Right Muffler, Aluminized Steel, Natural Finish on 2040-parts.com

Alfa MiTo Sportiva & Giulietta Sportiva added to range

Alfa Romeo has added a new trim level in the UK – Sportiva – for both the Alfa MiTo and the Alfa Giulietta. Two cars we like very much – depending on trim and engine – are the Alfa Romeo MiTo and Giulietta. Both offer style and fun at decent prices and make a nice change from Teutonic sameness.

Range Rover Evoque Service Pack: 5 years servicing for £499

But it’s not just that buyers of new cars are keen on the idea of long warranties and fixed (or inclusive) service packs that drive car makers to offer better warranties and Service Pack deals, but that offering them keeps the new car buyer inside the dealer network with all the opportunities that potentially presents for up-selling and new car pitching. So the news that Land Rover has decided to dip its collective foot in the water of fixed cost servicing is no surprise, and the offer’s a fairly decent one – a Service Pack for the Range Rover Evoque costs just £499. For your ‘Monkey’ upfront you get all the regular servicing needs of your new Evoque done and dusted for 5 years (or 50,000 miles on the petrol Evoque and 60,000 miles on the diesel).

Jaguar Land Rover leads UK universities to develop virtual simulation tech

Jaguar Land Rover is to lead four UK universities in a £10m ($15.5m) government scheme to develop virtual simulation technologies and processes to help improve and accelerate the car design process. The carmaker will be leading project teams from the universities of Cambridge, Loughborough, Leeds and Warwick in the Program for Simulation Innovation (PSI), developed to improve the potential of the UK virtual simulation industry. It is hoped that through its results design quality and capability can be improved through the simulation of sights, sounds and smells.