Caddy Maxi kombi

Volkswagen has confirmed that a new “kombi pack” is available as a no-cost option for the five seater Caddy Maxi window van. The new vehicle deletes the Caddy Maxi Life’s side windows, in the load area, to create the perfect vehicle for carrying crew, while still leaving space for storage of tools or racking equipment.

Alternatively if you have an outdoor lifestyle or have active hobbies, the vehicle can carry lots of people and lots of gear at weekends. To cater for this market Volkswagen also offers the “appearance pack” as an option, which adds body coloured bumper and door mirrors.

Caddy Maxi kombi

To maximise the storage space in the van, the three seater bench can split and fold forward to increase the load space from 1,650 litres (1.6 cubic metres) to 3,950 litres ( 3.9 cubic metres). The maximum load length is 1.8 metres and offers a payload range from 632kg to 713kg (depending on the engine/transmission). It can also tow a braked trailer weighing up to 1,500kg.

The power delivery comes from a choice of two turbo-diesel engines: a 1.9 TDI PD unit with 104 PS which achieves 45.6 mpg on the combined fuel cycle with the standard five speed manual gearbox, or 40.9 mpg with the six-speed DSG (Direct Shift Gearbox). Or you can opt for the 2.0-litre TDI PD with 140 PS and 44.8 mpg on the combined cycle ( manual gearbox). Volkswagen van leasing prices on all their range are available now.

Citroen DS Inside Concept

Citroen has unveiled their new DS3 concept car which looks to rival the popular Mini. Designed by British designer, Mark Lloyd, the car is likely to be available by early 2010. The DS Inside concept model will offer an unprecedented range of touches and finishes to allow the driver to personalise each car.

Citroen DS Inside Concept

The dashboard is flowing and airy with black chrome touches around the cabin and a thick lounge style carpert providing a luxurious feel. The concept is finished with a premium leather roof in pearlescent ivory with a powder-like finish that bears the DS insignia.

Honda Jazz

The new Honda Jazz has been awarded the maximum 5-star safety rating by Euro NCAP. Some of the safety features on the Jazz that helped it scoop this maximum rating include:

- Vehicle Stability Assist (VSA)- This helps you maintain control during cornering, accelerating and sudden manoeuvres by applying the brakes to the right or left wheels as necessary.

- Advanced Compatability Engineering (ACE) – This is the well-established body feature designed to protect passenger’s in a wide variety of crashes.

- Pedestrian Protection – The Jazz has loads of features to protect pedestrians like windscreen wiper pivots designed to break away on impact and energy absorbing front wing mounts and bonnet hinges.

- Active Headrests- The new Jazz has front seat active headrests which reduce the likelihood of neck injuries.

- Airbags and seatbelts- Dual, front and full-length side curtain airbags are standard on all models.

- Braking -Anti-Lock-Braking system (ABS), Electronic Brake-force Distribution (EBD) and Emergency Brake Assist (EBA) are also standard.

The Honda Jazz is a popular car for Honda due to its no-compromise mix of value for money, frugality and good cabin space and Honda Car Leasing prices on the Jazz are available now.

C1 evie

A GfK NOP survey for the RAC foundation has suggested 6.75 million drivers are thinking about buying a vehicle powered solely by batteries. This should be good news for the Department for Transport which announced last month that grants of up to £5,000, would be offered to purchasers of electric powered cars from 2011.

However the RAC Foundation has warned that demand will exceed supply, as mass produced electric vehicles (according to the Government’s own reckoning) will not be available until 2017 at the earliest, leaving many potential buyers frustrated.

RAC Foundation Professor Stephen Glaister commented ” What the Government is in danger of doing is putting the cart before the horse. It is actively promoting the purchase of electric vehicles long before there is any chance of manufacturers making them widely available. Minister’s thinking on green technology is all over the place. They talk of incentives of up to £5,000 for prospective buyers of electric cars from 2011. Yet at that stage there will be almost nothing in the showroom for people to purchase”.

Survey

- The survey was conducted with 1,000 motorists and was carried out over the weekends of the 9th and 10th and 16th and 17th May 2009 by GfK NOP.

- According to the DfT National Travel Survey 2007 there are 33.8 million driving licence holders in Great Britain.

- On the 16th April 2009 the Department for Transpoprt and the Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform launched the Government’s vision to produce low carbon transport over the next five years.

- Less than 0.1% of the UK’s 26 million cars are currently electric.

- The car featured above is the Citroen C1 ev’ie, a new electric concept from Citroen.

New Toyota Hiace

Toyota has upgraded their 2009 Hiace panel van with air-conditioning as a standard option. With temperatures likely to reach 21 degrees centigrade today this is also likely to prove a popular option for commercial drivers, over the coming summer months. The upgrade of air-conditioning is one of a range of new features for the new model year, all introduced to provide more comfort.

New seats have been designed with a tough, but smart looking cloth upholstery and fabric covered door panels with an integrated armrest and panel for the power window controls, amongst other new features. The cabin is quieter too with extra sound absorbing material throughout the vehicle. The window glass has also been changed to reduce UV glare whilst the dashboard grille gets additional chrome detailing and an extra interior light has been added to the load area.

Outside the Hiace gets a new-look front grille, more chrome on the bonnet and the rear, plus new design wheel covers. Eclipse black metallic has also been added to the colour choices.

The Hiace range offers a broad range of commercial vehicles to suit differing customer needs as follows:

- SWB or LWB options.

- A choice of rear tailgate or twin rear doors with a sliding side door.

- 2,800kg SWB and 3,000kg LWB gross vehicle weights.

- Maximum payloads of 1,060kg/1,050kg for the SWB and 1,180/1,170 for the LWB ( 4 door and 5 door).

Power comes from a 2.5-litre D-4D common rail diesel engine with a choice of output from 94 or 115bhp and Toyota Van Leasing prices are easily available off the site with the new model coming on shortly.

Fiat 500 for driving schools?

Fiat is offering free-of-charge, dual “He-Man” controls to the stylish Fiat 500, to appeal to driving schools and image conscious pupils. The Fiat 500 is already a class leader in terms of safety with the accredited 5-star Euro NCAP rating and is an ideal car for learners and new drivers with its compact dimensions, prompt responses, light controls and all-round visibility.

James McMenamin, National Corporate Sales Manager for Fiat Group Automobiles UK said ” This offer means driving instructors can field a desirable car that’s easy for pupils to drive, while benefiting from low costs and impressive residual values”.

The Fiat 500 has the following standard equipment on all models including seven airbags, ABS anti-lock brakes with Electronic Brakeforce Distribution (EBD), power steering and a height adjustable driver’s seat, electric windows/door mirrors plus a CD/radio. The Lounge and Sport models get alloy wheels, air conditioning and Fiat’s Blue&Me hands free entertainment and communications system.

 Full vehicle information on all Fiat 500′s is available via the Vehicle Information shopper. If you are also thinking of leasing a new Fiat 500 for your business then we have Fiat car leasing prices available now on all the latest models.

A study by the US government accountability office (GAO) has warned that the GPS system, overseen by the US Air Force, could fail by 2010. TRACKER, the UK leader in stolen vehicle recovery has commented that it is highly unlikely however.

Bill Raynal, Managing Director of TRACKER, said ” Keeping one step ahead is the key to the ongoing success as the leader in stolen vehicle recovery market. TRACKER Stolen Vehicle Recovery solutions don’t rely on GPS alone, unlike many other systems available on the market. Instead we use a unique Very High Frequency (VHF) technology, offering motorists effective safeguards against theft, even if the GPS does fail”.

Jaguar XF in Police-spec

Jaguar UK has launched a new high performance Police pursuit vehicle based on the award winning XF Diesel S model. This is the first ever Police-spec Jaguar XF to be evaluated by Police forces across the country. The Jaguar XF has the right credentials with a combined mpg figure of 42mpg, and a Co2 emissions figure of 179g/km.

Geoff Cousins, UK Managing Director for Jaguar Cars, said ” Police forces are looking for vehicles that represent value for money, have good environmental credentials and deliver the power and performance of a pursuit vehicle”.

The Police-spec Jaguar XF is the 275PS 3.0-litre Diesel S engine and has a unique parallel sequential turbocharger system. The twin-turbochargers work sequentially to deliver unrivalled response and best-in-class torque, delivering huge power at all engine speeds. Mr Cousins went on to say ” We hope that with this amount of “torque on tap” and a 0-60mph time of 5.9 seconds, we will meet and exceed the exacting standards of any Police Officer driving this car”.

The car in the photograph is based on a Jaguar XF 3.0-litre Diesel S Luxury and includes the additional Police specification features of:

- Roof mounted light bar with 3600 blue flashing lights and integrated side alley lights.

- Blue and white flashing LED lights inside the front grille.

- Side mounted blue flashing LED lights.

- Blue and red flashing LED lights intergrated in the rear light clusters.

- Home Office-specification electronics “Police pack” to power a full suite of emergency lights, radio and other electronic equipment.

This car certainly has a high vehicle specification and follows a similar launch by Vauxhall with the Insignia Tourer Police-specification model.

Euro NCAP is the organisation that assesses the safety of new cars and they have just released some safety results for six new cars. The new overall rating for Euro NCAP covers Adult Occupant Protection, Child Occupant Protection, Pedestrian Protection and a new rating called Safety Assist.  Five out of the six cars received top marks with a Euro NCAP rating of five stars and there were a number of smaller cars in the high performers.

Hyundai i20 in tests

The Euro NCAP top scorers with five stars are the Audi Q5, Honda Jazz, Hyundai i20, Kia Soul and Peugeot 3008. Out of these, all but the Q5 are super-minis and another small car, the Suzuki Alto, scored three stars.

Michiel van Ratingen, Secretary General of Euro NCAP said, ” The smaller cars we tested, whose results are released today, show that size should not stand in the way of all-round safety”.

Volvo S60 Concept

Volvo is providing an insight into the driving characteristics of the Volvo S60 Concept with a PC based racing challenge called Volvo – The Game.  It is free to download from www.volvocars.co.uk/S60concept and features five of Volvo’s racing legends as well as the new car. This game was developed by Volvo with the SimBin Development Team, the award winning Swedish game studio.

The six cars in the game include the new Volvo S60 Concept, a racing Volvo C30, the previous S60, the Volvo 850 and a true classic, the Volvo 240 Turbo Group A. You can select your favourite Volvo and test your skills on the two tracks, the Gothenburg Eco Drive Arena in Sweden and at Chayka outside Kiev in the Ukraine.

You can either use the game with a steering wheel and pedals connected to your computer, via your PC’s keyboard or with a game pad. Skill level choices range from “novice” (with all the driver assistance technology you need like ABS), “semi-pro” and finally “pro” where there is no assistance whatsoever.

SimBin also produdes many other games including ” GTR- The FIA GT Racing Game”, ” GT Legends, “Race 07 – The WTCC Game” plus many more. Test your skills on this new game and if you are then interested in a Volvo for real, try Volvo car leasing.