Accident prevention features to affect vehicle safety ratings?

To score high on the government's five-star safety program, car companies may soon need to do more than just protect passengers during a crash. They might need to keep their customers out of accidents, too. That would be a boon to suppliers selling such equipment as radar and video cameras that watch the road ahead.

New BMW 4-Series shows its sporty side with M Performance add-ons

The BMW 4 Series M Performance Parts have been revealed (pictured) The new BMW 4-Series Coupe may not have arrived in BMW showrooms yet, but that hasn’t stopped BMW showcasing how you can spend extra money on your new 4-Series with a range of M Performance accessories. So when you do go and spec up your new 4-Series you’ll also be able to tick some of the boxes on the M Performance Accessories list for your dealer to fit when your car arrives for delivery and (almost) turn it in to an imitation M4 Coupe if you wish. Probably the biggest seller will be the showy stuff, like the M-Performance body kit which adds a lower front bumper with carbon fibre splitter and bigger air intakes, bigger sills, new back bumper with diffuser and ducts, carbon fibre spoiler at the back, dark chrome trim and carbon fibre door mirror caps.

Vauxhall Astra GTC gets new 1.6 litre ‘Whisper’ diesel – price from £22,260

The Vauxhall Astra GTC gets the new 1.6 litre CDTi Just like all major motor manufacturers, Vauxhall are busy improving their engine range with new, more efficient and more powerful lumps. One of Vauxhall’s major engine projects has been to get the old 1.7 litre CDTi out of its cars and replace it with their new ‘Whisper’ 1.6 litre CDTi. The first Vauxhall to get the new 1.6 CDTi was the Zafira Tourer in early 2013, and the latest is the Astra GTC.