Bbr Motorsports Frame Cradle - Silver 321-ytr-1231 on 2040-parts.com

Fuel duty freeze is 'no give-away'

MOTORING GROUPS have given a cautious welcome to Chancellor George Osborne's announcement of a freeze on fuel duty until May 2015. But Transport Secretary Patrick McLoughlin's insistence on the value of HS2 to the UK cut little ice with opponents of the high-speed rail scheme. On fuel duty, both the AA and the RAC pointed out that Mr Osborne was already getting big sums from motorists in taxation.

CES: Cranking up Harman's QuantumLogic 3D surround-sound system

Yesterday we reported how Audi was readying a lavish 3D sound experience with 23 speakers and 1,400 watts of goosebump-inducing audio power. Not to be outdone, Harman had been quietly developing a system of its own: Quantum Logic 3D brings together 25 speakers and more than 2,000 watts of Tubthumping power to a new car near you, like driving inside Phil Spector's Wall of Sound. Sitting inside the demonstration BMW 7-Series that Harman painstakingly lifted into the Studio at the Palms, Global Audio Engineering vice president Phil Muzio explained, "great music is delivered in stereo, yet our consumer research indicates that people enjoy surround sound." QuantumLogic 3D's surround sound expands beyond the boundaries of the vehicle's cabin, providing "a sense of detail and spatial placement that you don't get in stereo." Five height component speakers mounted in the corners of the headliner, and above the rearview mirror, elevates audio beyond the confines of the roof, "almost like you're in a convertible," said Muzio.

Brits bamboozled by bizarre rules

EUROPEAN driving laws are leaving Brits in a bit of a pickle, with many people completely unable to separate wacky truths from absurd fiction. To celebrate its new road trip competition, chocolate experts Cadbury dug up a selection of crazy driving laws across the continent and mixed them in with some entirely invented ones to create a quiz that caught many folks by surprise. For a start, 75% of people refused to believe that a dirty car is punishable by law in Belarus.