Optima Batteries 8006-006 Bluetop; Marine Battery on 2040-parts.com

POTHOLES cause 'over £1 billion in damage every year'

POTHOLES are costing British drivers £1.2 billion every year due to damage to suspension, steering and wheels. This is a 16% rise in the cost of damage to cars on the UK’s roads and the weather has played a major part in the rise in the number of potholes. Councils say they don’t have the money to deal with the problem due to budget cuts and there has also been an 18% increase in the number of dangerous potholes reported during the past 12 months according to the Asphalt Industry Alliance (AIA).

Infiniti Steer-by-Wire on the way (video)

Nissan has revealed that it plans to install an electronic steer-by-wire system in to its Infiniti models in 2013. As car makers seek to squeeze every last fraction of a mile out of their cars to hit economy and emissions targets, computer control of many of a car’s functions are controlled by computer, which means the official tests for economy and emissions can be guaranteed to produce predictable results. Now Nissan are to take electronic steering to its logical conclusion by eliminating any direct connection between the steering wheel and the front wheels (except in an emergency) with the first fly-by-wire steering system in a production car.

Spyker B6 Venator Spyder on the way

But much of that will probably depend on real buyers stumping up real money to get on the waiting list for a car we still don’t know a great deal about (in particular what underpins it) but which does look good and manages to encompass Spyker’s traditional styling cues whilst still conspiring to look very current. Now, buried amongst the latest financial report from Spyker – which shows no real turnover or profit, loans in to shares and an injection of cash from Youngman – comes the news that Victor is already getting a bit ahead of himself again with plans to reveal the B6 Venator Spyder later this year. That looks a bit of a ‘run before you can walk’ scenario for Spyker - especially as Victor says production of the C8 Aileron will gather pace this year and the D8 Peking-to-Paris SUV will be a priority – but if Spyker can produce a Venator Spyder that looks as good as the coupe it may be the right way forward.