Magnaflow Catalytic Converter 93236 Jeep Liberty on 2040-parts.com

Pothole disaster imminent, say campaigners

THE UK’S recent tempestuous weather is set to create the worst pothole catastrophe the country has ever seen, according to campaigners. Freezing conditions are being forecast for the end of January, and road condition campaign website potholes.co.uk is predicting a ‘perfect storm’ of potholes if the forecasts prove correct. With the Met Office confirming that southern England received double the average amount of rainfall during December, persistent heavy rain and floods have created the basis for a disastrous season of crumbling roads.

Sarah McLachlan teases upcoming Audi Super Bowl ad

For all the overt hyper-earnestness Sarah McLachlan ladled upon us during her 1990s heyday, we might not’ve noticed that the Canadian singer-songwriter has a sense of humor. A cameo a couple of years back in the excellent Aimee Mann-as-housekeeper episode of Portlandia suggested McLachlan’s lighter side and now this weirdly-captivating teaser for Audi's 2014 Super Bowl ad sees the Lilith Fair founder futzing around with her own image, imploring that the Doberhuahua is a misunderstood animal that deserves our attention. We assume that the morphologically-perverse Doberman/Chihuahua cross is supposed to suggest that the new A3 is both small and vicious.

Volkswagen Passat Alltrack: The VW Allroad arrives

The VW Passat Alltrack - debuts in Tokyo Volkswagen has jumped on to the Allroad bandwagon with its own take on Audi’s faux off-roader, with the reveal of the 2012 VW Passat Alltrack. As you would expect, the Passat Alltrack is a butched-up Passat Estate with a raised ride height, extra bits of plastic round the bumpers, skid plates, flared side sills and 4WD – VW’s 4MOTION – for more traction in boot sale car parks. But when you don’t need the 4WD, around 90 poer cent of the drive is through the front wheels – saving fuel – with the rear wheel drive only coming in to play when you start to slip and slide.