Corvette 4l60e / 4l65e 6.0 V-8 Bell Housing (casting Number 24206952) Used on 2040-parts.com

VW pushes upmarket: the new Passat and lessons learned by the Phaeton

By John Mahoney Motoring Issues 07 July 2014 08:02 Logically, it makes perfect sense to push the new 2015 VW Passat upmarket far away from the declining, mass-market D-segment it used to inhabit. After all, how can Volkswagen resist a tasty slice of profit the BMW 3-series or Mercedes C-class dishes out to their makers? Even if it does risk stepping on Audi's toes...

Mercedes B-class (2012) first official pictures

This is the new 2012 Mercedes B-class, the first in a new family of small Mercs. It presages the new A-class – due later in 2012 – and a suite of new compact models, including a coupe and an off-roader. So take note of the new B-class.

Lewis Hamilton takes pole at British Grand Prix – Mercedes front row

Lewis Hamilton & Nico Rosberg (pictured) celebrate their front row at the British Grand Prix Mercedes may have turned in some stunning qualifying laps this year (although their race performance hasn’t really matched up) but Hamilton’s pole at the 2013 British Grand Prix was a stunner – almost half a second (0.452s) ahead of team mate Nico Rosberg. The pole for Hamilton – his first since the Chinese Grand Prix – was a corker (as was Rosberg’s, to be fair) and left the Red Bulls relegated to the second row with Vettel in third and the newly ‘retired’ Mark Webber in fourth. But whether the stunning lap by Hamilton presages an impossible task for Red Bull tomorrow, we’ll have to wait and see.