Dr380a Rotor Asy (ford) on 2040-parts.com

World's smallest car enters the record books

Texas is the US state that's big on… well, being big. So it's slightly surprising that a Texan has just entered the Guinness World Records book for creating the world's smallest roadworthy car. Is this his answer to our increasingly congested city streets?

BMW M3 and M4 on track, on video ahead of Detroit debut

The new BMW M3 and M4 on track at the Nurburgring The next instalment for the new BMW 3 and 4 Series is the arrival of the new range-topping, benchmark-setting BMW m3 and M4 at Detroit in January. Ahead of that, BMW has already given us plenty of the specs for both the 2014 M3 and M4. They include the arrival of a new 3.0 litre turbo engine for the M3 and M4 offering 424bhp and 369lb/ft of torque – more than the old 4.0 litre petrol could muster – attached to a manual gearbox as standard with a tweaked seven-speed dual-clutch auto as an option.

Diesel hybrid cars avoid BIK penalty. Peugeot, Citroen & Volvo rejoice.

Peugeot 3008 HYbrid4 is the first car to benefit from BIK rates on diesel hybrids As a company car driver the Inland Revenue gets its cut no matter what. With BIK rates set based on CO2 emissions and list price, it’s hard to find a way to beat the system. Even opting for a diesel car doesn’t help because, despite much better economy on the whole from diesels than petrol engined cars, HMRC adds an extra 3% to your BIK rate because diesels emit more of the stuff that matters – particulates and NOx – than a petrol-engined car.