Raritan Mk5 Rudder Angle Indicator Mk5 on 2040-parts.com

Drivers 'don't care' about engine oil

JUST 4% of drivers choose which engine oil goes into their car during a service, according to new research. The remaining 96% either don’t care or simply go with whatever a mechanic recommends, leading to calls from a leading engine oil manufacturer and the Institute of Advanced Motorists (IAM) for raised awareness of the benefits of high-grade engine lubricants. In a study of 1,000 drivers, conducted on behalf of Mobil 1, 65% said they wouldn’t know what oil viscosity their car would need to take, while 69% added they had no idea which brand of oil their car manufacturer recommends.

BMW M6 Gran Coupe: Price from £97,490 (+ video)

The new BMW M6 Gran Coupe - officially revealed this week – will cost from £97,490 when it goes on sale in May 2013. The M6 Gran Coupe gets the same, very convincing, looks of the regular Gran Coupes, but with added visual butchness thanks to a front spoiler, flared wheelarches, side skirts, rear diffuser and a carbon fibre roof. That promised aggression is reinforced by the M6 Gran Coupe’s powerplant that comes from the M6 and M5 with a 4.4 litre twin turbo V8 delivering 553bhp and 50lb/ft of torque – available from 1,500 to 5,750rpm – which is enough to get the M6 Gran Coupe to 62mph in 4.2 seconds.

GM's top battery executive for the Volt to join California startup

General Motors's top executive in charge of developing batteries for the Chevrolet Volt plug-in hybrid is leaving to take a position with an unnamed startup battery company in California. Denise Gray, 46, global director of rechargeable energy storage systems, will step down March 5 after more than three years in the post. This was “an opportunity that I could just not resist,” Gray said in a phone interview.