07-15 Mini Cooper S Base Jcw R55-r61 Clutch Brake Gas Accelerator Pedal Set .. on 2040-parts.com

Ford Ka (2009) unveiled: first photos

By Ben Pulman and Ben Barry First Official Pictures 01 August 2008 00:01 Ford’s Ka – the cheeky, lovable and classless city car – is back. Still called Ka, the new model will make its show debut at Paris in autumn 2008, before going on sale in the UK by the end of the year. The underpinnings are, of course, from the Fiat 500, but Blue Oval engineers have tweaked the chassis to give the Ka a proper Ford feel, they say.

White Van Man numbers booming

THE ADVANCE of White Van Man is accelerating, according to figures highlighted by the RAC Foundation. Between 2002 and 2012 the number of light vans on the roads increased by 29% to 3.3 million. During the same period, the increase in cars was 11%, with one in 10 vehicles on the roads now a light commercial vehicle.

Call for reform over road repair funding

FUNDING patterns mean most road maintenance is being carried out in "less-efficient, cold and wet" times, a report from a Government spending watchdog has said. The current pattern of funding, combined with the need to spend money within the financial year, means that most maintenance work goes on between September and March, said the report from the National Audit Office (NAO). It went on: "Although this is less disruptive for road users, it is less efficient than carrying out the work at other times of year because materials can be more difficult to handle in cold and wet conditions, and daylight hours are shorter." The report went on: "As a result of the additional funding for emergency repairs, which is made available at the end of the financial year, almost all highways authorities need extra capacity from the market at the same time, which makes it less likely that they will get value for money." The NAO report said there was a "lack of predictability" over road spending adding that historically, local highway authorities spent more revenue on maintenance, but were now carrying out fewer routine activities such as clearing gullies which are essential to preventing water seeping into roads' sub-structure.