Snobunje Tunnel Bag on 2040-parts.com

Ssangyong getting bullish with the Korando SX

The new Ssangyong Korando SX is to feature in a £1 million TV advertising campaign comparing price and spec with its rivals. It’s almost exactly a year since we reported Ssangyong’s return to the UK market with the Ssangyong Korando, a competitive budget compact SUV they hoped would set them on a path to sales success in the UK. Ssangyong ramped up their Korando offering in June by launching the Korando SX 4×4 at a very reasonable £18,795, although you did have to sacrifice kit – and a lump of power – to achieve the new 4×4 entry price.

Subaru Impreza WRX STI R205 for JDM

The Subaru Impreza WRX STI launches in Japan Subaru has announced a limited run of 400  Subaru Impreza WRX STI 205 which will go on sale in Japan. It won’t please Subaru Impreza nuts in the UK as they’ll get no chance to get their hands on one, but for those in Japan it’s great news. Unlike the rather lame Subaru WRX STI Carbon (or Impreza Pipe & Slippers as we like to think of it), the R205 is hard-core. Subaru has plucked a chunk of bits from the ‘Spec C’ bin to create the R205.

Toyota reveals safety research car at CES

One day before the International Consumer Electronics Show opened its doors in Las Vegas, Toyota took the wraps off the highest-tech Lexus LS ever made. The car -- with spinning sensors and probing lasers galore -- is meant to demonstrate safety features that could be coming to production cars someday soon. Called the Advanced Safety Research Vehicle, it sure looked like some of the autonomous self-driving vehicles we saw at the DARPA Challenge, but Toyota stressed that a robot car is not the goal.