top Gear have named their Car of the Year, and if you're thinking it's the McLaren P1, Jaguar F-Type, Land Rover Range Rover Sport or Rolls-Royce Wraith, we're sorry to inform you that none of those Anglo automobiles earned the crown. In fact, the winner of Top Gear's most prestigious award is quite the surprise.
Of course, those cars weren't without their own awards. The P1 was the top hypercar (sorry, Porsche 918 and Ferrari LaFerrari), while the F-Type netted best convertible and the Range Rover Sport was voted SUV of the Year. Other honorable mentions included the Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG Black and S-Class, the Porsche 911 GT3, the BMW i3 and the Ferrari 458 Speciale. The winner, though, wasn't even a high-dollar supercar. It was the Ford Fiesta ST.
Yes, the Fiesta ST beat out some off-the-wall cars like the revolutionary Volkswagen XL1 and the bonkers Peugeot 208 T16 Pikes Peak, not to mention all the cars we listed above, to take the title of Top Gear Car of the Year. And if you've driven one, you'll completely understand why.

Ford Fusion spied in souped-up ST trim

Ford produces a wide array of performance machinery, but it's traditionally reserved the letters ST for hot hatches like the Fiesta ST and Focus ST. That changes with the vehicle you see here: the heavily camouflaged Fusion ST. This prototype is wearing bigger wheels and tires, upgraded brake rotors and calipers, enhanced bodywork, and quad exhaust tips – all the telltale signs of something more potent and capable. The performance version of Dearborn's midsize sedan is tipped to pack a version of the company's 2.7-liter EcoBoost V6. That's anticipated to channel upwards of 300 horsepower to all four-wheels through a six-speed automatic transmission, but we can hold out hope that maybe, just maybe, Ford will offer a three-pedal manual. One way or another, the Fusion ST will make a worthy successor (and then some) to the old Contour SVT. That model was offered in the late 1990s with a naturally aspired 2.5-liter Duratec V6 packing 202 horsepower, which may have been solid by yesterday's standards, but promises to be left in the dust by this new model. Look for the Fusion ST to accompany the facelifted Fusion sedan early next year. Enthusiastic customers in other markets can also hope for a Mondeo ST to be offered overseas as well. Related Video:

Ford files patent for 11-speed transmission

The automatic transmission seemed limited to three or four gears for decades, and then the automotive world slowly started to see more ratios becoming available. Today, seven-, eight- or nine-speed gearboxes have become rather common. Ford even has an automatic with 10 gears on the way for the future F-150 Raptor. The Blue Oval might not be done yet, though, because the company also now has a patent on an 11-speed box. The filing, which was discovered by AutoGuide, says this idea "produces eleven forward speed ratios and one reverse speed ratio by selective engagement of three shift elements in various combinations," and the company outlines three different ways of making this possible. The advantage of adding one more ratio is that the gearbox should be able to keep the revs in the ideal portion of the engine's torque curve even longer. Obviously, automakers patent ideas constantly, and applying for one is no guarantee that the tech ever arrives on the market. Conversely, these documents provide a tiny glimpse at one of the brand's focuses of development. If you're mechanically minded or just curious, you can read the entire application here for the technical nitty-gritty.