Volvo S40 Review & Road Test: Volvo S40 SE DRIVe Start/Stop (2011) Part 2

Volvo S40 DRIVe Interior - a decent place to be As already noted, the Volvo S40 DRIVe is pretty much a Ford Focus under the skin, which is a more than decent starting point. The Focus has a very good set of road manners and the ability to produce an enjoyable drive. Yet somehow the S40 conspires to be not quite as good as the Focus; much more average than you’d expect when you start to push on.

Mazda 2 facelift (2012) with SkyActiv revealed

The Mazda Demio facelift - that's Mazda2 to me and you We’re back to the old story of car reveals for the Japanese Domestic Market (JDM) pointing at reveals to come in overseas markets, with the reveal of the facelifted Mazda Demio telling us all we need to know about the next Mazda 2 Facelift. Although the Mazda2 has had the car surgeon’s knife lightly applied to freshen things up a bit, the big news is the oily bits, where Mazda are busy showing us that there are better alternatives to frugal cars than electric or hybrid. The new Mazda 2 gets the direct injection, 1.3 litre SkyActiv engine which features a raft of technology to squeeze every last drop of energy out of the petrol it uses, together with a CVT ‘box which does the decent thing and offers a seven-speed manual mode.

Schools Award and CDN Design Schools League Table

Schools as well as students are being recognized in this year's CDN-Interior Motives Student Design Awards, just launched, with a special award being introduced for the school whose students have the most success in the competition. CDN acknowledges that great teaching, as well as raw student talent, is needed to shape the work of the next generation of car designers. So along with the student finalists in 2012 will come finalist schools, as measured by the success of their students in getting to the shortlist stage of the competition, in becoming category finalists, or in winning an award or becoming overall winner.