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What Car News

• Petrol versus diesel – which is cheaper? March 11, 2010
  Working out whether a diesel- or a petrol-powered car will be cheaper to run over three years is a complicated business.To ensure you're making the most cost-effective decision you have to consider the higher purchase cost as well as resale values, fuel bills, servicing and insurance bills.Let the facts do the talkingTo help make the job a little easier, we've developed a tool to do the sums for you. Fill in the boxes and the calculator will tell you the most cost-effective option based on your individual circumstances.Download your petrol vs diesel calculatorDownload the petrol vs diesel calculator (pc version)Download the petrol vs diesel calculator (Mac version)Don't forget you can find all of the data you need by looking at the reviews of the cars you're considering. Compare the carsYou can even run a comparison of two cars such as this.Get interactive with whatcar.com...
• Buy now to beat new 'showroom' tax March 11, 2010
  Save cash by purchasing your new car now, and beat the 'showroom' tax that's coming next month.From April 1, the new tax could add an extra £515 to your road tax bill. So, if you act quickly and buy a new car from stock you could get your vehicle before the 'showroom' tax is launched. What is the so-called 'showroom' tax?The new tax is a one-off first-year payment on top of the usual vehicle excise duty rate. The payment is based on your new car's CO2 emission and will add between £70 and £515 to your first road tax bill. The table below shows how the additional charges will be charged.Who will pay it? The new tax will be payable on all cars registered from April 1. 'Showroom' tax ratesVED Rates in 2010-11Band A (up to 100g/km CO2) no feeBand B (101-110g/km CO2) £20Band C (111-120g/km CO2) £30 Band D (121-130g/km CO2) £90 Band E (131-140g/km CO2) £110 Band F (141- 150g/km CO2) £125 Band G (151 to 165g/km CO2) £155 Band H (166 to 175g/km CO2) £180 Band I (176 to 185g/km CO2) £200 Band J (186 to 200g/km CO2) £235 Band K (201 to 225g/km CO2) £245 Band L (226 to 255g/km CO2) £425 Band M (Over 255g/km CO2) £435 + First Year Rate + £0+ £0+ £0+ £0+ £0+ £0+ £0+£70 +£100 +£190 +£305 +325 +£515 =Total First Year Cost£0£20£30£90£110£125£155£250£300£425£550£750£950Budget date announcedGordon Brown has confirmed that the budget – in which future increases in VED and fuel tax could well be announced – will be on March 24.Budget live on whatcar.comWe will be covering the budget live on whatcar.com, so remember to log on and give us your views as the news comes through.Political commentators predict that the general election will be held on May 6. You can read about the transport manifestos of the four parties, and comment on them, by clicking here.Get interactive with whatcar.com...
• Audi R8 Spyder: belt up and mike up March 11, 2010
  Audi's
• Have you been stung by 'showroom' tax? March 11, 2010
  Have you bought a higher-emitting 10-plate car and escaped the showroom tax that's coming in on April 1?Or are you in the process of buying a big car and expect to pay this one-off hike in VED? The Sunday Times would like to speak to you for a case study. Contact Alexandra Goss, Sunday Times Money section, 020 7782 5636/ alexandra.goss@sunday-times.co.uk to find out more.What is the showroom tax?Cars bought on or after April 1 will have to pay a one-off so-called 'showroom tax'.This VED (road tax) rate applies only to the first year of ownership. In the second year VED road tax rates will revert to the regular rate for that vehicle.First-year VED rates in 2010-11Band A (up to 100g/km CO2) no feeBand B (101-110g/km CO2) no feeBand C (111-120g/km CO2) no fee Band D (121-130g/km CO2) no fee Band E (131-140g/km CO2) £110 Band F (141- 150g/km CO2) £125 Band G (151 to 165g/km CO2) £155 Band H (166 to 175g/km CO2) £250Band I (176 to 185g/km CO2) £300Band J (186 to 200g/km CO2) £425Band K (201 to 225g/km CO2) £550Band L (226 to 255g/km CO2) £750Band M (Over 255g/km CO2) £950
• Who has the biggest saving? March 10, 2010
  We have hundreds of tempting deals online at whatcar.com every day of the week, but which do you think is the biggest of them all right now?There's one car that's being offered with a huge five-figure discount off its list price, but can you guess what vehicle it is?What's the biggest discount of them all?Try and work out the car with the biggest saving by looking through the clues below - and you can even learn how to drive down all of your motoring costs along the way. Just read the clues and check out our 'Remember' sections to let whatcar.com help you save cash when buying a new car.• Discounts naturally tend to get bigger as the list price grows, so our headline car (a 4x4) isn't cheap, even after a whopping saving of £12,228 off its RRP of just over £64,000.Remember…You don't have to spend a fortune to save a £££s.The What Car? Target Price shows you can save £1095 off the price of our Car of the Year, the Peugeot 3008 1.6 THP Sport, for instance, and plenty more on hundreds of other cars. You can expect 13.75% off the price of a Ford Fiesta (save from £1664 to £2224), 6% off a Volkswagen Golf (discounts range from £996 to £1470), or around 4% on a Mazda 6 (save between £1634 and £1996). • Our mystery car is also about to be replaced by an all-new model – with better performance and improved economy – so its already weak resale values are likely to take a further hit. Expect it to lose at least £43,250 over three years.Remember…Depreciation is the single biggest cost of car ownership. Check out how well the cars you're considering will retain their value with our free tables here.Audi's TT currently retains the most of its original value after three years, holding on to as much as 71% of the list price, while the Citroen Xsara Picasso is at the other end of the spectrum. It holds on to just 20% of its original price. • Then there are the other running costs. Servicing will set you back at least £1620 over three years, while insurance will be around £3534. Even though it's a diesel-powered car you can expect to fork out a minimum of £7685 in fuel over 36,000 miles, because its official fuel consumption figure is just 23.7mpg.Remember…You can find all of these other running costs in the car reviews section of whatcar.com here. You can also line up your shortlisted cars with our comparison tool to see how they do against each other like this.What's the answer?Still interested in the deal? Scroll down to find out the full details below…It's the Volkswagen TouaregCoast2coastcars.co.uk is offering the Volkswagen Touareg 5.0 TDi R50 for £52,457, more than £12,000 less than its list price. The new Touareg range goes on sale in June and will include a petrol-electric hybrid version that's cheaper, much more economical and slightly faster than the R50.The 3.3-litre V6 hybrid is likely to cost £57,000 and is 10.7mpg more efficient on the official combined cycle at 34.4mpg. It can manage 0-62mph in 6.5 seconds and has a top speed of 149mph – 0.2 seconds and 3mph faster than the V10 diesel.
• Surrey tops pothole chart March 10, 2010
  Surrey is the most pothole-riddled county in the UK with reports of 1998 holes, according to a survey by Kia.The manufacturer revealed Hampshire as the second-worst-afflicted area, with 892 reports of potholes, while Kent ranked third with 857.Surrey not impressedSurrey County Council rubbished the report. 'The results of this survey are so inaccurate they are absurd,' said a spokesman. 'Kia claims Surrey has 1998 potholes and other counties in Britain have even less – this is pure nonsense. 'In Surrey we have fixed around 15,000 road defects – including potholes – since the recent bad weather alone.'The council is calling for more cash to invest in long-term improvements in the road network rather than patchwork emergency repairs. It argues that proper investment in Surrey's roads over the previous 15 years would have encouraged more business growth and earned the Government £750 million more in tax each year.Claim for pothole damageAuthorities have a duty of care to maintain carriageways so, in theory, you can claim compensation for damage caused to your car by potholes. Here's how:Take a date-stamped picture of the pothole, with something to show the diameter of the hole. Take another picture of the damage caused to your car. Send these, with written estimates for the cost of repairs, to the relevant council (the county council or London borough). In reality, however, the amount that councils have paid in compensation has shrunk dramatically. The Annual Local Authority Road Maintenance Survey estimates payouts peaked at £121 million in 2002, but have since fallen to just £22.1 million in 2009.UK's top 10 pothole hotspotsIs your county in Kia's list of shame? 1 Surrey (1998) 2 Hampshire (892) 3 Kent (857) 4 Hertfordshire (855) 5 Oxfordshire (796) 6 Lancashire (733) 7 Essex (734) 8 West Sussex (680) 9 Buckinghamshire (678) 10 Gloucestershire (655)Get interactive with whatcar.com...
• Visit What Car? for exclusive previews March 10, 2010
  What Car? has a pair of exciting and exclusive previews of new cars coming up – and you could be on the guest list.Preview the Nissan JukeOn March 17, we're inviting readers to get up close and personal with Nissan's new Juke – a supermini-sized crossover that offers something different to the norm.Preview the Vauxhall MerivaThe second preview is on March 22, and is your chance to try out the clever doors and seating flexibility in the next-generation Vauxhall Meriva.We have space for six readers at each of the events, both which run from 4-6pm and will be held in our studios at the What Car? HQ in Teddington, Middlesex.Sign up nowIf you would like to take part in the Juke event, e-mail readertestteam@haymarket.com by midnight Sunday, March 14.If the Meriva is more your bag, e-mail readertestteam@haynet.com by midnight Sunday, March 14.Make sure you include the following information:• what car you currently drive; • where you'll be travelling from on the day;• your mobile number;• a few lines on why you're interested in seeing the new cars.We'll contact six successful entrants prior to each preview. Your comments and photographs will appear in future issues of What Car? magazine's Reader Test Team feature. You'll also be asked to speak on camera for footage to be broadcast on whatcar.com. Please note that you will not be able to drive the car – this is a chance to give your views on its design, ergonomics and specification.Want to know more?Click on the links below to find out more about the Nissan Juke, Vauxhall Meriva and other cars that readers have come to see at What Car? HQ.
• Fiat's new engines in F1 Ferrari March 10, 2010
  Fiat has revealed that the clever technology behind its Multiair engines has been tried in a Formula One Ferrari.The test was part of the development schedule for the technology, but to also to see if it could eventually give Ferrari an advantage in F1.'Multiair technology works best with turbocharged engines, so at this stage there is no benefit in using it in F1,' says Massimo Fulfaro, the Multiair product manager.How Multiair worksMultiair is an electro-hydraulic form of variable valve timing that helps improve performance and fuel consumption. In effect, it makes the engine act like human lungs, drawing in just the right amount of air (and fuel) it needs at any moment.Electro-magnetic and electro-mechanical systems from other manufacturers have promised similar things in the past, but Fulfaro claims they are either too costly or too slow in operation.'This technology (Multiair) will become the standard for petrol engines,' he claims. It's currently available in 1.4-litre versions of the Fiat Punto Evo, and has just gone into the Alfa Romeo Mito.Fulfaro says that Fiat is currently developing a Multiair version of the Chrysler V6 engine (Fiat holds a 35% stake in the American company) and believes the technology will help diesels meet the tougher EU6 emissions standards due to come into force in 2014.'Only with Multiair will you be able to meet EU6 levels at a lower cost,' he claims.
• Vauxhall Meriva exclusive preview March 9, 2010
  Could Vauxhall's new Meriva be the most family-friendly MPV ever made? We're looking for six readers to tell us what they think, at an exclusive private preview.Join our exclusive previewIf you would like to take part, email readertestteam@haynet.com by midnight this Sunday, March 14, including the following information: • what car you currently drive; • where you'll be travelling from on the day;• your mobile number;• a few lines on why you're interested in seeing the new Vauxhall Meriva.When and whereThe exclusive preview will take place on Monday, March 22 from 4-6pm at What Car?'s HQ in Teddington, Middlesex. First lookThe new Meriva boasts a flexible cabin layout, rear-hinged doors for ultra-easy access, a standard kit list which includes a CD player, electric windows and heated door mirrors, and a storage rail running the length of the cabin. There's a choice of three petrol engines and two diesels for the car which costs from £15,495.Your comments and photographs will appear in the June issue of What Car? magazine's Reader Test Team feature; you'll also be asked to speak on camera for footage to be broadcast on whatcar.com. Six readers will be invited to attend – we'll get in touch on Monday, March 15 if you've been successful, with further details of the event.(Please note that you will not be able to drive the car – this is a chance to give your views on its design, ergonomics and specification.)Want to know more?Click on the links below to find out more about the Vauxhall Meriva and see other new car previews.
• Win 25 free driving lessons! March 9, 2010
  We are offering the chance to win 25 free lessons with your local What Car? driving instructor – a prize that will set you on the road to independence.What Car? Driving School uses only the finest instructors to give you the best chance of passing your driving test. Unlike most other national driving schools, we use Driving Standards Agency (DSA) fully qualified instructors who also meet our own selection criteria. To enter, click What Car? Driving School Competition

Spain

• Madrid says bullfight 'high art' as debate rages March 7, 2010
  Matadors, philosophers and politicians in Spain are embroiled in a furious debate over the bloody but emblematic sport of bullfighting. And in clear provocation to its great rival Barcelona, Spain's capital Madrid has officially...
• Pain in Spain after housing bust March 7, 2010
  CORDOBA - "For Sale - Prices down 25 per cent!" yells the sign at the Residencia Garcilaso, a brand-new estate of tidy, yellow-walled houses on the outskirts of this southern city. But any family who bought here with the hope of...
• ETA chief arrested in France February 28, 2010
  MADRID - The leader of the armed Basque group ETA was arrested in France yesterday, officials said, in another setback for the separatists, who have seen five of their commanders taken into custody in the last two years. ETA chief...
• $17m for animal groups in will February 24, 2010
  A Spanish woman left ?3 million ($5.85 million) in her will to help protect the Iberian lynx, the world's most endangered feline species. The woman bequeathed a total of ?9 million to animal charities, officials in southern Andalucia...
• Austerity measures driving unrest February 24, 2010
  A wave of industrial and social unrest is building across Europe as workers resist attempts by governments and private companies to impose austerity policies, drive down wages and rescue some nations from near-bankruptcy. Huge...
• Afternoon naps boost brain power, study finds February 21, 2010
  An hour's nap in the afternoon can boost a person's brain power and improve their memory, according to a study showing that short periods of sleep during the day can make it easier to function mentally. Scientists found that a...
• Political wing urges Eta to stop February 21, 2010
  The political wing of Eta, the Basque separatist group, was today to make a historic call for the organisation to lay down its arms after 40 years, so peace negotiators can get to work. The call is a further sign of a growing rift...