Toyota Soarer 1989 Left Fender Panel [5410700] on 2040-parts.com

Audi A3 1.6TDI announced

The Audi A3 1.6TDI - one of a range of A3s featuring the new 1.6 litre diesel from Audi Audi has announced that they are introducing a new 1.6 litre common rail diesel engine across the A3 range, which will oust the old A3 1.9TDIe and the A3 and Cabriolet 1.9 TDI. The new engine offers the same 104bhp as the old 1.9 litre unit, but manages to improve economy by over 8% to 68.9mpg and cuts CO2 to 109g/km. The new A3 gets stop-start and energy regeneration to achieve the same performance and power from the smaller engine.

How car makers fix official fuel economy tests

Official fuel economy tests on new cars are being fixed by car makers using a number of legal ‘tricks’ that artificially boost economy ratings. Has anyone ever bought a new car and ending up getting the sort of economy the maker claimed? Probably not.

Petrolhead spiders cause Mazda recall

Mazda has had to recall 42,000 vehicles in the US after it emerged that a species of spider had been weaving webs in fuel vent hoses, increasing the risk of fuel leaks and fires. The yellow sac spider’s curious domestic activities cause a build-up of pressure in the evaporative fuel vent that – in theory at least – could result in a cracked fuel tank and therefore an increased risk of fire. This isn’t the first time that the Mazda 6 has received the unwanted advances of a gas-guzzling arachnid, either – three years ago Mazda had to recall over 50,000 cars for precisely the same reason.