A Renewed Discovery

And it's called rap. Some people say hip hop is dead, but scattered among the lyrical corpses, I've found some of the good life in hip hop. The independent music group bringing life back to hip hop is called Atmosphere, and below embedded you can enjoy one of their pieces of lyrical genius.

A View On Perfection

I started to wonder if there really is such a thing as a complete car. We talk, often, about the world's fastest car, and the world's greenest car, and the world's most economical car. We bask in the magnificence of the Rolls-Royce's ride and we marvel at the extraordinary reliability of the Honda V-tech system - 15 million made and not a single warranty claim so far.

But is there a car that brings all of these things together, wraps them up in an easy-to-digest, value-for-money package and is sitting there on the shelves right now, waiting to be identified? Because if there is, you can forget the Phantom and the Veyron. It would have to be the greatest car in the world.

Of course, you may think it's impossible to combine, say, comfort and handling. You may argue the two things are mutually exclusive, and you may continue to argue this until you step into the new Audi R8 which will prove you wrong. Even without its magnetic suspension, it manages to handle and is so smooth you can run over a medium-sized man and not notice.

Word Of The Day

chanky

-A combination of chunky and skanky. In other words, nasty.

A Moment With Brandon Rosario

Mischief-Redefined

Lamborghini says it's the only maker of bad-boy supercars... and, on the evidence of the new Gallardo LP560, I'd have to agree.

Lamborghini has always been the cheeky upstart, the chest-wig chariot, the company that some would say put the bull into bullshit. Ferrari is better bred, the real thing, auto-aristocracy. You can see the appeal. The 5.2-litre V10 now features direct injection - iniezione diretta stratificata - which promotes more efficient combustion and allows for a lofty compression ratio of 12.5:1.

There's variable valve control on all four of the engine's camshafts, and despite the additional grunt and superior performance figures the LP560's emissions and fuel consumption show an 18 percent reduction compared to the previous model. Not enough to convert Ken Livingstone and his lackeys to the cause, but useful progress.

f nothing else, the LP560-4 is proof of how far Lambo has come in 10 years. The new car is faster, lighter, more efficient, and available in a seductive choice of colors. But for all the talk of becoming more socially acceptable, of greater refinement and elegance, and even of a desire to sell more cars to women, Lamborghini isn't quite waxing its hairy chest just yet.