Mazda 5 License Plate Frame Stainless Steel Chrome on 2040-parts.com

Volt, Leaf win top safety rating in crash test

The 2011 Chevrolet Volt and Nissan Leaf electric cars won the highest safety ratings in crash tests performed by the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety, putting them in the top 57 percent of models tested so far this year. About 80 of 140 vehicles tested among 2011-2012 models have received the Institute's "top safety pick," the group's award for state-of-the-art crash protection that exceeds federal safety rules, Institute spokesman Russ Rader said. The Volt and Leaf received a "good" rating -- the highest of four rankings -- on each of four crash tests, said the Institute, which is funded by auto insurers including State Farm, All-State and Geico.

BMW Alpina B3 Bi-Turbo (2013) first official pictures

Alpina has revealed the first teaser shots of its hot 3-series supersaloon, the B3 BiTurbo, which packs 404bhp and 442lb ft. It's a BMW M3 by another name. The nitty gritty technical details will be revealed in full at next week's 2013 Geneva motor show, but for now read on for the spec of Alpina's potential giant-killer...

Jaguar & Land Rover to share more platforms. But you already knew that.

As Jaguar and Land Rover expand their model range and move to aluminium construction, they plan to share more platforms. Jaguar has been using an aluminium platform for the XJ for some time – long before the latest XJ came along. The aluminium platform the XJ uses is just the start for Jaguar Land Rover, as we reported back in 2009, and it seems that JLR are planning to use the move to aluminium underpinnings to cut their platforms to just two or three.