Rated: self-braking cars that avoid a crash

The most recent advance in vehicle safety has to be the autonomous emergency braking system (AEB) – a sophisticated suite of sensors and electronics that monitors objects in front of your car, automatically applying the brakes for you if it senses you’re heading to hit something. Up until now these auto-brake features have not been rated, but ahead of a new 2014 test that will include AEB systems in its overall safety star scoring, Euro NCAP has put the some of the vehicles already equipped with this technology through their paces. MSN Cars has the results.

Mazda plots cleaner diesels, rotaries, stop-start

By Richard Aucock Motoring Issues 19 September 2008 07:00 Mazda has opened its R&D department up to CAR, in a demonstration of how it's tackling a changing world. It's spilled the beans on its future engine tech, how it's going to continue stripping weight out of its cars, when stop-start is coming – and more besides. Read on for the lowdown on Mazda's eco tech future.And it's not all boring.

Volvo S60 Concept car (2008): first official photos

By Simon Stiel First Official Pictures 24 November 2008 11:41 Volvo today releases the first exterior photograph of its new S60 Concept car that will appear at the Detroit motor show in January 2009 – ahead of a showroom launch in 2010. Last month, teaser photographs revealed the interior of the S60 concept car, but now we’ve got a glimpse of its exterior lurking in the shadows. Some have criticised the S60 for looking too similar to the S80 and other Volvos and this new model is designed to address that. Volvo is seeking a racier image and, we hear, is setting its sights on the Audi A4 and BMW 3-series (a task its predecessor never cracked).