640327-1 Turbocharger Assembly on 2040-parts.com

Phil McNamara's 2010 LA Auto Show report

Optimism. California was built on it, and the first press day of the Los Angeles auto show was mired in thick, gloopy, ‘we’re going to save/conquer the world’ with cars rhetoric. Mercedes saw no irony whatsoever in announcing 200 deliveries of the zero emission hydrogen fuel cell B-class, then without missing a beat unveiling the 550hp CLS63 AMG, with huge increases in power and torque.

New Range Rover Hybrid targeted at Europe: Frankfurt 2013

The new Range Rover Hybrid (pictured) has diesel power to target Europe It’s not the biggest news at Frankfurt, but the arrival of the Range Rover Hybrid and Range Rover Sport Hybrid is big news for Land Rover, and for buyers running cars who are subject to taxation on benefits. Surprisingly, Land Rover has gone the diesel route with the hybrid, coupling the 3.0 litre diesel engine to a 46bhp electric motor which, when working together, offers the same sort of performance as the V8 diesel engine but with much better economy and emissions – 44mpg and 169g/km. Logic would perhaps have dictated that the new hybrid should have a petrol engine, rather than a diesel, as the biggest hybrid markets in the world – the US and China – have no real appetite for diesel engines.

Dodge Charger

The new Dodge Charger is longer, lower and wider than the model it replaces, but offers even more performance from its 5.7-liter Hemi V8, which now belts out 470bhp and the standard 2.7-liter Pentastar V6 also offers 292bhp and better economy. Although based on the previous models' platform, the car has been significantly reworked to enhance its driving dynamics with all-new suspension settings, but it also wears bolder sheet-metal. The interior, benchmarked against European models, features soft touch plastics, a single piece molding for the dash and better colors throughout the range.