Supercars in lift-off mode

Sprint times of approximately five seconds were once the benchmark for go-fast cars. Not anymore, not when a high-performance flyer from mainstream carmaker Nissan can scoot from a standing create to 100km/h in a claimed three seconds.

But the Nissan GT-R is not the quickest off the blocks - that title has been claim by Lamborghini's latest supercar, codenamed LP837.

The all-wheel-drive substitute for the Murcielago launched itself through to 100km/h in a claimed 2.9 seconds, one tenth of a second faster than the GT-R.

Nissan was testing the 2011 GT-R before Christmas at the Sendai Highland Raceway, in Japan. Its engineers said the time would have been even quicker had the road temperature been elevated than the 13C.

Witnessed by a group of Japanese journalists and recorded by a V-Box measure device, the standard production R35 model GT-R took just 3.046 seconds to reach 100km/h from a reputation start on the circuit's main straight.

Prince Charles 'insisted on Rolls Royce' for night car was attacked

Prince Charles insisted that he and the Duchess of Cornwall concentrate the Royal Variety performance the evening their car was attacked despite warnings from his defense team about their safety, it has been reported.

The Prince also insisted on travelling in the high-visibility Rolls Royce Phantom rather than a lower-profile Jaguar, the Daily Mail claim.

The Jaguar would have made the convoy more supple as it had a better turning circle and could have used side roads, a basis said.

The revelation came as disturbing footage of the moment a mob descended on a car carrying the Prince of Wales and Duchess of Cornwall shows that a woman in her twenties was one of the major protagonists.

Ford Focus electric car debuts at electronics show, not car show

We've long suspected that Ford Motor is so profound into electronics that it's not so much manufacturing cars as it is making transportation apps. The newest word about the Ford Focus electric car does nothing to dissuade us.

Ford says it will unveil the battery-power Focus, going into production belatedly this year, on Friday at the big Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, not at the Detroit auto demonstrates in two weeks.

The Detroit show, formally the North American International Auto Show, is the most prestigious car show in the U.S. because it gets the most support from automakers and draws the biggest media throng. Of course, that means automakers have to work oddball angles to stand out amid the clamor at the NAIAS. Using the CES is Ford's answer.

Ford, having learned the art of milking better than a dairy planter, says the CES nugget is only a taunt, and more info about the Focus EV is to come. The Focus EV is based on the not-yet-launched 2012 gasoline Focus little car, meaning that Ford didn't have to create an inimitable (read expen$ive) electric-car chassis.

Focus EV is predictable to have a battery range of about 100 miles. That's the same as the Nissan Leaf electric that went on sale final month.