Triumph Tr4 Ash Tray on 2040-parts.com

Vauxhall at the Paris motor show 2008

By Guy Bird Motor Shows 02 October 2008 16:31 The Vauxhall Insignia Sports Tourer bagged its world debut as an Opel-badged vehicle in Paris. Yet another well styled, curvaceous family estate in the vein of the Citroen C5, Ford Mondeo and Honda Accord, it begs the question: is the large boxy load-lugger now officially dead?   The curving roofline – with integrated rear spoiler to visually extend it even further – plus a much more shapely rear end consign the very square old Vectra estate to history. It also results in a decent-for-class 0.30 Cd drag coefficient.

Laurence Fishburne reprises Morpheus role for Kia Super Bowl ad

When we drove the Kia K900 recently, we asked, “Do buyers in the BMW 5-series/Mercedes E-class/Audi A6/Lexus GS class want a prestigious nameplate as much as they want radar adaptive cruise control?” In Kia's new Super Bowl spot starring Laurence Fishburne, Morpheus says yes. The Korean automaker's snatched up the erstwhile voice of Cadillac to reprise his beloved character from the "Matrix" trilogy in the hope of suggesting that reality is mutable, luxury isn't about nameplates, and the K900 will open your eyes to a world of improbable possibilities. Despite the explosions, melting dinner utensils and airborne automobiles of the ad, we actually preferred the making-of video released at the same time as the Super Bowl clip, which you can watch below.

Mercedes A, B & CLA-Class get more frugal engines & new 4MATIC 4WD options

The Mercedes A,B & CLA-Class get more frugal and get new 4MATIC options The new Mercedes A-Class, B-Class and CLA-Class may not have been with us very long, but that’s not stopping Mercedes playing with what’s on offer with more frugal engines being launched and the option of 4MATIC 4WD being extended to the Mercedes A 200 CDI and 220 CDI. With an official fuel consumption of 54mpg and emissions of 125g/km, the latest Mercedes CLA 250 manages to improve emissions and economy figures by 7 per cent using a lean-burn process, without affecting performance. The Mercedes A 200 CDI gets a bigger engine – up from 1.8 to 2.2 litres – and 136hp and 221lb/ft of torque and, with the 7Speed DCT ‘box fitted, manages official consumption of 72mpg and emissions of 102g/km – 7g/km less than the old 1.8 litre A 200 CDI.