Antenna Motor / 1988 Acura Legend 4 Door Sedan / Original on 2040-parts.com

Women are now the driving force in cars

WOMEN now account for more than half of all driving licence holders in the USA and the UK is set to follow this example by 2016. Younger women drivers are helping to boost the number of female driving licence holders around the world, but older women drivers are also growing in number. The number of males applying for a new driving licence has declined in the last three years, but the number of women applying for a driving licence has gone up by 2.5%.

Listen: Upcoming Ford Focus ST to employ sound symposer

While BMW employs a digitally sanitized/perfected sound file to give M5 owners the proper sense of aggro urgency when motoring at pace, Porsche went a little more organic with its employment of a sound symposer to feed the 911's flat-six growl into the cabin of the extra-refined 991. Essentially, the sound symposer is an electrically controlled diaphragm in a tuned sound tube that brings the proper engine noises into the passenger compartment. It can be opened and closed by the car's onboard electronics to offer snarl when you want it and serenity when you don't.

First Sight: Fenomenon Stratos

The Geneva Show sees a surprising newcomer to its stands in the shape of Fenomemon Ltd and their concept Stratos project. This new London-based vehicle design agency is led by a current student on the Royal College of Art's Vehicle Design course, Chris Hrabalek, who has masterminded a complete full-size mockup of a reborn Lancia Stratos concept for this year's Geneva Show. In a world where multinational companies spend several million dollars on a concept car and stand, that's a phenomenal achievement.