Holley 134-348 Replacement Main Body on 2040-parts.com

Skoda Fabia (2006): first official pictures

By Tim Pollard First Official Pictures 12 December 2006 11:30 Skoda Fabia: the lowdown The Skoda Fabia is growing up. The second generation of the supermini will roll into UK showrooms in May 2007 – and Skoda promises it’s bigger, better equipped and safer than before. The new Fabia is less wacky looking than the cut ’n’ shut Roomster mini-MPV, but shares that car’s new family face, framed by large swept-back headlamps and a prominent grille.

Honda Civic (2011) at Frankfurt motor show

This is the ninth generation of Honda’s small car star, which has gestated from trend setting (Civic Mk1 of 1972) to stylistically dull if technically advanced (most) to sci-fi-style wacko but technically mainstream (Civic Mk8). New Civics, over the years, have been about as easy to forecast as David Beckham’s next hairstyle as Honda engineers – never the most predictable bunch – veer from brave to bashful. The new Civic, unveiled at the 2011 Frankfurt motor show, is eye-catching although less off-centre than generation eight, and is closed basely mechanically on its predecessor.

Lexus IS 300h promises unrivalled ownership costs

The new Lexus IS - launched at Detroit in January and costing from £26,495 for the IS 250 in the UK – actually offers ownership costs that eclipse diesel offerings from the likes of Jaguar, BMW, Audi and Mercedes, say Lexus. Despite the logical assumption that the complex hybrid powerplant in the IS 300h would cost more to maintain, Lexus say the opposite is true. Because it has no clutch and the starter motor and alternator are integrated they require no servicing or replacement and Lexus has fitted a timing chain instead of a timing belt, so it won’t need regular replacement either.