VR Tech Times

It’s a brutally hot day in Coimbatore – and it’s only set to get hotter. We’re back at our favourite playground, CoASTT, with a line-up of some of the year’s most exciting cars. The plan, as ever, is simple. Narain Karthikeyan drives the wheels off each car. Everything is recorded. With his deep familiarity of the track, Narain extracts the absolute maximum from every car. But conditions aren’t making it easy. Track temperatures soar past 60 degrees, punishing tyres, brakes and the crew alike. There’s a key update this year too – the addition of kerbs – helping define lines better and, in places, unlocking higher cornering speeds. It’s an eclectic mix of contenders as well. We have a family hatchback, a beginner race car, compact SUVs, coupés with very different briefs, an EV, a hybrid sports car, a limousine that wants to be driven hard, and an SUV that thinks it’s a supercar. Welcome to Track Day 2026. Citroen C3 X and Levitas Cup Ignis Citroen C3 X and Levitas Cup Suzuki Ignis spec...

Circa 2023. I had newly joined Autocar India as a novice rider with zero track-riding experience. Mere months into my tenure, I was given the opportunity to attend the seventh edition of TVS’ Young Media Racer Programme (YMRP). Needless to say, my lack of riding skill and fitness both worked hand in glove to ensure that I did not set a fast enough time to qualify for the media championship. I returned, crestfallen, but this kindled a fire in me to return someday and actually qualify.  Fast forward to just a few days before the event took place, and this time around, I was feeling confident. I was lucky enough to be able to attend the world-famous California Superbike School (CSS). I was in much better shape and now ready to mount a renewed charge on qualifying for YMRP, which celebrates its tenth birthday this year.  Despite the pensive faces, classroom sessions with Harry Sylvester were interesting and there was always something to learn. But there’s a saying, “man plans a...

Two-time NASCAR Cup Series champion Kyle Busch passed away on Thursday, May 21, at the age of 41. He had been hospitalised with a severe illness earlier on Thursday, just days before he was set to compete in the Coca-Cola 600 race at Charlotte. No cause of death has been disclosed. “On behalf of the Busch family, everyone at Richard Childress Racing and all of NASCAR, we are devastated to announce the sudden and tragic passing of Kyle Busch,” read the joint statement shared by the Busch family, NASCAR and Busch’s team Richard Childress Racing. “Our entire NASCAR family is heartbroken by the loss of Kyle Busch. A future Hall of Famer, Kyle was a rare talent, one who comes along once in a generation. He was fierce, he was passionate, he was immensely skilled and he cared deeply about the sport and fans. Throughout a career that spanned more than two decades, Kyle set records in national series wins, won championships at NASCAR’s highest level and fostered the next generation of drivers ...

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Tata will soon update its most affordable offering, the Tiago hatchback, a video of which was recently released. Set to launch on May 28, 2026, the facelifted Tiago ICE and Tiago EV have received some exterior design changes, including new lighting, fresh alloys and redesigned bumpers, but a few key details set them apart. 2026 Tata Tiago ICE vs EV: Exterior design Unlike the ICE model, the EV gets body-coloured grille and bumper Starting with the similarities, both the Tiago and Tiago EV feature sleeker LED headlights with eyebrow-shaped LED daytime running lamps (DRLs). They also house a camera module on the bumper, confirming a new 360-degree camera setup.   However, the grille is black on the ICE version but body-coloured on the EV. Even their bumpers differ. The combustion-powered Tiago has a black lower section with air intakes and sleek pixel-shaped fog lamps. The Tiago EV facelift, on the other hand, gets a body-coloured bumper with air intakes and vertical black trims ...

Thor Drake of See See Motorcycles has unveiled a new custom based on the Royal Enfield Shotgun 650 at The One Motorcycle Show in the US. Called the Reload 650, the motorcycle follows last year’s Shotgun 650-based custom showcased by Winston Yeh’s Rough Crafts at the same event in a similar colour scheme. However, this latest build takes a much more radical approach. Built by Thor Drake of See See Motorcycles Rear section and solo-seat setup are reminiscent of 1980s bikes Royal Enfield Reload 650 Based on the Royal Enfield Shotgun 650 The Reload 650 draws inspiration from 1980s AMA racing motorcycles, a fitting direction considering that Drake himself was the 1998 AMA 250GP road-racing national champion. In line with that theme, the motorcycle gets a period-correct rear section with a boxy tail unit and solo-seat setup reminiscent of superbikes from that era. The custom also features upgraded suspension, five-spoke Morris wheels and a 2-into-1 S&S race exhaust. The front end gets...

Jaguar Land Rover (JLR) and Stellantis have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU), seeking collaborative opportunities for car development in the US. The non-binding MoU signed by the brands aims to extract value by creating synergies in product and technology development, primarily focused on the US market. This is also the first time JLR has signed an MoU with any American automaker. This agreement is specifically for the US market JLR and Stellantis have both signed agreements with Tata The JLR and Stellantis MoU The MoU signed by JLR and Stellantis has to wait regulatory approvals before it can become legally binding. However, the “collaboration will play an important role in unlocking new opportunities. Working with Stellantis allows us to explore complementary capabilities in product and technology development that support our long ‑ term growth plans for the US market,” PB Balaji, Chief Executive Officer of JLR, said. The companies plan to explore ideas to develop produc...

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Mercedes-Benz has revealed the second-gen AMG GT 4-Door Coupe . Unlike its V8-powered predecessor, the 2026 AMG GT 4-Door Coupe switches to fully electric power in a bid to rival the Porsche Taycan and Audi e-tron GT . Below, we’ve outlined everything you need to know about the AMG division’s first ground-up EV. Which powertrain does the 2026 Mercedes-AMG GT 4-Door Coupe have? The new AMG GT 4-door Coupe is the first model to be underpinned by the 800V AMG.EA platform. It’s also the first series-production car to use axial-flux motors, and there are three of them. Axial-flux motors are much more compact and energy-dense than conventional radial-flux ones. In range-topping GT 63 guise, the car develops a colossal 1,169hp and 2,000Nm, whereas the lower-spec GT 55 makes 816hp and 1,801Nm. The motors are powered by a 106kWh battery pack with oil-cooled cells, and there’s support for up to 600kW DC charging. At that wattage, you can add 460km range in just 10 minutes, while a 10-80 perc...