2012 Harley Road King Police - White - 1:12 Ertl on 2040-parts.com

Pothole disaster imminent, say campaigners

THE UK’S recent tempestuous weather is set to create the worst pothole catastrophe the country has ever seen, according to campaigners. Freezing conditions are being forecast for the end of January, and road condition campaign website potholes.co.uk is predicting a ‘perfect storm’ of potholes if the forecasts prove correct. With the Met Office confirming that southern England received double the average amount of rainfall during December, persistent heavy rain and floods have created the basis for a disastrous season of crumbling roads.

Volkswagen puts a price on the VW Polo BlueGT

The Volkswagen Polo Blue GT – a warmed over Polo – will cost from £17,400 for the 1.4-litre 138bhp 6 spd manual. The Polo Blue GT gets the 1.4 TFSI engine with 138bhp so the little Polo can row along well enough, but it also get cylinder deactivation for when you’re not blatting from traffic light to traffic light to endow the Blue GT with official average economy of 60.1mpg (or 62.7mpg if you opt for the DSG ‘box). When you’re not worried about being parsimonious with your fuel the Polo GT skips along to 62mph in 7.9 seconds and handles well enough thanks to the Polo’s already decent setup and a 15mm lower suspension.

Frankfurt 2011: VW Nils EV Go-Kart Video

VW Nils revealed at Frankfurt There have been quite a few of these very small, go-kart-style urban commuter cars cropping up of late, but perhaps the Volkswagen Nils is the most promising. The most promising because if – and it’s a very big if – commuters take to the idea of a grown-up version of a soap-box Kart with an engine for getting to work, the VW Nils will possibly offer the best combination of practicality, refinement and cost. Yes, there’s the Audi Urban Concept to consider, but that will be more expensive (there’s a reason Audi makes VW 40% of its profits), so if commuters do actually find appeal in this route then the Nils is probably the front-runner.