Blog on 2040Parts

Land Rovers at greater risk of theft

RECENT BAD WEATHER means Land Rovers and other 4x4 vehicles are at greater risk of being stolen. Police in Derbyshire have even reported a crime spree, with 12 Land Rover vehicles stolen in their region between November 2013 and January 2014. All police forces across the UK are urging owners of this type of vehicle to be extra vigilant and secure their vehicles.

Which Boss is Boss? We pit the original Mustang Boss 302 against the 1983 Ford Mustang GT

The 1983 Ford Mustang GT wasn't an official follow-up to the Boss 302, but that didn't stop us from drawing the comparison in the Feb. 28, 1983 issue of Autoweek. Or putting the then-brand-new hot pony car to the test against its hallowed performance predecessor.

Jay Leno drives the 2015 Porsche 918 Spyder

There's one thing all the vehicles Jay Leno gets to drive seem to have in common, and it isn't even four wheels: They're all cool enough to make us extremely jealous. The 2015 Porsche 918 Spyder is no different. We're especially glad Leno decided to feature this new supercar (hypercar?

Lion Set To Roar Up Goodwood’s Famous Hill This Summer

VISITORS to the 2014 Goodwood Festival of Speed will be in for an extra treat, as Peugeot has announced it will bring its record-breaking 208 T16 Pikes Peak car to the popular event. However, the 875 horsepower car won’t be parked on a stand but driven in anger up the famous Goodwood hill by its record-breaking driver, multiple world rally champion Sébastien Loeb. And just to add some spice to proceedings, there’s talk of an attempt to break the longstanding 41.6 second time to complete the 1.16-mile course - set by Nick Heidfeld in a McLaren Formula One car in 1999.

Bentley Continental GT V8 S & ‘Old Number 1′ at 2014 Goodwood Festival of Speed

The Bentley Continental GT V8 S (pictured) will make its Goodwood debut in June It’s only three months before the world’s greatest petrolhead gathering takes place in Sussex, and the offerings for the 2014 Goodwood Festival of Speed are now starting to come in to focus. As you’d expect, Bentley are as keen as ever to make a good showing at Goodwood and are taking along plenty of new stuff to keep Goodwood visitors happy, with the new Bentley Continental GT V8 S making its Goodwood debut, as is the Flying Spur V8. The more powerful GT V8 S turns the power up on the regular GT V8 to 521bhp, enough to make its 0-62mph the match of the W12 GT but with a more focused driver appeal thanks to better throttle response and a tweaked chassis, as well as a few go-faster bits like a diffuser at the back and a butch set of side sills.

Nearly 1 in 10 admit to taking selfies at the wheel

Ever thought the internet would be a better place with a photo of you behind the wheel of your car? According to research by insurance experts Confused.com, 7% of motorists have taken a ‘selfie’ when driving. And, 9% of 18-24 year olds have used photo messaging app Snapchat, compared to 8% who have tweeted and 5% who’ve accessed Instagram.

2014 Chevrolet Camaro Z/28 drive review

What is it? The 2014 Camaro Z/28 is the most track-capable Chevrolet Camaro to date from the factory. Everything done to the car is in an effort to shave lap times.

A Right Old Estate of Affairs

A NEW study from car hire Europcar has revealed that, while a practical, versatile estate car might be just the ticket for a busy life, it’s not the car of choice to create a lasting impression on a first date. According to the firm’s survey, just one percent of respondents said they would choose an estate car when hiring for a special day, with women put off by the practicality of estates. Unsurprisingly, prestige vehicles topped the list for the car to make the best impression at 32%.

Unique Corvette built for 'Bunkie' Knudsen heads to auction

Rare Corvettes are in the news these days, and one car that's drawing quite a bit of attention from collectors is a 1963 Chevrolet Corvette styling car known as the "Bunkie" Knudsen Corvette, built for Chevrolet general manager Semon E. "Bunkie" Knudsen. In just a few days, this uniquely styled 1963 Sting Ray convertible distinguished by it intricately designed side exhaust will be going up for auction.

Mercedes CLA 45 AMG gets the Brabus treatment

The Mercedes CLA 45 AMG gets the Brabus treatment The Mercedes CLA 45 AMG is already the most powerful 2.0 litre 4-door saloon/coupe on the market, offering an immense 355bhp and 332lb/ft of torque. But if you think the CLA 45 AMG is a bit too tame – and needs to shout its performance a bit louder – then Brabus may have the answer with their take on the CLA 45 AMG. Brabus have taken the Mercedes 2.0 litre turbo and had a play with its brain to release even more horses than the standard car so it now has an astonishing 395bhp and 369lb/ft of torque, which manages to cut the 0-62mph to an even more impressive 4.2 seconds.

Electric car range drops by nearly 60% in cold weather

Electric cars like the Nissan LEAF (pictured) can lose 60% of their range when it’s cold We already know that the range of electric cars reduces as the car ages, with Nissan conforming that the LEAF’s range will drop by up to 28 per cent over five years. And now we have confirmation that the ambient temperature can have a big impact on range too, thanks to the AAA, America’s equivalent of the AA. The AAA took three standard EVs on sale in the US - Nissan LEAF, Ford Focus EV and Mitsubishi i-MiEV – and subjected them to test in different ambient temperatures.

2015 Chrysler 200 drive review

What is it? The 2015 Chrysler 200 is a make-or-break product for the recently renamed Fiat Chrysler Automobiles, doing battle in the single largest slice of the auto market: midsize family sedans. It's also symbolic, a car which Chrysler can use finally to bury the memory of the Sebring and earlier 200 – along with the ghosts of DaimlerChrysler and Cerberus.

Lamborghini Huracan Driving Simulator goes live on Lamborghini’s site

Lamborghini’s driving simulator for the Huracan (pictured) The Gallardo’s long-awaited replacement – the Lamborghini Huracan – finally arrived just before Christmas after a long and tedious tease. But it was worth the wait and putting up with Lamborghini’s feeble attempts at a viral tease. With looks that draw the Huracan in to the family design of the Aventador, permanent 4WD and 602bhp from its 5.2 litre V10, the Huracan promises a decent fight for the Ferrari 458 and McLaren 12C (or should that be the McLaren 650S?) with 0-62mph in 3.2 seconds and over 200mph.

New Subaru Impreza finally goes on sale in the UK – price from £17,495

The new Subaru Impreza Hatch (pictured) goes on sale in May It’s a bit hard to call the Subara Impreza the ‘new’ Impreza when it’s already three years since it was revealed and more than two years since it went on sale in Japan and the US. But the latest Subaru Impreza is new for the UK as Subaru has decided the Yen has weakened enough since the Impreza’s launch to make it a viable option to import it. Even so, it is a bit of a Hobson’s choice for buyers with just the Impreza Hatch – not the saloon – on offer and only in a single trim level and with a single engine option – the 1.6 litre petrol Boxer engine.

One Lap of the Web: French car weirdness and Sebring domination

-- In this episode of "How to Perform Simple Tasks to and Around Your French City Car," we learn to refill the windshield washer fluid in the Renault Twingo. First, you pull a cover hidden in the thin front grille against one of the headlights. It dangles downward like a weak loogie.

Disney and Pixar announce 'Cars 3'

Variety is reporting that Pixar will introduce a third chapter to the "Cars" franchise, the company's second trilogy behind "Toy Story." It will join a long-awaited sequel to "The Incredibles," written by Brad Bird, a sequel to "Finding Nemo," and a sequel to "Planes" called "Planes: Fire and Rescue." That one will come out this year, on July 18. The first "Cars" was something magical, a love letter from car guy John Lasseter to the insular world of car enthusiasts. The second "Cars" sold over $2 billion in merchandise and was a massive commercial success.

XCar tests the Jaguar F-Type R coupe in Spain

Host Alex Goy put the new hardtop Jaguar F-Type R coupe through its paces in the latest edition of XCar. Goy says the loud, red Jag was the first car he has been pulled over in during a shoot -- which must mean he’s either more restrained than we’d have guessed or just supremely lucky. The F-Type R is now the fastest Jaguar you can buy, with 543 hp and 500 lb-ft of torque on tap.

Cadillac introduces ATS Crimson Sport Edition

The already sleek Cadillac ATS will get a limited-production Crimson Sport special edition this spring. The deep red exterior metallic paint is just one of the upgrades to the standard ATS. Inside the Caddy, four unique interior options will be available: red with black accents, caramel with black accents, black on black and platinum with black accents.

Cadillac issues XTS recall over fire risk

Cadillac is recalling approximately 63,900 XTS sedans over an issue with the brake booster pump. The company believes that the brake booster pump can create positive pressure inside the wiring harness which is attached to the pump relay, and this pressure can dislodge a cavity plug in the relay and allow corrosive elements to enter the connector, creating a resistive short. Cadillac believes that this could lead to overheating and melting of plastic components, and may cause a fire in the engine compartment.

Lamborghini 'their choice' says Webb

IT WILL be up to pensioners whether they spend their retirement pot on a Lamborghini, Pensions Minister Steve Webb said as he defended a relaxation of rules announced in the Budget. Critics have warned that allowing pensioners to draw down the cash rather than being forced to buy an annuity will result in some blowing the fund and relying solely on state help. The luxury Italian sport cars sell for six-figure sums.

Film Friday: 'All in One' presents the car as man's best friend, proposes dog power for a greener future

Remember the time Chevrolet built a dog-powered car? Yeah, neither did we. And we're not even sure if the Bowtie was behind this canine-powered contraption, dubbed the "Bow-Wow Buggy" by this Jam Handy film's unwaveringly enunciative narrator (could it be Jam Handy himself?).

Project Car Hell, Budget German Luxury Coupes Edition: BMW 633 CSi or Mercedes-Benz 500 SLC?

Welcome back to Project Car Hell, where all your choices are both terrible and excellent! Last week, we gave you the opportunity to dive into one of two classic 1960s ragtop sports cars, with a choice between a Datsun Fairlady and a Renault Caravelle. This week… well, the Hell Garage Demons got to thinking about the concept of depreciation.

BMW i8 heading up the Goodwood Hillcimb in June

The BMW i8 is heading up the Goodwood Hillclimb The Honda NSX won’t be the only green supercar heading up the hillcimb at the Goodwood Festival of Speed in June – the new BMW i8 hybrid supercar will be too. BMW has announced that the i8 will be seen in action in the UK for the first time at the end of June when it too takes on the 1.16 mile Goodwood Hillcimb during the 2014 Festival of Speed. It’ll be the first time we get to see just how capable the i8 is, and even with a paltry 1.5 litre 3-cylinder engine it promises impressive performance as that little 3-pot churns out 228bhp oin its own and 356bhp when its electric motor joins in.

Get your car ready for spring

As the salt and sand are washed away from the roadways, and potholes the size of moon craters appear, vehicle maintenance should move to the forefront. You made it. The wretched winter weather has left your ride grungy and maybe even a little clunky.

Poll: Would you buy a Hyundai i20?

Last week we asked you if you'd be interested in a Nissan Micra, which is built in Mexico and is available in Canada and dozens of other countries, but not in the U.S. A substantial majority of our readers, 77 percent, voted that they would be interested in buying the $9,100 Micra if it was sold in America, a slightly lower percentage than for most of our past foreign-vehicle polls (which were all quite different, it should be noted). The Micra essentially offers the same engine and almost the same amount of interior space as the Nissan Versa Note at 2/3 the price of a stateside Note, which is already considered to be about as spartan as it gets despite a $14,780 price tag.

'Get tough on killer drivers' call

DRIVERS who cause death on the roads should be jailed for at least five years, according to the majority of motorists. Eighty-two per cent reckon sentences should be higher for those drivers who kill, a survey by road safety charity Brake and insurance company Direct Line found. Brake said the latest Government figures showed 62% of those convicted of killing someone through risky driving were jailed and only 9% got sentences of five years or more.

Celebrating the Bugatti clan at the Mullin Museum

Legend holds that Ettore Bugatti was at dinner with some of his wealthiest clients when an aristocratic lady -- who already owned numerous Bugattis -- lamented, "I want to buy another Bugatti…but I want the most luxurious car in the world. Too bad I have to buy a Rolls-Royce or a Hispano-Suiza." Ettore nodded politely, in that insouciant way that temperamental geniuses do in order to distance their own reactions, excused himself after dinner, ran to his hotel room, and drew what would become the Type 41 Royale -- the most astonishing, dramatic, expensive luxury car in the world. True to the name of the recent crop of limited-edition Veyron SuperSports (and what Veyron isn't a limited edition?), Bugatti traffics in legend.

One Lap of the Web: Bugatti state of mind

-- Last week, we looked at the new Bugatti exhibit at the Mullin Museum, which taught us more about Bugatti in an afternoon than the last three years of idly flipping through Pebble Beach programs. Having thus immersed ourselves in the House That Ettore Built, we'd really like to drive to work in a faithful Type 35 replica by the aptly named Pur Sang, which Mark Dixon of Octane drove for his 140-mile commute. "You need to keep the revs up while the engine clears its throat and warms its plugs," he writes.

Petrol prices reach three-year low

PETROL PRICES are at a three-year low, with Yorkshire and Humberside remaining the cheapest area, according to figures from the AA. But the good news for drivers is offset by a real-terms dip in earnings which has pushed wages back to 2002 levels adjusting for inflation, the AA added. Petrol forecourt prices across the UK averaged 129.46p a litre in mid March compared to 129.63p in mid February.

‘Selfie’ drivers risking their lives

ONE IN 14 drivers admits taking a ‘selfie’ photo on their mobile phone while driving, despite official figures showing that one in ten (9%) of drivers have had an accident while using the phone at the wheel. Young drivers are the most likely to use their mobile phone to take a selfie, which is a picture of the phone user taken by themselves. A further one on 20 drivers also owns up to using a social media app on their smartphone while driving to send photos they have just taken friends.