Autopart International 250-23121 Oxygen Sensor on 2040-parts.com

Fans get chance to drive with Top Gear's The Stig

FANS OF BBC hit Top Gear will be able to experience the white-knuckle thrill of spinning round the programme's test track driven by The Stig, as well as driving laps themselves. The corporation's commercial arm BBC Worldwide is allowing viewers to be in the driving - or passenger - seat by launching a series of high-speed attractions at Dunsfold Park in Surrey, at which the programme is filmed. They can follow in the tyre tracks of celebrities such as Tom Cruise or Benedict Cumberbatch by trying out the "star in a reasonably priced car" course in a Kia Cee'd, just like those used on the BBC2 programme under the eye of a professional driver.

CAR tech: who's to blame for your car's terrible fuel economy?

In early 2013 Audi lost a case brought by the Advertising Standard Agency (ASA) because of ‘misleading’ fuel economy figures used in an advert, after a customer complained they couldn’t get anywhere near the 68mpg quoted. The court case once more exposes the yawning gap between officially sanctioned mpg figures and those experienced by owners. A recent study by the Independent Council on Clean Transportation (ICCT) looked at cars sold in the UK and Europe, and discovered the difference between official mpg figures and real-world driving had grown from 8% in 2001 to a barely believable 21% in 2011.

Driving age to be raised to 18?

A government-commissioned report has recommended probationary driving licences are in future issued from the age of 18, not 17 – and that learner drivers would be required to invest big in getting a licence. The new proposals would still see provisional driving licences issues from 17, allowing learners to get out on the road under supervision. However, learners would have to undertake a 12-month ‘learner stage’, in which they’d have to cover a minimum of 100 hours’ supervised driving.