Honda Cl77 Steering Stabilizer Damper on 2040-parts.com

Land Rover testing electric Defender 110 pickup

Land Rover has begun testing an electric version of the Land Rover Defender first shown at the 2012 Geneva motor show. The electric Defender prototype is in service at the Eden Project in Cornwall, U.K., a complex of several large transparent domes that house multiple artificially maintained environments containing thousands of rare plants, and is a popular visitor attraction. At the moment the electric Defender isn't exactly tearing through the Amazon rainforest, but the work it's doing is nevertheless a good approximation of how quite a lot of Defenders are used in real life -- at least in terms of speed and duration of use.

Lexus partners with celebrity chefs

Lexus is looking to whip up some attention for its products by hiring a team of noted cooks. The Lexus Culinary Masters team, made up of six celebrity chefs, debuted at last weekend's Pebble Beach Food and Wine Festival in Monterey, Calif. Race-car driver Scott Pruett started off the weekend by taking a spin around the Laguna Seca racetrack in the Lexus LFA supercar with chefs Daniel Boulud and Michael Chiarello, "Each shares the same passion for perfecting their culinary craft as Lexus does with its luxury automobiles," Lexus vice president of marketing Dave Nordstrom said of the chefs involved.

VW Golf GTI priced from £25,845 in UK

The new Mk7 VW Golf GTI is now on sale in the UK priced from £25,845. That's only a £195 rise over the old Mk6 Golf GTI, despite the extra power, performance, and a 2.2mpg improvement in economy. Hang on - nearly £26k for a VW Golf GTI is a bit steep, isn't it?  Actually, it's better value than the old Mk6 Golf GTI. For a start, the new Mk7 Golf GTI's 29E insurance group rating is five groups lower than the old model's, so you should save on premium renewals as well as road tax and fuel fill-ups.