Fewer deaths on British Roads

Great news this month, the number of people killed in road accidents in Great Britain fell last year by 1% as part of a 5% overall reduction in road casualties.

Similarily road deaths have fallen by 4% to 1,612, and the number seriously injured fell by 2% to 12,642. These are the latest figures released from the Department for Transport.

Viewed from a longer-term perspective, the number of people killed or seriously injured was 33% below the 1994-98 average. The Government's target is to have the figures for deaths and serious injuries down to 40% below 1994-98 levels by 2010.

Department of Transport web site

BMW 118d Drops Into Low Road Tax Bracket

BMW’s 118d, the most fuel efficient production car of modern times has set a new record - a staggering 62.8mpg on the combined cycle and CO2 emissions of 119g/km - putting it into the Band B category for Vehicle Excise Duty. The BMW 118d now costs just £35 a year to tax!

The 143hp 2.0-litre-engined 118d employs technologies such as Brake Energy Regeneration, Auto Start-Stop, Electric Power Steering and low rolling resistance tyres to help cut fuel bills and emissions. An optimum gearshift change indicator is included to encourage economical motoring. These innovations are in addition to the use of variable valve technologies and high-precision direct injection engines on some 1 Series models that further aid engine performance.

BMW Offical site

New Alfa Romeo to carry the TI Badge

Only a small number of Alfa Romeos have ever carried the famous two-letter designation, TI.

The New Alfa 159 saloon and Sportwagon will carry the famous TI initials(Short for Turismo Internazionale).

The range-enhancing Alfa 159 TI line-up benefits from a unique body kit, lowered sports suspension, 19-inch alloy wheels, red Brembo brake callipers all-round, plus chrome effect door mirrors and exhaust.

There are three engines options : a 2.2 JTS and 3.2 JTS V6 petrol engine and a 2.4 Diesel option. In addition, Alfa Romeo’s Q4 4WD system, standard equipment on the 3.2 JTS V6, can also be specified on the diesel version.

And, by offering only three body colours – Alfa Red, Stromboli Grey and Carbonio black – Alfa Romeo is planning to keep the Alfa 159 TI models distinctive and exclusive.

This could be a winner again for Alfa Romeo.

20mph zones planned in many cities

Residential areas in Britain’s towns and cities could all end up as 20mph zones.

Portsmouth City Council recently announced it was taking advantage of Government legislation which allows local authorities to ditch 30mph limits for the slower 20 mile limit on streets where people live.

It's not only Portsmouth introduding this new legislation, Manchester City Council is also scheduled to introduce 20mph zones in all residential areas, with the priority going to streets near schools.

Aberdeen’s civic leaders cut the speed limit in the city’s main shopping precinct last August. The point of 20mph zones is to try to cut casualty rates among all pedestrians and cyclists, but especially children. Portsmouth officials believe it will lower average speeds by up to 4mph.

Murrey Walker is back!

Veteran Murray Walker will broadcast for Radio 5 live for the European Grand Prix on 22nd July. Although this will be a one off broadcast, it will be a welcome return for the F1 veteran.

Walker's been heralded as the 'voice of motorsport' and is legendary for his enthusiasm, excitement and occasional Murray-isms (mistakes).

83-year-old Murray comes out of retirement to host a special F1 radio phone in programme live from the Nurburgring after the Grand Prix. He's standing in for regular commentator David Croft, whose baby is due that weekend. We think ITV can expect most of their viewers to be watching on mute!

Traffic wardens go environmental

Traffic wardens are now ticketing drivers who leave engines running unnecessarily.

Manchester’s city patrols can levy £80 penalties on the spot for environmental offences including littering, ‘engine idling’ and ‘unlawful distribution of free literature’.

Spokesman Neil Swannick said: "Parking attendants already play a vital role in the city centre on a number of non-parking-related issues, such as combating vehicle crime and preventing the fraudulent use of blue badges.

In a world where the traffic warden thinks he is a Policeman do we really want to give him yet another excuse to make money for the city - I think not.

Car Feature - Bugatti Veryron

The Bugatti Veryron is, by every measure, the world's fastest production road car. It's the quickest to 60, it has the highest top speed, and it can absolutely dominate a track.

With a claimed 1001bhp, the Veyron is a major technical achievement. Its engine has 16 cylinders, essentially formed by joining two V8 engines at the crank.

This W16 powerplant displaces 8.0 litres and features ten radiators for everything from the engine cooling systems to the air conditioner.

The £0.75 million Veyron will reach a top speed of 253 mph — a speed it can maintain for 12 minutes before all the fuel is gone. Power is transmitted to the pavement via four-wheel-drive and a seven-speed dual-clutch automated manual transmission.

The car can hit 60 mph in just 2.5 seconds, 100 mph in 5.5 seconds, and 150 mph in 9.8 seconds. Getting to 200 mph takes 18.3 seconds, and 250 mph takes 42.3 seconds.
A special key is required to "unlock" the Veyron's top speed of 250+ mph. The car is then lowered to just 3.5 inches from the ground. A hydraulic spoiler extends at speed, and it can also serve as an air brake.

Schumacher at Wembly in December

Michael Schumacher will be at Wembley Stadium this December when the Race of Champions is held in the UK for the first time. The seven-time Formula One world champion will take on a star line-up including Colin McRae, David Coulthard, Jenson Button, Andy Priaulx and other big names from rallying, touring car racing and F1.

Usually held in France, the end-of-season contest involves drivers from different disciplines going head to head in a variety of racing cars. Up to 80,000 spectators will be able to watch the live action on Sunday 16 December in the recently opened Wembley, which will get a temporary tarmac surface for the event.

Goodwood start this weekend

The Goodwood Festival of Speed starts this weekend. Goodwood is one of the world's biggest and most diverse celebrations of the history of motorsport. The festival is an unrivalled social and sporting occasion in the motor racing calendar.

In 1936 the 9th Duke of Richmond held a private hillclimb through Goodwood Park, bringing motor racing to Goodwood for the first time. The Goodwood Motor Circuit was opened in 1948 by the Duke, whose early events inspired his grandson (the present Earl of March) to bring motor sport back to Goodwood in Chichester with the first Festival of Speed, in 1993.

The Hillclimb competition is the principal attraction of the Goodwood Festival of Speed. The competition takes place throughout the Festival weekend on a 1.16-mile course on parkland roads in the grounds of Goodwood House.

This year see the first apperance of Lewis Hamilton, who is currently leading the F1 Drivers Championship.

Mercedes Benz SLR McLaren Roadster

Mercedes has chosen this weekend’s Festival of Speed at Goodwood, in West Sussex, England, for the world’s first-ever public viewing of the incredible new Mercedes-Benz SLR McLaren Roadster.

Hand built by AMG the 5439cc, supercharged V8 engine develops a peak output of a wopping 626 bhp and delivers its maximum torque of 780 Nm from 3250 rpm - a figure which remains constant across a broad engine speed range of up to 5000 rpm.

This fantastic engine package delivers performance figures which are among the best in its class: taking just 3.8 seconds to sprint from 0 to 62 mph, it passes the 125 mph mark after 10.6 seconds, and from a standing start it takes just 28.8 seconds to reach 185 mph The Mercedes-Benz SLR McLaren has a top speed of 207 mph.

JUST SAY NO

Its like a cancer slowly creeps round the body destroying your quality of life – yes I’m talking about the congestion charge.

Durham City became the first city in the UK to have a permanent congestion charge in 2002. London has had a congestion charge in the central area since 2003. Now we see that it is going to spread like a cancer to many of the major cities in the UK. We need to SAY NO, we need to let the government know that the majority of drivers in the UK do NOT want an additional charge for using public roads. Maybe I’m old fashioned but I thought that road tax was the vehicle for the government to maintain and develop roads.

If we want to stop this continuing ‘pay for everything’ culture we all need to write to our MP and put pressure on the government to abolish its future plans for congestion charge otherwise it soon will cost you more than your shopping to get your shopping!!

Caterham’s new X330 design special

Caterham have now being producing cars for 50 years, and to celebrate this they are developing a new model the X300. Its power output will be between 260bhp – 330bhp but with its light weight space frame, the new car will have a power to weight ratio of 600bhp per tonne! For those of you in the know you will realise that this is better than the McLaren F1 and the Bugatti Veyron.

Although this development will be a one-off some elements of the design will be integrated into production cars and we may see future Caterham cars with carbon fibre body panels, lightweight alloy wheels and thinner gauge steel for the chassis.

Peugeot takes Pole at Le Mans

Peugeot has taken pole position in Saturday's Le Mans 24 hour race.

The Peugeot 908 HDi FAP racing car has a Diesel engine and runs on a diesel particulate filter, just like Peugeot's top-end road cars.

The 908 was always expected to be fast: with 700 bhp, it is 50 bhp up on the rival Audi R10 (also a diesel). The Audi has a proven track record at Le Man so we will have to wait and see if the Peugeot will last the full race distance.

Interest in Jaguar/ Land rover from Chryslers new owner

Cerberus Capital Management has shown interest in aquiring Ford's luxury car brand's Jaguar and Rover. Cerberus Capital Management recently agreed to buy the Chrysler Group from Daimler-Benz.

The sale of the two brands would likely net Ford over $8 billion. Two other investor groups, Blackstone and Cinven have also shown interest.

Speculation over the sale of Land Rover and Jaguar have been mooted since last year, after Ford announced the worst financial results for 43 years. The company did, however, put Aston Martin up for sale in August 2006, and the brand was officially sold earlier this year.

Hamilton takes pole ahead of Alonso...

For the second grand-prix in a row Britain's Lewis Hamilton has beaten his fellow McLaren team-mate Fernando Alonso to take pole position ahead of the US Grand Prix in Indianapolis on Sunday.

The current World champion Alonso set the pace in practice, but the Spaniard had to settle for second spot on the grid, 0.115 seconds behind the championship leader Lewis Hamilton.

The Brit clocked a time of one minute 12.311 seconds to claim his second successive pole.

Felipe Massa clinched third spot in his Ferrari and team-mate Kimi Raikkonen took fourth.

Alonso sets the fastest time ahead of Sunday's U.S. Grand Prix.

The double world champion Fernando Alonso set the fastest time lap in the first practice session ahead of Sunday's U.S. Grand Prix.

Meanwhile new kid on the block and championship leader Lewis Hamilton, had several close shaves with the Brickyard's infamous walls but managed to avoid any collisions.

The Spaniard was the only driver to post a sub 1:12.00 lap of the famous Indianapolis Motor Speedway with a time of one minute 11.925 ahead of Nick Heidfeld in a BMW Sauber and fellow McLaren driver Lewis Hamilton.

Watch out for German teenager Sebastian Vettel, who is set to make his full Formula One debut on Sunday in place of injured team mate Robert Kubica, the 19-year-old will be the youngest driver on track, Vettel was fourth quickest on Friday's practice session.

BMW Hydrogen car in London

BMW's Hydrogen 7 car was presented to Deputy Mayor of London yesterday to raise awareness of hydrogen as an alternative energy source.

Hydrogen could be the way that car's will develop in the future - Hydrogen is an efficient and clean form of power resulting in only water vapour exiting the exhaust.

The car is part of BMW's initiative to encourage debate around the role of hydrogen in the economy. For the next two months, BMW will be marketing the concept in the UK to business leaders and opinion formers.

Mobiles supplant Westminster’s parking meters

Westminster Council is planning to replace all its parking meters within 12 months following a six-month trial of mobile phone ticketing technology.

Westminster introduced cashless parking in the West End and Harrow Road last year to reduce the theft of £50,000 a week from parking meters, as well as to make life easier for motorists! - or so they say!

Drivers set up an account and pay by text, registering their registration details and parking bay number, which is then transmitted to attendants’ handheld computers in real time.

This is yet another example of Big Brother watching you. I thought we had enought CCTV cameras now you have to text the council the location of your car in order to park it - what next?

Ford to sell Jaguar and Land Rover

Ford is to sell its luxury car builders Jaguar and Land Rover for up to £3 billion

Though the move is yet to be made official, the American company has revealed its plans to government ministers, and explained that three banks, including Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley and HSBC will advise it during the sale.

Ford bought Jaguar in 1989 for £1.6 billion, and Land Rover in 2000 for £1.8 billion. In private it is rumoured that it had been talking to both Fiat and BMW about a the sale. Both firms have now indicated that they are not interested.

New VW beetle announced

Volkswagen is to revive the Beetle - again, but this time, it is to go the whole way and make a new-generation rear-engined economy car.

This will be a new entry-level, tiny four-seat Volkswagen designed by Ferdinand Piech, grandson of original Beetle creator Ferdinand Porsche. It will have its engine mounted on top of the transaxle, driving the rear wheels, but a water-cooled radiator up front, in a variation from the classic Beetle theme.

Ferrari World Record

The Guinness World Record for Largest Parade of Ferraris has been obliterated at Silverstone race circuit.

The company (celebrating its 60th anniversary this year) asked the Ferrari Owners Club GB (celebrating its 40th anniversary) to help set a new record, and their combined efforts resulted in a gathering of 385 cars, more than three times the previous figure.

The Guinness rules state that all the cars in a parade must travel over a minimum of two miles, with no more than two lengths between one car and its nearest companion.

The fastest wheelchair in the west!

A disabled man in America got a high-speed ride along a highway after his wheelchair became tangled in the front grille of a truck. The lorry driver failed to realise he'd picked up an extra passenger after colliding with the wheelchair at low speed on a petrol station forecourt in Michigan.

Incredibly, Ben Carpenter was unhurt after his wheelchair's seatbelt kept him secure. The trucker was still totally unaware when pulled over by police at a depot four miles further along the Red Arrow Highway, refusing to believe there was a man in a wheelchair stuck to the front of his cab until he saw it for himself. Carpenter was surprisingly calm, saying he had "quite a ride".

Smoking can kill you

Last months news about a proposed law banning smoking at the wheel will have smokers incandescent with rage. 'How dare they,' they'll splutter, 'curtail our freedom to kill ourselves in our own cars?'

Personally, I don't care if people who smoke while driving kill themselves, either slowly via lung cancer or rather quicker by crashing into a tree while lighting up. But no car is an island: we all share the same roads, so if you veer towards me 'cos you've dropped a lit fag into your lap, you're going to kill or injure me too - just because you've got that nicotine monkey on your back.

The Highway Code actually lists smoking while driving as a distraction. Think about it: you have to pick up the packet, open it, take a cigarette out and fire up your lighter. Now excuse me for lecturing, but when you're driving, you should only be driving. You shouldn't be making phone calls, lighting up a fag, turning around to look at rear-seat passengers or the myriad other stupid things you see people doing at the wheel of a car.

The UK's road accident record is one of the best in the world, but this lulls many of us into a false sense of security. We're too complacent by half. It's time we woke up and smelled the fumes: driving while distracted can kill - and smoking is a totally unnecessary distraction we would do well to stub out.

So should we totally ban smoking whilst driving - yes lets BAN it!!

Stirling Moss at Le Mans 1-hr

Sir Stirling Moss is to drive at Le Mans this year - in the one-hour Le Mans Legends race prior to the 24 Hours itself.

He will drive the Aston Martin DBR1 he drove in the 50s, a car that helped Aston Martin win the 1959 World Sportscar Championship. Moss, now 77, drove for Aston at Le Mans three times, firstly in a DB3S (1956) and then in a DBR 1 (1958 and '59). Although he won the 1958 and '59 Goodwood Tourist Trophies and the Nurburgring 1,000 Kilometres, he has not - as yet - won at Le Mans.

Why residents of Stockport should not support congestion charging...

Congestion charging in Manchester will affect all of us, either directly or indirectly, so that is one good reason why we all should support any action against what is yet another form of indirect taxation. It is therefore not suprising that many of us motorists who live and work in around Manchester are deeply upset about the prospect of this unfair tax.

Before I go much further let me just add that I am not against people using puplic transport, far from it, but having spent the best part of five years communting on the train from Hazel Grove to Manchester at peak times, I know how difficult that journey can be, because frankly the service is appalling, the carriages are filthy, the trains do not run on time and much of the time there aren't enough carriages for the number of people.

The Hazel Grove to Manchester train service isn't unique when it comes to the daily problems commuters have to endure, the picture is the same right across Greater Manchester. So until such times as those issues are sorted out the government shouldn't be trying to force road users onto public transport by introducing congestion charging.

Then we come to people who cannot use public transport to get to their place of work, because there is no service to their destination, these people do not use the road for joy of it, they do so because they have to. Why should these people be penalised for going to work each day?

Businesses who have to use vehicles for local deliveries will be hit too, they will have no choice but to pass on the charges to customers, so even if you use public transport each day, you will still end up paying for congestion charging, but again indirectly.

On top of this motorisits rightly believe that they are already contributing enough into the government coffers by paying the annual road tax license fee and not forgetting the sky cost of fuel in the UK.

Here at Top Car Talk we support any action against congestion charging, be it locally or nationally and we'd like to hear your thoughts on this thorny issue...