Morse Dual Handle Control on 2040-parts.com

Car insurance cost at four-year low

THE COST of insuring a car has fallen to a four-year low as motorists benefit from a record 19% drop in average premiums compared with a year ago. The Confused.com car insurance price index, in association with Towers Watson, reveals the average cost of comprehensive car insurance in the first quarter stood at £596, a drop of £140 against this time last year. The figure, including a reduction of 7.5% on the previous quarter, means that average premiums have dipped below £600 for the first time since late 2009.

Mercedes S400 Hybrid – and a facelift as well

Mercedes S400 Hybrid launched - and a facelift for the S Class Range [ad#ad-1] Mercedes has long held the ‘Best Luxury Car’ mantle, despite build quality issues in the early part of this century, but the competition, particularly from Audi and BMW has got stronger with each model change, so they have to keep upping their game (and the new Jaguar XJ may make them up it even further before long). So we knew it time for a facelift for the current S Class, but Mercedes has decided to link that with the launch of the first S Class Hybrid – the S400 Hybrid. The S400 Hybrid gets a 3.5 litre V6 petrol engine, which on its own delivers 279bhp, but linked to an electric motor it gets a 20bhp boost and a big jump in torque.

McLaren Special Operations (MSO) P1 and 650 S Spider Pebble Beach debut

The McLaren P1 MSO (pictured) will debut at Pebble Beach 2014 It may be Jaguar Land Rover’s Special Vehicle Operations in the news at the moment, but McLaren’s own Special Operations has been around since 2011, creating extreme examples of McLaren’s cars for deep-pocketed customers. And they’re back with two new MSO specials for this month’s Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance. The most impressive of the two MSO cars is, of course, a special edition of the already very special McLaren P1.