Mazda Miata Beige Rear Boot Cover 1990-97 on 2040-parts.com

VW Scirocco and Scirocco R (2014) more power for tweaked coupe

By Damion Smy First Official Pictures 17 February 2014 10:00 VW’s Scirocco is rearming ahead of the new Audi TT’s reveal at the 2014 Geneva motor show. VW wants to blow Audi’s 2+2 coupe into the weeds with a double-whammy of more power and fuel economy. So, along with tweaked looks and new interior toys, that’s exactly what all six Scirocco variants have been given.

Ownership costs of traditional versus alternative fuel vehicles

As gas prices remain high, and an increasing number of automakers roll out plug-in hybrid cars and full-electric vehicles, it's becoming easier to be tantalized with the idea of driving right past the gas station and simply "plugging in." The debate ensues when it comes to cost: These alternative fuel vehicles mean a larger outlay of cash at the onset, but the long-term fuel savings could make the purchase worthwhile. To help straighten out this numbers game, we use the Department of Energy's Vehicle Cost Calculator to compare alternative fuel vehicles with their gasoline-only counterparts. For each scenario, we assumed that our hypothetical owner was able to get the full $7,500 federal tax credit and a $2,500 state tax credit, such as is available in California.

Mercedes-Benz, BMW both post record September sales

Not only are the German horsepower wars still going strong, but if this next bit of news isn't evidence of German sales wars, then we don't know what is. BMW sold 189,675 vehicles worldwide during the month of September, an increase of 6.7 percent over the previous year, which also made it the best September sales month for the automaker. This comes with a small asterisk -- namely, that figure includes Mini and Rolls-Royce sales, though if we're talking just BMW-badged vehicles, the September sales totaled 158,029 (still a 7.6 percent increase over September of 2012).