1995 Toyota Pickup 4runner 2.4l Mt Ecm Engine Computer 89661-35850 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.

Eterniti Motors readies two SUVs and a sports car

New British car brand Eterniti Motors is steaming ahead with its plan to launch the Hemera - a new Cayenne-based SUV due in 2012 - and there are two other projects waiting in the wings, including a dramatic sports car. The first project for the London-based company is taking Porsche's Cayenne Turbo S and reconfiguring it with exotic new materials, a fresh wardrobe and a stretched cabin to free up more cabin space. Eterniti has also issued sketches of this supercar, but won't reveal yet the donor vehicle.

Fiat 500XL spied undisguised – it’s not a looker

The Fiat 500 range has already expanded from the very successful recreation of the original 500 in to something bigger and more family friendly with the 500L, and now we have the joy of an even bigger version on the way – the Fiat 500XL. The 500L managed to lose almost all of the chic retro appeal the 500 managed so convincingly, and it looks like the 500XL goes a step further, with looks that only its mother could love. Grafting an extra 200mm on the back of the 500L perhaps seems like a good idea, but the execution doesn’t sit well.