95 Yamaha Kodiak 400 Front Rack on 2040-parts.com

Lexus IS 300h promises unrivalled ownership costs

The new Lexus IS - launched at Detroit in January and costing from £26,495 for the IS 250 in the UK – actually offers ownership costs that eclipse diesel offerings from the likes of Jaguar, BMW, Audi and Mercedes, say Lexus. Despite the logical assumption that the complex hybrid powerplant in the IS 300h would cost more to maintain, Lexus say the opposite is true. Because it has no clutch and the starter motor and alternator are integrated they require no servicing or replacement and Lexus has fitted a timing chain instead of a timing belt, so it won’t need regular replacement either.

Vauxhall Astra GTC revealed: Prices & Models

Vauxhall Astra GTC - looks good Vauxhall has certainly got some mileage out of the launch of the 2012 Vauxhall Astra GTC. As has Opel for the launch of their differently badge version of GM’s Euro-hot-hatch, designed to take on the likes of the VW Scircoco. Since the Astra GTC was revealed at Paris last year we’ve had the expected dance of the seven alloys as Vauxhall reveals a bit more with each bit of news.

Bentley SUV confirmed? Maybe

Bentley are planning an SUV There was a time, not too long ago, when there was a reasonable expectation that most car makers would, at some point, deliver up an SUV. Yes, there was even talk of a Bentley SUV. But the global meltdown and the global-warmists seemed to have put paid to the concept of an off-road luxury everything, so we all forgot about the SUV plans gathering dust in every car designer’s cupboard.