Dorman C94717 Brake Cable-cable - Parking Brake on 2040-parts.com

2016 Ford Focus RS hits the Nurburgring (video)

2016 Ford Focus RS hits the Nurburgring One car Ford has failed to produce in the latest Focus is the Focus RS, but that is set to change with plans for a new range-topping Focus RS hitting Ford’s showrooms in 2016, a year before the current Focus is due for an update. So it’s no surprise to see Ford starting to blat the new Focus RS round the Nurburgring – albeit using a Focus ST as a mule for the RS’s powertrain – ahead of a probable reveal late in 2015. Almost certainly powering the new Focus RS is the 2.3 litre EcoBoost from the new Ford Mustang, which gets 304bhp in the Mustang but which is expected to get as much as 345bhp in the new RS – as much as the old Focus RS500 managed.

Jaguar Land Rover leads UK universities to develop virtual simulation tech

Jaguar Land Rover is to lead four UK universities in a £10m ($15.5m) government scheme to develop virtual simulation technologies and processes to help improve and accelerate the car design process. The carmaker will be leading project teams from the universities of Cambridge, Loughborough, Leeds and Warwick in the Program for Simulation Innovation (PSI), developed to improve the potential of the UK virtual simulation industry. It is hoped that through its results design quality and capability can be improved through the simulation of sights, sounds and smells.

Revolutionary seat design offers new possibilities

Lufthansa has introduced an innovative business class seat, the result of five years of development by design agency PearsonLloyd. PearsonLloyd has decided to move away from the conventional technique of placing seats in different directions to allow reclining and has opted to arrange the seats in a ‘V' formation. This does not mean there is any invasion of personal space – far from it, as when passengers lie down their seat's consoles hide their heads.