Hard shoulder:AS THE Top Gear Live show rolls into town tomorrow for a weekend of petrolhead dreams, visitors are advised to allow for extra time to visit the show's collection of supercars.
Among the Hall of Fame models on show will be the Bugatti Veyron, Koenigsegg CC8S and the breathtaking Alfa Romeo 8C Competizione. While none of the 500 coupés made it to Ireland, two of the drop-top 8C Spiders have been bought by Irish buyers. Priced at €180,000, production is due in November with January delivery.
New tests reveal safety flaws
New tests have shown that three cars awarded top safety marks actually offer
poor protection to occupants in rear-end crashes. And most of the seats tested in the cars failed to offer proper protection.
The cars involved are the Citroën C5, the Ford Kuga and the Peugeot 308 CC, which all scored a top five-star rating for adult occupation safety in tests
carried out earlier by Euro NCAP. The new tests have been conducted by British insurance repair research organisation Thatcham on behalf of Euro NCAP.
The three former five-star vehicles were among a number of cars recently subjected to crash tests by Thatcham.
The Citroën C5 scored only 0.57 points, the Ford Kuga 0.44 points and the Peugeot 308 CC got a score of nought.
Models which performed well in the tests were the Volvo XC60, Audi A4, Opel Insignia, Alfa Romeo Mito and the Volkswagen Golf VI.
Thatcham director and Euro NCAP board member Andrew Miller said: "These results show a real need for some manufacturers to take a long hard look at their seat design."
These results will stand alone alongside current vehicle ratings, but from February Euro NCAP will include near rear protection seat tests in its adult occupant safety rating when a radical rating review kicks in.
Citroen scoops Irish votes for end of year title prizes
It was something of a clean sweep for Citroën at this year's Irish car of the year awards. The French firm's C5 won the Semperit Irish car of the year title.
It saw off competition from the Ford Fiesta, which holds the European car of they year title, the Jaguar XF, and Mazda6.
In the 30th year of the competition, organisers this year opted to award category prizes as well as the overall title.
The Jaguar won the luxury/sports car category, the Fiesta was voted best small car, while the XC60 won the title of best SUV/crossover.
The best people carrier award went to the Citroën Berlingo Multispace.
Finally, the French also scooped the van of the year with a joing win by the Berlingo/Peugeot Partner.