Sportster Air Cleaner on 2040-parts.com

Reliant Robin now a classic vehicle

THE RELIANT ROBIN, a vehicle popularised by Del Boy Trotter in the Only Fools And Horses TV show, is now classed as a classic vehicle thanks to changes in the Budget. Chancellor George Osborne announced that a rolling 40-year vehicle excise duty (VED) for classic cars will come in on April 1 this year. Until now, only cars built before January 1 1973 were exempt from VED.

Lexus IS 300h promises unrivalled ownership costs

The new Lexus IS - launched at Detroit in January and costing from £26,495 for the IS 250 in the UK – actually offers ownership costs that eclipse diesel offerings from the likes of Jaguar, BMW, Audi and Mercedes, say Lexus. Despite the logical assumption that the complex hybrid powerplant in the IS 300h would cost more to maintain, Lexus say the opposite is true. Because it has no clutch and the starter motor and alternator are integrated they require no servicing or replacement and Lexus has fitted a timing chain instead of a timing belt, so it won’t need regular replacement either.

Audi lightly updates 2011 TT, adds power boost

Audi's nifty two-door TT gets a light update for 2011, with a bit more power under hood and some minor modifications inside and out. The spotlight change is to the engine. The 2.0-liter TFSI is bolstered to 211 hp and 258 lb-ft of torque thanks to Audi's valvelift system, which also improves efficiency.