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Toyota says software glitch in data boxes can give faulty speed readings

A top Toyota executive says the crash data boxes in its vehicles are reliable but a bug in the software that reads the information can provide inaccurate vehicle speeds. The disclosure comes as the National Highway Transportation Safety Administration continues its investigation into unintended acceleration of Toyota models. “Toyota has acknowledged previously that the event data recorders are not accurate,” said Takeshi Uchiyamada, executive vice president in charge of research and development.

Ford teams up with Heinz for tomato car parts

Ford and Getty Images Forget carbonfibre, the new must-have material on your vehicle will soon be tomato fibre – or so Ford and food manufacturer Heinz are hoping. The American carmaker and the food giant have teamed up to "explore the use of tomato fibre to develop a sustainable bio-plastic material for vehicles," bringing environmentally friendly motoring to a whole new level. Ford and Heinz tomato car parts: how will they work?

2013 McLaren F1 – more details emerge

A render of the 2013 McLaren F1 / 799 (click for full size photo) It’s more than two years since we revealed that McLaren are planning on building a McLaren F1 road car for the 21st century. Planned to bring game-changing performance to the hypercar market, it will be McLaren’s halo car, sitting above the 458 Italia-bashing MP4-12C, and the yet-to-come McLaren which is aimed at the Porsche 911 and Audi R8. What exactly McLaren are planning with the new F1 – which may be called the McLaren 799 – is still hidden deep in the minds and computers of McLaren’s elite.