Hammond, Clarkson and May will play the role of The Three Kings in the Top Gear episode dedicated to this year’s Christmas. The three hosts of the famous TV show are already shooting in Middle East.

The Top Gear team prepares a huge surprise to their fans, now that the Winter Holidays are near. The heroes of the TV show, James May, Jeremy Clarkson and Richard Hammond are shooting a new episode in the Middle East, trying to remake the route of the Magi.

BBC confirmed the producers’ intention to shoot a Christmas episode called “In search of The Baby Jesus.” Although the Bible doesn’t give too many details about the route of the Three Kings, the only information is that they were coming from East, so the producers have tried to remake the route as close as possible.

So, Clarkson, May and Hammond will start from Irak, along Eufrat river, to Syria and then Jordan, for then to stop in Israel, to find Bethlehem. Of course, we will only see the final route when the show will be on the screens of our TV sets, with this special episode dedicated to the holidays.

In order to drive around the sensible-enough area, the hosts of the most popular automotive TV show in the world, will have three famous roadster, that broke a lot of hearts some years ago. We are talking about Fiat Barchetta, Mazda MX-5 and BMW Z3.

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Mazda is currently working on a coupe, called RX-9, which will take the chassis of the future RX-5 and the rotary engine RENESIS 16X, willing to offer more than 300 HP.

Mazda is currently working to a new sporty model, positioned above the popular MX-5.From the first information it seems that the Japanese develop a descendant of the old RX-7, removed from production in 2002.

The coupe, which will take place of RX-8, will be developed on a modified chassis of the future MX-5, which will allow it to weigh about 2756 pounds, rather than for a car that could have over 300 HP.

Under the hood will be the new generation rotary engine 16X RENESIS, which the Mazda engineers are currently working. The unit will be aided by a super charge system, able to improve the resources and the performance.

Currently Mazda weigh two propulsion solutions for the future coupe, which will probably be called RX9. It is about a conventional configuration, on gasoline and a hydrogen one, which would not have to worry about emission rules.

Whichever the chosen solution, Mazda does not plan to abandon the rotating configuration, which brought him the victory at Le Mans in 1991. We waiting to see the real name of the future Mazda coupe.

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Present at Paris Auto Show 2010, the Kia designer said that he would like a light sport model, able to position itself as a rival of the current Mazda MX-5.

The success that Mazda MX-5 roadster enjoyed from the first generation to date could serve as an example and inspiration source for Kia, which is flirting with the idea of such a model.

Peter Schreyer, the man who left Audi to draw the Korean automaker models, vehemently denied the rumors from Geneva in this spring, but his vision seems to have changed. At Paris Auto Show 2010, where Kia has revealed Kia Pop concept and Kia Optima model, Schreyer said that he can not answer to questions about a possible roadster model.

However he said that: “Such a model would be important for Kia. MX-5 has done much for Mazda. At present there are many dedicated fan clubs and enthusiastic customers, which are part of Mazda’s history. Any automaker wants this.”

Schreyer said that he wants to give birth to such a model, which could be seriously inspired by the MX-5 Japanese rival. Kia has set out its vision of this segment at Frankfurt Auto Show in 2007, when presented the Kee concept.

Unofficial sources talked in the past about the possibility of using a shorter platform, borrow from Genesis Coupe, to give birth to a rear wheel drive model. The release date is expected around the middle of 2013.

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According to information from Audi, the future R4 will be classified under TT in the German automaker range and will rival roadsters like Mazda MX-5.

The future Audi R4 could debut in 2013 and will fight in the segment launched by Mazda MX-5. It will be equipped with small but powerful engines, like a 1.4-liter TSi egine that will develops 180 HP. The entry-level version price is announced at $27,000, which would bring him directly to the Japanese model that revolutionized the roadsters segment in the debut moment. Also, the new R4 would give to the Germans an additional share market in a market segment that have not worked so far.

The design of this model will be inspired by the concept of e-tron presented last year at the Detroit Auto Show. Subsequently, the guys from Audi will offer an electric version of R4, which will be equipped with two engines that will provide a total of 204 HP. The acceleration from 0-60 mph will be achieved in less than six seconds. The R4 version performance have not yet been disclosed, and any performance version of this model has not been announced yet.

In the event of a performance version of R4, the guys from Audi could attract a market segment left open after the departure of Honda S2000. The model provided a 240 HP from a 1998 cc aspirated engine and offer outstanding dynamic performance. The Japanese roadster was taken out of production and will not receive a replacement in the near future, and the Germans from Audi would have this chance to grab market share before the rivals from BMW and Mercedes to develop a competitor on the roadsters compact premium segment.

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