Due to its size power will be drawn from an efficient mid mounted 4 cylinder engine, most likely to be the 200bhp Volkswagen/Audi 2.0 TFSi with a tuned version likely to arrive shortly after its release in 2013.

Read more at Auto Express

Mugen are to release a tuned version of the Type-R in the UK complete with an aggressive in-your-face aero kit.  Little is known about what Mugen have done to tune the car but it is unlikely they’d leave it at just a dress-up kit.  There is speculation that power will be similar to that of the JDM Civic Type-RR sedan with potentially 237bhp and 160lbft being tweaked out of the 2.0l petrol engine and driven through a six speed gearbox.

Additional rumors include no rear seats, big Brembo brakes and larger 18″ alloys to house them.

Further information

• Official Mugen Honda Civic Type-R page (in Japanese)
• 2009 Mugen Honda Civic Type-R » via Australian Car Advice

Watch out MX-5 – Nissan is getting ready to give the 370Z a baby brother Auto Express has learned that the Japanese manufacturer is planning a new small sports car to rival the popular Mazda roadster.

The open-top, rear-wheel-drive two-seater would mix stunning looks with storming straight-line performance. It would also take the fight to other forthcoming compact sports cars, such as the Honda CR-Z hybrid and Toyota’s next MR2 which we revealed in Issue 1,055.

Styling cues are set to be taken from the 370Z and Nissan’s Urge concept, which was seen at the Detroit Motor Show back in 2006. And there is certainly a gap in the range for the new model. The brand hasn’t had a presence in this sector of the market since production of the legendary 200SX ceased in 1998.

The sports car would get a turbocharged 1.6-litre petrol engine delivering in the region of 200bhp. That would propel it from 0-60mph in 6.5 seconds and on to a maximum speed of 140mph, while promising low emissions and impressive fuel economy of around 35mpg.

via Auto Express .

However, these rumors have probably been going since the last S15 rolled off the production line in 2002 and a two seater roadster is a bit of a departure from the sports coupe format.

I thought I’d attempt to bring the various rumor pics together and as such I’ve included a gallery of the various renderings and mock-ups that have been created over the years (mostly by Japanese car magazines), you can see the wide array of designs that have been thrown up.

As well as the look of the car there have also been some pretty out-there rumors such as the new 200SX being AWD and running a Subaru Boxer engine.  RWD is usually dropped in favour of FWD due to it being cheaper so I can’t imagine the more expensive AWD being chosen over RWD to be honest.

I fully expect the rumor mill to continue running on overtime with this one.

“We believe it may be possible that the money could be spent more effectively on permanent road-calming measures and flashing signs rather than … speed cameras,” Bluh said.

This move by Swindon Borough Council is likely due to changes that mean local authorities can no longer keep money raised in speeding fines.

“We don’t get the revenue that comes from the fines to invest in road schemes and therefore this may be a way of us investing more money in our road-calming measures locally,” Bluh added.

The Wiltshire and Swindon Safety Camera Partnership, which operates the cameras, claims they have reduced deaths on the sections of road where they are sited by two thirds over three years.  There is however evidence to prove that other road calming measures (such as speed activated flashing signs) are just as, if not more effective than speed cameras.

The £250,000 raised from speed cameras last year in Swindon, at £400,000 for upkeep of the 13 fixed cameras Swindon Borough Council were never going to break even anyway.

References

TRL Report for Department for Transport (TRL548)
SafeSpeed on Vehicle Activated Signs

Speculation

There had previously been speculation of an RX-8 redesign based on one of the recent Mazda concepts called Nagare, recent information suggests the new RX-7 will be based on the Taiki concept (See gallery) and will be powered by Mazda’s new Renesis rotary engine codenamed 16X. Looking at the futuristic Taiki concept I doubt there is much that will remain of the trimaran rear end with its enclosed wheels. The front end also looks a little too “retro muscle car”, but I can see where the general idea is. In my opinion the Mazda Ryuga Concept is possibly the closest to what I’d imagine a concept RX-7 looking like.

Power

The RX-7′s 16X Renesis rotary engine will be a two rotor 1.6 liter (rotary engines have recently only been 1.3 litres) with direct injection and a turbo charger to produce in excess of 250bhp. Mazda claim the increase in displacement will deliver more torque and improved fuel economy with lower emissions. The engine itself is lighter and physically smaller than the current 1.3 liter Renesis engine despite it having more displacement.

Opinion

I’m looking forward to this one, I’m also glad that Mazda are hanging in there with the rotary engine. The RX-7 has used a rotary engine since its first appearance way back in 1978. I’m not sure how Mazda plan to market the RX-7 alongside the RX-8 which is set to continue, aside from the fact that the RX-7 is expected to be smaller and lighter. Both are four seaters in a 2+2 arrangement, i.e. two adults and two children (or insanely short adults), time will tell how Mazda plans to market these. So long as the new RX-7′s design doesn’t suck I can see it being very popular, in fact, I’d probably buy one.

Gallery

You can read the full Auto Express article here: Red alert for turbo Yaris

Finding hard information on this model is proving difficult, not least because I don’t speak Japanese.? I have however managed to find the Yaris TRD Sports M model which looks close.

From what I can gleam it appears to be a 1.5 litre Gen 2, here are some more details:

Capacity: 1.496cc

Bore: 75mm

Stroke: 84.7mm

Compression Ratio: 10.5:1

Power: 88KW/119Ps @ 6000rpm

Source (http://toyota.jp/customize/vitz/trdsportsm/spec2.html)

From the above it looks like this isn’t the 1.5 turbo, the suggested power falls short of that mentioned in the Auto Express article and the stated compression ratio is more common in normally aspirated cars, turbo’d or supercharged cars tend to run a lower compresion ration of around 8.5:1.