Quarter Master Remote Bleeder Line 710016 on 2040-parts.com

Car insurance cost at four-year low

THE COST of insuring a car has fallen to a four-year low as motorists benefit from a record 19% drop in average premiums compared with a year ago. The Confused.com car insurance price index, in association with Towers Watson, reveals the average cost of comprehensive car insurance in the first quarter stood at £596, a drop of £140 against this time last year. The figure, including a reduction of 7.5% on the previous quarter, means that average premiums have dipped below £600 for the first time since late 2009.

The scramble for scarce tires

North American automakers are struggling with a nagging shortage of tires, caused in part by tire plant closings and rising demand for low-volume specialty tires. Automakers are paying much higher prices -- double-digit percentage increases from a year ago -- as tire makers gain pricing power. "We have been bombarded from every side for additional tires, and we can't keep up," said David O'Donnell, Continental Tire's vice president of original equipment in the Americas.

Audi TT interior (2014) first official pictures

By Ollie Kew First Official Pictures 08 January 2014 12:00 If you’re hankering after the new Audi TT, sit tight: this is the cabin that awaits you inside Audi’s new third-gen sports coupe. Although it retains classic TT design cues like triplet central air vents, and the instrument binnacle’s rounded hood, this is a step-change for Audi interior design, nicking cues from the 2013 Sport Quattro concept and pointing to the future of all Ingolstadt’s cockpits. The slim, almost Ferrari 458-like dashboard structure has come about through Audi ditching the central MMI (MultiMedia Interface) screen altogether.