One Lap of the Web: Drop the (AMG) Hammer, Superbirds and Sir Mix-A-Lot's Porsche

-- It's the mid-1980s. You have bottomless pockets and the need for speed. Do you buy a Countach or stick with a sleepy-looking W124 Mercedes-Benz station wagon?

Peugeot 308 with 3-Cylinder engine sets new Fuel Economy Record. Sort of.

The new Peugeot 308 managed 99.1mpg in a fuel economy run in Spain Fuel economy records are a bit like official economy figures – they have little relevance in the real world. But that doesn’t stop car makers wanting a few headlines proving just how economical their cars can be, and that’s exactly what Peugeot has done with a fuel economy run in a new 308 fitted with their new 130bhp 1.2-liter PureTech three-cylinder turbo petrol engine. But instead of running the 308 in the real world, Peugeot chose to take their car off to the Almeria circuit in Spain – under the auspices of the UTAC (Union Technique de l’Automobile, Motocycle et Cycle) – to set a new record for fuel economy and distance driven on a full tank.

Nissan opens new design studio in Beijing

Delayed by the deadly earthquake that hit Japan earlier this year, Nissan Motor Co.'s new design center in Beijing finally received a proper opening this week, when global design chief Shiro Nakamura showed off the studio as a new source of ideas for Nissan and Infiniti. Nissan Design China, as the Beijing-based center is known, "is not a studio to just generate ideas for China," Nakamura said in an interview with Car Design News. It's equipped to handle designs of show cars and production cars for both Nissan and Infiniti brands, aimed at customers in China, as well as around the world.