Auto Meter 3374 Sport-comp; Electric Nitrous Pressure Gauge on 2040-parts.com

Fiat 500 Abarth (2008): first official pictures

By Tim Pollard First Official Pictures 20 February 2008 10:00 Watch out Mini, the Fiat 500 – CAR’s car of the year 2007 – is getting the high-performance treatment. The Abarth version unveiled today is pitched as a new interpretation of the Sixties road racer, but can they make a bigger, heavier hatch as exciting as that?The 500 Abarth 2008-style uses the Fiat group’s 16-valve 1.4-litre Fire engine breathing with the assistance of an IHI variable-geometry turbocharger to deliver a warm 135bhp at 5500rpm. So this car won’t challenge the upper echelons of hot-hatchdom that now have to pump out closer to 200bhp to be in contention.

Contest: LA Design Challenge 2007

Audi Virtuea Quattro Designed at the Volkswagen/Audi Design Center California by Heather Shaw, Jae Min, Mattijs Van Tuijl, Karl Strahlendorf and Christian Schoen; the Virtuea Quattro is a single-seat autonomous driving machine. It functions as a solid unit at its core, while providing a myriad of possible holographic exteriors stored in a library and accessible through the vehicle's 'interactive holographic interface'.  Powered by hydrogen, the vehicle combines artificial intelligence with avenues of self-expression. The Virtuea's holographic exterior provides a variety of possibilities, allowing the driver to select from the most innovative designs from one minute to the next.

New Toyota iQ3 launched

Toyota has launched a new version of the iQ - The Toyota iQ3 - with a bigger engine and spec The Toyota iQ3 gets Toyota’s 1.33 litre 98bhp VVT-i engine with Optimal Drive, which Toyota already offer in the Yaris and Auris, and offers 58.9mpg with either the manual ‘box or Toyota’s CVT. But sticking the 1.33 litre engine in to the Toyota iQ3 makes it more than just a city car. With a 0-60mph of 11.8 seconds and a top speed over 100mph, this little Toyota can cope with motorway driving quite well.