Bits of tank tape dangle off it where engineers have fashioned crude concealments of its final appearance. Compared to normal press cars, which have been prepped, polished and preened to within an inch of their lives, it’s a mess.

Not that I or its driver, Aston Martin chief engineer Matt Becker, could care less. One minute ago that ‘Aston Martin’ read ‘Lotus’ because that’s what my fingers type automatically whenever Becker is about. We first met when he took me for another passenger ride, that time in an original Elise 23 years ago. And whatever the travails faced by Lotus since them, praise for the ride and handling of its cars has continued unstinted and for that we largely have Becker to thank.

It is well known that the DBS is the replacement for the Vanquish, but that doesn’t mean Becker is just adopting a ‘same but more so’ approach to the car: “The positioning of the DBS is more sporting and extreme than was the Vanquish and I don’t just mean the performance, although that is in a completely different league. Even the Vanquish S, which was a far better car than the Vanquish, was much closer to the DB9 than the DBS is to the DB11. This car has to perform as a supercar GT, so it needs to sit between a pure GT like the DB11 and an out-and-out sports car like the Vantage.”

Becker then starts talking ride frequencies in a language that might as well be Esperanto before putting it terms we can all understand: “During cornering, the DB11 has 3 degrees of roll per ‘g’, the DBS 2.6 degrees and the Vantage 2.1 degrees.”

That is as good a statistical example of where the car has been pitched as any you’ll find.

However, there is nothing in the middle about the powertrain. The truth is that the 5.2-litre V12 motor’s 715bhp is achieved with no hardware modification at all. It was always able to produce than much, but simply held back to 600bhp for the DB11 by software. “But it’s not really about the power,” says Becker, “when you drive it, it’s all about the torque.”

Indeed, for while the power has been raised by 115bhp over the DB11, there’s almost 150lb ft of additional torque, a total of 663lb ft at just 1800rpm. “We needed an all-new gearbox to handle that,” says Becker and the car duly got one, an eight- speed ZF 96HP unit. But even that is at its torque handling limit in the DBS, so much so that torque has to held back to DB11 values in first and second gears.

Dubai, UAE: The future looks extremely exciting for the Middle East's automotive aftermarket, which is poised on the brink of transformational change thanks to the power of new technological changes, that have the power to revolutionise the industry and provide a big boost in business, a recent survey has revealed.  

A market survey of 1,308 auto aftermarket professionals showed that 66 percent of respondents expressed optimism in the future of the regional auto aftermarket, while 37 percent believed that new technologies, predominantly related to electric, hybrid, and autonomous mobility, will open up considerable new business opportunities in the region.

The survey, answered by auto aftermarket distributors, manufacturers, importers and exporters, wholesalers, retailers, consultants and service providers, further revealed that 42 percent of respondents had already received customer requests for products and services related to the non-petrol or diesel powered internal combustion engines.

Nearly half of the respondents (46 percent), also believed there’ll be notable changes in the regional auto aftermarket within the next five years due to technology changes, with electric vehicle (47 percent of respondents) and hybrid vehicle (32 percent) technology presenting the main challenge to diesel and petrol technology. 

The extensive survey was conducted ahead of Automechanika Dubai 2018, the Middle East and Africa’s largest international trade fair for the auto services industry.  The full report and findings was revealed on the first day of the showpiece event, which was held in the first week of May at  the Dubai International Convention and Exhibition Centre.

Ahmed Pauwels, CEO of Automechanika Dubai’s organiser Messe Frankfurt Middle East, which also conducted the survey, said: “The Middle East Automotive Aftermarket Outlook survey was conducted to ascertain the current situation in the regional aftermarket, where it’s headed, and where the potential opportunities are in the Middle East. 

“It was answered by industry professionals, senior decision makers, thought leaders and government representativesthat are involved in the Middle East automotive aftermarket on a daily basis and that are also regular visitors to Automechanika Dubai.”

The Middle East Automotive Aftermarket Outlook survey findings will be presented at Automechanika Dubai’s new Innovation Zone, a dedicated feature at the centre of the exhibition floor that provides fresh insights into new technologies and products that are shaping the future of the regional automotive aftermarket. 

The Innovation Zone is an extension of Automechanika Dubai’s popular Automechanika Academy programme, a three-day series of value added conferences, workshops, and business networking events.  

Pauwels added: “There’re rapid changes the auto industry as a whole is facing, fuelled by new technologies and ever evolving innovations.  We see these changes as a major opportunity for the aftermarket, and with this in mind, we’re delighted to extend our Automechanika Academy programme to include the Innovation Zone.”

Tellingly, 44 percent of respondents of the survey believed there’d be fully autonomous vehicles on Middle East roads within the next five years, underlining the rapid transformation regional governments, particularly in the UAE, are gearing towards in the coming years. 

Respondents were also asked for their thoughts on which key product groups would face the most disruption in the Middle East in the coming years, these comprising Parts & Components; Electronics & Systems; Accessories & Customizing; Repair & Maintenance; Car Wash, Care & Reconditioning; and Tyres & Batteries.

While the majority of respondents (54 percent) felt their companies were ready for the changes ahead, 60 percent said Parts & Components would face the most disruption in the next few years, followed by Repair & Maintenance (36 percent) Electronics & Systems (35percent) Accessories & Customizing (26 percent), Tyres & Batteries (25 percent), and Car Wash, Care & Reconditioning (14 percent).

Audi is readying the first performance version of its new Q8 SUV, the SQ8, for launch this December.

The SQ8 will use a 429bhp 4.0-litre V8 diesel engine, shared with the SQ7, instead of the hybrid V6 powertrain that Audi hinted at rather than the Q8 Sport Concept of 2017.

Autocar understands this set-up was chosen because demand for diesel power in this sector is still strong, despite the fuel type's overall decline in recent months. However, a 3.0 TFSI V6 version of the SQ8 will be offered in some markets where demand for hot petrol SUVs is higher, such as the US.

The Q8 Sport Concept did at least provide an insight into the performance Audi expects from its first performance Q8. The concept was claimed to produce 469bhp and 516lb ft, enabling a claimed 0-62mph time of 4.7sec and a top speed of 171mph. The diesel-powered SQ8's small deficit should provide it with performance just shy of that.

The SQ8 looks set to get a quad-exit exhaust system and larger-diameter wheels than the standard Q8. It will use height adjustable air suspension, tuned to offer enhanced body control, and could come with active anti-roll bars powered by the car's 48V electronic architecture.

This set-up will also be employed by the only Q8 model to overtake the SQ8, the RSQ8, which is due next year with a circa-670bhp hybrid V8 powertrain that's also used in the Porsche Panamera Turbo S E-Hybrid.

When sales for the new Q8 kick off later this summer, prices will start from around £65,000. The SQ8 could therefore start from close to £80,000, leaving space for the RSQ8 to begin from just under £100,000, aligning it with the BMW X6 M.

The arrival of the Q8 range grows Audi's SUV range to five models. Currently, it features the Q2, Q3, Q5 and Q7. It could one day gain a Q9, which Autocar understands is under consideration as a future Range Rover rival.

As the threat of a trade war with a number of auto-producing nations looms, interest groups are sounding the alarm that U.S. employees and consumers would be hurt first and foremost if the threatened 20 or 25 percent tariffs go into effect. Specifically, dealer groups are warning that up to 2 million new-vehicle sales could be lost as prices for some vehicles skyrocket, inevitably slowing down dealership traffic and forcing layoffs of dealership staff, according to Automotive News.

As 9,600 import-branded dealerships in the U.S. employ 577,000 workers, the loss of business and layoffs would be massive by any measure.

The most vulnerable automakers would be the ones that do not have significant U.S. assembly lines. Mercedes-Benz, Volkswagen and BMW, which produce most of their SUVs and crossovers in the U.S. for the North American market, would be protected to some degree when it comes to any tariff scenario. Overall, German automakers produce just over half the cars they sell in the U.S. locally: 657,000 vehicles were exported from Germany to the U.S. last year, Reuters reported, compared with 804,000 that were produced here. Out of the German automakers, it would be Audi and Porsche facing the brunt of the tariffs since they don't have U.S. factories, while Mercedes-Benz and BMW would stand to see half of their lineups hit by tariffs -- sedans tend to be produced overseas.

But what about Japanese automakers?

We test 60-0 mph panic stops because it's an important safety criteria. Cars that can stop in a shorter distance are less likely to rear-end the car ahead. In cases where a crash is inevitable, they can bleed off more speed before contact is made. Besides the brakes themselves, three criteria affect braking performance: the grip available from the tires, the surface friction and quality of the road, and the proficiency of the antilock brake system (ABS).

Our initial 2017 Tesla Model 3 full-ABS panic-stop measurement of 133 feet was indeed below average. But it didn't seem outrageous, especially given the characteristics of the standard 18-inch tires. They're hard (with a treadwear rating of 500), they run at an abnormally high tire pressure (45 psi), and their 235 mm tread width isn't generous considering the car's 3,884 pounds of weight. It all seemed to fit, but that was before Consumer Reports reported a 60-0 mph stopping distance of 152 feet, nearly 20 feet longer than ours.

Location is the main difference between our tests. Our Southern California track is smooth and well cared for. Consumer Reports' test track is in Connecticut, where there's real winter. It isn't open to the public, but I'm imagining it has a suitably grippy surface that is looked after. But with a certain amount of unevenness and maybe even a few cracks brought about by the rigors of winter, CR's has the inevitable surface irregularities we know our track doesn't have.

I didn't suspect ABS calibration after our test because, frankly, that's hard to screw up. And the obvious safety implication involved means that ABS calibrations are typically optimized to the nth degree before a car goes on sale. But ABS tuning nevertheless seemed more likely after Consumer Reports announced its alarming figures, especially considering my suspicions about its track. Tesla removed any remaining doubt by announcing the imminent release of a new over-the-air firmware update that it said would address the issue.

Our long-term 2018 Toyota Camry rolled an additional 1,381 miles onto its odometer in May, helped by a sojourn to Arizona and back to Los Angeles. This was in addition to its usual duties of ferrying editors and their families around the greater metropolitan Los Angeles area.

In fact, this kind of local use has dominated the Camry's time with us. For all its merits, this sedan has eluded frequent use as a road-tripper. Meeting our 20,000-mile bogey for the year will require driving it some 2,400 miles each month from now through September. That level of sustained long drives is not likely to happen.

We added 1,159 miles to our 2018 Toyota Camry in April and pushed it beyond the 10,000-mile threshold. That said, we'll have to pick up the pace and take full advantage of the upcoming summer road-trip season if we hope to total 20,000 miles by its year anniversary at the end of September.

By all rights the Camry should have accumulated more miles this month, but out of necessity it spent much of its time in the suburbs running here and there. It never got much of a chance to stretch its legs on any sort of road trip.

Our 2018 Toyota Camry drove through March anonymously. It came and went without much notice, which, to be honest, is probably what most Camrys do. Thankfully we have nothing much to report. Unless, of course, you have to write an update like I do. That said, we did have a tropical encounter with one of our Camry's cousins and we found a nice little detail about the trunk. Hey, no one said Camrys need to be exciting.