07 Hyosung Gt 650 Gt650 Motor Engine 23b on 2040-parts.com

BMW takes the Active Tourer Outdoor outdoors this weekend

This weekend BMW will be taking its BMW Concept Active Tourer Outdoor to the annual OutDoor fair in Friedrichshafen, Germany. We first saw the concept last September, noting that it was a departure for BMW in more ways than one -- with the German automaker stretching itself into segments in which it previously had no foothold. The BMW Active Tourer is meant to preview a whole new generation of small cars from BMW, but one of the biggest changes underneath is a transverse layout of the engine -- a setup that BMW has traditionally shunned in favor of a longitudinal layout.

Porsche Panamera prices announced

By Ben Pulman Motor Industry 12 March 2009 12:50 Porsche has announced UK prices for its Panamera, and that all PDK-equipped cars will come with stop-start technology - the ‘entry-level’ S starts at £72,266, rising to £95,298 for the range-topping Panamera Turbo. By comparison, a Cayenne GTS is £54,085 and a Cayenne Turbo is £75,137 For a start there’s the 493bhp twin-turbo 4.8-litre V8 mated to Porsche’s four-wheel drive system and seven-speed double-clutch PDK gearbox. Then there are also 19-inch wheels, adaptive air suspension, a 14-speaker Bose sound system, metallic paint, heated front and rear seats and a multi-functional steering wheel.

One Lap of the Web: 1956 Jaguar XK-140, CNG and bad-driver fines

We spend a lot of time on the Internet -- pretty much whenever we're not driving, writing about or working on cars. Since there's more out there than we'd ever be able to cover, here's our daily digest of car stuff on the Web you may not otherwise have heard about. -- A 1918 Sinclair gas station in New Orleans has been transformed into a 2000-square-foot vacation rental.