New 2014 VW Golf R gets 296bhp – first photos

The 2014 Volkswagen Golf R (pictured) revealed ahead of its Frankfurt debut We had expected the new Volkswagen Golf R to debut at Geneva this year, but that debut turned out to be the rather disappointing Mk 6 VW Golf R Cabrio, that not only sacrificed 4WD but came at a silly price (which VW subsequently dropped by more than £5k). But this time there’s no mistake, and the 2014 version of the VW Golf R – complete with 4WD, we’re pleased to say -will arrive next month at the Frankfurt Motor Show before going on sale in early 2014. Under the bonnet the 2.0 litre petrol turbo delivers a healthy 296bhp (300PS) and 280lb/ft of torque which is sent to all four wheels through VW’s latest Haldex 4Motion 4WD, with the ability to decouple the back axle drive under low load conditions and send almost all the power to the back wheels too when demanded.

Mercedes touts future safety with research vehicle

In 1980, when several automakers began to use airbags, there were people who thought that cars couldn't possibly get any safer. Karl-Heinz Baumann, a safety researcher at Mercedes-Benz AG in Stuttgart, was not one of them. "We said, 'No, it cannot be all,' and we kept doing more research." The results of that research are presented on the company's most recent Experimental Safety Vehicle (ESV), on display now in the Mercedes Museum in Stuttgart.

Microsoft demos Apple CarPlay rival

The battle between Microsoft and Apple is being fought on the desktop, on the smartphone and now in the car. At its Build 2014 developer conference, held earlier this month in San Francisco, Microsoft demoed an early version of Windows In The Car, its response to Apple's CarPlay system we saw at the Geneva Show back in March. As you'd expect, In The Car's design follows the look of Microsoft's latest Windows and Window Phone operating system pretty closely.