Good oil: Sporty Audi

Audi has released details of the s3, the sportiest version of the a3 model line-up. The s3 will be equipped with a turbocharged version of the 2-litre direct-injection four-cylinder engine it uses in the a3 model range. It is expected to produce around 200kw (268bhp) and sprint the s3 from zero to 100km/h in 5.5 seconds and to a restricted top speed of 250km/h.

* * *

A mildly restyled Hyundai Tiburon coupe has broken cover - at the Guangzhou motor show in China. The new coupe has revised front and rear-end treatments, and continues to be powered by a choice of four-cylinder or 2.7-litre six-cylinder engines. No word yet when it will be available in New Zealand.

* * *

Leave it to Maximum Bob - as the bloggers like to call General Motors' vice-president Bob Lutz - for a surprise assessment of hybrid cars. Hybrids mate an electric motor with a petrol engine to improve fuel economy, but they are costly to develop and build. "Toyota has said, economically, that hybrids make no sense," Lutz told reporters at the London Motor Show. "The reduction in fuel [consumption] does not pay for the technological content and cost of the vehicle, so therefore economically it remains fairly nonsensical, so that's the left-brain analytical argument. The right brain says it's the popular thing to do, many people believe that if we all drove hybrids the world would suddenly get cooler again - and it's the patriotic thing to do because if you drive a hybrid you will no longer be funding the Arab terrorists ... "

* * *

BMW has developed a 7-Series model that uses its on-board computer to pay for parking. The technology allows drivers using multi-storey car parks to drive directly to the exit and simply confirm the parking charge on the on-board monitor. The system registers the time of entry and departure, calculates the fee and employs a wireless payment system. The research project is being trialled in Germany.

* * *

Briton Max Foster, 18, complained to the London Daily Telegraph that two Bath police officers told him they were under instructions not to pursue a man who had been spotted on Foster's stolen moped scooter, because the man was not wearing a helmet. According to Foster, the town's rules of engagement for officers discourage chases because the suspect might fall off the scooter, hit his head and sue police. And in New York Richard and Stephanie North were arrested and charged with stealing a big-screen TV from a store in Middletown. Police stopped their car because a rear door was propped open to accommodate the huge TV set sticking out of the back seat.