Yamaha Blaster Right Heel Guard on 2040-parts.com

MINI go Rallying: MINI WRC Video

MINI Countryman WRC ‘Old’ Mini – that’s Mini without all the capital letters – ‘owned’ rallying for a period in the 1960s. Particularly the Monte Carlo Rally, which it won in 1964, 1965 and 1967. Names like Paddy Hopkirk and Rauno Altonen – well, more so Paddy in the UK – became as well-known as Jenson Button and Lewis Hamilton are today.

(Another) Audi A3 e-tron hybrid at Geneva 2013

The Audi A3 e-tron – a hybrid A3 EV based on the A3 Sportback – will debut at the 2013 Geneva Motor Show as a concept. This Audi A3 e-tron isn’t a pointless electric supercar – like the R8 e-tron – or another rollout of the A3 e-tron BEV, but a hybrid A3 with a proper ICE engine coupled to an electric motor, just like the A3 e-tron concept we saw in Shanghai in 2011 That still means a lot of complicated and heavy technology to game the silly official economy tests and come up with ‘official’ economy figures of 158mpg and 35g/km, but the A3 e-tron would – if it were made – offer big tax breaks for company car drivers. The A3 e-tron gets a 1.4 litre direct injection petrol engine good for 148bhp working with an electric motor good for an extra 100bhp.

Accident prevention features to affect vehicle safety ratings?

To score high on the government's five-star safety program, car companies may soon need to do more than just protect passengers during a crash. They might need to keep their customers out of accidents, too. That would be a boon to suppliers selling such equipment as radar and video cameras that watch the road ahead.