Germany to tax foreign drivers

GERMANY plans to introduce a car toll that seeks to make money from the millions of foreigners who drive through the country every year, the transport minister said today. Germany has a truck toll but, unlike many European countries, no car toll. Alexander Dobrindt said it wasn't fair that foreign drivers do not contribute to maintaining the roads and that "fairness gap" should be closed.

Volkswagen GTI Roadster for Gran Turismo uncovered – gets 496 bhp

The Volkswagen GTI Roadster (pictured) is uncovered We revealed last week that VW were making their GTI Roadster from the Gran Turismo game in to a real car for the Worthersee show, and they have. Blurring the lines between the real and the virtual (which is the way all our lives are going) Volkswagen has taken the opportunity to build a real life GTI Roadster – without the constraints of a concept heading for production – and has come up with a tw-seater open roadster that has some design cues from the Golf but is shorter and a lot lower. Those deign cues extend to a a front end that looks like a squashed GTI with its headlights and grill on show with big air intakes, all of which conspires to make the GTI Roadster look even lower, emaner and wider than it is.

Fiat Panda Cross wins top 4×4 Award

The Fiat Panda Cross, that mirculous little go-anywhere 4×4, which only came to the UK a few months ago, has won the Top 4×4 Award from 4×4 and MPV Driver Magazine. Well done! Amazingly, the judges put the little Fiat at the top of the pile, praising its affordability and off-road ability, and highlighting the cracking little 1.3 turbo diesel engine which makes this car shine.