Garmin 696 on 2040-parts.com

Try a prestige car from Europcar before you buy. Or you could just go to a dealer.

You can hire a BMW 5-Series (pictured) from Europcar before you buy It’s always good to have a promotion to get punters through the door, but the latest PR promo from Hertz does seem to have a very visible flaw in its logic. According to Europcar – the leading car hire company in Europe, don’t you know – the best route for trying out a new prestige car before you buy is to give them a call and book a day or three in the cars of your choice. Europcar say you can have anything from a 4×4 to a luxury saloon and performance cars, with the suggestion you can pit a Mercedes SLK against an Audi TTS or check out the differences between a new E-Class or new 5-Series.

New 2015 Hyundai i20 revealed – debuts at Paris Motor Show

The front of the new Hyundai i20 shows a more purposeful look. The Hyundai i20 is a perfectly decent supermini that manages to hold its own against the European competition – VW Polo, Ford Fiesta, Vauxhall Corsa etc. – even if it’s not the most exciting choice in the looks department.

Mazda reveals Mazda2 EV with range-extender Wankel rotary engine

Mazda reveals Mazda2 EV with range-extender Wankel rotary engine It’s long seemed logical that a compact Wankel rotary engine – running at a constant speed – would be a great way of fitting electric cars with a range-extender option. Audi flirted with the idea of fitting the A1 e-tron with a Wankel engine a couple of years ago, but that got shelved. And Mazda – keepers of the Wankel flame – came up with the idea of a Wankel engine bolted in to an EV and powered by hydrogen last year, but it seems to0 have gone nowhere.