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Sunday sees the new year’s Formula 1 season in with the first race taking place in Bahrain. Here’s the complete schedule for 2010:

Porsche has come up with a very interesting slant on a hybrid vehicle: the Porsche 918 Spyder is a concept car that carries both a V8 engine and two electric motors, one for each axle.

The V8 does quite nicely, providing 500 horses. But coupled with the electrickery, an additional 200 horsepower is added. That propels the Spyder from 0 to 100 in less than 3.5 seconds.

Top speed is somewhere around 260km/h. Since it’s a hybrid, fuel consumption and emissions are kept to a minimum. Road noise will be the next optimization, I’m sure…

Last night, we checked out the now institutionalized Top Gear Live show at the Northgate Dome. This is my third visit, and I must say that the show is somewhat formulaic. Instead of Hammond, Clarkson had Captain Slow in tow, as well as local petrolhead wannabe Martinengo.

Let’s say my five year old enjoyed the show immensely. Here are some photos of the performance and the display area, starting with the interior of the Nissan GT-R.

The Koenigsegg.

Clarkson‘s here. And so is Martinengo…

Car on fire.

James May on his front-wheel drive motorbike. The front wheels are driven by two weed eaters.

James May inside the cage of death with a motorbike. Later on, four motorbikes would be whizzing round and round. Minus May, of course.

Clarkson riding a model jet engine powered bicycle.

Car display. Better than in years gone by. This time, a McLaren Mercedes made it to our shores.

A crowd favourite. Car football.

Finally. The Stig.

The replacement schedule for existing number plates that cars bear in the Gauteng Provice has been published, along with the specification of the new number plates. Nothing much changes in the way the number plates look – the familiar blue on white design with the GP logo stays, though the number format changes to accommodate roughly 200 million registrations. The existing three letter, three digit scheme accommodated only 9 million variations. Differences to the letter colouring occur for governmental vehicles (red), those with personalized plates (green) and vehicles used for public transport (black).

In addition to the change in the letter/number sequence, the new plates will be metallic and will include a 2D barcode as well as an RFID chip. The purpose of the RFID chip is touted as a means of preventing illegally obtained plates from being attached to a vehicle. In my opinion, this is a secondary reason: toll roads and chip readers (already installed on the general highway system surrounding Johannesburg) will be able to utilize information from the RFID chip to charge for road usage and of course to ensure fines for speeding are allocated correctly.

It is likely that the cost of operating a vehicle on the highways of Johannesburg and surrounds will become a very expensive affair in future, not least of which is the requirement of having old number plates replaced at a cost to the vehicle owner in line with specified expiration dates.

The new plates will have a validity period of five years, after which they will have to be renewed once again.

In a clear bid to attack the current set of favourite utility vehicles in the local market, Volkswagen‘s commercial vehicle division has developed a pickup truck that will soon be available for purchase. The Amarok is a rather attractive one Tonner, very similar to the Toyota Hilux which is the current market leader in its segment.

Available in both rear-wheel drive and four-wheel drive variants, the Amarok will initially be available only as a double cab and later as a single cab vehicle. Volkswagen claims the car is as rugged as its Japanese counterparts and will be more than capable of hauling more than a ton on its loading bay and two tons in tow.

Interior appointments are on par with current Volkswagen vehicles and a variety of power plants and options will be available at the time of launch.

There is no pricing available yet and no information regarding the standard options the base vehicle will be delivered with. Volkswagen generally sells cars at a slight premium and makes a fair number of appointments available only as a list of options carrying a hefty price tag. Then there’s the question of whether or not one would really wish a load of 500 bricks to be dumped on the back of a VW… it’s not a question of capability, simply one of preconceived notions. Somehow, something like is just more natural when driving a Toyota…

The Citi Golf has been discontinued.

Let’s see whether Volkswagen is able to provide a new people’s car.

For times when Batman simply has to fit his Batmobile into a narrow parking space, the new addition to the Batcave garage may prove handy. Designed by George Barris, the designer of the iconic 1960′s movie Batmobile, the BatSmart is a modern take on a classic theme.

Based on the popular Smart, the BatSmart features a make-believe turbine and rocket launchers.The interior has been customized to appear more Bat-like and a suitable body kit has been applied.

Maybe enough to scare fellow road users at first glance, the BatSmart has a good chance of being run over by a Hummer…

More pictures of this unique vehicle can be seen here.

Too much of the vino would probably be a bad idea in combination with the Veritas RSIII. A supercar of which only thirty-odd will be produced, it’s a roadster with a difference.

Since the first BMW Veritas won a number of races in 1949, Vermot AG produces their handmade racers in the pits at the Nürburgring.

Aggressive styling is complemented by some brute force from the 5l, V10 powerplant: just over 500HP propel the RSIII from zero to 100km/h in three seconds. Top speed is 360km/h.

The interior trimmings are fairly basic: a steering wheel, gearshift and leather seats. What more does one need in a fast car?

The Toyota FT-86 is a concept car that may well make it to the production line. Styled and designed as a collaborative effort between Toyota and Subaru, the FT-86 is somewhat smaller than a Nissan 370Z, though it looks quite a bit larger in the photos.

The Toyota FT-86 is powered by a 2.0l engine that powers the rear wheels. A six speed gearbox should ensure a speed above the legal speed limit is reached without effort.

Having established yet another money-spinner, Clarkson and his intrepid crew of car nuts will once again be visiting South Africa. The 2010 Top Gear Live show is scheduled for early February 2010 and will take place at the Northgate Dome in Johannesburg.

The official website should provide more details as the event draws nearer. The 2009 show provided somewhat better entertainment value than the one I attended previously.