The Aston Martin Rapide

The Maserati GranTurismo and GranCabrio

The Alfa Romeo Brera

The Mercedes Benz 300 SL

The Mercedes-Benz SSK Count Trossi

New Alfa Romeo Giulietta Launched

The latest Alfa Romeo range to be launched is the new Alfa Romeo Giulietta, which goes on sale from May 2010. The range comprises of 3 petrol and 2 diesel engine options, all equipped with six speed manual gearboxes. The 5 door hatchback is styled by Alfa Romeo's own Centro Stile design division. Sitting on a 2634 mm wheelbase, it measures 4351 mm in overall length, and has a width of 1798 mm. The drag coefficient is a neat 0.31. The iconic 147-style hidden rear doorhandles make a return to Alfa Romeo models.

The three petrol engines on offer are all 16 valve four cylinders: a 1368 cc that develops 120 PS (88 kW) at 5000 rpm with 206 Nm (152 ft.lb) of torque at 1750 rpm; a more powerful version of the same size engine with power output of 170 PS (125 kW) at 5500 rpm and 250 Nm (184 ft.lb) of torque at 2500 rpm; and the range-topping 1.75 litre (1742 cc) that produces an impressive 235 PS (173 kW) of power at 5500 rpm and 340 Nm (251 ft.lb) of torque at 1900 rpm. All feature turbochargers and intercoolers. With the 1742 cc engine, the Giulietta will sprint to 100 km/h from rest in a claimed 6.8 seconds, and reach a maximum speed of 242 km/h. Emissions are 177 g/km of CO₂.

The diesel variants on offer are also 16 valve, four cylinder units: a 1.6 litre (1598 cc) with 105 PS (77 kW) power at 4000 rpm and 320 Nm (236 ft.lb) of torque at 1750 rpm, and a 2.0 litre (1956 cc) with peak power of 170 PS (125 kW) at 4000 rpm and 350 Nm (258 ft.lb) of torque at 1750 rpm. The more powerful engine endows the Giulietta with acceleration of 8.0 seconds from 0-100 km/h, and a top speed of 218 km/h. Claimed CO₂ emissions are 114 g/km and 124 g/km respectively.

The 4 lower-powered versions ride on 205/55 R 16 tyres, whilst the range-topping 1750 TBi sits on beefier 225/45 R 17 rubber. Braking on all the Giulietta models is via ABS- and EBD-equipped discs, ventilated at the front and solid at the rear. All come with 3 driver-selectable handling set-ups, Dynamic, Normal and All-Weather. these modify the operating parameters of the engine, gearbox, steering and the electronic Q2 differential.

A new, more powerful Porsche 911 GT2 variant has just been released. The 2010 Porsche 911 GT2 RS features more power, less weight and even better performance.

The 3600 cc engine remains at the same capacity, but power and torque have been increased. Power is up 90 PS to 620 PS at the same 6500 rpm as the Porsche 911 GT2. Torque is up 20 Nm to 700 Nm, achieved in a rev band from 2500 to 5500 rpm, which is wider than the standard 911 GT2 which pulled maximum torque from 2200 rpm to 4500 rpm. A new intercooler and increased turbocharger boost from 1.4 bar to 1.6 bar account for most of the improvements here. The power is transmitted through a six speed manual gearbox.

Weight has been pared wherever possible, and the resultant drop of 70 kg over the 911 GT2, in combination with the engine tweaks, delivers sublime performance figures. The 0-100 km/h benchmark is covered in 3.5 seconds and in 28.9 seconds the 300 km/h mark is achieved. A top speed of 330 km/h is claimed. Despite these improvements in performance, the Porsche 911 GT2 RS boasts CO₂ emissions of just 284 g/km, which is actually 14 g/km lower than the less powerful standard Porsche 911 GT2.

The Porsche 911 GT2 RS comes with Porsche's composite ceramic disc brake (PCCB) system as standard. The wheels are fitter with slightly wider 245/35 profile tyres at the front, whilst the rears remain 325/30. Both front and rear are 19 inch rims.

Porsche is limiting production of this, their most powerful road-legal car ever, to just 500 units. Sales in the UK start in September 2010.