Vauxhall Astra Sports Tourer estate (2010) unveiled

By Tim Pollard First Official Pictures 16 June 2010 00:01 Vauxhall has slid the covers off the new Astra Sports Tourer – a mini-me, shrunken Insignia estate for less money. The two share plenty of character and were both penned under GM Europe's design boss, Mark Adams.Vauxhall Astra Sports Tourer: the lowdownThe new 2010 Astra estate puts the ultimate accent on cool looks over practicality, and its vital stats suggest it's a bit of a slouch in the sofa-shifting game. The 2685mm wheelbase is identical to the hatchback's, so the boot space stands at 500 litres, only 30 litres more than the hatch with the seats up.FlexFold (optional on lower models) lets you flop each 60:40 split rear seat down at the press of a button; stow all the rear seats flat and boot space soars to a more acceptable 1550 litres.

Kia Quoris is production name for equally daft Kia K9

Kia has decided that its range-topping take on the BMW 7 Series should enter the market as the Kia Quoris. We can understand why Kia made the decision to seek a name for its new range-topping saloon for markets outside South Korea. After all, Kia K9 has a distinctly ‘pooch’ feel in the West (not to mention Dr Who’s sidekick), and chuck in the Korean predilection for eating man’s best friend and you have a PR problem along the lines of the Mitsubishi Pajero in Spain.

New Subaru WRX revealed: Los Angeles Auto Show

New Subaru WRX revealed in LA The new Subaru WRX – the one that may or may not come to the UK – has been revealed today at the Los Angeles Auto Show. The WRX gets a new structure – and a four door saloon shape only – with a stiffer chassis, new electronic power steering and a new engine. The new engine in the WRX is a tweaked and fettled version of the 2.0 litre boxer engine from the Subaru Forseter, but in the WRX it gets 268bhp and 258lb/ft of torque, channelled through Subaru’s Symmetrical All-Wheel Drive system to all four wheels, and enough to hit 60mph in 5.4 seconds The new WRX gets a choice of a manual ‘box with permanent 4WD whilst the WRX with the optional CVT box comes with a transfer clutch to move torque between axles.