Dacco Dc540 Torque Converter on 2040-parts.com

Lotus fights back with three-year warranty and servicing deal

By Tim Pollard Motor Industry 02 July 2014 12:55 Lotus has this month launched a three-year warranty and servicing deal for all new Elise, Exige and Evora models. The move is designed to kickstart interest in the brand, which is suffering a 9% slump in sales in 2014 year to date. Lotus has sold just 73 cars in the United Kingdom over the first five months of the year.

70% of premium brand cars stolen are taken with the car’s own keys

High-end SUVs – like the new Range Rover (pictured) are a prime target for car key thieves There was once a time when all it took to steal a car was a wire coathanger and the ability to hotwire the ignition. But as car makers have got better at securing the second most expensive asset most of us will ever own, car thieves have had to look for a different approach, and that approach is increasingly to relieve owners of the keys to their pride and joy. Cobra – the vehicle tracking firm – are reporting that a massive 70 per cent of all premium brand cars stolen in 2014 – with an average value of £40k, up £6k on 2012 – are being parted from their owners using that owners keys.

2013 Mercedes SLS Electric Drive: Paris 2012

The electric SLS – the Mercedes SLS Electric Drive – has been shown at Paris 2012 ahead of a 2013 launch. Mercedes are billing the electric SLS as the most powerful production electric car in the world, and with an output of 740 horses from its four electric motors – one at each corner – that’s no surprise. That output – and a torque figure of 738lb/ft – makes the electric SLS a whole heap more powerful than its ICE counterpart and allows it to get to 62mph in 3.9 seconds.