Gmc Sierra Front Left Corner Parking Lamp on 2040-parts.com

Autoweek's top-12 most read stories of 2012

From an infamous Texas house fire, to the death of one of the greats, autoweek.com's top-12 most read stories of 2012 offer a look back at a wild year. This year while we tested some of the best enthusiast vehicles, ran around auto shows and spoke with automotive movers and shakers, we kept track of what piqued your interests. What, you thought we weren't paying attention?

BMW Z4 sDrive 35is (2009) at Detroit motor show 2010

These are the first official pictures of the new high-performance BMW Z4 sDrive 35is, unveiled today at the Detroit motor show. A bit of a mouthful (that's BMW's new nomenclature for you), but it's essentially the fastest, hardest Z4 to date since the recently departed M roadster curled over and died.The Z4 sDrive 35is uses Munich's existing 3.0-litre twin-turbo straight six, tweaked to produce 335bhp and 332lb ft of the twisty stuff all the way from 1400-4500rpm. That's one flat torque curve, and a 29bhp jump over the regular sDrive35i.

POTHOLES cause 'over £1 billion in damage every year'

POTHOLES are costing British drivers £1.2 billion every year due to damage to suspension, steering and wheels. This is a 16% rise in the cost of damage to cars on the UK’s roads and the weather has played a major part in the rise in the number of potholes. Councils say they don’t have the money to deal with the problem due to budget cuts and there has also been an 18% increase in the number of dangerous potholes reported during the past 12 months according to the Asphalt Industry Alliance (AIA).