New / Ram Clutches Ball Cap By N-line / Adjustable Velcro / Black W/ram Logo/ on 2040-parts.com

VW Race Touareg 3 (2011) first pictures

You might usually associate the Volkswagen Touareg with school-run mums whose furthest foray off-road is up the kerb and onto a wet field – this is something different, this is the new VW Race Touareg 3. That there is, and it’s the Race Touareg 2 that’s taken the chequered flag at the last two Dakar rallies, becoming the first diesel-powered winner in 2009. And after 2010’s 1-2-3 finish, the VW board decided it was onto a good thing and commissioned Volkswagen Motorsport to update its Touareg racer for the January 2011 race.

NHTSA proposes rules for automakers to add sound to hybrids, EVs

Automakers would need to make hybrids and electric vehicles emit sound under rules that the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration proposed on Monday. The rules, ordered by Congress three years ago, are meant to protect pedestrians and bicyclists from vehicles that make little sound when using electric power. NHTSA says that designing the vehicles to make noise at speeds below 18 mph would prevent about 2,800 injuries over the life of each model year of vehicles.

Land Rover OKs LRX-based small SUV for Range Rover

Land Rover will put its striking LRX concept car, first displayed at the 2008 Detroit auto show, into production with the help of a $37.1 million grant from the British government. But in a move suggesting it will be pitched further upmarket than originally intended--against four-wheel-drive rivals such as the Audi Q5, the BMW X5 and the Mercedes-Benz GLK--the LRX will reach showrooms wearing Range Rover badges. "Internal studies have shown that if we deliver the LRX to market, it would be best suited to the Range Rover brand," Land Rover boss Phil Popham said.