Articles by Stephen Edelstein

It might not be called Optimus Prime, but this is as close as we've seen to a shape-shifting robot. The military design -- christened the Multi-Modal Vehicle Concept -- has been designed by Lockheed subsidiary Sandia to drive, swim and fly. In effect, it's a Transformer. It flies similarly to any other unmanned drone, then dives underwater where it sheds its main wings and converts to flipper-fins at the tail. On reaching the ocean floor, a set of drive wheels is uncased and it trundles along to emerge onto land. According to Wired, it can even jump up to 10 metres in the air. The Multi-Modal Vehicle could potentially be controlled by one person to conduct a sortie over a range of terrain, and Sandia says its shape-shifting skills would allow it to transform if faced with changing challenges during the mission. However, since the video shows it sheds its wings -- and then the wheel casings -- this leaves it with only the wheels to get around. And to get back home, meaning any missions would be one-way. Sandia says it has started testing some prototype hardware, but a functioning test vehicle is yet to be funded. Watch the Multi-Modal Vehicle Concept video on our desktop site here. www.motorauthority.com  

Do you need something bulletproof for the shopping and school runs, but even the armoured BMW X5 Security Plus just isn't quite enough? Perhaps a tank would do the job. And like any vehicle purchase, you'll need to do some research. But information about tank buying and ownership is generally a bit scarce. Happily,

Mercedes-Benz will build a new low-roofed coupe-SUV crossover to face off against the BMW X6. A Mercedes executive told Car and Driver magazine that while an X6 rival would be something of a bizarre vehicle, it would make a lot of financial sense for the German carmaker. The executive said the business case had a strong foundation in that development costs would be relatively modest, while profit margins would be high. The crossover segments are growing around the world: not only in Australia, Europe and the US, but also -- and possibly more importantly -- in the developing markets of Asia, So Mercedes logically believes adding more to their lineup makes good business sense. Mercedes first hinted at a low-roofed coupe/SUV chimera a couple of years ago, when it announced that it would begin producing a second model alongside the M-Class at its Tuscaloosa, Alabama plant in the US. A Mercedes publicity image showed a cloaked vehicle with the profile of an X6 rival, with the tagline "Start of Production: 2015." The new model -- which is likely to be based on the M-Class -- would slot into the line-up as a big brother to the recently-unveiled GLA-Class. But they're not the only German brand to be eying the success of BMW's X6. Audi has also discussed the possibility of developing a sporty, low-roofed crossover. As far back as 2011, Volkswagen Group head of design Walter de'Silva said Audi was planning to launch a sporty crossover that would slot between the Q5 and Q7. Unofficially known as Q6, this crossover could end up being a bit smaller than the midsize X6 and ML-based vehicles; in which case it would more comfortably be positioned against the future BMW X4. www.motorauthority.com  

Ford is seeing yellow for this year's SEMA show. The annual Specialty Equipment Market Association show in Las Vegas is always a temple for excessive modification, but Ford has kept the cosmetic custom weirdness to a minimum for their Project Yellow Jacket Mustang.However, the real beauty -- and brawn -- lies under the yellow skin. Created by Ford and Vortech Superchargers, the car is powered by a 5.0-litre Coyote V8 engine that was treated to one of Vortech's V-3 Si blowers. The result is 451 kilowatts and 640 Newton metres of torque with 7.5 psi of boost. That's a big improvement over the 313 kilowatts and 528 Newton metres the Coyote makes in a stock 2014 Ford Mustang GT.However, it's not quite enough to outdo the Shelby GT500's 5.8-litre supercharged V-8, which chucks out 494 kilowatts and 855 Newton metres. Ford has to maintain its Mustang hierarchy, after all.The Yellow Jacket sports a carbon fibre cowl-induction hood and 3D Carbon Boy Racer body kit for a bit of added visual muscle, and rolls on iForged Icon wheels (20- x 9-inch front, 20- x 11-inch rear) and Falken Azenis FK453 tires (275/40/20 front, 315/35/20 rear). Other modifications include Baer brakes with six-piston calipers, a tuned suspension, and a Webasto sunroof.www.motorauthority.com 

We've heard much about a small Audi crossover, variously called the Q1 or possibly to be called Q2 according to some reports. Germany's Auto Bild is now saying the Q1 will debut in 2016, and will be based on the Volkswagen Polo's platform.Use of the platform means the Q1 would be small enough to slot under the Q3 in Audi's crossover lineup. But with the project reportedly being front-wheel drive only, it will not match its larger softroader siblings for capability in the rough.Initial engine choices are said to be a 67kW 1.4-litre petrol four-cylinder and a new 67kW 1.4-litre turbodiesel three-cylinder -- both mated to a seven-speed dual-clutch transmission. However there is also mention of a hotter SQ1 version with a 170kW 2.0-litre petrol unit, and a Q1 hybrid slated for 2018 with a 80kW 1.2-litre petrol engine paired with a 80kW electric motor.However, we've heard plenty of rumours about a possible Q1 that turned out to be just that. Audi executives have been dropping hints about the crossover since at least last year, when they said such a vehicle could be built on the A1 platform and would be a logical extension to Audi's crossover lineup.Another report named the crossover as a Q2, and said it would ride on a platform derived partly from Volkswagen's new MQB architecture, sharing engines from the A1 line-up.The Q2 plan was reportedly pushed back until 2015, possibly due to global economic doldrums. The Polo-based Q1 bears little resemblance to the plans for that car, so either Audi decided to start completely from scratch, or the rumour mill is still turning.www.motorauthority.com 

The World Rally Championship is one of the most epic spectacles in motorsports, but sometimes the pace is just too fast. Rally fans are known for camping out in frozen Finnish forests just for a split-second glimpse of their favourite drivers hurtling past in a mud-splattered blur. This video, featuring driver Sébastien Ogier and co-driver Julien Ingrassia in their Volkswagen Polo R WRC, slows things down considerably -- and will have you thinking WRC cars can fly. No, the Polo R WRC can't actually fly, but it is a pretty capable machine to get airborne. It's powered by a 1.6-litre four-cylinder engine with turbocharging and direct-injection, developing 232 kilowatts of power at 6250rpm and 425 Newton-metres of torque at 5000rpm, delivering it to all four wheels with permanent four-wheel drive via a transversely-mounted six-speed sequential transmission. There's even a road-going version, albeit with a much less savage 160kW of power and 350Nm of torque from a 2.0-litre engine mated to a manual gearbox driving the front wheels to a top speed of 243km/h. It also gets to the 100km/h mark in 6.4 seconds -- shaving the Volkswagen Golf GTI by 0.8sec. Watch the slo-mo hot WRC rally action video here. www.motorauthority.com