Standard Motor Products R45002 Power Distribution Block on 2040-parts.com

2014 Ford Mondeo testing autonomous driving technologies (video)

The Ford Fusion with its LIDAR ears allowing autonomous driving Car makers are starting to take self-driving, autonomous cars very seriously, and we’ve recently seen Mercedes testing their autonomous driving S-Class in Berlin, Volvo planning a big trial of 100 self-driving cars in Gothenberg and Tesla planning systems that will do 90 per cent of your driving within 3 years. Now it’s Ford’s turn. Ford has equipped a Fusion Hybrid (that’s the North American version of the new Ford Mondeo we still haven’t got in the UK) with its autonomous vehicle technology to conduct research in partnership with the University of Michigan and State Farm (a big group of insurance companies in the US). The test Fusion gets a system called LIDAR (light detection and range – the funny looking ears on the top of the Fusion in the picture above) which can scan the road ahead up to 2.5 million times a second and create a 3D map of the surroundings.

2013 Volkswagen Passat R-Line & new 1.4 TSI arrive

The Volkswagen range is hugely successful and largely appealing, but it’s not always the most dynamic looking range of cars on offer. Which is why the R-Line option of fairly understated sporty add-ons is so popular and why VW is offering it on more and more of its range. Now we get the VW Passat R-Line treatment (just as we did with the old Passat) with a bespoke body kit offering more butch bumpers front and back – and cornering fogs in the front bumper – side skirts, 18″ Kansas alloys, spoiler at the back, lowered suspension, extra chrome, Bi-xenon headlights with LED running lights and privacy glass to give the Passat a much more appealing look.

'Speed a factor' in deadly crash

INVESTIGATORS trying to find the cause of the crash that killed Fast And The Furious star Paul Walker say speed was a factor. Meanwhile the actor's fans erected a makeshift memorial yesterday near where the Porsche he was riding in smashed into a street light and tree. The Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department said speed was a factor in Saturday's one-car crash, though it will take time to discover how fast the vehicle was going.