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Seat announces five-door Mii city car

We knew at its unveiling in Frankfurt that the debut of the production version of the Volkswagen Up! was only the beginning, what with all the concept versions Volkswagen showcased over the years. But that was only the tip of the proverbial iceberg. VW isn't the only brand in the group that will offer the little city car, and its sister marques are eager to follow suit.
So after Volkswagen debuted the Up!, Skoda unveiled the Citigo and Seat showcased the Mii - all versions of the same vehicle, but with slightly modified sheetmetal and different nameplates. But those were only the three-door versions. Now that Volkswagen has confirmed the five-door Up! and Skoda the five-door Citigo, Seat is taking its turn with the five-door Mii.
The similarities between the Mii, Citigo and Up are, of course, greater than the differences. But at the end of the day, the variety gives European buyers a greater range of choices when buying their new city car, even if similar exercises on this side of the Atlantic - Plymouth, Mercury, Pontiac, Oldsmobile...we're looking at you - have long since disappeared.

Mario Andretti sees familiar spark in Fernando Alonso at Indy

INDIANAPOLIS - Mario Andretti sees the same spark in Fernando Alonso that drove him to take on all comers at race tracks around the world and said he believes the Spaniard is a threat to win the Indianapolis 500. Alonso set the motor racing world abuzz last month when he said he had been granted clearance by his McLaren Formula One team to miss the Monaco Grand Prix and race in the 101st Indy 500 on May 28 in pursuit of the sport's famed 'Triple Crown' - a Formula One title and Indy 500 and Le Mans wins. While Graham Hill is the only driver to achieve the feat, Andretti also stands alone as the only driver to win a Formula One world championship, an Indianapolis 500 and Daytona 500. "I embraced the challenges that's why I did it because I was curious," Andretti told Reuters before Alonso settled into the cockpit of an IndyCar for the first time on Wednesday. "Some drivers are very happy specializing. I wasn't. "I see the same spark in Alonso. "I commend him for doing this. I know how he feels because this was always my challenge to go into somebody else's sandbox and see if I could win at their own game. "There's nothing better than that." Despite Alonso having won 32 grands prix and two drivers championships, the 35-year-old was required to undergo IndyCar's rookie orientation program on Wednesday in order to get used to the unique environment of oval racing at the famed 2.5 mile (4km) Brickyard course. "Here you have constant high speed on a super speedway and it is incredibly different from what his (Alonso's) specialty is which is basically road racing," added Andretti. "It's not that he is going to be foreign to 220 mph plus but what he is going to be foreign to is cornering at 220mph plus. "That's the part that obviously he is going to have to deal with and learn how to approach it." McLaren will enter the race with a Honda-engined Indy car run by Andretti Autosport, owned by former McLaren driver Michael Andretti, who put together a detailed game plan for Alonso that began in a simulator. Alonso impressed on Wednesday as he quickly got up to speed with a fastest lap of 222.548 mph (356.825 kph) but Andretti said there was still a lot for him to learn. "As you get closer to qualifying then he is going to have to start flirting with the limit of the car. That's when it gets precarious," said Andretti. "At these speeds when you're flirting with the limits of the car and ready to go then you have to have a pretty good feel.

BMW discussing supercar collaboration with McLaren

BMW is reportedly considering a new halo supercar. But rather than go it alone, word has it that the Bavarian automaker is discussing a potential partnership with McLaren to make the idea a reality. This according to Britain's Car magazine, which suggests that negotiations are well underway. The proposal would see the BMW supercar based on the same architecture that will to underpin Woking's P16 project that's set to replace current 650S. Rather than use the 3.8-liter twin-turbo V8 that McLaren developed together with Ricardo, the Bimmer version would use Munich's own engine: a 4.0-liter V8 with quad turbochargers – two conventional spools and two more electrically driven chargers. Their combined effect would net an expected 750 horsepower. Further differentiations on McLaren's carbon monocoque architecture for use in the BMW would include custom bodywork, aerodynamics, and interior fitments to include a unique instrument panel. Production, however, would be handled at the McLaren Production Centre in Woking, to the tune of several hundred units per year. The project would take the place of several aborted programs undertaken internally at BMW. One called for an entirely unique supercar developed in-house, referred to internally as the M100. When that project was aborted so that BMW could concentrate on the i sub-brand, BMW's own skunkworks shifted its focus to developing a more performance-focused version of the i8, known by some as the i8 CSi. When that project was canned as well, discussions with McLaren commenced. It wouldn't be the first time BMW would outsource development of its own supercar, or even the first time BMW would collaborate with McLaren on such a project. Initial development work on the original M1 in the 1970s was undertaken by Lamborghini before being taken in-house. And, of course, BMW provided the engine for the legendary McLaren F1. Meanwhile McLaren performed a similar function for Mercedes-Benz with the SLR, demonstrating Woking's experience in building flagship supercars for German automakers. This latest project could suffer the same fate as the M100 and i8 CSi programs. But if it is approved, it could yield both coupe and convertible versions, with the first slated to surface at the Frankfurt Motor Show in 2017 and reach dealerships in 2019.