PistonHeads.com

1 week ago | pistonheads.com | Tony Middlehurst

Ever since his apprenticeship days building Class 55 Deltic locos at English Electric’s Vulcan foundry in Newton-le-Willows, Shed has been partial to a big diesel. To this day he runs a Mercedes S124 wagon powered (ha!) by an OM606 3.0 straight-six oil burner. He won’t hear a bad word said about it. To be more accurate he won’t be able to hear a bad word said about it, on account of all the clattering.

1 week ago | pistonheads.com | Matt Bird

However inevitable the reality was, it’s still a bit sad not to see any naturally aspirated V8s on the Lexus homepage anymore. They hung on right until the bitter end, but now there’s nothing with fewer than five doors and no engine larger than 2.5 litres on offer. Pity. There’s still some weird and wonderful stuff at least: who else but Lexus could offer the LM MPV at £95k? The LBX looks funky, too, and there remains some hope that it could get the GR Yaris powertrain in time.

1 week ago | pistonheads.com | Stephen Dobie

The golden era of endurance racing continues unabated, with McLaren now confirming it’ll enter a hypercar at Le Mans in 2027. Among its dozen or more rivals on track will be this, the now full-scale, fully revealed Genesis GMR-001. If you’re unsure about a premium Korean brand taking on Ferrari, Porsche and Aston on the world stage, then the great minds leading the Genesis effort – including team principal Cyril Abiteboul – are shared with the Hyundai WRC campaign.

1 week ago | pistonheads.com | Stephen Dobie

It’s probably fair to assume Genesis doesn’t feature too high up most PHers’ shortlists. While related to Hyundai in much the same way Lexus is to Toyota, the N Division magic and more general market understanding of the mainstream Koreans is yet to consistently feed upwards. Genesis initially launched in the UK with petrol and diesel saloons and shooting brakes; cool to people like us, but less so to those lobbing £300+ a month at a lease deal.

1 week ago | pistonheads.com | Matt Bird

It’s easy to see why the off-road sports car might appeal. There’s the slight silliness to the concept, of course, taking cars designed for smooth tarmac off the beaten track, while also making them - whisper it - a bit more engaging to drive. Some squidge in the tyres and some roll in the suspension return sensations lost to super sticky tyres and track-spec dampers. Little surprise, then, that the demand was considerable for cars like the Huracan Sterrato, 911 Dakar, and Morgan CX-T.