Audi TT Offroad shows off at Beijing auto show

Audi introduced the TT Offroad concept at the Beijing motor show last week. The company says it comes with a plug-in hybrid drive system delivering 408 hp total, while getting 123.8 miles per gallon -- impressive, but we're guessing not exactly real world. To get that power, the TT Offroad concept uses the company's 2.0-liter turbocharged four-cylinder, making 292 hp and 280 lb-ft of torque.

SEAT Leon Cupra 280: Fans enjoy a simulator drive – or did they? (video)

The SEAT Leon Cupra 280 Extreme Simulator In January the SEAT Leon Cupra and Cupra 280 were revealed as SEAT’s take on the VW Golf GTI, but with things taken to another level. That meant the SC getting 261bhp and the 5-door Cupra 280 a very appealing 276bhp, enough to get the 280 to 62mph (when fitted with the DSG ‘box) in 5.7 seconds – appealingly lively. Not surprisingly, there were plenty of SEAT fans wanting to get up close and personal with the Leon Cupra 280, so SEAT invited a lucky pair to get suitably suited and led them in to an extreme simulator for the virtual drive of their life.

Will your next new car stop itself?

Last week in Park City, Utah, a group of us were discussing the chutzpah that some manufacturers have in charging hundreds of dollars for outboard mirrors that dip downward when the vehicle's placed in reverse. The consensus was, “Since the electric motors in the mirrors are already there, and the computers know the car's set to back up, it's only a line of code. A very expensive line of code.” The European Union seems to be thinking along the same lines.