Take a look at this gorgeous Italian 60s-inspired carbon roadster, powered by a US V8
Watch out, sports car fans, as there's a new automaker on the block: Italian company Automobili Mignatta has unveiled the Rina, its first car and a gorgeous roadster with 1960s styling and a modern V8 to power it.
The Rina chassis is made from a material called carbon monocoque, which a frame created from individual strands of carbon fiber that is most often seen in high-end road bikes, and which makes the car highly rigid while still being lightweight.
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With a weight of just 2,205 lbs, the Rina should move at quite a clip, though the exact details of the naturally aspirated 5.0 liter US V8 engine haven't been announced yet. It has rear-wheel drive, and an option for carbon ceramic brakes, with 19 inch wheels at the front and 20 inches at the rear.
The monocoque material is formed into a tub shape which integrates the driver and passenger seats, and the company says it has been optimized for both easy access to the passenger compartment and safety in the case of an accident. And the striking exterior recalls the classic Italian sports cars of the 60s, with its elongated headlights and open-top design.
The interior has similar classic styling to the exterior, and though it's all very neat you won't find any modern infotainment systems here. Instead, there's a stripped down but elegant analog look, with no digital screens or support for modern conveniences like CarPlay.
There are old-fashioned gauges with a speedometer in the center and a tachometer in an elliptical look, with aluminum and carbon materials in abundance. And to continue the interior materials theme, the seats are made of — what else — branded brown leather.
As you'd expect from a niche car hand built in Italy, the Rina doesn't come cheap, with just 30 units to be built each year and a reported price starting at $290,000.
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New York Times
28 minutes ago
- New York Times
F1 penalty points: How they work and why they're needed even though drivers have doubts
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The publication of these comes at a time when the FIA faces calls for more transparency and questions about the current officiating system. The specific penalty point system, in particular, has come under fire in recent years, with drivers arguing it needs to be changed. Infringements beyond just dangerous driving can result in penalty points, and they can add up quickly, putting some drivers in the past on the brink of a race ban, which Max Verstappen reached at the 2025 Spanish GP. 'I think it's a little bit harsh to see drivers getting race bans for trying to create action,' Haas' Ollie Bearman said. Penalty points are just one of the numerous punishments that the stewards can hand to the drivers for various infractions, ranging from some safety car and virtual safety car infringements to causing a collision with another driver. The system was introduced at the start of the 2014 season and a limit does exist. 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Penalties as a whole are left up to the discretion of the stewards, a rotating panel of volunteers from the motorsport world. Ahead of the 2025 Austrian GP weekend, the FIA made two documents public that are there to help stewards 'with fair and consistent decision making': the 2025 F1 Penalty Guidelines and the 2025 Driving Standard Guidelines. It was released ahead of the next FIA presidential election in December. The penalty guidelines document alone covers around 100 common infringements, as well as what penalties and penalty points should be given out depending on the situation occurring in practice, qualifying and the grand prix. A caveat to highlight is that some of the penalty points listed in the guidelines are 'the Maximum Number of Penalty Points depending upon the severity of the infringement,' and it is ultimately up to the stewards' discretion how many might actually be dished out. 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The Verge
28 minutes ago
- The Verge
Lamborghini Revuelto review: perfect harmony
With the dawning of a new era of hybridization in the automotive industry, more and more manufacturers are integrating electric propulsion into their lineups. Mild-hybrid systems are well-established, and more beneficial plug-in hybrid systems keep getting better and better. Even Lamborghini's participating in the latest wave of hybridization, which might come as a surprise to some. That's because this Italian company's outlandish supercars have never been regarded as thrifty, or ever trying to be thrifting. They've always returned old-truck-like fuel economy thanks to their ravenous 10- and 12-cylinder engines. And their innate ability to make those behind the wheel drive them as inefficiently as possible doesn't help, either. But by God, it's a reality in the 2025 Lamborghini Revuelto, the Italian brand's top V12-powered model. 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The specs are insane The Revuelto doesn't hold back in its pursuit of filling the cabin, and several city blocks in either direction, with glorious V12 music. It's endlessly entertaining regardless of mode and RPM, even lightly cruising around between 3,000 and 4,500 RPM. I'd never been so content having a ringing in my ears as I did filling up its 22.5-gallon fuel tank twice in one weekend. The shove back in the seat while ripping off the line is truly something special, too. I've had the honor and privilege of driving some thrilling hardware during my tenure in automotive journalism, but this takes the cake for all-out savagery. Upshifts seamlessly continue the effort forth towards felony offenses, and once it's time to slow down, some light gearbox whine and sharp puck noises make for buttery smooth, GT3 race car-like downshifts. It's all intoxicating. The Bolognese brand didn't just make the Revuelto faster and optionally thriftier. Active aerodynamics sitting atop the rear deck to help it cut through the air 66 percent more efficiently, as well as bleed off speed. Carbon fiber and aluminum comprise its chassis and bodywork, making it 10 percent lighter and 25 percent more rigid than its predecessor. Combined with a mix of adaptive dampers and double-wishbone independent suspension, its rectangular battery pack mounted in what used to be called the transmission tunnel, all-wheel drive, plus its mid-engine layout, this thing is a monster at corners. Conveniently, switching between damper and motor settings, as well as drive modes, was quite easy as they're all done on the steering wheel. I've never been a big fan of complication here, but Lamborghini's method works great. This thing is a monster at corners The steering itself possessed decent weight under cornering and sufficient communication, tack-sharp front-end response, and above all, the perfect ratio for high-performance driving. It was so nice being far tilted back in the Lambo's sport seat (this was very necessary, as headroom is at a high premium for tall folks), hands at nine and three, and getting into a daze-like rhythm of carving corners at breathtaking speed. While power delivery was merciless, it was quite easy to tame with smooth inputs and thoughtful downshifts, which weren't as frequent as other exotic fare thanks to the engine's sky-high redline. The end result was reaching well-traveled mountain top landmarks in a shockingly short amount of time. All while experiencing an immensely good ride quality in either its stiffer or softer damper mode, too—a testament to how much engineering went into this beast's chassis dynamics. The 2025 Lamborghini Revuelto is unlike anything I'd ever driven before. I may not have fit very well inside, the seat back may have been designed for someone a foot shorter than me, but goddamn was it totally worth it. Not only was the sensation of a screaming, 6.5-liter V12 behind me something beautifully unique, but behind all the drama was a chassis tremendously potent in its grip and athleticism. Then, its unparalleled mix of 12-cylinder ferocity plus hybridization created a harmoniously hilarious good time. It even returned admirable fuel economy numbers for a supercar, if I wanted… but I mostly didn't, as its consumption proved to be one of the wisest financial investments ever. Photography by Peter Nelson / The Verge
Yahoo
2 hours ago
- Yahoo
I drove the Renault 5 E-Tech. This chic French EV has one silly feature you'll never find on a Tesla.
The Renault 5 E-Tech is an electric reincarnation of a legendary, hugely popular French car. It's the European car of the year and has proved popular with buyers on the continent. I loved its quirky touches — it's the only car I've ever driven that comes with a baguette holder. It's the accessory you didn't know you needed: a baguette holder. Yes, the Renault 5 E-Tech has just such a feature in the passenger footwell — a gimmick, of course, but a brilliantly quirky touch nonetheless that reminds you you're driving a French voiture. I was going to include a picture of an empty baguette holder, but then I found this one from the car's launch showing Olympic gold medal-winning British diver Tom Daley with an actual baguette in the holder instead. You could also use the holder for a bunch of flowers, should you be so inclined. As you might have guessed from the E, the revived 5 is indeed electric, and there is no gas equivalent. It came about after now-departing CEO Luca de Meo rashly promised in a speech that Renault could make a new car in just 24 months — a very tight timeline in the auto world — and managed to do so only a few weeks past that target. The 5 made its debut way back in 1972 and was an instant hit, becoming the best-selling car in France for 14 years, with about 5.5 million vehicles sold during that period. While it was available in the US in the late 1970s, as Le Car, it didn't exactly bewitch American drivers. Souped-up versions appealed to boy racers, and a turbo model won the Monte Carlo Rally in 1981. The new 5 is Europe's car of the year 2025, beating the Alfa Romeo Junior, Citroën C3-ëC3, Cupra Terramar, Dacia Duster, Hyundai Inster and Kia EV3. It was back-to-back wins for Renault, after the Scenic — a small MPV — took the crown last year. To find out why the 5 won, I took a train on a very warm Friday afternoon earlier this month to the northern edge of London to pick up an R5. It had a 52kWh battery, 150 HP engine, and came in vibrant "Pop! Green." Buying this car would set you back a shade under £27,000 ($36,300), and has a decent WLTP range of 251 miles. This configuration represents the best value for money, according to What Car? The range starts at about £23,000. I hit the M40 motorway bound for the picturesque town of Stratford-upon-Avon, the birthplace of William Shakespeare. I was able to do the speed limit of 70 miles an hour for most of the journey and got there in about two hours. As I failed to connect my iPhone to the audio system before setting off, I tuned into the top 40 singles countdown on BBC Radio 1 —Sabrina Carpenter ended Alex Warren's 12-week run at the top of the chart, by the way. The audio system sounds superb — and was apparently created by Jean-Michel Jarre, the legendary French electronic music artist. For a small-ish EV, the 5 packs a punch, doing the speed limit effortlessly with plenty in reserve, had I wanted to risk a speeding fine. I can't say it's the quietest car I've ever driven, but I can't fault the ride and handling. As well as the baguette holder, there are plenty of charming/weird touches, such as the "5" battery indicator on the hood that lights up. It's part of the car's "modern lighting signature with cheeky welcome and goodbye sequences," as Renault puts it. The 5 is a lot of fun to drive — more than the quite boring MG I tested earlier this year. Not everyone may love its many quirks, such as the fabric on the dashboard and ceiling, and I found the four—yes, four—control stalks plus controls on the steering wheel to be quite bewildering. Maybe I'm just easily confused, but I still failed to master the automatic transmission before having to give the car back. And I still have no idea what the "Multi-Sense" button does. I had about 50% left and didn't want to risk running out of charge on the trip back to London, so I found a charging station in a fairly dismal retail park in Banbury. This was actually the first time I've charged an EV, and it took me a minute to work out the right plug (yes, I am a slow learner). Fortunately I didn't have to create an account to use the charger and could just tap my credit card to release the power. Getting the charge up to about 80% took about 15 minutes and cost just over £15 (about $20). Public chargers are not that cheap in the UK, and had the car been close to flat, it would've set me back about £50 (almost $70) to reach 100% — not too much less than a tank of gas. If you don't have a garage or driveway, the economics of an EV become considerably more complicated, which is one reason hybrids are becoming increasingly popular. In April, the 5 E-Tech was the UK's best-selling EV for retail buyers. In both April and May, it helped Renault take the top spot for private registrations of pure EVs. According to Renault, the car also leads its segment in Europe. Car Dealer magazine also made the 5 its car of the year, calling it the "right car at the right time." "The Renault 5 has both added some much-needed excitement to the lower end of the electric car market, and given Renault dealers some fire in their bellies. This small car is delivering a huge impact," says editor in chief James Baggott. I'm inclined to agree. And you know what's coming now, don't you, American readers? It appears Renault has no plans to bring the 5 E-Tech to the US. Désolé. Read the original article on Business Insider
