NHTSA unveils new safety ratings; BMW and Hyundai first to get five stars

The 2011 BMW 5-series and the Hyundai Sonata were the first two cars to achieve five-star ratings under NHTSA's revised safety ratings announced on Tuesday. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration will rate a total of 24 cars, 20 SUVs, nine pickups and two vans for the 2011 model year. The federal agency has significantly modified its rating process and will now grade side-pole testing and crash-prevention technologies such as lane-departure warning and electronic stability control.

Lexus RX450h hybrid - 2012's facelift goes on sale

Lexus has refreshed its RX premium off-roader with a slew of new gadgets, a facelifted snout, a few small engineering upgrades and extra equipment. Sold in the UK only as the RX450h hybrid, you'll spot the new 2012 edition by the addition of the Lexus 'spindle' grille, as seen on recent concept cars such as the LF-LC from Detroit 2012. The rear lamps are redesigned, too, although if you blink you may indeed actually miss them.

Rosberg & Hamilton make it a Mercedes front row: Spanish Grand Prix (2013)

Maybe Lewis Hamilton wasn’t as daft as we all thought jumping ship from McLaren and heading off to Mercedes F1. When we all thought the Mercedes F1 team didn’t have a chance of doing anything special in 2013, Hamilton and Rosberg have proved the 2013 car is a strong contender, and in final qualifying for tomorrow’s Spanish Grand Prix they’ve locked out the front row. Hamilton’s team mate Rosberg beat him to pole position – his second pole in a row – with Red Bull’s Vettel having to settle for third place alongside Kimi Raikkonen’s Lotus.