Suzuki 17573-89j02 Pipe, Water Return Hose on 2040-parts.com

PACE's global Portable Assisted Mobility Device project gets underway

The Partners for the Advancement of Collaborative Engineering Education (PACE) has challenged selected global college teams to design a Portable Assisted Mobility Device (PAMD) that will help solve mobility and sustainability problems within megacities in 2030. Each team of selected global colleges will consist of one Industrial Design Institution and several Engineering and Manufacturing Institutions, with students working alongside their professors and industry mentors to help develop their designs for a small power-assisted vehicle that can be taken on public transport, stowed or carried indoors.  The PAMD concepts are designed to carry one passenger and their personal items such as a briefcase or backpack. The PAMD must address the transportation issues as the population grows within a target market that the teams specify.

Audi puts a price on its 2012 V8 S Models – S6, S7 & S8

2012 Audi S8 - costs £78k Audi’s new V8 – shared with Bentley – arrives in the UK in the guise of the 2012 models of the S6, S7 & S8. Prices from £53,995 to £77,900. Audi, just as most other car makers are doing, is down-sizing its cylinder count and upping its reliance on forced induction as it seeks to cut emissions and improve fuel economy (well, official figures, anyway), which has meant the end of the 5.2 litre V10 in its ‘S’ models.

2014 Subaru XV – less choice, more refinement

The 2014 Subaru XV (pictured) gets a bit of a tweak The Subaru XV arrived in the UK in 2012, and it’s a perfectly able and reasonably-priced compact crossover from Subaru. But within a year of launching the XV Subaru decided to inject a bit more appeal in to the XV with a price cut of £2,300 across the range and now, not more than six months later, they’re fiddling with the XV range again. The 2.0 litre petrol XV gets new valve-train components to cut engine noise and revised suspension, with extra soundproofing improving NVH levels across the range, a revised power steering system for added stability and feel  and thicker and reshaped suspension lower arm and extra reinforcement around the base of the A-Pillar for better crash performance.