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Maintenance 'favours' end up costing more

GETTING help from family, neighbours or friends for basic car maintenance tasks costs the UK public an estimate £300million a year, according to a new survey. Over 2,000 people were surveyed on behalf of Halfords Autocentres and one in six said they regretted asking for help in the first place. 45% who subsequently had to pay a professional to rectify mistakes were left with a bill in excess of £100.

2011 Ford Explorer prototype spied

The Ford Explorer is getting a redesign for 2011 and moving to a unibody platform, a here is the first prototype of the new SUV we've seen, getting a test drive on public roads. The Ford Explorer is the automaker's flagship SUV. The unibody platform for the 2011 model is a version being used for the Ford Flex wagon and the Ford Taurus/Lincoln MKS sedans.

Porsche 918 Spyder with Weissach Package does 0-62 mph in 2.6 seconds

Porsche 918 Spyder with Weissach Package does 0-62 mph in 2.6 seconds The trio of hypercars currently vying for the title of the ultimate supercar – McLaren P1, LaFerrari and Porsche 918 Spyder – have all taken similar – but different – routes to performance, although they’ve all ended up with remarkably similar statistics. But the Porsche 918 Spyder has already scored a direct hit with a record time of 6:57s round the Nurburgring and now, ahead of the first customer cars finally reaching their homes, Porsche has revealed improved performance for the 918 Spyder with the Weissach Package fitted. Performance from 0-62mph is just 2.6 seconds (2.8 seconds without the Weissach Package), 124mph is reached in 7.2 seconds (0.5s quicker) and 186mph in 19.9 seconds (2.1 s quicker).