Water Cooled Voltage Regulator Mercruiser 3.7l 170 470 194-9502 99502a4 on 2040-parts.com

Call for reform over road repair funding

FUNDING patterns mean most road maintenance is being carried out in "less-efficient, cold and wet" times, a report from a Government spending watchdog has said. The current pattern of funding, combined with the need to spend money within the financial year, means that most maintenance work goes on between September and March, said the report from the National Audit Office (NAO). It went on: "Although this is less disruptive for road users, it is less efficient than carrying out the work at other times of year because materials can be more difficult to handle in cold and wet conditions, and daylight hours are shorter." The report went on: "As a result of the additional funding for emergency repairs, which is made available at the end of the financial year, almost all highways authorities need extra capacity from the market at the same time, which makes it less likely that they will get value for money." The NAO report said there was a "lack of predictability" over road spending adding that historically, local highway authorities spent more revenue on maintenance, but were now carrying out fewer routine activities such as clearing gullies which are essential to preventing water seeping into roads' sub-structure.

‘Charge rage’ on the up for electric car owners

Forget ‘range anxiety’, the latest term to sweep the world of electric cars is ‘charge rage’. The new phenomenon hitting owners of zero-emission vehicles relates to the growing number of electric cars on the roads – because public charging infrastructure is failing to expand at the same rate. On Bing: see pictures of electric car charging points Find out how much a used electric car costs on Auto Trader This means owners are actually fighting over these plug-in points, with some rather unsavoury behaviour reported causing charge rage for many electric car drivers.

BMW 730Ld takes ‘Top Chauffeur Car’ title from Jaguar XJ

BMW 730Ld Chauffeur and Professional Driver Car of the Year 2011 Last year was very much the year of the Jaguar XJ, with awards and praise oozing from every publication. But a year is a long time in the car world, and the XJ – winner of the Chauffeur Car of the Year in 2010-  has been beaten in to third place in this year’s Chauffeur Car of the Year by the BMW 730Ld. Professional Driver Magazine awards annual gongs for the best ‘working’ cars, judged by an invited panel of chauffeurs, motoring journalists and private hire operators who drive and judge the contenders during a one-day judging event.