Honda CR-Z Hybrid – Tokyo reveal

The hybrid Honda CR-Z revealed at Tokyo Although we are on record as not being huge fans of the Honda Insight - Toyota’s saloon hybrid – the CR-Z does look much more promising. You can think of it as an Eco replacement for the successful CR-X of years gone by. But Honda are all too well aware of the major criticisms of the Insight and have taking steps to make the CR-Z more appealing to drive.

Watch the sad, final moments of a crusher-bound heap

Automotive wrecking yards are good places to reflect on the real-world values of heavily depreciated vehicles versus global current scrap-metal prices, and to see which cars have suddenly had the fix-it-versus-total-it line moved by insurance companies (the early-21st-century Subaru Legacy Outback, for example, appeared in large numbers in high-turnover wrecking yards just during the last year, as fairly minor collision damage on these cars is no longer worth fixing). You'll see the things that a car's last owner does in a desperate attempt to sell (or at least live with) an increasingly decrepit heap (as we learned in "Repo Man," you really will find a Little Tree in every car). During a recent trip to a San Jose, Calif., yard, I encountered this sad yet strangely compelling scene.

BMW i8 Winter testing (video)

The BMW i8 is caught on video cold weather testing We have video of the BMW i8 winter testing in deep snow, in what looks to be a a much closer to production i8. The BMW i8 has been floating around for nearly three years as BMW’s nod to an eco future for supercars. Starting with the Vision EfficientDynamics concept we saw back in 2009, BMW went on to reveal their ‘i’ Brand and reveal the  BMW i8 last summer. With the i8 not likely to hit showrooms until late 2013 or early 2014, BMW are out doing what car makers do and testing their new cars in extreme weather, this time it’s cold weather testing and footage of the i8 frolicking with the snow ploughs.