Jaguar's T-break

Anything can happen in the movies. But in this case anything can happen because of the movies. A Formula One car was driven through the streets of London for the first time last month as part of the promotion for the premiere of Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines.

Jaguar Racing F1 driver Mark Webber (above) piloted a T3-liveried racer into Leicester Square in front of 8000 spectators. "I drove the car from one end of the square to the other and parked it up next to the red carpet where the stars and celebrities were making their entrances. There wasn't the space to go too fast - but I couldn't resist spinning the wheels."

Jaguar sponsorship of the premiere extended to transport for the movie's star. Arnold Schwarzenegger arrived in a black XJ sedan, while Kristanna Loken (his nemesis in the film) arrived in a polished aluminium XJ - the only one of its kind in the world.

Hands off

Mitsubishi Motors Australia's new high-speed test track will enable engineers to drive test cars at 200km/h "neutral speed". In other words, if they wanted to they could cruise at up to 200km/h with no hands on the steering wheel.

"There are only a handful of tracks like it in the world," says Lee Kernich, general manager R&D Australia. "And this will be the only one of its size in Australia." The new track is part of a A$230 million ($260 million) package for Mitsubishi's Down Under division. The centre will be referred to as Mitsubishi Motors R&D Australia (MRDAus) and will enable an increased role in the improvement of Mitsubishi vehicles worldwide, including the development of two new models in Australia due for release post-2005.

The $10 million high-speed track will be built on 440ha of land just outside Tailem Bend, east of Adelaide, adjacent to Mitsubishi's existing test track facility. Together the tracks will form one of the largest automotive testing facilities in the Southern Hemisphere, and will enable hot weather testing of Mitsubishi vehicles from the Northern Hemisphere during the northern winter.

The 5.5km track was designed in collaboration with University of Adelaide engineers who applied a concept called the "McConnell Spiral", in which the track dips then climbs at an angle into each bend, creating a complex surface profile.

The university has also helped to design a unique surface using a material called polymer-modified bitumen that allows water to escape.

Volvo's whip hand

Crash studies by Volvo over the past four years show that the Swedish carmaker's whiplash protection system (WHIPS) reduces short-term injuries by 33 per cent and long-term injuries by 54 per cent.

The principle behind the system is that the spine and the head are fully supported in a crash with a specially developed head restraint and a supporting mechanism in the seatback. In a rear-end collision, the seatback will move backwards with the occupant, first in parallel and then in a short reclining movement.

Volvo introduced WHIPS in 1998 in the S80. Since 2000, all Volvo models have been equipped.

For the past four years, the traffic accident research team at Volvo Cars has followed the results of rear-end collisions with Volvo cars in Sweden, comparing occupants travelling in Volvos with and without WHIPS. The largest reduction is to be found among women - 50 per cent on short-term and 75 per cent on long-term injuries.