S Type 2004 Glove Box 190 on 2040-parts.com

Pininfarina Sintesi

By Guy Bird Motor Shows 10 March 2008 12:03 What’s new on Pininfarina’s Geneva Motor Show stand? Italian coachbuilder and design house Pininfarina showed another stunning concept at Geneva to follow the 2005 Maserati Birdcage and 2004 Nido. The 2008 Sintesi is strictly an ‘ideas concept’ imagining a future vehicle that can communicate with other cars to avoid traffic and accidents and thus reduce the need for current passive safety requirements – like longer and heavier front noses to meet pedestrian impact laws.

Video: Peter Schreyer on premium proportion

Kia has released a short film featuring Peter Schreyer that provides an insight into the world of premium car design in which he explains the importance of proportion. In the presentation, Schreyer sketches the company's new K9 sedan, describing how a rear-wheel drive platform affects the car's design, with its generous wheelbase, short front overhang and the 'prestige distance' between the center of the front wheel and the A-pillar. Related stories: Interview: Peter Schreyer, Chief of Design, Kia

Audi A3 1.6TDI announced

The Audi A3 1.6TDI - one of a range of A3s featuring the new 1.6 litre diesel from Audi Audi has announced that they are introducing a new 1.6 litre common rail diesel engine across the A3 range, which will oust the old A3 1.9TDIe and the A3 and Cabriolet 1.9 TDI. The new engine offers the same 104bhp as the old 1.9 litre unit, but manages to improve economy by over 8% to 68.9mpg and cuts CO2 to 109g/km. The new A3 gets stop-start and energy regeneration to achieve the same performance and power from the smaller engine.