For about a decade or so, Cessna proudly produced the world’s fastest civilian jet, the Citation X. Apparently the engineers at Cessna weren’t too happy when the Gulfstream G650 took that title a few years back, because they’ve been hard at work on an updated Citation X. Test pilots have completed the first flight of the plane, now known as the Citation Ten.

The new business jet is a little bigger, flies a bit further, carries a little more and runs a bit more efficiently than the Citation X. And according to Cessna’s preliminary specs, it can cruise a little bit faster as well. The Citation X’s official max cruise speed at altitude was 525 KTAS (604 MPH), while the Ten is expected to peg its max cruise at 527 KTAS.

Of course the big question is whether it will reclaim the fastest jet title from Gulfstream.

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Just when we were starting to think that there is nothing on television worth watching, we get our first look at Top Gear series 18. Beyond the jump is a 30 second teaser of the upcoming season, with a glimpse at more episodes filled with Jeremy Clarkson, James May and Richard Hammond.

The cars are there as well, including a very yellow Mercedes-Benz C63 AMG Coupe Black Series, NASCAR Top Gear style and some crazy man who jumps out of a plane with a powered wing attached to his back. Oh, and it seems Jezza attacks a trailer park in a Jaguar XJ. Interesting. Hit the jump to watch the action-packed promo for yourself.

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We all know sideways is slow but fun. Kicking the tail out and sending the rear tires blazing may take a heaping helping of skill, but it won’t win you any races, and has been proven times and times. That doesn’t make it any less awesome, however.

Icon has gone through the trouble of crafting yet another drift battle between motorcycle and car, and this time, two specially built Triumph Speed Triple bikes throw down against a 550-horsepower Ford Mustang Cobra piloted by a fictional officer of the law. The trio commence tearing through the rolling hills of mythical High Plains County before facing off.

Admittedly, the drift scene isn’t typically our bag of tricks, but this is one of the more entertaining videos we’ve seen in a good while. Between the bark of the FoMoCo V8 and the wail of the big-bore Triumph Triples, there’s enough audio glory on hand to keep us up at night. Throw in some excellent tunes and better videography and you’ve got us hooked. Watch the video all the way through to the end for some hair-raising outtakes, including at least one roll over. Hit the jump to check it out.

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To paraphrase the Almond Joy commercial, sometimes you feel like a tint, sometimes you don’t. You know, sometimes you just want to look abit gangster with all those black tints, but there’s always the Proton Waja that’s around the corner sneakily waiting for some free meals. There’s a degree of tint that’s allowed in our country, but although it’s only casually enforced, but it’s still illegal. In that case, something like this setup might come in handy: a Russian gent on installed two power windows in one door, and tinted one of them.

We don’t know how much alteration was required to make the setup work on this car (it appears to be a Lada/VAZ model); one commenter asked if the door’s support ribs had to be removed in order to fit the duplicate systems. Check it out for yourself in the video after the jump.

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Though we still can’t explain the technology completely to you with our low IQ, we’re becoming big fans of projection mapping, as can also be seen in this video that has also been featured on these pages.

From what we can gather, a Russian marketing team called Radugadesign was behind this production, and we can only assume that a lot of hard work and some sinister numbers crunching from a swath of powerful computers and graphics cards went into its making.

As to why this presentation existed in the first place, we have no idea… other than some vague notion that it was produced for Marlboro. Yes, we’re assuming it’s the cigarette company. What Marlboro has to do with an Audi sedan, we won’t even attempt to explain.

In any case, we suggest you see the results for yourself in the video after the break.

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As if the McLaren MP4-12C isn’t special enough already, a meaner-looking and more muscular version has surfaced: the MP4-12C HS, or High Sport.

Prepped by McLaren Special Operations, the MP4-12C HS wears an improved aero package that borrows heavily from the MP4-12C GT3 racer. The car has a new nose, rear bumper, enlarged vents, bigger diffuser and a modified rear wing, as well as new wheels. The aero tweaks result in better intercooler performance, and the boost from the twin turbos is dialed up to deliver an extra 75 horsepower over the standard car’s 592.

Only five examples will reportedly be built of this particular special edition. One has already gone to the crown prince of Bahrain and another to McLaren chairman Ron Dennis. Don’t expect to see one of these rounding a corner near you, but you can check it out in the video after the jump.

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Saying the Toyota 2000GT holds a special place in our hearts is akin to calling oxygen and water kind of important to our survival. The long-nose two-door was envisioned as a suitable competitor to the likes of the European sports cars rolling out Italy and the UK at the time, and in many ways, the Toyota was far superior.

Built at a time when Japan Inc. wasn’t exactly known for beautiful automobile designs, the 2000GT may have been influenced by European cars of its day, but it has stood the test of time as one of the country’s all-time design greats. The low-volume coupe is a piece of automotive legend, which is exactly why choosing to use a 2000GT as a platform for an electric conversion strikes us equal parts blasphemous and awesome. But that’s exactly what Japan’s Crazy Car Project has done.

The engineers behind the exercise ditched the standard 2.0-liter inline six-cylinder engine in favor of a 161-horsepower electric motor. A 35kWh lithium-ion battery provides the system with power, and the hood has been covered with photovoltaic cells to help keep the car going. Likewise, the back glass is covered in a transparent solar panel. All told, the system can propel the vehicle to around 124 mph.

Inside, the 2000GT SEV features a modernized interior with plenty of tech-laden gadgets. The vehicle was built in cooperation with Toyota and debuted at the 2012 Tokyo Auto Salon. Let’s hope they started with a real basket case, eh? Hit the jump to see a video of the car in action.

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Volkswagen has repeatedly told the world that it will soon be the largest automaker in terms of global sales volume. As it stands, it may already be number two. Car Advice reports that VW sold 8.16 million units in 2011, marking the first time it has eclipsed eight million global sales.. Toyota finished 2011 with 7.9 million sales, in part because of production disruptions resulting from the March earthquake in Japan.

That’s an incredible feat made all the more impressive by a 14.3-percent surge in sales compared to the auto giant’s 2010 totals. Volkswagen has plenty of reason to celebrate, but it’s not quite time to erect a statue in honor of the year’s sales success. General Motors hasn’t yet reported full-year sales, but analysts expect that the final tally could reach nine million units.

The German automaker should feel pretty good about its accomplishment, but there is more work to do if VW is to reach its lofty goal of 10 million units annually by 2018. If VW can continue to roll out waves of successful new products and global auto sales continue to climb, we’re not going to bet against them.

Not to be outdone by its competitors from Ingolstadt, Mercedes-Benz brought out its own vision of the future of interiors, complete with augmented reality, a fully customizable dashboard and gesture-based controls. There’s not a knob or button to be found…

The video after the jump demonstrates the Dynamic & Intuitive Control Experience (DICE) far better than words can convey, but the basic elements are these: a series of proximity sensors detect hand motions across the interior, allowing you to scroll, select and control a variety of functions. The highlights include the ability to get information about the businesses and sights around you, connect with friends nearby and control all the standard music and navigation functionality you’d expect in a high-end ride. But it’s not without its issues.

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There’s virtually no end to the list of automakers for which Pininfarina has designed over the years. But every once in a while, the stoic Italian studio works up a project just for itself. And this is one such occasion.

So what is the occasion, you ask? The 30th anniversary of the company’s Styling Centre, and the 10th anniversary of its Engineering Centre, which were founded in 1982 and 2002, respectively. The dual milestone is celebrated with the Cambiano concept car.

Named for the town in which Pininfarina is based, the Cambiano is an environmentally friendly sport sedan concept which the company will unveil at the upcoming Geneva Motor Show in March. That’s about all we have to go on at the moment, revealed on the studio’s Facebook page along with the teaser image above. Watch this space for more as the Swiss expo approaches.