Motoring News
Yesterday, 09 November 20162017 Porsche Panamera range revealed: six new models added
Expanded Porsche Panamera line-up gains new long-wheelbase and rear and four-wheel drive models; range-topper has a 542bhp turbocharged V8
The Porsche Panamera range has gained six new models as production of the luxurious five-door liftback is ramped up following the second-generation model's introduction earlier this year.
Included is a pair of price-leading models in the form of the rear-wheel-drive Panamera and four-wheel-drive Panamera 4. They are joined by a quartet of long-wheelbase four-wheel-drive models in the Panamera 4 Executive, Panamera 4 E-Hybrid Executive, Panamera 4S Executive and Panamera Turbo Executive.
The new Panamera models are planned to make their public premiere at next week’s Los Angeles motor show, prior to a planned start of UK deliveries in April 2017.
The rear-wheel-drive Panamera and four-wheel-drive Panamera 4 are powered by Porsche’s latest twin-scroll turbocharged 3.0-litre V6 petrol engine. Shared with the Audi S4, S5 Coupé and S5 Sportback, it produces
read moreNew Porsche Panamera long wheelbase - pictures
read moreRenault referred to prosecutors over emissions
Probe into nitrogen oxide pollutants from some diesel engines
read moreGM axes 2,000 US jobs as small car demand wanes
Industry reins in production after seven years of growth
read moreCarmakers accused of fitting dangerous tyre pressure monitors
News
9 Nov, 2016
A new report found certain types of car tyre pressure monitors fail to warn drivers of deflating tyres
read moreGovernment to enforce zero-tolerance policy for drivers using mobile phones
First-time offenders could be banned from driving when revised penalties are introduced next year
Drivers caught using their mobile phones behind the wheel could lose their licence under new rules set to be enforced from next year.
The Government’s zero-tolerance regulations will drop the option for offenders to go on a remedial driving course, while the lowest penalty will be six points on their licence – double the current punishment.
The plans, which are on course to be introduced at the start of 2017, will also double fines from £100 to £200.
Ministers are also said to be releasing a consultation on dangerous driving courses before the end of 2016.
Here's why you shouldn't use your mobile phone behind the wheel
While the number of drivers in the UK caught on their phones has decreased by 84% since 2011, Prime Minister Theresa May has said she wants the act to become socially unacceptable.
The Government’s new plans were revealed three months after a family of four was tragically killed in a road accident on the A34 after a lorry driver crashed into their car while looking at his mobile phone.
Many of the UK’s leading voices in road safety have since expressed concern for the continued use of phones behind the wheel. Ian Gallagher, the Freight Transport Association (FTA)’s head of driver and vehicle licensing policy, saying “Vocational drivers risk their livelihood as many of our members already have in place a zero-tolerance for employees in breach of these rules.
read more2017 Volkswagen Golf to make its debut tomorrow
Facelifted hatch will get an interior makeover, fresh technology and new engines; lands 10 November
Volkswagen is less than 24 hours away from unveiling its crucial facelifted Golf.
The reworked version of Europe’s best-selling car is set to be revealed at 11:30am UK time tomorrow in Wolfsburg, Germany, with UK sales starting early next year. The Golf’s mid-life upgrades are designed to help keep the model fresh until the launch of a heavily re-engineered, new Mk8 Golf in 2019.
Visually, the facelifted Golf departs little from today’s four-year-old model. Subtle styling changes on prototype versions of the new hatchback include a lightly altered front bumper, new headlight graphics with integrated day-time running lights, reworked LED tail-lights graphics and new alloy wheel designs.
The main focus of the facelift is the interior, which VW has upgraded to include the optional virtual cockpit display offered on the Passat. The 12.5in high-definition monitor can be ordered in place of the new Golf’s analogue instruments. It offers differing digital layouts at the press of a button on the multi-function steering wheel.
More significant are the changes to the Golf’s infotainment system. In a bid to make the new car more appealing, VW will offer
read moreWinter car kit & best buys 2016 - pictures
read moreGovernment's £1m smart motorway payday
News
9 Nov, 2016
More than 50,000 speeders were caught on 11 stretches of smart motorway in 2015 with £1.1m generated in fixed penalties
read moreNew AC Cobra 378 due in 2017 with 550bhp V8
AC boss confirms details of AC Cobra 378; it will have a naturally aspirated or supercharged V8 engine
The AC Cobra 378 will be produced in 2017 as a reborn version of the classic sports car with a V8 engine and a traditional ladder chassis.
Based on the design of the original Cobra Mk4, the 2017 car will come with a choice of two 6.2-litre V8 engines: a naturally aspirated one producing 440bhp, or a supercharged one with 550bhp.
Both versions will get an electronic control unit (ECU), modern gearbox, power brakes, power steering and come with optional air conditioning. This is in an effort to be more usable and reliable cars, but to retain the character of the original model.
“It’s a quasi-modern car, you can use it every day if you want,” AC Cars owner Alan Lubinsky told Autocar. “It’s had significant upgrades but the underlying hardware – the chassis and surrounding parts – are essentially as they were before, just with more modern mechanicals.”
Lubinsky said that the first customer cars are entering production now, with deliveries in Britain commencing in February or March 2017.
Exclusive: Nine AC Cobra models to be built to exact original specification
“We are waiting for new US low-volume manufacturing rules [the HR22 low-volume replica car bill] to be finalised so we can sell the car there,” continued Lubinsky. “The car will be sold in America as the Autokraft MkIV Classic, like the popular 1980s model.”
