Balmar System Monitor Series 2000 on 2040-parts.com

First Dacia Duster SUVs leave India bound for the UK

The first Dacia Duster SUVs built in RHD for the UK market left India this morning to help satisfy Renault’s growing order book for the Duster. With the sort of response the Duster has received in the UK – with prices for the entry-level Duster starting at just £9k – Renault are no doubt wishing they’d brought the Duster to the UK sooner. But such was the demand for the Duster in mainland Europe and emerging markets that they just couldn’t get production of RHD Dusters organised for the UK until now, when Renault’s plant at Oragadam, near Chennai in India, finally managed to satisfy its home market demand sufficiently to leave enough capacity for RHD cars bound for the UK and Ireland to roll off the production line.

2012 Mercedes A-Class revealed in patent filings

The slightly drab 2012 Mercedes A-Class Car makers must hate filing for patents on new cars, because it means trusting images of their new and secret car to a third party. Basic images, admittedly, but the real-deal nonetheless. So Mercedes must be spitting feathers today as the images they sent with their patent applications on the 2012 A-Class leak out of every open window, door and PC and straight on to the interweb.

One Lap of the Web: Senna's sweet go-kart

-- Gran Turismo has always included some, uh, unique car choices for its video games. (Sure, the Patent-Motorwagen is significant, but hot-lapping the 1-hp horseless carriage in "Gran Turismo 4" wasn't exactly riveting, unless you used cheats.) So that's why Ayrton Senna's go-kart from the 1978 World Karting Championship should be interesting -- it's nowhere near as fast as his Lotus 97T, but it shows that "Gran Turismo" wasn't kidding when developers said they wanted fans to chart the entirety of Senna's life. Plus, if you make it go 352 mph you can finally stick it to Prost.