85 Honda Crx Front Passenger Side Corner Marker Turn Light on 2040-parts.com

Top Gear take the Bentley Continental GT Speed Rallying

Top Gear has been on the 2012 WRC Wales Rally with a Bentley Continental GT Speed driven by Kris Meeke with James May as co-driver. We know that Top Gear won’t be back on our screens – at least not with a new series – until 2013, because Jeremy Clarkson told us. But that doesn’t mean Messrs Clarkson, Hammond and May are twiddling their thumbs waiting for the new series to start.

Lexus IS (2013) more details of new 3-series rival

Lexus has pulled the cloth back on the all-new Lexus IS at the 2013 Detroit motor show, and announced more details of its new hybrid 3-series rival. This will be the first hybrid Lexus IS, and UK sales will start in summer 2013.  What do we know about the new hybrid Lexus IS?  The IS300h combines an electric motor with a 2.5-litre four-cylinder petrol engine. The torque output is yet to be confirmed, but there's 217bhp and Lexus is aiming for a sub-100g/km CO2 output and fuel consumption of at least 65mpg. Figures like that are likely to grab the attention of fleet managers, as Lexus hopes to close the gap on rivals like the BMW 3-series, Mercedes C-class and Audi A4.  There's a non-hybrid model too, but this IS250 will be powered by a 204bhp 2.5-litre V6 petrol engine. It won't be a fleet favourite.  The IS250h has a six-speed automatic transmission, the IS300h has a CVT gearbox, and both cars are rear-wheel drive.

BMW X4 confirmed – one more time

It was always going to be on the cards after the unexpected success of the X6, but the birth of the BMW X4 – a coupé version of the new X3 – has been the subject of endless rumours, almost since the X6 started to sell in unexpected numbers. We reported as far back as April 2010 that BMW were close to deciding an X4 was a no brainer; after all, with a lot of the world ‘downsizing’ their transport, a smaller X6 should be a seller. By this time last year we heard that BMW had already made the decision and we had it on good authority that the X4 was confirmed and signed-off and would be heading to showrooms by 2013.