For those seeking a stronger visual punch on their current-generation Honda Civic Type R, Mugen is ready to deliver. The Japan-based tuning company showcased Civics with upgraded gear at the Tokyo Auto Salon back in January, and now some of those upgrades are available to order.

The new offerings are primarily an aero kit that adds a bold front lip spoiler, garnishes to the corner intakes on the front fascia, side sills, a rear under spoiler, and an even bigger wing at the top. It’s impossible to miss the new single-exit exhaust tip mounted square in the middle, though that’s coming later as an exhaust upgrade. The Mugen wheels measure 19 inches front and back, made in cooperation with BBS.

These aren’t just aesthetic changes. Mugen says the FL5 Type R has 25 percent more downforce with all the bits installed, and the wheels shave 22 pounds overall. Considering this is already the fastest front-wheel-drive production car at the Nürburgring, we’d love to see what the Mugen-tweaked version can do.

Moving inside, there are more upgrades to mention. Some, like the Alcantara shift knob and Mugen floor mats, are purely for looks. The carbon center console saves a little bit of weight, as do the aggressively bolstered MS-C front seats.

On its parts list, Mugen includes upgraded dampers and two types of performance brake pads—one for sport use and the other aimed at competition. The brakes won’t be available until the end of July, but the dampers are ready right now. The large rear spoiler won’t be on sale until September, and the wheels arrive in August. As for that single-tip exhaust, it’s in development but there’s no timeframe for availability.

Mugen parts are designed for vehicles in the Japanese market, but the company works with distributors around the world. The lip spoiler, side sills, and rear under spoiler are currently listed individually through King Motorsports for US buyers, totaling $2,065 for all three items.

Auto racing has spawned some iconic liveries in the last few decades. Gulf, Rothmans, and Martini are some of the biggest names, but NASCAR fans will soon get to enjoy looking at a classic Castrol design. Roush Fenway Keselowski Racing announced it’ll use the Castrol TOM’s Toyota Supra livery on its Ford Mustang when it races at Darlington later this month.

That might sound sacrilegious, but Castrol currently sponsors Brad Keselowski’s Ford. He chose the throwback design in a video posted to X (formerly Twitter), reminiscing about racing the car in Gran Turismo. He picked TOM’s Castrol livery over the John Force Castrol Special, which he noted was similar in design to last year’s car, and Casey Atwood’s Castrol GTX stock car.

 

Castrol TOM’s Toyota Supra entered the JGTC in 1995 wearing the now-legendary green, red, and white color scheme that’s easily identifiable. The car would win the championship in 1997 and 1999 before Castrol ended its sponsorship deal with the team in 2001.

Darlington Raceway has been encouraging teams to don throwback liveries at the track for several years now, and there will be other cars running vintage designs alongside Keselowski throughout the weekend. Kyle Larson’s No. 5 Chevrolet will wear a red, yellow, green, and white throwback to Terry Labonte, while Stewart-Hass Racing’s No. 4 Ford will don a Richard Childress livery from 1998.

The Lamborghini Urus is not your typical off-roader, but its taller ride height and four-door layout makes it a good (but pricy) candidate to convert into an overland vehicle. That’s what one person from Colorado did, and the SUV is surprisingly functional as a home on wheels.

It only sleeps one, and not everything about the Urus is great for living in. The frameless windows can’t hold a bug net, and Connor found the non-adjustable headrests to be a strange omission from the seats’s otherwise robust configurability controls. The weak reverse lights also make it difficult to back up at night, but that’s where the accessories and gear can help.

The Urus has a removable roof rack from Front Runner that can hold cases, a spare tire, and auxiliary lights, and it serves as the mount for Starlink and the awning. Twenty-two-inch Klassik B OffRoad wheels and off-road tires increase the Urus’s agility.

Inside, the bed can fold away, allowing the use of the seats behind the driver. Connor can fit three or four people inside, and the modularity enables him to quickly clear everything out of the Urus as needed for maximum capacity.

The least exciting thing about the Lamborghini is its 641-horsepower twin-turbocharged 4.0-liter V-8 engine, which has had only one major issue in Connor’s 20,000-mile, year-long journey across 16 countries. An o-ring failed on an air vacuum hose, resulting in the Urus needing to be towed.

It also hasn’t escaped the trip without some dings. Conor damaged the front splitter—a $1,400 replacement—in Romania, and a button for an interior light no longer works, but that’s not bad for being an off-road luxury SUV.

The missing rear bumper is intentional. Connor has plans to replace both bumpers to improve the SUV’s off-road capability, which will include installing a new exhaust system for better clearance and skid plates. He also plans to move the stove outside the vehicle and hopes to rejigger the setup to allow for a rooftop tent.

A new Lamborghini Urus costs as much as a house in many parts of the country. It’s nice to know it can function as one, too, but a bathroom isn’t included.

The 1980s live again with a reborn Tom Walkinshaw Racing (TWR) and its first offering, a heavily modified Jaguar XJS called the Supercat. The car was revealed today, showcasing a decidedly muscular makeover to the classic XJS coupe. And there’s some proper muscle under the hood to accompany the looks, courtesy of a supercharged V-12 engine making “more than 600 horsepower.”

Exactly how much more is unknown. TWR is taking a measured approach with the Supercat debut, featuring just the exterior design for now. The classic grand tourer now has a body that’s largely carbon fiber, a development process TWR claims took “tens of thousands of hours” to complete. A massive chin spoiler dominates the new lower fascia, blending rearward into aggressively flared wheel arches. The new hood sports a big cowl and louvers, while at the back, a ducktail spoiler sits above a massive diffuser. Side-exit exhaust finishers exit just ahead of the retro-styled wheels.

Details such as width or weight aren’t available yet, though the company promises substantial improvements in mass and aerodynamics compared to the original XJS. The Supercat’s design draws inspiration from the XJR-9, XJR-15, and XJ220, which should come as no surprise given old TWR’s history with those cars in the 1980s and 1990s. Noted car collector and British fashion designer Magnus Walker was a consultant on the design, adding his touch along with lead designer Khyzyl Saleem to bring the Supercat to life.

“This project is an incredible opportunity to interpret TWR’s winning legacy in today’s design language,” said Khyzyl Saleem, design lead for the Supercat. “In so many ways, my career in the digital and physical realms have been leading to this moment. In merging the requirements of Super-GT form and racing functionality we have created a unique identity that is instantly recognizable from its silhouette.”

Equally recognizable on the old XJS is its V-12 engine. It’s unclear whether TWR uses a modified version of the original Jaguar 5.3-liter twelve-pot or something newer, but a supercharger is part of the formula. It’s connected to a six-speed manual transmission, replacing the automatic that was standard on all V-12 models save for the very early versions in the 1970s.

Seeing the shifter in the Supercat’s interior is something else for which we’ll have to wait. More information is promised before the car goes on sale later this year, including a full interior reveal.

TWR is only planning 88 Supercats for production—an ode to the XJR-9’s win at LeMans in 1988. And with a starting price of approximately £225,000 ($281,000 at current exchange rates) they won’t be cheap. But they will be available to buyers in the UK and major international markets, including the United States.

Racing fans in the Boston area have a cool new place for dinner, drinks, and entertainment. F1 Arcade is open for business, and if you haven’t figured it out just yet, the entertainment portion comes from several banks of full-motion racing simulators.

Specifically, there are 69 simulators scattered around the two-story, 16,000-square-foot facility. They are linked together for head-to-head or team racing action in a Formula 1 setting that recreates iconic real-life tracks. Details on the tracks or the cars aren’t mentioned, but F1 Arcade does offer regular visitors the ability to create personal driver profiles. Called the Arcade Hub, attendees can earn Arcadians—presumably a points system— that can be exchanged for things like merchandise.

While arcade is part of the name, photos show a venue that looks far more upscale than the arcades of yesteryear. Amid the racing seats is a snazzy atmosphere that, among other things, has a 37-foot bar for picking up drinks with motorsport-themed names. There’s a food menu with plenty of dishes, some of which we can’t pronounce. And $16 for Braised Chicken Tinga sounds perfectly reasonable, especially when compared to the $275 plate of nachos seen at last year’s Formula 1 race in Miami.

F1 Arcade launched in 2022 with its first restaurant in London. The newest location in Boston is the first of several planned for the United States, with Washington DC being next on the list. If things go well, there could be 30 locations in the next few years.

“We’re thrilled to debut the first US F1 Arcade location in the bustling Boston Seaport neighborhood, following the incredible success in the UK,” said F1 Arcade Founder and CEO Adam Breeden. “Guests can enjoy an exceptional adrenaline-packed venue and the thrill of racing in one space. The launch of F1 Arcade Boston Seaport paves the way for our ambitious US expansion, as we look ahead to opening our second venue this Fall in Washington DC.”

Italdesign’s latest creation blends a sleek GT car with a pickup truck to create a vehicle tailer-made for looking up at the stars. It’s up for debate as to whether the Quintessenza succeeds at being either body style, as it’s just a concept, but the EV’s sleek design hides some wild styling features that should excite the stargazer in all of us.

The Quintessenza is big. It’s longer than the shortest Ford F-150, with a lengthier 127.6-inch wheelbase. All that space helps accommodate four seats with a central console running down the middle that houses the infotainment controls and other switches. It also contains an organizer and a refrigerated mini-bar large enough to fit a bottle of wine and two glasses.

You’ll want a drink when you flip around the rear seats and remove the rear hardtop, opening the cabin to the outside world. The center console can slide back, bringing the mini bar right to you as you recline the rear seats and enjoy the sights.

At the front of the cabin, a floating central dashboard at the base of the windshield blends into the doors and wraps to the rear of the car. Italdesign made the dashboard out of a marble-based fabric that hides the controls underneath until needed, using a projection-based system to display them. It sounds fancy and fussy.

The primary vehicle interface is located behind the steering wheel, which is nothing more than a dock for your smartphone, which connects with the car through a unique app. Users can control various vehicle settings through the phone, which can also display vital information when it’s docked, such as battery level, speed, turn signals, and more.

The minimalist interior is serene compared to the rugged exterior. The Quintessenza has chunky fender flares over 24-inch wheels, sharp vertical and horizontal lighting elements front and rear, and a fastback roof that hides the truck bed. It can adjust its ground clearance from 7.9 to 11.0 inches. There are even full-length scissor doors and an electronically powered tailgate.

Powering the EV is a 150-kilowatt-hour battery feeding three electric motors—one front-axle drive unit and two in-wheel rear-axle motors. The total output is 777 horsepower, and it can reach 62 miles per hour in less than three seconds, but Italdesign doesn’t mention anything about towing or payload capacities.

Either way, this thing is cool. While it probably won’t ever see production, we’re glad it exists.

Rain-X is a household name. Since the 1970s it’s been the go-to windshield water repellent for drivers everywhere, promoting outward visibility even in the thickest rainstorms. But these days, Rain-X faces some serious competition.

In a series of comparison tests between 10 different windshield water repellents, the Project Farm YouTube channel finds that Rain-X is no longer the best hydrophobic product in the game. But it’s still competitive, something that can’t be said for more than half of the other products tested.

In Project Farm’s tests, just four brands—Gtechniq, Aquapel, Gyeon, and Rain-X—kept their hydrophobic properties after being subject to car wash soap and windshield washer fluid—two things you might normally expect to come in contact with your windshield. The six other brands—Adams, Cerakote, Invisible Glass, Chemical Guys, 3D, and Debaishi—virtually stopped working after a quick wash using car wash soap. 

Of the four top brands, Aquapel and Gyeon were the quickest to have water removed from the glass when subjected to a a blow dryer, at just 1 second. In this test, Project Farm was attempting to emulate the wind forces acting on a car at roughly 40 mph. Rain-X and Gtechniq tied for last, at 3 seconds. 

Where Rain-X lost out most was in Project Farm’s warm temperature exposure test, where each piece of glass is kept in a dishwasher and exposed to hot water spray for 2.5 hours. This is an attempt to emulate rain on a hot summer day. While the other three brands held their performance after the test, Rain-X’s effectiveness decreased.

That’s not to say Rain-X isn’t still worth it. Considering it was by far the cheapest product of the bunch, was among the easiest to apply, and held onto its effectiveness throughout most of the tests, we wouldn’t fault anyone for using it on their car. But if you want the absolute best product around, it’s Gtechniq’s G5 water repellent coating is it, at least according to Project Farm.

Few race car liveries are as iconic as the black and gold John Player Special Formula 1 cars campaigned by Lotus. Rec Watches has a new limited-edition timepiece that captures that same look with a cool twist. It’s made using components from a JPS F1 car, but not just any random chassis. It has materials from Lotus 98T chassis number 4, driven by Aryton Senna in the 1986 season.

As such, the watch is called the 98T/4. It’s made in collaboration with Classic Team Lotus, and as pictures show, it uses the same iconic black and gold color scheme. The watch is primarily stainless steel but, the Chapter Ring—the circular portion surrounding the dial—is made of reforged aluminum taken from the car’s original plenum tubes. The top glass is made from sapphire crystal, the strap is leather, and it’s water-resistant to 100 meters. Somehow, we suspect a watch like this will never see water unless something really bad happens behind the wheel.

Those in the know will remember 1986 was the last year for the black and gold JPS livery, and Rec Watches states the donor race car was used for the final eight races of that season. So the aluminum comes from the last JPS car to race in F1, driven by arguably the greatest F1 driver of all time.

Rec Watches will only make 989 examples, and each costs $3,995. Folks who jump in on the pre-order will get a discounted price of $3,195, but there is a catch. Watches won’t be available until March 2025, so pre-order buyers will have to wait nearly a year for their piece of F1 history.

It would seem buyers are more than willing to wait, as a vast majority of the 989 watches are already spoken for, according to Rec. As of April 26, 173 pre-orders are still available. Better get your credit card ready quickly. 

As Yas Marina Circuit readies itself for A2RL’s inaugural event, a world-first four-car fully autonomous race, special attention needs to be given to two vital aspects of the competition: the car and the teams behind them.

Each competitor in the Abu Dhabi Autonomous Racing League starts with the same vehicle: a Dallara Super Formula car. The car, in its original form, is used in the Japanese Super Formula, but here it’s been given a raft of modifications and custom-built to make it suitable for fully autonomous driving and is known as EAV24. Outside of Formula One, the Dallara is the fastest open-wheel racing car on the planet.

Its body includes sustainable composites. Mixing carbon and flax–a natural material that shares lightweight and rigid properties with traditional carbon fiber sourced from Swiss company Bcomp. It’s been shaped to help the car cut through the air cleanly, generate downforce to aid fast cornering, and, of course, to look good.

At the front and rear are cutting-edge pushrod suspension and adaptive dampers to ensure it can get around corners as flat and as quickly as possible. Its suspension setup has been, much like its body, designed to be as space-efficient and as light as regulations allow.

In the middle of the car is a 2.0-liter turbocharged four-cylinder internal combustion engine–A2RL isn’t an electric series–that produces a hefty 550 horsepower. That power is sent to the rear wheels, via a six-speed gearbox.

It’s a race car through and through, as Dr. Tom McCarthy, Executive Director of the ASPIRE Group, the organization running A2RL, explains: “We want to create drama and excitement, and with EVA24 we’ve got it. It’s based on one of the best race cars in the world, it sounds incredible, and it’s very fast. With that as our basis, we’ve got the perfect canvas for our goal: fully autonomous extreme race. Come for the car, stay for the technological spectacle.”

In an A2RL car, you’ll have noticed the autonomous stack instead of a driver. It uses sensors, actuators, computers, 360-degree cameras, and LiDAR technology to “see” the track, and anything else on it. The combination of technologies works in harmony not only to go as quickly as is safely possible but to get ahead of its competitors.

The hardware is only half of the story. The cars are built to a standard specification, the hardware is the same for every competitor. The teams are responsible for creating software that uses advanced technology as efficiently as possible. Their input allows the car’s Controller, LiDAR, and Planner, to move, see, and decide better–hopefully better than the rest of the field. The winner in A2RL may have perhaps already been decided, but until the cars are on track we won’t know who it is. We’ll find out on April 27 which has what it takes to win.

The balance of hardware and software can only be forged by people. The human element of A2RL may not be in the cockpit, but it’s certainly in the pits. The teams, hailing from the UAE, China, Singapore, Germany, Hungary, Italy, and the USA, are a mix of motorsport engineers, programmers, and scientists–perhaps not a traditional motorsport mix, but one essential for learning, developing, and mastering autonomous racing. No matter who you are, or where you come from, if you’ve got skill, and the drive to win, A2RL will welcome you with open arms.

Lawrence Walter, Team Principal of American team Code19, knows the value of a talented crew: “In the race to innovate, Code19 is powered by our talented and diverse race engineers. They were scrupulously hand-picked from across industry and academia, to come to Abu Dhabi and take the $2.25M prize to the bank.”

The goal of the competition, as well as creating a good show, is to use the lessons learned on track and apply them to the wider world in myriad fields–automotive safety, logistics, aviation… you name it. There’s a years-long commitment going into A2RL and its desire to push technology forward–it’s even drawn the eye of significant partners like ADNOC.

A2RL’s story is just beginning, and it’s sure to be an exciting one thanks to fast cars and the smart people behind them. For the first time, autonomous cars will compete on the global stage. They’ll undergo a series of very real, and very public challenges not only to win an incredible $2.25M prize purse but to help develop the technology that will, one day, be a part of all of our lives.

The race will be broadcast live here, and if you want to learn more about A2RL click here.

There’s a new breed of motorsport coming, and the only human involvement is far away from the cars. The Abu Dhabi Autonomous Racing League (A2RL) is exactly what it sounds like: autonomous racing in front of a 10,000-strong crowd at the Yas Marina Circuit, and streamed live online.

After years of development, A2RL is finally ready to hold its first race at Abu Dhabi’s legendary Yas Marina circuit. On April 27th, A2RL hopes to change the way we look not only at motorsport, but at autonomous driving for good.

A2RL has brought teams of engineers, scientists, and even former Formula One racer Daniil Kvyat together to turn a cutting-edge race car into something with a mind of its own. The teams, hailing from UAE, China, Germany, Hungary, Italy, Singapore, Switzerland, and the United States, each have the same car to start: A Dallara-built chassis, powered by a 550-horsepower 2.0-liter turbocharged Honda-based engine linked to a six-speed gearbox. A modified take on the 185 mph cars found in Japan’s Super Formula—now called EVA24—serve as a basis for the eight teams to build upon.

Where you’d normally find a driver coated in fireproof gear and a sturdy helmet, AR2L cars have vast swathes of tech: GPS, cameras, sensors, computers, you name it. That tech, and how well it’s been programmed, is the difference between victory and defeat. All those cameras will allow spectators to get an up-close view of what’s going on in the race, too, as they offer 360-degree views from the cockpit.

The first-ever A2RL race comprises two events. Daniil Kvyat will be facing off against an entirely AI car to see whether man or machine is the fastest. Later, the main event will start: eight teams, after years of testing, simulations, shattered carbon fiber, and who knows how many gallons of coffee, will compete head-to-head to see who’s made the biggest leap in autonomous driving technology.

From there, the competition really begins: on Saturday, April 27th there’ll be a series of races and challenges pitting driver-free cars against each other. The final race will see four cars racing together—a world first—competing for a $2.25 million prize pot.

A race event wouldn’t be the same without a fan zone. On-site from 5:00 PM, the Fanzone will open to all. In there, visitors will be able to enjoy karting, Gran Turismo race sims, radio-controlled cars, food trucks, an immersive AI museum, and more. There will also be the final of A2RL’s STEM competition—an event for younger race fans who’ll be using their coding know-how to show what they can do with 1:8 scale A2RL racers.

The reason for A2RL? Safety, collaboration, and the advancement of technology. Time and time again motorsport has driven the development of tech, and when it comes to autonomy it’s time for race cars to step up to the plate again.

Coming from the ASPIRE group, the technology transition pillar of Abu Dhabi’s Advanced Technology Research Council, A2RL is challenging teams to create a car that can run, and win entirely without human intervention. On track, once the cars have started they’ll be entirely on their own to finish the race. The only way a human can change their course is to halt it remotely—there’s no hidden driver in a pod behind the scenes. It’s all down to technology.

The aim is twofold. Firstly, to put on a good show for fans. More motorsport is always a good thing after all. The second is to develop technology that can be used in the passenger cars of the future. The lessons learned here will be transferable, and feed into advanced safety systems that keep drivers safe on the road. Eventually, this could lead to cars that can drive themselves.

From this initial event, A2RL will build up to a global race calendar and hopes to bring in excited audiences both physically, and virtually.

Watch the live race stream here or go to a2rl.io for more information.