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Mini to return to the WRC in 2011 with 4x4

Mini is back in rallying, more than 50 years after it ruled the roost at Monte Carlo and beyond, giving a huge shot in the arm to the World Rally Championship. In typically audacious style BMW has announced it will campaign the Countryman SUV rather than the standard Mini, starting with selected WRC rounds in 2011 followed by the entire 2012 season.It’s also a return to WRC for Banbury-based Prodrive, the outfit behind Subaru’s legendary WRC success, who will develop the car and run the team. Prodrive last campaigned in the 2008 season, and have been developing the Countryman since early 2009.

Careful young drivers penalised by hire companies

YOUNG DRIVERS with good driving records are being unfairly penalised by car hire firms. Rental companies are accused of imposing tough age limitations on those able to hire a car. In a study by the Institute of Advanced Motorists (IAM), it found car hire companies often have stringent minimum age limits that take no account of a driver’s clean record.

New Mercedes S-Class Magic Body Control – invented by Chickens

New Mercedes S-Class Magic Body Control: Invented by Chickens Whatever you think of the new Mercedes S-Class (Merchant Bankers car?), and whatever you think of Mercedes name for its clever suspension tech – Magic Body Control – you have to be impressed by the technology. Yes, Magic Body Control might sound like a cheesy Paul Daniels magic trick or an undergarment for ladies of a certain age, but what it does is far more impressive than anything Paul Daniels or the makers of supportive lingerie can muster. A camera on top of the windscreen scans the road ahead on Mercedes cars fitted with MBC looking for lumps and bumps in the way and sends that data to the suspension to set it up for the best possible ride.