Peugeot RCZ

Two Peugeot RCZ’s have won a first and third in-class standing at the ADAC 24-hour endurance race at Nurburgring using Delphi Corporation’s virtually standard diesel fuel injection. The two Peugeot RCZs were competing against 197 vehicles, many of which had been highly modified for racing.

They ran in the D1T category for diesel cars between 1.7 and 2.0-litres and the key change to the standard engine was a boost in turbo boost pressure, lifting the torque from 340Nm to 400 Nm.  Standard Delphi charge air coolers and radiators, available in normal road cars, were also used making this an even more remarkable achievement.

John Fuerst, Delphi’s general manager, diesel engine management systems said,”This event has been called the ultimate durability test. Delphi successfully faced this test with production products on the RCZs that needed little or no modifications to perform this grueling race. We are delighted to have been selected as a technical partner for Peugeot and to have helped them achieve such an impressive result in the company’s 200th anniversary year”. Peugeot contract hire prices for the new RCZ are available on the site now.

Volkswagen Vans

Volkswagen Commercial Vehicles is sponsoring various action and adventure programmes on three Discovery Network channels for the next 12 months. There will be short Volkswagen adverts shown before and after programmes like Bear Grylis: Born Survivor, Deadliest Catch and Storm Chasers to name just a a few.

The adverts will feature a plumber, vet and gardener arriving in their Volkswagen Caddy, Transporter and Crafter vans and will discover their job is more challenging than they thought. The strapline, “Every job’s an adventure” is announced by actor Ray Winstone. The Volkswagen range is reliable and hard-working and if you are thinking about contract hiring your next van, then Volkswagen van contract hire pricing is available now, on every model in their range.

The peak season for hay fever is upon us and Kwik-Fit has revealed that during the months of May and June, hay fever sufferers will drive around 9.3 million miles with their eyes shut. The research conducted by Kwik-Fit went onto show that half a million motorists had admitted that they had lost control of their vehicles after sneezing. One million motorists also admitted pulling over to the side of the road until the sneezing bout had stopped and 2.6 million have looked away from the road while they searched for a tissue.

Kwik-Fit’s research showed that 28% of all UK motorists suffer from hay fever and concluded that over nine million miles are driven by motorists effectively “blinded” by their allergy. Your car air-conditioning system is your defence mechanism against hay fever, however to be effective it must be serviced regularly and have the pollen filter changed at least once  a year. Kwik-Fit is offering air conditioning servicing including cleaning, re-gassing and pollen filter replacement for just £69 at their 650 centres nationwide. Appointments to their service centres are not normally needed.

Suzuki Grand Vitara

Suzuki GB has announced they are supporting the World Superbike and British Superbike Suzuki teams by providing each rider with a Suzuki Grand Vitara five-door SZ4. The Grand Vitara will be ideal for the riders as it offers great luggage space for their kit and equipment and also provides great fuel economy plus low CO2 emissions for an SUV.

Leon Haslam and Sylvain Guintoli (WSB riders) and Michael Laverty and Tommy Hill (BSB riders) picked up their keys from the Suzuki GB Head Office at Milton Keynes.

Volkswagen iPad app

If you went and bought a new iPad, Volkswagen is the first car manufacturer to have developed a digital customer magazine as an app, specifically for the iPad. The new digital product goes by the name of “DAS” which stands for Digital Automotive Space and it will be published in five languages. It will be available to download free of charge from the iTunes store.

DAS- Digital Automotive Space

The app transforms the user into a player and you can enjoy the magazine’s themes using the familiar functions of the iPhone. There are five chapters telling stories from the Volkswagen world and it uses 360 degree images for example giving you a realistic impression of some of the technical features on the Volkswagen Touraeg. An internet version will be available by the end of June and Facebook will follow.

Bugatti Veyron

Only 300 Bugatti Veyron supercars were made and one is coming up for sale at British Car Auctions (BCA) at their Blackbushe Auction Centre on Saturday the 5th June. This car sells new for more than £1 million and reaches 250+mph where legally permitted. It was registered in 2006 and only has 7,400 km on the clock.

If your budget doesn’t stretch of course there is always personal contract hire, which allows you to drive a brand new car at a very reasonable price. The Hyundai Classic i20 1.2-litre petrol is on the site on at a very reasonable £160.98 including VAT on personal non-maintained contract hire, three years at 10,000 miles per annum and at that rental is affordable and economical too. Have a look at the Personal Contract Hire special offers section for other models.

If you are heading out this bank holiday weekend there is great website called Parkopedia.com ,which tells you where you can park and how much it is likely to cost you. The easy to use website is also available with an iPhone app too and all you do is put in your destination location, i.e. Manchester, or the postcode and the site does the rest.

Parkopedia.com is the world’s leading parking information provider and is used by millions of drivers and organisations, such as The AA. It provides detailed information on over 6 million parking spaces, including car parks, street parking and private driveways.

If you are planning on a longer journey this weekend don’t forget you can also use the Trafficmaster live UK road mapping service which shows delays on all the UK’s main roads.

Nissan Juke SUV

The new Nissan Juke looks set to shake up the small car sector, offering a compact SUV crossover alternative. The price and specification of this new model range has now been launched by Nissan and offers two and four-wheel drive options, in a choice of three engine options. The Juke will now join the existing Nissan crossover range of Murano, Qashqai and Qashqai+2 with the entry level model available from only £12,795, which is likely to provide a competitive contract hire rental.

Interior of the Juke

The three engine options start with a frugal 1.6-litre 117PS petrol engine or a 110PS 1.5-litre dCi diesel, with the top of the range Juke featuring a new 190PS 1.6-litre turbocharged petrol option. Three specification levels will be available, namely Visia, Acenta and Tekna, with the entry level Visia offering 16-inch alloy wheels, ESP, six airbags and air conditioning as standard.

The Acenta model adds 17-inch alloy wheels, climate control, Bluetooth with USB connectivity and the Nissan Dynamic Control System (central command module). Two option packs can be added to the Acenta, either a Sport Pack or Premium Pack. 

The ultimate Juke will wear the Tekna badge and the vehicle specification includes leather upholstery, Nissan Connect, a reversing camera, Intelligent Key with engine start button and much more. The Juke should be available to order on Nissan contract hire in June, with the first deliveries likely in September for the new registration plate.

The full pricing range is below

Atomik 500

The UK debut of the all-electric Atomik 500 “city supercar” will take place at the Salon Prive (at the Hurlingham Club in Chelsea) between the 21st and 23rd of July 2010. Two Atomik 500′s will be brought to the event by the Paris-based car manufacturer.

This fantastic city-car offers a supercar performance with zero emissions, reaching 0-100km per hour (approximately 60mph) in only five seconds and has a range of 200km (around 120 miles). Jerome Griffart of Atomik Cars said,”Atomik Cars offer a preview of tomorrow’s technology, in cars you can buy and use today. Our cars offer avant-garde design, ambition and technological skill and Salon Prive gives us the perfect platform to reach customers looking for that exclusivity”. For more information and tickets to the event you can visit the Salon Prive website

@ www.salonprivelondon.com

Michelin Fill Up With Air Team

Michelin, the tyre manufacturer, has undertaken some research that shows that motorists are wasting circa £440 million pounds by not keeping their tyres pumped up to the correct tyre pressure, which is around 370 million litres of fuel  annually. This wastage also pumps an extra 1 million tonnes of CO2 into the atmosphere.

Following the research, Michelin is launching a new Michelin Fill Up with Air Roadshow, that is set to tour the country from May to October, to offer free tyre checks to help improve safety and reduce vehicle emissions, while also helping to save cash. Under-inflated tyres also wear out more quickly so it is important to keep those tyre pressures at the right level for tyre safety. If you also want to find out the pressures for your car or van, you can search using the following link to the Kwik-Fit tyre pressure search facility www.kwik-fit.com/tyre-pressure-search.asp . All you do is enter your vehicle registration number and the correct pressures will be displayed by relevant tyre category.