Mini Cooper Hood Hinge 41-61-7-037-434 Left Oem 2002-2008 Genuine New R50-r53 on 2040-parts.com

Audi outlines seven tech innovations

Audi has revealed details of seven new innovations being explored by its designers and engineers including electromobility, ultra-lightweight construction, networked mobility and lighting technology. Lighting design The team in charge of lighting design – an area in which the company is the current leader in terms of LED daytime running lights and headlights – and next up they plan on introducing OLED technology (Organic Light Emitting Diode) to its vehicle range. Only a few nanometers thick, this paste-like material spans the space between the anode and cathode, both of which are enveloped in an electrically conductive coating.

2013 Nissan LEAF updated

Nissan has updated the LEAF EV in Japan for 2013 with better range, less weight and a new LEAF S entry-level model. Revealed in Japan – but likely to come to the UK from 2013 when the LEAF starts rolling out of Nissan’s Sunderland factory – there are significant upgrades to the powertrain which result in both less weight and better range. Nissan has had a play with the electric powertrain and made it both smaller and lighter with a new motor that uses 40 per cent less dysprosium (a rare earth metal) than before, and comes in 30 per cent smaller and 10 per cent lighter, and a new streamline battery case and a few other tweaks drops the LEAF’s weight by 80kg.

Nissan Qashqai: UK 2011 changes

The Nissan Qashqai n-tec 2011 with its posh new alloys We reported last week on the changes revealed for the 2011 Nissan Qashqai in Japan (the Nissan Dualis), and speculated that some of these, and perhaps others, would spill over to the Nissan Qashqai in the UK and Europe. So it was no huge surprise to get an email from Nissan this morning detailing changes to the Qashqai for 2011 in the UK. Stop/Start turns up as an option for the first time on the 1.6 litre petrol Qashqais (for £200) which, if you can get in to the habit of sticking the car in neutral and foot off the clutch every time you grind to a halt in traffic, can yield decent fuel savings.