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Britain's low-carbon future

By Guy Bird Motoring Issues 25 March 2008 12:36 Higher purchase taxes for high emitters, ‘traffic-light style’ tax discs to indicate a vehicle’s environmental friendliness and mandatory dashboard-based driving efficiency technology are just three recommendations from a new report that looks set to inform Government policy for the next decade. Published on the same day as the Budget, the snappily titled King Review Of Low Carbon Cars Part Two (Recommendations For Action) was lost amid all the hoopla of new tax bands. But now we've had time to scrutinise it, we can assess the proposals that could affect your next car choice, from upfront purchase price to tax and running costs.

New Toyota iQ3 launched

Toyota has launched a new version of the iQ - The Toyota iQ3 - with a bigger engine and spec The Toyota iQ3 gets Toyota’s 1.33 litre 98bhp VVT-i engine with Optimal Drive, which Toyota already offer in the Yaris and Auris, and offers 58.9mpg with either the manual ‘box or Toyota’s CVT. But sticking the 1.33 litre engine in to the Toyota iQ3 makes it more than just a city car. With a 0-60mph of 11.8 seconds and a top speed over 100mph, this little Toyota can cope with motorway driving quite well.

Mechanics qualifications gained using Haynes manuals

MOST MEN enjoy a good Haynes car manual, whether they really understand it or not, but a group of youngsters has used the workshop guides to achieve their first qualifications in car mechanics. The first wave of the Haynes Mechanix scheme has seen a mixed gender youth club group, aged 15-25 and from Islington in London, use Haynes manuals along with guidance from experienced mentors to fix real problems on a real car. The donor Volkswagen, known as Percy the Polo, was a theoretical MOT fail and needed replacement spark plugs, a brake fluid replacement and much more, to give the aspiring tinkerers a broad spectrum of challenges.