Blog on 2040Parts

Infiniti recalls Q50 sedans over steer-by-wire system

Infiniti is recalling a number of its new 2014 Q50 sedans over a fault in its steer-by-wire system. The recall concerns Q50 sedans equipped with Direct Adaptive Steering that have received a software version which may disable the power steering software when the engine compartment reaches freezing temperatures. There's a mechanical backup system to prevent steering failure that kicks in via a clutch if the Direct Adaptive Steering were to fail, but the NHTSA notes that this backup may not engage in time if the Direct Adaptive Steering fails, increasing the chance of a crash.

BMW 2-series Active Tourer (2015) BMW MPV scooped undisguised

By Ollie Kew First Official Pictures 16 December 2013 11:00 Munich hopes that this will conquer new mini-MPV territory: the BMW 2-series Active Tourer. It’s the production version of the BWW Concept Active Tourer we first saw back in 2011, and the undisguised version of the car we scooped earlier in 2013. The name will be 'Active Tourer'-suffixed, not '2-series GT' as previously thought. The purists might shout loudly, but money talks, and there’s huge demand for a BMW-badged family car at more mainstream prices.

2015 Lincoln MKC pricing announced

We've been impressed with the 2015 Lincoln MKC so far, but price and performance are going to have a lot to do with whether or not these crossovers will fly off lots when they go on sale next year. We're still waiting for a test drive, but at least we now have a better grasp of the MKC's pricing structure. The crossover will be offered in three basic trims: Premiere, Select and Reserve.

Fuel Injection Pioneer Stuart Hilborn 1917-2013

Stuart Hilborn, the dry lakes hot rodder whose racing fuel injection systems powered almost the entire field at Indianapolis some years, died Monday at the age of 96. Hilborn first went to the dry lakes in 1938 and was amazed to see engine builders and racers who hadn't gone to college producing twice the horsepower of a stock setup. “I was very impressed that they had doubled the horsepower of the cars as they came out of Detroit with virtually no money at all, just work,” Hilborn told the American Hot Rod Foundation.

Used car values look strong for 2014

THE VALUE OF USED cars is set to stay strong in 2014 following a rise in values this year, according to the latest analysis of the market. The latest report by British Car Auctions shows that compared to last year, new-to-market car values are around 15% higher than this time last year while older part-exchange cars are as much as 20% higher than a year ago. Simon Henstock, BCA’s UK Operations Director commented “We have seen an upturn in the supply of dealer part-exchanges in 2013, reflecting reports that retail sales have been strong.

Holidaymakers warned against bogus hire car

AHEAD OF THE busy holiday period a warning has been issued to those travelling abroad to look out for car hire rental scams. The industry body British Vehicle Rental and Leasing Association has advised customers to be wary of 'too good to be true' offers over the Christmas period, including very low rates and nationwide availability right up to Christmas Day. But the BVRLA is aware of many customers who have handed over deposits for cars that are never delivered, leaving them out of pocket and with no transport.

SEAT’s future model plans

SEAT Last week MSN Cars went to visit SEAT at its major base of operations – the Martorell factory in Spain. Here we spoke to CEO Juergen Stackmann and executive vice president for research and design Dr. Matthias Rabe about the brand’s future model plans.

Low-level lights for cyclists get approval

NEW TRAFFIC LIGHTS designed specifically for cyclists have been approved by the Government, following a successful trial. The low-level lights repeat the signals displayed by the normal traffic lights, and the results of the trial were that 80% of cyclists favoured their use. Following the approval Transport for London can now install the lights at Bow Roundabout – the first time the lights have been used in the UK.

2014 European Car of the Year shortlist announced

Established in 1964, the European Car of the Year award was set up to celebrate a “single, decisive winner” each year among all new cars in Europe. So, now running into its fiftieth year, the shortlist for the landmark half-century award for the European Car of the Year 2014 has been announced. The seven runners and riders boast among them an interesting and varied mix of bodystyles, shapes, sizes and even powertrains.

Future Fiat 500 and Fiat Panda imagined by design students

Students at the Royal College of Art in London were challenged to redesign the Fiat 500 and the Fiat Panda for the year 2020. Part of Fiat's "Two of a Kind" design training experience stretching out over three months, the competition attracted more than 50 entries. The design challenge was more than a competition to design the most effective exterior, as students were divided into several interdisciplinary teams and tasked with developing new solutions for the interiors and exteriors of both cars, integrating such concepts as interactivity, sustainability and global appeal into their designs.

New C-Class Breaks Cover

MERCEDES has released the first details of its hotly anticipated new generation C-Class. The compact executive model is expected to hit showrooms in mid 2014. As with an increasing number of cars, this new C-Class is lighter than the model it replaces, and Mercedes engineers have increased their focus on lowering CO2 emissions and fuel consumption through a series of weight reduction and engine upgrade programmes.

Car of the Year 2014 shortlist announced

By Ollie Kew First Official Pictures 16 December 2013 11:00 The seven-car shortlist for the 2014 Car of the Year [CotY] award has been announced. The jury is looking for ‘the most outstanding new car go on sale in the [last] 12 months.’ BMW i3 – the first branch of BMW’s family of electric ‘iCars’, to bear fruit, available in fully EV and range-extender form, and aiming to make electric cars desirable at a fraction the price of Tesla’s impressive Model S luxury saloon Citroen C4 Picasso – Citroen isn’t giving up on the good old MPV despite the onslaught of new crossovers – the new C4 Picasso boasts outlandish bug-eyed design and a fresh take on family-mover cabins, thanks to two enormous touchscreen interfaces to keep the kids – and parents occupied. Mazda 3 – the third-gen 3 family hatchback is lighter than before thanks to Mazda’s energy-saving ‘SkyActiv’ tech, but that’s just the tip of the iceberg.

Mercedes C-class (2014) first official pictures

By Damion Smy First Official Pictures 16 December 2013 09:00 This is the new Mercedes C-class that goes on sale in spring, 2014. With a full reveal in the metal at the Detroit show in January, the C-class is Mercedes’ biggest selling car, so an all-new model has to be good – or else. Everything.

Didn’t The Bentley Boys Do Well?

AS Bentley gears up for a fulltime return to the racetrack, the weekend saw the Crewe-based luxury car maker score a solid fourth place overall at the Gulf 12 Hours of Abu Dhabi. Approached as a dress rehearsal ahead of the team’s attack on the 2014 Blancpain Endurance Series, the three driver-strong outfit achieved a creditable third and fourth place finishes in the two six-hour races at the Yas Marina circuit. The race programme – the first factory-backed activity since its 2003 Le Mans win – sees the firm use a Continental GT producing 600 horsepower in competition trim.

Mercedes CLA driving Mercedes-Benz new car sales

New Mercedes CLA (pictured) is driving Mercedes-Benz new car sales Mercedes had a rocky road a few years ago as it changed its focus from quality to cost-cutting, so the decision by Mercedes to move in to more compact premium cars in a serious way can’t have been the easiest decision to make regardless of the rising demand for compact premium cars. But Mercedes decision and investment is now starting to reap big rewards as Mercedes start moving from an investment in to a sales cycle, with sales of their new compact cars – the new A-Class and new CLA – proving to be a real driving force. Mercedes is the UK has made all time record sales in the UK in 2013, reaching 100,000 car sales for the first time in a year, and managing that by the end of November (which in itself was the best November Mercedes had ever had in the UK).

Hyundai Intrado concept car (2014) points to future tech and designs

Hyundai This is the first look at Hyundai's new Intrado concept car - due to bow in at the 2014 Geneva Motor Show. It's the first car to be designed under the company's latest styling rulebook, dubbed Fluidic Sculpture 2.0. Hyundai's new design chief, Peter Schreyer, told MSN Cars the Intrado defied pigeonholing.

McLaren plan to make windscreen wipers obsolete

McLaren plan to make windscreen wipers obsolete Much of the ‘clunkiness’ in cars – stuff like wind-up windows and a cranking handle – have been made obsolete in cars as technology arrived to make things work better, but one thing that remains on modern cars from the dawn of the motoring age is the windscreen wiper. Invented by Mary Anderson in 1903 after she realised drivers of the first motor cars were having to lean out of the window in rainy conditions to see where they were going, it became a standard fitting on all cars within a few years. Windscreen wipers have certainly improved over the years as technology has developed, but they’re still basically a strip of rubber moving across the windscreen to clear rain.

Jaguar F-Type Coupe – The Videos

Jaguar F-Type Coupe – The Videos We had the Jaguar F-Type Coupe finally bow in at the Los Angeles Auto Show last month – including an F-Type R with 542bhp – and it does look to be the perfect Jaguar sports car. Yes, it may be a bit heavier than its aluminium underpinnings would lead you to reasonably expect, but it does look glorious – much better than the F-Type Roadster – and the F-Type R promises real performance too. When the F-Type was revealed we had plenty of photos (above) and a launch video, but what we didn’t have is any videos showing us the F-Type in detail.

GM axes deal with Peugeot Citroen: how it helps Vauxhall

Wolfgang Rattay, Newscom, RTR Strange as it sounds, the sale of GM’s 7% share it only just bought in Peugeot is good news for Vauxhall buyers. The reason is that it is the last stage of GM’s plan to improve the plight of Opel and Vauxhall by getting rid of all the distractions and focusing on improving the cars and the marketing. The Peugeot move has to be seen in the context of GM pulling Chevrolet out of Europe only a few weeks ago.

BMW i3 EV takes to the race track (video)

BMW i3 EV takes to the race track (video) The BMW i3 EV City Car finally got revealed in July in production guise, and it’s a clever car if not exactly a looker. With a lightweight inner body made from carbon fibre and an electric motor that offers 168 bhp and an instant 184lb/ft of torque it has more than enough power to keep up with traffic in any city. Sadly, the i3 hasn’t done particularly well in Euro NCAP tests but that hasn’t stopped orders for the i3 exceeding anything BMW could have reasonably expected.

CAR 20 Most Wanted of 2014: Maserati Levante

By the CAR editorial team First Official Pictures 13 December 2013 09:00 If Maserati’s plot to sell 50,000 cars annually by 2016 is to succeed, the Trident’s super-SUV needs to fly out of showrooms fast enough to give salesmen whiplash. Ambitious? Yes, but Maserati’s up-sleeve trick is getting the platform from sister brand Jeep and its much-improved Grand Cherokee.

Ford unveils Automated Fusion Hybrid Research Vehicle

Ford has officially revealed their Automated Fusion Hybrid Research Vehicle. Created in a partnership with University of Michigan and the State Farm insurance agency, the autonomous Fusion Hybrid is designed to test driverless car sensor technology. The project is the one of the results of more than a decade of work in automated vehicle technology on the part of Ford.

New Toyota Supra Concept first look – heading for Detroit 2014

New Toyota Supra Concept first look – heading for Detroit 2014 A new Toyota Supra is something Toyota were planning before the world’s economy jumped off a cliff in 2008, but with the world running out of money – and fripperies like sports cars low on the priority list – Toyota swerved away from its plans to launch a new Supra. But the world has moved on since 2008, and Toyota have got increasingly bullish about performance cars in the last year or two. So now it looks like a new Toyota Supra Concept is heading for next month’s Detroit Auto Show.

Police seize 700 stolen car badges

Police have seized over 700 badges believed to have been stolen from cars in the Coventry area. 49-year-old badge thief Maxine-Ann Sokil was caught out when a potential buyer recognised a badge from Coventry Transport Museum on eBay. On Bing: see pictures of car badges Car badges - Name the car badge quiz The amateur detective tipped off museum staff – who reported the discovery to police, the Coventry Telegraph reports.

Record breaking Bluebird reunited with nose

WORLD LAND SPEED RECORD holder Sir Malcolm Campbell’s Bluebird CN7 car has been reunited with its original nose. The car’s original nose was damaged and then kept in Coventry since 1960, but it has now been brought back to the car that lives at the National Motor Museum at Beaulieu, Hampshire. Damaged during a World Land Speed Record attempt on the Bonneville Salt Flats in Utah, USA, the nose of the car was sent back to Coventry for repairs and an updated design to help make the car more stable at very high speeds.

2014 Ford Mondeo testing autonomous driving technologies (video)

The Ford Fusion with its LIDAR ears allowing autonomous driving Car makers are starting to take self-driving, autonomous cars very seriously, and we’ve recently seen Mercedes testing their autonomous driving S-Class in Berlin, Volvo planning a big trial of 100 self-driving cars in Gothenberg and Tesla planning systems that will do 90 per cent of your driving within 3 years. Now it’s Ford’s turn. Ford has equipped a Fusion Hybrid (that’s the North American version of the new Ford Mondeo we still haven’t got in the UK) with its autonomous vehicle technology to conduct research in partnership with the University of Michigan and State Farm (a big group of insurance companies in the US). The test Fusion gets a system called LIDAR (light detection and range – the funny looking ears on the top of the Fusion in the picture above) which can scan the road ahead up to 2.5 million times a second and create a 3D map of the surroundings.

BMW makes 1,000 workers permanent

AROUND 1,000 agency workers at car giant BMW are to be made permanent employees, guaranteeing job security for years. The change, being made in two phases, was warmly welcomed by the Unite union, describing it as a great Christmas present. The announcement covers workers across a number of BMW sites including the Mini plant in Oxford, pressings plant in Swindon and Hams Hall engine site near Birmingham.

Porsche 911 Targa revealed - MSN scoops the new, retro 991

This is the first chance to get a full view of the new 2014 911 Targa that Porsche is set to officially launch at January’s Detroit Motor Show. MSN has obtained imagery of the new 991-generation Targa (inset above) and it reveals that the firm is going back to the future with a car that returns to the original Targa style that first appeared back in 1966.

SEAT Leon Cupra 2014 first details and specs

SEAT There is a new SEAT Leon Cupra hot hatch coming in 2014 – and MSN Cars has been privileged enough to see it, ahead of the official unveiling on 8 January next year. The bad news is that there are no official pictures at this stage, so you’ll have to make do with the power of your mind and the details we have noted down to share with you. On Bing: see pictures of the 2014 SEAT Leon CupraFind out how much a used SEAT Leon Cupra costs on Auto Trader What is the new 2014 SEAT Leon Cupra?

60% of drivers say no to more cyclist protection – survey

A MAJORITY of drivers believe that they should not change the way they drive despite a series of cyclist deaths on the roads of the capital, according to a survey carried out by Motorpoint. Over 1,700 respondents answered the poll on the vehicle retailer’s website, with 60.5% of those declaring that their driving standards did not need to be improved in order to better protect cyclists. The Government’s response was to launch Operation Safeway, which included officers stationed a busy and dangerous junctions in London and an increase in on the spot fines for poor behaviour by drivers and riders alike.