* Mercruiser Bravo Gm 454 7.4l Engine Coupler Lc-5503-1 on 2040-parts.com

Buick Encore gets innovative all-wheel drive system

Buick is touting the Active On-Demand all-wheel drive system in the new Encore SUV. Instead of a traditional AWD system that directs torque to wheels only when slip is detected, the Buick system sends motive force to the rear on every launch. Then, if no slip is detected, a computer disengages torque to the clutch, returning the car to front wheel drive.

Tesla sues Top Gear. Oh, dear. +video

Jeremy, Tesla and Lotus Just over two years ago Top Gear took a Tesla Roadster to Dunsfold and played. And Tesla got the arse because Top Gear ‘staged’ the Tesla running out of juice. Jeremy Clarkson subsequently defended what they did – pushing the Tesla in to a garage – to demonstrate the biggest drawbacks of an electric car, like lousy range and refuelling measured in hours rather than minutes.

India turns the screw on luxury car makers

Land Rover will still be sending CKD to India despite the rise in import duty India’s economy is growing almost exponentially, as a result of which it has a big, rising middle-class with much the same aspirations as the middle-class in the West. Those aspirations include the accumulation of status symbols considered worthy of representing their success and new wealth, none more so than a good set of wheels. So it’s no surprise that the mainstream luxury car makers – Jaguar, Land Rover, Mercedes, Audi and BMW – are ready, willing and able to provide exactly what India’s middles classes are looking for.