2012 Infiniti Fx50 5.0cyl. #20802-cg0b Catalytic Converter on 2040-parts.com

Revealed: the cheapest and most expensive cars to fuel

Running a car can be an expensive business, with fuel a major contributing factor, especially if you happen to cover long distances. As we know, fuel isn’t cheap. Fortunately, independent car cost experts CAP constantly collect millions of pieces of data about thousands of new and used cars in the UK, helping to produce its Total Cost of Motoring analysis.

KTM X-Bow – want a drive?

KTM X-Bow 'Drive Orange' track days at Brands Hatch and Silverstone KTM is an Austrian Motor Cycle manufacturer which has woken up to the possibilities of making a four-wheeled creation, and has been busy building and refining the X-Bow in collaboration with Dallara and Audi. Featuring a 237bhp, 2.0 litre Audi  TFSi unit – and coming in at a bit under £50,000 for the street version – its low weight (790kg) gives it supercar acceleration of around 3.7 second 0-60mph. There is even talk of a 380bhp version, which will put it up there with the Ariel Atom V8 we reported on recently.

New techniques cut cost of carbon fiber

Carbon fiber, once so costly that it was the preferred material only for fighter planes and supercars, is catching the attention of weight-conscious automakers. Carbon fiber's cost is falling dramatically, thanks to production advances that let suppliers speed the material's finicky, and costly, curing process. One technological breakthrough that makes carbon-fiber auto parts more affordable may come from a process used to make carbon-fiber golf clubs.