Dorman 578-130 Fuel Tank Strap on 2040-parts.com

Ford Focus goes SEMA mad

A total of seven Ford Focus at the 2011 SEMA Show There’s nothing American petrolheads (perhaps we should say gearheads) like more than tarting up a car. Which explains why the relatively sensible Ford Focus is being pimped to within an inch of its life for this year’s SEMA show. The SEMA Motor Show is a trade-only gathering – despite which it gets around 50k visitors – which the organisers call the “premier automotive specialty products trade event – in the world.” It attracts trade visitors from across the globe to see parts, tools and components and the ‘SEMA’ special cars brought along by car makers and car modifiers.

Ken Block’s Gymkhana Five: The Streets of San Francisco

Everyone’s favourite Hooner and Drifter – Ken Block – is back with Gymkhana Five, a mad blat round the streets of San Francisco. If you want a car video full of tyre smoke, drifting and downright hooning madness, Ken Block’s your man. This time, with Gymkhana 5, the good Mr Block takes his 650hp Ford Fiesta on a blat round every familiar landmark in the streets of San Francisco, and manages to do it much more impressively than Karl Malden or Michael Douglas ever did.

Dramatic CCTV footage shows consequences of tyre failure

AS A PART of October's Tyre Safety Month initiative the Highways Agency have released dramatic footage of the consequences of tyre failure. In the clip, viewable on the Highways Agency YouTube channel, motorway cameras capture the moment a front tyre explodes on a large lorry, sending it out of control and into the central reservation in a spectacular crash. Further clips show the chaos caused when all three lanes of a motorway are closed to retrieve tyre debris, and the eye-watering £2 million cost of a lorry fire caused by tyre failure results in all six lanes of a motorway being shut for hours.