Nat Aa34-300 Universal Radio Interface on 2040-parts.com

BMW 4-series Gran Coupe (2014) first official pictures

By Ollie Kew First Official Pictures 01 February 2014 23:01 BMW has either just created the next big thing, or officially run out of ideas. This is the 4-series Gran Coupe. Of course, it’s not actually a coupe at all – it has four doors – but being part of the 4-series family, it’s sleeker than the 3-series saloon.

Call for reform over road repair funding

FUNDING patterns mean most road maintenance is being carried out in "less-efficient, cold and wet" times, a report from a Government spending watchdog has said. The current pattern of funding, combined with the need to spend money within the financial year, means that most maintenance work goes on between September and March, said the report from the National Audit Office (NAO). It went on: "Although this is less disruptive for road users, it is less efficient than carrying out the work at other times of year because materials can be more difficult to handle in cold and wet conditions, and daylight hours are shorter." The report went on: "As a result of the additional funding for emergency repairs, which is made available at the end of the financial year, almost all highways authorities need extra capacity from the market at the same time, which makes it less likely that they will get value for money." The NAO report said there was a "lack of predictability" over road spending adding that historically, local highway authorities spent more revenue on maintenance, but were now carrying out fewer routine activities such as clearing gullies which are essential to preventing water seeping into roads' sub-structure.

The Name Game: Why the next Buick will be called the Verano

Verano means “summer” in Spanish, though it could easily be a type of coffee or even a brand of crystal. But the idea behind the latest Buick was to snare an upscale, forward-sounding name to lure to new customers. Buick could have gone with an alpha-numeric designation, or even dipped into its heritage for a storied moniker from the past.