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Car makers to be forced to disclaim ‘Official’ economy figures

We’ve banged on for a long time about the futility of official economy figures, especially as car makers get better and better at ‘gaming’ the official economy tests to produce the results they want. Much of the impetus to create the best headline economy figure for a car is driven by taxation, with car makers well aware that the better the official economy results are, the lower their CO2 will be (CO2 isn’t tested for – it’s just extrapolated from the official mpg) and the more appealing the car will be to buyers, particularly fleet buyers. But a ruling by the Advertising Standards Agency (ASA) against Audi could at least see car makers having to admit in their adverts that the ‘official’ economy figure bears no relation to what owners can expect to achieve in the real world.

2013 Nissan GT-R gets more power and smoother shifting

Nissan has announced updates for the all-wheel-drive 2013 Nissan GT-R, which will go on sale in January 2012. Output is raised to a whopping 545 ponies, while torque grows to 463 lb-ft. Transmission feel and noise were tamed, and the suspension was retuned.

BMW i3 Coupe Concept revealed

BMW has revealed the i3 Coupe Concept ahead of its debut at this week’s Los Angeles Auto Show, a 3-door version of the BMW i3. But what is clear is that BMW see a big future in small, economical city cars and the BMW i3 Coupe Concept is a slightly odd effort to inject a bit more flair in to the yet-to-arrive BMW i3. The i3 Coupe Concept is a plug-in EV with a maximum output of 170hp and an almost disappointing (for an electric motor) 174lb/ft of torque, which delivers drive to the back wheels through a single speed transmission (as you would expect for an EV).