528i 1997 Transmission Shift Assembly 46896 on 2040-parts.com

Porsche acquires Nardo Test Track as its new playground

Porsche Nardo Test Track (map from Google Earth) The enormous Nardo Test Track near Lecce, Italy, has been acquired by Porsche as a new testing ground. Top Gear viewers will probably remember the opening episode if the last series of Top Gear (series 18) with the Lamborghini, McLaren and Noble in Italy or, more specifically, in the Lecce region of Italy which nestles in the warmth of Italy’s heel. The Lecce region also houses the Nardo Test Track which is where the boys took their supercars to hammer round the slightly bumpy outer oval seeking top speed.

Chevrolet Volt production halted – again

General Motors has revealed that they are to halt production of the Chevrolet Volt for four weeks as sales stay low. Back in March, we revealed that GM were to stop production of the Chevrolet Volt range extender EV as actual sales fell well behind projected sales. At that time – with a production target of 45,000 Chevy Volts in 2012 – GM had managed to flog just 1.626 Volts in the first two months of 2012 so they decided to halt production for a moth as they had 6,300 Volts stockpiled.

Bentley promises '90% hybrid range by 2018'

By Ollie Kew Motor Industry 19 April 2014 17:07 Bentley will offer a plug-in hybrid version of 90% of the cars on its range as early as 2018, the company's CEO has confirmed. Speaking at the debut of the Mulsanne Hybrid Concept at the Beijing motor show, Dr Wolfgang Schreiber announced that a plug-in hybrid option was ‘the right choice for the future of Bentley’. He also confirmed that the first production-spec Bentley with a part-electric powertrain will be the marque's controversial new SUV.