London's controversial congestion charge suffered a setback last week, when Transport For London (TFL) admitted that the charges to enter central London have not improved traffic. Although TFL claimed that the £8 daily charge had produced a thirty percent improvement in congestion after its introduction in 2003, gains have been rolled back to the point where improvements have been reversed. The Automobile Association explains the conundrum to Courier Exchange, saying "The trouble is, by closing off side streets and short cuts and re-phasing traffic lights for pedestrians – all for laudable reasons – TfL has stifled traffic. Add to that pavement build-outs, re-engineered junctions, and you can see why congestion is rising." This likely comes as bad news to London Mayor Ken Livingstone who is currently running for re-election on a platform that includes raising the congestion charge to a whopping $50. 

In yet another salvo in the UK's ongoing war on speeders, the British government is considering installing motorway cameras which track the average speed of individual vehicles. The move is aimed at those sick, twisted individuals who slow down for cameras only to speed up again after they pass the eyes in the sky. The new cameras would track the speed of a vehicle, and then compute its average velocity between two cameras on a given stretch of road. Although simple in conception, the new approach would be far more effective in convincing Britain's drivers that the smallest violation of speed limits would be instantly caught and penalized. The cameras have already been deployed for testing at road construction sites, and apparently can't be fooled by lane changes and other "evasive techniques." 

According to The Scotsman, speed cameras fines fell by as much twenty percent in some areas of Scotland. In most parts of the country, the number of drivers being caught by cameras has dropped for the third year in a row. The director of the Scottish Safety Camera Program says he knows why: "There has been a fall in speeding fines detected by cameras because of better adherence to the speed limits by drivers." Math-savvy anti-camera groups claim crash rates diminish naturally over time "due a phenomenon known as regression to mean." Bruce Young of the Association of British Drivers says it's simpler than that. "Drivers are increasingly aware of both fixed and mobile camera locations." Neil Greig, the of the Institute of Advanced Motorists' Motoring Trust, says who cares? Speed cameras rock! "In our view the best safety cameras slow 100 percent of the traffic down and catch zero per cent of drivers." In any case, over the past two years, Scottish police [automatically] issued 114k fines, generating some £6.8m ($13.4m) for the Treasury.

What I wouldn't give to have £55,000 and be British. Holden's Mad Max boffins are giving British hoons the necessary weapon to head over to Germany and slay 'em some M5 and RS6. The big news is of course the big engine. Based on the 428-cubic-inch monster found stateside in the Z06, the W427 LS7 (built by Tom Walkinshaw Racing, hence the W) will put out at least 570 horsepower and 472 lb-ft of twist. We find the latter figure odd, as the Z06 comes standard with 475 lb-ft of the good stuff, but they did say, "at least." A 0-60 time of 4.5 seconds puts it in league with the AMG E63 and shaves a tenth of a second or so off an M5's sprint. Here comes the even better part — the VXR8 only comes with a 6-speed manual, in this case a Tremec TR6060. Screw flappy-paddles — we don't need 'em! Other mods include 20" wheels, an upgraded clutch, beefier limited slip-diff, monster six-piston brakes and a carbon fiber rear wing. And now to address the elephant in the living room. We have no idea if this might show up in America as the Pontiac G8 GXP. But mother of all that is holy do we hope so.

Porsche's battle against London's car-hating Mayor, Ken Livingstone, continues. PistonHeads reports that Porsche now claims a study by London's own government transit authority, Transport for London, shows congestion charging would increase greater London's CO2 levels by 182k tons by 2012. The argument is simple: if people can't go in straight lines through London, they'll be driving longer routes around the congestion zone. More driving, more CO2. The reduction of CO2 in central, congestion-charged London would be only 2200 tons– a tiny fraction compared to what happens in the surrounding areas. Meanwhile and in any case, Porsche is getting maximum PR benefit from the fight. Everytime someone reads about Porsche pouring millions of pounds into this legal struggle, they create David and Goliath associations. Sure, the greens share Livingston's anger. But they're not buying Porsches anyway.

Last month I posted that noted hoon, auto journo and buddy of mine Jack Baruth predicted that the GT-R would be a non-starter. Guess who was wrong, at least in Old Blighty? Right, not you. Motor Authority is authoritatively reporting that UK dealers placed orders for 700 GT-Rs in a 48-hour period once Nissan gave them the OK to do so. And they need more. Since Godzilla's seemingly nuclear-powered mill is hand-assembled, the factory boys in Japan can only build so many– just 1,000 examples per month as it turns out. That's 1,000 engines per month for the entire world. Meaning that Tokyo drifters, Google janitors, extended Emirates families and sicko European Anime fetishists all get their Skylines from that same factory. And how can we forget teenage Russian billionaires? Exactly, we can't. As UK drivers seem to get bent over and reamed routinely these days, the worst part is that even with the massive pre-order, British Gran Turismo 5 Prologue fanatics won't be getting their 480 hp (at least) monsters until March of 2009. And by March we mean May. And if Red Ken has his way, London-based potential GT-R owners will be charged £25 an hour for daydreaming about their future rides. In semi-related news, a little birdie informed me that Universal Nissan — our nation's largest Nissan dealer across the street from Universal Studios — will be charging "only" $40K on top of MSRP. Maybe there's hope for Jack?

Reuters reports London mayor Ken Livingstone, currently locked in a battle for re-election, is seeking to further alienate motorists from his campaign by saying that if re-elected he would institute a 20mph speed limit in all residential portions of London. Reuters reports that Livingstone's follow up to a proposed hike in congestion charges is justified as a life-saving measure. "I'll work with all London boroughs to designate all residential streets as 20 mph zones," said Livingstone in a public statement. "Nine out of ten pedestrians will be killed if hit by a car traveling at 40 mph," Livingstone asserts without citing anything in the way of sources, "but only one in forty will die if hit at 20 mph." And we thought the federal double nickel was bad in the 70's and 80's.

The Financial Times reports that the UK is following former colony Australia's lead in ordering a government investigation into its flagging auto manufacturing industry. Minister for Business and Enterprise Affairs Baroness Shriti Vadera has put former Ford man Richard Parry-Jones in charge of the 10-member committee charged with tackling the twin challenges of competition from low-cost manufacturing centers and emerging low-carbon technologies. The committee will make recommendations to the government, which has vowed to use "all levers of government, both regulatory and fiscal" to address Britain's moribund auto industry. Once home of a thriving auto industry, with dozens of brands and world-class products, Britain has seen nearly every one of its domestic brands swallowed up by companies from countries like Germany, the United States, India, China and Indonesia. Although nobody expects Britain's car industry to return to its 1960's zenith, here's hoping the Parry-Jones committee comes up with solutions which are a little more inventive than simply writing checks to Toyota.

UK policy makers are pulled in two directions. On one hand, they want to provide affordable "working class" housing in a country where development is neither cheap nor easy. On the other hand, they can't be seen to hurt a single leaf on a single tree, or warm the planet by a billionth of a degree (either Fahrenheit or Celsius). The answer: "eco-towns." The government is championing 10 new developments of 5k – 20k homes per town and no, I repeat no, traffic within their center. The speed limits on "key roads" leading into the new towns' [I'm guessing here] pay-and-display car parks (owner garages? fuhgeddaboutit) would be set at 15mph. The Daily Express reports that "driver pressure groups fear the proposals could herald reduced speed limits across the country, branding them 'an excuse to bully motorists.'" The UK's Housing Minister is unapologetic, to say the least. "“These developments will be exemplars for the rest of the world, not just the rest of the country," Caroline Flint asserted. "It’s critical that we get it right and I make no apology for setting the bar as high [or in this case low] as possible.” 

I'm sorry to keep harping-on about the U.K.'s draconian anti-motorist policies, but I'm gob-smacked by the country's endless parade of car-related taxes, fines and regulations. Pistonheads reports that the island nation's government has raised the cost of a London parking ticket to, well, you saw the headline. Outside the capital city, a parking ticket will cost a hapless parking scofflaw "just" £70. Folks, that's for overstaying a parking meter. The fines are higher for more serious offenses, such as parking on a double yellow line. And if you don't pay straightaway… It gets worse. The Peterborough Evening Telegraph reports that new laws transform parking attendants (a.k.a. meter maids) into "civil enforcement officers." These new "officers" can use handheld numberplate recognition systems to identify persistent fine dodgers and call in the clampers. And worse. They'll be able to post penalties to offenders who try to drive away before a ticket can be issued. And worse. "The law will also give local authorities the ability to fine drivers spotted flouting parking rules on CCTV." In other words, they don't have to actually put a ticket on your car. Looks like Orwell was off by 24 years.

Pity the poor U.K. motorist. On top of new "gas guzzler" showroom taxes, higher sky-high taxes on gas and diesel, 17.5 percent VAT on everything car-related (soon to include car insurance), increased CO2-based London congestion charging, the introduction of CO2-based parking space taxes and the ongoing prospect of road pricing (and all the other taxes), Heathrow Airport is considering imposing a £20 "drop off" fee for passengers arriving by car. Oh, and a £3 congestion charge for trucks using roads around the airport– including the M4. According to The Evening Standard, The British Airports Authority's (BAA) new taxes charges would raise £137m a year, which they'd use to pay for the costs of administering the scheme. Just kidding (kind of). BAA would use the money to pay for the airport's expansion and meet the Government's stipulation that Heathrow's growth should not result in an increase in nitrogen dioxide (NO2) levels. Meanwhile, environmentalists are giving British Airways shit [at the bottom of the same article] for flying three jets into LHR without a single passenger on board. Oy.

Yesterday, we told you about the U.K.’s fleets of unmarked, speed camera-equipped vans (a.k.a. Talivans); including one they’ve pimped-out in the name of "youth education." Concurrent with our news, Britain’s Motorcycle News (MCN) reports that the North Wales police have installed a speed camera in a horse trailer. The heddlu are refusing to deny reports it has converted said horse box into a Welsh speeder's most recent worst nightmare “We never comment on speculation about police enforcement,” says a police spokesperson, commenting on speculation about police enforcement. “That’s all the comment we’re making.” The silence and stealth should come as no surprise. We've heard of speed cameras hidden in rubbish bins (trash containers). The U.K.s anti-speeding (pro-revenue collection?) jihad continues.

Faced with a decision between a tax grab (a.k.a. closing a loophole) and environmentally-oriented political correctness, the UK government decided to take the money and run. Business Car (BC) reports that the UK's Chancellor of the Exchequer will shit can [paraphrasing] the current biofuel duty differential, That's the bit of the budget that subsidises E85 by up to 20p per litre. BC has no doubts about the decision's impact on the darling of America's corn growers, calling it "the death knell for E85 biofuel as a viable fuel in the UK." Minister Darling (true story) threw the bio-fuel boys a bone, creating the Renewable Transport Fuel Obligation. The new boondoggle calls for all road transport fuels to contain 5.75 percent biofuel by 2010, well behind America's corn-fed 10 percent mandate.

Much to the sorrow of Jeremy Clarkson, the English automobile manufacturing industry is limited to small firms producing limited volume, home grown sports cars. Firms like Caterham, Noble, Morgan (wood you in a car?), Ariel and [the Emperor's new] Bristol. Caterham continues to make the 40-year-old 7 roadster– a great summer Sunday car (for the South of France). And Ariel Atom roadster is a kick in the proverbial pants. Which just became a big ass boot. Both Caterham and Atom are now offering their maniacal machines with a eight cylinder engine: a 2.4-liter V8, supercharging its way to a staggering 500 horsepower, breaching the mythical 1000 bhp/ton ratio. (Caterham plans to offer a naturally-aspirated 380 horsepower model, and it's a safe bet Ariel would do the same if you asked nicely and paid them generously.) Caterham's claims the front-engined RS V8 will teleport customers to sixty in under three seconds. That'll do pig, that'll do.

Your humble correspondent lived in Bath, UK for some four years. The gorgeous Georgian city was home to a huge population of heroin addicts, panhandlers and heroin-addicted panhandlers. Overwhelmed, the local police adopted a 90 percent tolerance policy. So it's no surprise to this journalist that the BBC reports that members of this army of unemployment collectors have organized (if that's the right word) a protection racket, whereby motorists must pay a "donation" or risk having their cars vandalized by their erstwhile guardians. "Motorist Stewart Barratt said: 'I've only refused [to pay] once and I came back to my car and it was damaged, £385 it cost me to put it right. My car had been urinated over, wing mirrors were broken and the wiper blades back and front were ripped off.'" In true "leave it to us" style, the local constabulary's official response is long on qualifications, short on reassurance and stingy with action. A statement from Avon and Somerset Police said: "We are aware of one incident where a motorist was asked for money before somebody urinated on his car. No other incidents have been reported recently."