Flowmaster 2.50offset In/2.50 Center Out Aggressive Sou on 2040-parts.com

New car sales soar to 10-year high

NEW CAR sales soared in March, with the new 14 number plate helping registrations reach their highest monthly total for 10 years. A total of 464,824 new cars were registered last month - a rise of 17.7% on the March 2013 figure and the best since 466,954 were registered in March 2004, the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT) said. The March 2014 and March 2004 figures represent the best two months for new sales since 1999 when the motor industry abandoned the August once-a-year number plate change in favour of twice-a-year changes in March and September.

Video: Previewing the cars of RM Auction's Monterey sale

Get an early, behind-the-scenes look at some of the cars set to cross the block at RM Auctions' sale this week as part of the Pebble Beach Concours weekend, with Autoweek's Andrew Stoy and Hagerty's Rob Sass. The Monterey Week is packed with car shows, vintage racing and car auctions. Autoweek will be there providing streaming photo galleries and live coverage of the Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance, historic racing at Laguna Seca, the Monterey car auctions and much more.

Volkswagen Golf R 400 sounds like it means business (video)

The VW Golf R 400 (pictured) on the move in Vienna The Volkswagen Golf R Concept arrived at the Beijing Motor Show recently, and it looked pretty much production-ready. So it was no huge surprise when we got news that the Golf R 400 is going in to production – although probably in limited numbers with a big price tag – and there seems to be more than a fighting chance it will actually get more than the 395 bhp (400 PS) the concept has. But even if the R 400 only comes with 395 bhp, it promises to out-do the current hot hatch champion – the Mercedes A45 AMG – with a 0-62mph of 3.9 seconds and a top speed of 174mph, with all its power being put down to all four wheels through VW’s 4MOTION.