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Could Michelin’s Active Wheel truly transform the car?

Cars today have evolved and been refined to an extraordinary degree, but carmakers – and car designers – are still always looking for ‘the next big thing'. Yet despite a myriad of recent technical innovations, ask the man on the street what is the problem with cars of today, and he'll likely reply along the lines of "they all look the same". Mass production processes, packaging requirements and safety and regulatory constraints are just a few of the reasons why it is hard to make a car that looks truly different.

New 2014 VW Golf R gets 296bhp – first photos

The 2014 Volkswagen Golf R (pictured) revealed ahead of its Frankfurt debut We had expected the new Volkswagen Golf R to debut at Geneva this year, but that debut turned out to be the rather disappointing Mk 6 VW Golf R Cabrio, that not only sacrificed 4WD but came at a silly price (which VW subsequently dropped by more than £5k). But this time there’s no mistake, and the 2014 version of the VW Golf R – complete with 4WD, we’re pleased to say -will arrive next month at the Frankfurt Motor Show before going on sale in early 2014. Under the bonnet the 2.0 litre petrol turbo delivers a healthy 296bhp (300PS) and 280lb/ft of torque which is sent to all four wheels through VW’s latest Haldex 4Motion 4WD, with the ability to decouple the back axle drive under low load conditions and send almost all the power to the back wheels too when demanded.

Volvo V60 Polestar production now underway

The Volvo V60 Polestar is now rolling off Volvo’s production line Last month Volvo revealed that the V60 Polestar would be a limited edition run of just 750 cars for the world, but that 125 of those will be heading for the UK – the largest market allocation of any country – and will cost £49,775. And now, seven months after Volvo confirmed the V60 Polestar for production, the first cars are heading off the production line at Volvo’s plant in Torslanda and heading off to their new owners. Although not as powerful as we’d expected, the V60 Polestar still offers an appealing performance package, with 345 bhp and 369lb/ft of torque delivering 0-62mph in an impressive 6.0 seconds.