VW 'to announce its WRC entry' at Rally Sardinia

VW Polo R WRC (2011): Volkswagen enter the WRC High-level sources in an existing World Rally Championship team have told CAR that Volkswagen will formally announce its decision to enter the WRC at Rally Sardinia, which starts on 5 May 2011, somewhat stealing the thunder of Mini’s WRC debut. It’s believed that sister firm Skoda’s Fabia Intercontinental Rally Challenge car will be used as the first step in development. This car currently runs to the 2.0-litre naturally aspirated S2000 rules, so one of the first steps will be to switch to a 1.6-litre turbo.

BMW, Mercedes consider return to 4-bangers in U.S. market

Facing stricter fuel economy standards, BMW and Mercedes-Benz are considering bringing four-cylinder engines back to the United States. BMW stopped offering four-cylinders in 1999 when its 318ti hatchback flopped. Mercedes-Benz had four-cylinder engines on the 2005 C230 and SLK230 but dropped them in favor of six-cylinder models.

Parents 'taxi drivers' for their children

PARENTS spend around six months of their lives playing taxi driver for their children, a poll has found. A new survey claims that the average mum and dad clocks up around 30 miles a week ferrying their youngster to school, to clubs and to see friends, spending around three-and-a-half hours in the car. It means that the average parent racks up around 26,741 miles driving their child around between the ages of three and 20, and spends around 3,147 hours behind the wheel, according to Goodyear, which commissioned the poll.