Race track

From his shed in the Macedon Ranges, Jeff David and a team of enthusiasts have developed a super car so advanced it can accelerate from 0 to 100km/h in a jaw-dropping 2.6 seconds.It's like no other car I have drivenThe speed and aerodynamics of 'The Quantum GP700' are so astonishing that, theoretically, it could actually drive upside down.The first engineering prototype has had extensive track testing and will be launched today. Mr David said it had been a long road from dream idea to reality.RELATED: New New Australian-built car aims to hit the road in 2018RELATED: Forget Ford, stand by for the locally-built Fordyce"I have always been very capable of solving problems and pushing technology boundaries in my careers," he said. "I guess it was inevitable that I would try designing a car." He said the car's maximum speed was around 320km/h."It's like no other car I have driven. It's impossible to describe."

John Carey reviews the Porsche 911 GT3 RS at the Bilster Berg race track in Germany.

Ewan Kennedy reviews the Audi RS3 at the Vallelunga race track in Rome, Italy.

Mark Webber is a magician in a Porsche 918.Me? I'm rubbish.When Webber took me for hot laps at Albert Park during the Australian Grand Prix he dug deep into the incredible power and grip and technology of the $1.5 million Porsche hybrid hero, cranking up to 260km/h down the pit straight and hustling it through the corners at speeds to make a V8 Supercars driver worried.I will never forget the first uppercut of 650 kiloWatts as we came out of the Albert Park pitlane, or the moment when we went off-course at the high-speed flip-flop when Webber mis-judged his braking because he felt like he was back in his Red Bull F1 car. For a second I thought I was heading for hospital.But when I get to Phillip Island, and slide from the passenger seat across to the action station, things are very different.It makes an everyday driver look like a superstarThe car is the same one, and still brutally fast in a way that's hard to explain beyond a 0-100km/h time of 2.6 seconds and a top speed of 345km/h, but I cannot believe how easy it is to drive.It makes an everyday driver look like a superstar, and I find it easy to romp to 250 on the pit straight and corner at speeds that make a Porsche 911 GT3 look pedestrian. I have the controls, but it's the 918 that has the control.It's an absolutely brilliant car that currently sits at the top of world motoring alongside the McLaren F1 and Ferrari LaFerrari. All three are hybrids, but instead of using their electric motors to green the world they are fitted to give the effect of a battery-boosted supercharger.In the case of the 918, there are three electric motors which integrate seamlessly into an all-wheel drive package an a seven-speed PDK manu-matic gearbox with paddle-shifters and one of the most intuitive automatic systems I've struck in any car. It is far better at redline upshifts when the V8 petrol engine spins to 9000 revs and makes brilliant downshifts for hot laps.Yet the 918 will also run for 31 kilometres on pure electric power, while retaining a 6.2-second sprint time and a top speed of 150km/h.The car is only built in left-hand drive and it costs $1.5 millionThere is a lot to like about the ultimate Porsche, and some things to love, but it's not all good news.The car is only built in left-hand drive and it costs $1.5 million. It's also noisy, pretty cramped in the cabin, and takes some learning with all the electronic complications.I've only got three driving laps at Phillip Island, but Porsche is preparing me well with track time in both a 911 Turbo and GT3 ahead of the ultimate roller-coaster ride. Both cars feel lovely and fast, with the GT3 a fair bit sharper around a track with an average speed that tops 150km/h.But the 918 Spyder is something else again, which is why Matthias Hoffsuemmer - chief driving instructor on the car, with more than 40,000 kilometres of seat time - has taken over from Webber as the lead driver. He has flown from Germany to demonstrate the car, but also to ride shotgun to ensure there are no mishaps.He starts gently, showing how the car performs in full electric mode, before uncorking some of the performance I know from the Webber laps at Albert Park.The 918 is other-worldlySo I'm ready, but should perhaps give some extra background. After all, I've previously driven a wide range of supercars, from a Bugatti Veyron to a Lamborghini Aventador, and I've tackled both a Nissan GT-R and a Black Series version of the Mercedes-AMG SLS Gullwing around Phillip Island.But none of them are as whack-me-back as the 918. Or as impressive under brakes. Or capable of building such incredibly high speeds in such a short time and distance.The 918 is other-worldly. It's so, so, so fast and yet so easy to drive. Goodness knows what would happen if you strapped on slick racing tyres...To keep me properly in check, Porsche has provided a pace car for my hot laps. It's not just any car but a Carrera Cup racer, with champion driver Craig Baird driving.It's quickly clear that the 918 is faster than the Cup car in lots of conditions, as I'm able to outbrake Baird and pull alongside as we accelerate down the straight. And he's in a full race car.To be honest, I'm struggling to keep pace with the Porsche. It's so darned fast that I'm wrung out after three laps, trying to keep my eyes down the road and my reflexes tuned to the speed.Then I slow, and realise the 918 can also go slow. It's not nearly as much fun, but as my heart rate slows to something more normal I can appreciate the quality of the cabin, and the brilliant dials, and the comfort in the race-style seat, and the incredible visibility.To finish the day, I get a hot lap alongside Hoffsuemmer. If anything, the car feels quicker than it did with Webber, because I can relax and watch instead of hanging on and screaming inside.To prove the car's pace, he uncorks a lap in 1 minute 38.02 seconds. For clarity, the Porsche is on road tyres and the track is hot, and the V8 Supercar lap record belongs to six-time champion Jamie Whincup at 1:32.02.Then it's over. And I'm done.The 918 Spyder is a 21st century speed machineBut I cannot resist hitting the re-wind button and comparing it with the Porsche Carrera GT, the Germany company's previous supercar. I also drove it at Phillip Island, ten years ago.The GT was a fast, flighty, nervy car with a hair-trigger clutch and a temperamental engine. I never felt I got remotely close to exploiting its strengths, despite the speed.In sharp contrast, the 918 Spyder - did I mention the lift-out carbon roof panels, the active aerodynamics with a giant rear wing, or the top-exit exhaust pipes? - is much quicker but much, much easier to drive. And far more rewarding.There is a decade between the cars but, really, it feels like a century.

It takes a very special car to make a Carrera Cup racer look slow.The Porsche 918 Spyder is that car.Not just that, but the 918 can make an ordinary driver - let’s call that me - look good against a champion racer called Craig Baird.As we hot lap at Phillip Island, a track where the 918 will wind around past 280km/h with ease and generate race-car grip on road-car tyres, I’m having no trouble at all in keeping pace with Baird in the Cup car.The 918 can make an ordinary driver look good against a champion racer.The 918 gobbles him up out of every corner, keeps pace through any turn, and can brake much, much later than the track-only 911 while also offering the chance of full electric driving for 31 kilometres at up to 150km/h.This is a car that’s all about the car. I’m just along for the ride, even when I have control of the steering wheel and pedals.It’s so easy to go quickly that I have to suppress the sort of five-year-old enthusiasm I have not felt in years. It’s woo-hoo fun, and so, so, so fast.Yet the 918 is also a new-age hybrid that can run for 31 kilometres on pure battery power, and also accelerate up to 150km/h - with a 0-100 sprint time of 6.1 seconds - without dipping into the onboard batteries.If you could buy a 918 in Australia it would cost $1.5 million. But that’s irrelevant, not just because it’s only left-hand drive and cannot be registered but also because all 918 cars already have customer names against them.This 918, with the Weissach package, is in Australia for a whistle-stop tour that included hot laps at the Australian Grand Prix and a couple of very special days at Phillip Island.That’s where I get my chance to drive, and have all my benchmarks for a road car comprehensively re-set.It’s the same track where I drove a Porsche Carrera GT a decade ago, and also where I’ve sampled flat-out laps in a Nissan GT-R and a Black Edition Mercedes-AMG SLS, although my (very) brief time in a Bugatti Veyron was at the Sandown race course.For comparison, the Carrera was fast but nervy, with a trigger-action clutch; the GT-R was ballistic quick but awful on public roads; the Black beast was fast but felt very heavy, and the Veyron was awesome in a straight line but not a car I’d like to own.The 918 can really only be compared with its current supercar rivals, the LaFerrari and McLaren P1, but there are none in Australia. And I’ve yet to drive them.So it’s me and the 918 at Phillip Island, with a warm-up in the 911 Turbo and GT3 road car to get my brain (partially) calibrated for the challenge to come.When it comes, it’s almost too much.The 918 is nicely quick in full electric model and easily quicker than the Turbo and GT3 in Sport model. Then I turn the switch to RACE and it’s like hitting the afterburner switch.The car now accelerates far quicker than the Cup racer and can brake far, far later. It’s incredible to think that is a road car on road tyres.Yes, there are some downsides. Apart from the price, the legroom is not great and it’s very noisy at any speed.But I cannot help falling in love with the way it fires down the road whenever I touch the throttle, how it challenges me through the corners, and how it stops like I’ve dropped the blade on a bulldozer.It’s also incredible to feel the way so much technology - remember there is a petrol engine, a battery pack, three electric motors, and four-wheel drive - is seamlessly integrated.Would you believe it’s also at its best as a fully automatic. There are flappy paddles for the seven-speed PDK gearbox, but I don’t use them and it doesn’t need them.

Peter Barnwell track tests the Lamborghini Huracan at Sydey Motorsport Park.

Peter Barnwell reviews the 2015 Renault Megane RS275 Trophy on the track.

There are Porsches, and then there is the GT3.The razor-sharp road rocket of the 911 family is the car you choose when you're planning some serious Sunday morning fun or heading to a racetrack.Which is how I come to be cranking through turn one at Queensland Raceway at 128km/h on a hot-and-humid deadline day when I should be sitting in front of a computer.The GT3 is alive underneath my fingers and feet and I feel alive as I struggle to find the limit in a car which is always a half-step ahead of the driver. A GT3 takes some serious driving. You never feel like a passenger.Porsche is showcasing its new hero car at QR during a master class that runs as part of the Porsche Sport Driving School under the direction of former Bathurst winner Tomas Mezera. There is no road driving today in the GT3, just an intensive day of track time, driver coaching and in-depth analysis of the track laps. I'd like to escape into the Queensland countryside but Mezera and his crew keep us on a tight leash.So I can't tell you what the latest GT3 is really like if you're driving in the real world. I know it will be easier to handle than the outgoing GT3, which often felt like an unbroken brumby - demanding concentration and commitment at anything beyond commuter speed - and I also know it is better value with more standard equipment.Not that the price tag of $293,600, before you think about options or on-road costs, is much of a problem for the 40-odd Australians getting the new GT3. They've already waited nearly a year for their cars, after a series of disastrous engine fires led to a global block on deliveries and a forensic investigation. Every engine in every car was replaced.The engine is one of the big changes for the GT3, which is part of the all-new 991 family of 911s, as is the transmission, a seven-speed PDK double-clutch job with no manual option, and a major emphasis on lightweight engineering that runs from the 20-inch forged alloy rims to the oily bits in the engine and transmission.Like a bodyguard in a Hugo Boss suit, the GT3 is suave yet threateningPorsche's flat-six propels the GT3's 1430kg from rest to 100km/h in 3.5 seconds, on to a potential top speed of 315km/h.The equipment list runs from aircon and leather trim to electric windows, a seven-inch multimedia touchscreen, bi-Xenon lamps and much more.The mechanical highlights include six-piston front brake calipers and, inevitably, a giant rear wing and a front spoiler that almost scrapes the road.The GT3s at QR are also fitted with the $6500 track pack adding racing seats and belts, roll bar and fire extinguisher.After a thorough technical briefing on the car and its many improvements, Mezera gets things rolling with a typically blunt warning. "You blokes drive cars all the time, but not like this GT3. So take it easy, build up to it, and remember that today is not about the laptime," he says.Like a bodyguard in a Hugo Boss suit, the GT3 is suave yet threatening. I'm familiar with the latest 911 but there are some differences; the GT3's electronics that are track-tuned, and not just a nanny pack.I settle in, enjoying the grip of the race buckets and the feel of the leather wheel, select the sports driving program and switch to the sports exhaust. The car sounds confident but restrained, neither threatening nor friendly.As I accelerate out of the pitlane I get a brutal reminder that the GT3 is a serious sports car. It rides firm, every input on the controls gets an instant response, and the acceleration is brutal. It might not have a turbo but the GT3 engine is a stonker, with a huge wall of power at any time in any gear.It's more of an experience than transportThe latest chassis has tamed some of the wayward behaviour of earlier 911s, which means it's more stable when braking and far less likely to step sideways if you're asking too much of the back end. The GT3 fires things up a couple of levels.The PDK gearbox means you can downshift while turning, the electric power steering is alive without kickback, and the engine response is liquid smooth up to the redline near 9000 revs.I can't say that I tamed the GT3, broke the track record and topped the master class. But I was respectably quick, kept the car on the road, and felt I dipped into about 80 per cent of its potential. Mezera and his crew can exploit the rest.There is no doubt that the new GT3 is the best yet, that it's more of an experience than transport, and that it delivers a level of driving enjoyment that's only matched by a couple of cars in the Ferrari class.At day's end I'm hot, sweaty, tired and relieved, but mostly full of feel-good hormones. And I can't stop smiling.

Peter Anderson reviews the 2014 Lamborghini Huracan LP610-4.

Watch a Volvo FH truck take to the track against the Koenigsegg One:1 in a battle of pure speed around the Knutstorp circuit in Sweden.There are some motor races that are steeped in history. The Daytona 500, 24 Hours of Le Mans, Monaco Grand Prix and Bathurst 1000 to name a few.Volvo FH truck versus Keonigsegg One:1 supercar is not that we're likely to see on that list any time soon.That said, this "demonstration" of the FH's new dual-clutch transmission featuring former-racer-of-most-things-turned-TV-presenter Tiff Needell does show quite aptly how a dual-clutch transmission can improve performance and driveability of a heavy-duty hauler.Volvo often use unorthodox methods to show off their wares. In 2012, world record-holding tightrope walker Faith Dickey bridged the gap between two speeding FH tracks in Croatia. This was followed a year later by Jean-Claude Van Damme doing it sans rope.The CEO of Volvo Trucks has been hung over Gothenberg Harbour, a hamster has driven a truck through a Spanish quarry and they've also taken part in the Running of the Bulls in previous videos.