Pick-ups do poorly in latest Euro NCAP tests

By Mark Nichol Motor Industry 26 February 2008 11:54 Euro NCAP released its latest crash test results today, and it’s bad news for pick-up drivers. Only three picks-ups were tested, but they achieved some appalling results, with the Nissan Navara registering just one star for adult crash protection. Pick-up registrations increased by 7.2 percent in Europe last year and are increasingly being used as family transport.

Ferrari 458 Italia Revealed

The first pictures of the new Ferrari 458 Italia These are the first pictures of Ferrari’s 458 Italia, released this morning ahead of the official reveal at the Frankfurt Motor Show in September. Clearly showing influences from the Enzo and the Mille Chille Concept car, the F430 replacement will undoubtedly go upmarket in terms of price to differentiate it from Ferrari’s entry-level car, the Ferrari California. Featuring a new, 4.5 litre V8 (hence the name – 458) , Ferrari claim the new engine has the highest specific output of any normally aspirated road-car engine, which is a hard claim to dispute as it produces 127bhp per litre.  It produces 562bhp at 9000 rpm, making it the highest revving Ferrari engine to date.

Volvo V60 Polestar production now underway

The Volvo V60 Polestar is now rolling off Volvo’s production line Last month Volvo revealed that the V60 Polestar would be a limited edition run of just 750 cars for the world, but that 125 of those will be heading for the UK – the largest market allocation of any country – and will cost £49,775. And now, seven months after Volvo confirmed the V60 Polestar for production, the first cars are heading off the production line at Volvo’s plant in Torslanda and heading off to their new owners. Although not as powerful as we’d expected, the V60 Polestar still offers an appealing performance package, with 345 bhp and 369lb/ft of torque delivering 0-62mph in an impressive 6.0 seconds.