Volkswagen Stock Cassette Player on 2040-parts.com

BMW Alpina D3 Bi-Turbo (2013) at Frankfurt motor show

If a collection of numbers dictated how we ranked and rated a car, the new BMW Alpina D3 might just be the best all-rounder in the world. You’re looking at a discreet and comfortable 3-series that’ll return a claimed 53.2mpg, and scorch to 62mph in just 4.6 seconds, quicker than the outgoing BMW M3. Read on to find out how.

Forecasters see slow auto-sales recovery through 2011

U.S. auto sales in 2010 and 2011 will continue to crawl -- not walk or run -- out of last year's recession, according to forecasters at the Auto Industry Hot Topics Conference here. “It's going to be a long crawl out of this, but we're crawling in the right direction,” said David Wyss, chief economist for Standard & Poor's, which co-sponsored the conference along with J.D.

Race2Recovery starts new Dakar challenge

A TEAM of disabled ex-soldiers has arrived in South America to take on this year’s Dakar rally, known as the toughest motoring challenge on the planet. Race2Recovery, the team of severely injured servicemen and civilian volunteers, is taking a second shot at the Dakar after last year becoming the first all-disabled team in history to complete it. This year the 5,600-mile course travels through Argentina and Chile, crossing the Andes mountain range and the Atacama Desert, where temperatures are expected to top 40 degrees Celsius.