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280-bhp Elemental RP1 revealed, now with bike-engine option

The Elemental RP1 might be Britain's next big boutique roadster success story. Designed by a team with Formula One experience, it aims to mix road car drivability with racecar performance in a single, adaptable package weighing less than 1,000 pounds. It was first previewed a few weeks ago, but the secrecy has finally disappeared due to its upcoming debut at the Goodwood Festival of Speed. The backbone of the RP1 is a carbon fiber and aluminum tub onto which the front and rear subframes bolt on. Inside, it has an F1-like, feet-up driving position that allows for additional underfloor aerodynamic aids to improve downforce. Despite its hardcore nature, Elemental says that it wants the car to be very user friendly. Buyers should be able to drive the RP1 to the track, adjust it with some wrenches, go racing and drive it home. The company even claims the storage areas to either side of the engine offer enough room for a helmet and other racing gear. Hopefully, buyers don't crash, though, otherwise they might be stuck. Elemental is adding two more engine options for the RP1, as well. In addition to the previously announced tuned Ford 2.0-liter EcoBoost with 280 horsepower, buyers can also choose a upgraded version of Ford's three-cylinder 1.0-liter EcoBoost or a model aimed at pure track use with a 999cc Honda Fireblade motorcycle engine. The 2.0-liter uses a six-speed sequential manual gearbox, and a limited-slip differential and alternate gear sets are available as additional options. The first RP1s built will be pure racers for the 2015 season, and the first road cars will follow in the early summer of next year. Pricing isn't set yet, but scroll down for more details and full specs of Britain's latest feather light car for road and track. Introducing the Elemental Rp1 Press Release: 23/6/2014 British sports car manufacturer, Elemental Motor Company Limited, today released further details of their new and innovative, road legal track car, the Rp1. The Rp1 is an open top, road legal, mid engined sports car that incorporates state of the art road and race car technologies. Designed, Engineered and Built by a team with decades of experience in the Formula One and Supercar industries, it brings the concept of a road legal track car firmly into the 21st Century. The Rp1 will be revealed to the public for the first time, this weekend, at the 2014 Goodwood Festival of Speed, where it will located in the Moving Motor Show tent "First Glance" display.

How Ford plans to handle insurance and repair questions surrounding new aluminum-bodied F-150

Building a car out of aluminum has a number of benefits - the lighter weight allows the vehicle to be more agile, more fuel efficient, make better use of its power and be more resistant to dings and dents. The downside to the advanced construction, though, is that repairs are both challenging and expensive. That's troubling for the new, aluminum-bodied Ford F-150, because it's kind of made a name for itself as a rugged, durable work vehicle.
How will the legions of Ford buyers cope when it comes time to insure and repair their new trucks? Well, according to Ford, it's expecting a ten-percent jump in insurance costs for the aluminum-bodied F-150, although Ford's truck marketing manager, Doug Scott, was quick to point out that the F-150 is generally cheaper to insure than its competition from Ram and General Motors. "At the end of the day, that's sort of a wash," Scott told Automotive News at last week's Detroit Auto Show. "We've spent a lot of time and feel very comfortable that that's not going to be an inhibitor."
The other issue facing Ford is the distinct lack of body shops that have the training or equipment to repair aluminum-bodied vehicles. AN cites an estimate from the Automotive Service Association claiming that of the 30,000 independent body shops in the US, less than 10 percent are able to work on aluminum.

Ford spotted testing new Focus RS at the Nurburgring

Ford is expected to be launching a revised version of the Focus ST soon, but the latest snapshots from our spy photographers at the Nürburgring suggest that the Blue Oval is already working on an even more potent example: the new Focus RS.
Though the partially disguised test mule is wearing an ST badge (along with a Dewey sticker that makes us wonder what adventures Huey and Louie are up to and what manner of duck-tail rear spoiler they may be wearing), there are several tell-tale signs that something else is afoot here. There's a larger front air dam, bigger brake calipers, dual exhaust tips (instead of the central exhaust on the ST) and a reshaped wing protruding from the trailing edge of the roof.
That may all be well and fine, but what's under the hood? We don't know yet for sure, but word has it that Ford is preparing to port over the 2.3-liter turbo four offered in the new Mustang, where it packs 305 horsepower and almost as much torque - potentially retuned to produce even more for the top-of-the-line Focus, which could channel it all to the front wheels like the last model or pack an all-wheel drive system. The Global C platform on which the Focus is based does, after all, also underpin AWD models like the Ford Escape and Lincoln MKC.