Fresh from unveiling the production-ready MINI Coupé, the company has taken the wraps off a stunning new racing version.

Called the MINI Coupé John Cooper Works Endurance, it will debut at the Nürburgring 24-hour endurance race - also known as the Green Hell.

It will be the first time that the race, which starts on Saturday (25 June 2011), has hosted a world debut, but MINI is clearly set upon emphasising the coupé's racy credentials early.

It's the latest MINI foray into racing, ...

A shocking one in seven drivers admits to having an accident or a near miss because of being distracted by a back seat driver.

According to research, in the vast majority of cases it's the driver's partner causing the problem.

More than half say they get angry at the comments or behaviour of passengers while driving, while 40 percent say it makes them anxious; some even admit to being reduced to tears.

The 'Driver Distraction' study found that men in particular are 60 percent more likel...

Research by supermarket giant Tesco has concluded that the BMW 1 Series is the best used car money can buy.

Taking into account running costs, depreciation, reliability and customer satisfaction, the food chain has put BMW's entry-level hatchback on top, beating off competition from the MINI, Nissan Qashqai and ever-popular Ford Fiesta.

The research comes as Tesco launches its new car supermarket venture, tescocars.com, which sells used cars online.

The company has compiled a list of the...

The Driving Standards Agency (DSA) is urging all driving test candidates booked to take a test on Thursday 30 June to attend as usual regardless of the threat of strike action by examiners who are members of the Public and Commercial Services (PCS) union.

DSA's chief executive Rosemary Thew said:

“Not all examiners are members of the PCS union and even if they are, we cannot be sure that they will not turn up for work. We therefore want candidates to attend so that practical te...

A parking space near Harrods department store in London has sold for a staggering £200,000 - making it the most expensive in the UK. It's enough to buy a brand new Ferrari 458 Italia.

However, it could actually prove to be the best value parking space in the UK as well. That's because it has a 90-year leasehold attached to it, which means it could end up costing its owner just 33p per hour.

That's unlikely, of course, but it represents a tenth of the hourly rate of the average space in...

It's no secret that we Brits make do with some of Europe's most pizza-faced roads. Pothole after pothole seems to spring up everywhere you look, and the last couple of harsh winters have hardly helped matters.

Campaign site potholes.co.uk knows this better than anyone. Alongside lobbying the Government to pull its finger out and resurface our roads, the site's boffins have carried out a survey to find the bumpiest roads in the UK. Not surprisingly, rarely used back roads in rural are...

US scientists at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) are working on a new system that can take control of a car shortly before a crash.

Rajeev Verma and Domitilla Del Vecchio, the team behind the new technology, examined the ways in which drivers brake and accelerate to try to predict the position of a car on the road in the event of a shunt.

This information was added to existing models of human driving behaviour, to give the system the best chance of dodging an impendin...

Authorities have taken immediate action to fill in several potholes after they were dubbed the worst in the UK by a public survey.

The poll, organised by the 'Daily Telegraph' and campaign website potholes.co.uk, named the B6343 between Morpeth and Cambo in Northumberland as the worst road for potholes in Britain.

Drivers, motorcyclists and cyclists had repeatedly complained about the road due to the huge number of holes and ruts in its surface.

Over 80 roads were named as competitors f...

Driving test candidates could benefit from a more local service as the Driving Standards Agency (DSA) carries out a trial exploring a new approach to test delivery.

As well as using conventional driving test centres, DSA is looking at whether tests could also be delivered from other venues such as local authority buildings, hotels or leisure centres.

The trials will provide practical car tests in selected areas that no longer have a local test centre, but still have a significant...

These are the first official images of the new MINI Coupé.

If it looks familiar then that might be because we've recently driven a mildly disguised pre-production version, but this is what the car will look like when goes on sale - and it's a real looker.

Aside from the two-tone red and white paintwork and the cool, raked roof, the most striking thing about the MINI Coupé is its low price tag.

MINIs are known for being slightly pricier than most rivals, but the Coupé will start at ...

Tube fare hikes mean that it can be cheaper to travel the same distance across London in a chauffeur-driven £250,000 Rolls-Royce Phantom.

It's estimated that celebrity owners of such cars, like David Beckham, Simon Cowell and Sir Alan Sugar, pay less to travel through the centre of the capital than those using public transport.

Tube fares can, unbelievably, be up to 50 percent more expensive than travelling by luxury car.

The Environmental Transport Association (ETA) has calculated th...

The number of convertibles on Britain's roads has doubled in the last ten years, as middle-aged drivers treat themselves during their mid-life crises.

A fifth of motorists splurged on their first drop-top in their fifties, some of whom claimed it helped them to "recapture their lost youth".

There are now 911,495 convertible cars registered in the UK - that's six times as many as there were in 1993.

The figures are from a study by the insurance company LV=, which also found that convert...

Tough new laws have come into force today designed to crack down on drivers without insurance.

The new legislation rules that anyone with an uninsured vehicle must either declare their car as off the road or arrange a new policy.

Once the DVLA gets wind of an offending vehicle, the owner will be sent a warning letter telling them to take action.

The penalty for further ignorance is a £100 fine, followed by the possibility of having it clamped, seized or destroyed. Additional fines of ...

Tough new laws have come into force today designed to crack down on drivers without insurance.

The new legislation rules that anyone with an uninsured vehicle must either declare their car as off the road or arrange a new policy.

Once the DVLA gets wind of an offending vehicle, the owner will be sent a warning letter telling them to take action.

The penalty for further ignorance is a £100 fine, followed by the possibility of having it clamped, seized or destroyed. Additional fines of ...

This is the all-new Toyota Yaris, unveiled in pictures for the first time.

Toyota says that it's the first car to bring "affordable multimedia connectivity" to the supermini segment.

This is the third generation Yaris, following on from the 1999 original and replacing the current car, which has been in production since 2005. It will go on sale in the UK this summer, but prices have yet to be confirmed.

As you'd expect, Toyota is claiming systematic improvements over the current Yaris, ...

The head of the AA has urged the Government to slash fuel duty to get Britain moving again.

With news of the UK economy possibly heading for another recession, fuel prices are on the up again. AA President Edmund King says serious action is needed, and has called for urgent action.

Petrol prices are rising despite the fact that the price of oil has fallen significantly. According to King, two thirds of motorists are being forced to drive less to save money.

King has called for the Gov...

Car windscreen repair company Autoglass is blaming careful driving for the loss of 400 jobs.

The losses include 300 full time and 100 temporary members of staff. The economic climate has been blamed for a sharp fall in cracked and chipped windscreens and the firm's resultant loss of business.

According to company bosses, the recent recession and rising petrol and diesel prices are forcing motorists to drive slower and preserve fuel.

The knock-on effect is a reduction in the number of c...

The 24 Heures du Mans is perhaps the most glamorous non-F1 event on the racing calendar. Well, it's glamorous for some: the thousands camping on dusty fields on the outskirts of the track and drinking warm, overpriced lager might not use that word.

And we know all about the non-glamorous side of Le Mans, because this year we pitched a tent on one of the fields. Right next to track - on Porsche Curves, to be precise. So, here's what Le Mans looks like from the inside of a dirty tent, ...

The Government has told MPs that it intends to use digital motorway signs to urge drivers to take the train.

The move is part of a huge traffic and transport overhaul unveiled by transport ministers Mike Penning and Norman Baker.

The signs will show drivers how much time they could save by taking a train instead. The aim is to relieve traffic congestion by encouraging road users onto public transport. However, the signs will also give information on alternative routes to major destination...

Car theft has fallen by two-thirds in the last seven years, prompting one expert to claim that modern cars are “all but impossible to steal”.

Those words, from BBC Transport Correspondent Richard Scott, are in response to the latest car theft figures, which indicate a staggering reduction - and one that shows no sign of slowing.

In 1991, 600,000 cars were stolen in the UK, while in 2009 that figure had dropped to 119,000. In 2010, 107,000 cars were taken, and the majority of those ...

 
DSA is urging all approved driving instructors (ADIs) to log on to businesslink.gov.uk/manageadi to update their contact details.
 
You can also use the online service to tell DSA if you:

• would like your details to be published on the ‘Find your nearest driving instructors’ service on Directgov
• are committed to a minimum of one day per year continuing professional development (CPD) and abiding by the voluntary ADI code of practice

‘Find your nearest driving instr...

Alfa Romeo will use the Goodwood Festival of Speed to show its stunning 4C concept to British buyers looking for a bargain supercar.

The Alfa Romeo 4C Concept was one of the stars of this year's Geneva Motor Show, coming as a complete surprise and with a startling specification.

If it matches its promise, the 4C could catapult Alfa Romeo back to its glory days. The company says it will have a carbon fibre and aluminium body, resulting in a weight of less than 850kg - not much more tha...

The survey found that one in 20 drivers aren't using a seatbelt, and that one in 25 cars had broken brake lights.

Undertaken by 400 volunteers watching the driving habits of around 40,000 cars over three weeks, the survey is the largest ever of its kind in the UK.

By observing junctions and roundabouts up and down the country during April and May, the volunteers were witness to some shocking lapses in safety and concentration.

Almost a third (33 percent) of cars failed to indicate, wh...

Footage of a stolen drift car has appeared on YouTube.

The highly customised Japspeed Subaru Impreza was stolen from Santa Pod drag race track and taken for a joyride around the M25 ring road, where it was filmed by a mobile phone.

The car, which cost around £50,000 and took two years to build, was filmed just 45 minutes after it was stolen from Santa Pod.

It has the look of a street racer from a 'Fast And The Furious' movie, but with no number plates and stripped of most of its inter...

The Institute of Advanced Motorists (IAM) has slammed the driver of a 1,000bhp Ferrari for being "grossly irresponsible".

It comes after he was repeatedly filmed driving recklessly around the streets of London.

The footage, which was posted on YouTube, shows a distinctive turquoise Ferrari 599 driving at speed on London streets crowded with traffic and pedestrians.

In one shot, a pedestrian is almost hit as the Ferrari speeds past, and in another the car narrowly avoids colliding head-o...

A consultation document released by Transport for London (TfL) has revealed that the 2012 Olympics will cause at least 100 days of traffic chaos.

Temporary restrictions and road rules will be put into place around the time of the 2012 Games to allow so-called "members of the Olympic family" to move around London more freely.

The Olympic family comprises competitors, media and VIP invitees.

The road changes include re-categorising certain lanes as 'Game Lanes' to be used exclusively by...

If you thought it was impossible to make anything cooler than a time machine out of a DeLorean, think again, because it's been done.

An Australian beer company has made an advert featuring a DeLorean monster truck. In the scene, one of its rear wheels is used in the beer making process, suspended on chains and apparently powering a conveyor belt.

The advert, labelled on YouTube as 'Most Epic Beer Commercial Ever', also uses the theme tune from Eighties TV show 'Knight Rider', but the...

A mountain lion that had been spotted in a built up area near New York was reportedly killed in a road accident.

The bizarre incident will come as a relief to the residents of Greenwich, 70 miles away from New York City, where there had been various sightings of the six-foot beast - including one at a school.

The mountain lion sightings were especially disturbing because the species was thought to be extinct in that part of the United States. Three separate witnesses reported that the...

It's a little known fact that the proliferation of the dreaded speed hump is down to red tape and cost, but that's all about to change, as the Government today (June 13) announces new measures to ease the life of local councils. The result could mean a lot less speed humps on the road, though more 20mph zones.

Until today it was necessary to get approval from the Department for Transport before erecting speed limit signs on either side of the road. Hence it was easier for councils to ...

Audi stole all the headlines at Le Mans this weekend, for the right and wrong reasons. Spectacular crashes sidelined two of its three race cars, though its sole remaining R18 TDI stole outright victory from Peugeot. While all that was going on Audi pulled the covers off one of its most extreme road cars ever, the R8 GT Spyder.

The Spyder follows closely in the wheel tracks of the hard-topped R8 GT. Like the coupé, several components have been replaced with lightweight aluminium items...

We're all up to speed with touch-screen operation of devices, but here's a first: a team of scientists in Germany is experimenting with the technology on a car's steering wheel. The car itself would still be steered conventionally, but the centre of the wheel would feature a touch and gesture sensitive area to control the numerous entertainment, information and driver assistance controls fitted to modern cars.

The touch sensitive wheel could reduce the workload for the driver, easing...

The mechanics moving this Skoda won't, as the old joke goes, need a heated windscreen to warm their hands as they push it out of the garage. The Czech firm, once the butt of many an unfair joke, will celebrate the 10th year of its vRS Octavia performance flagship with a 200mph attempt at Bonneville Speed Week in the USA.

The Octavia vRS has become something of a performance icon among car fans, and Skoda is hoping to join the exclusive 200mph club to celebrate its tenth year.

It'll m...

They might not be your favourite people when parking quickly to pop into a shop or the post office, but traffic wardens are desperately wanted in Aberystwyth, Wales. The town lost its three police employed traffic wardens in May to budget cuts - and it has caused chaos on the streets of the Welsh town since.

With nobody to enforce parking restrictions the town has become a parking war zone. Cars are parking wherever and for as long as they like. Residents have seen punch-ups over par...

Vauxhall's head of design, Mark Adams, has released a single teaser image of the next open-topped Astra, indicating that the company will ditch the folding hardtop and return to using a more traditional fabric hood.

The sketch, originally published in 'Autocar', clearly shows that the fabric roof folds neatly away, leaving a flat rear deck. This solution is far more graceful than that employed by the outgoing Astra TwinTop, as that car's folding hardtop is much bulkier.

Although it's t...

Both BMW and Nissan have this week announced significant new investment in production of their cars in the UK, safeguarding thousands of jobs and bring millions of pounds into the economy.

Nissan's president and chief executive officer, Carlos Ghosn, met with Prime Minister David Cameron to confirm that the company would design, develop and produce the next generation of its highly successful Qashqai model in the UK.

It's estimated that 6,000 jobs (direct and indirect through the suppl...

It's time to throw away those clichéd 'Chelsea tractor' and 'gas guzzler' references when talking about the latest SUVs. The newest, the Mercedes-Benz M-Class, has all the presence and ability of the best in the class, but, with the ability to return 47mpg and emit just 158g/km, it's no longer the scourge of the planet.

To put that into perspective, those figures are comparable to a middling-range petrol-fuelled VW Golf, so eco-warriors will have to find a target other than the big ...

Every list of iconic film and television cars is basically the same: take your pick from Knight Rider's KITT, the Dukes of Hazzard's The General Lee, The Batmobile, Steve McQueen's Mustang or James Bond's Aston Martin DB5.

But there are quite a few movie cars that rarely, if ever, make these lists. That's because they're rubbish. Well, we've decided to extend their fifteen minutes of fame by a few more moments. Check out these, the worst cars to ever stink up the silver screen.

Car: ...

Mercedes-Benz has pulled the wraps off the ultimate version of its Unimog truck at its factory in Worth, Germany.

Built to celebrate the Unimog's 60th anniversary, it's strictly a concept only.

Finished in bright green and sporting enormous five-spoke wheels, it seems to be half Transformer, half monster truck.

The concept is the result of collaboration between the Mercedes special trucks team, the Daimler commercial vehicle designers and a model designing partner.

It said to be inspired...

Insurers have revealed that the Honda FR-V is the unluckiest car in the UK.

A study of accident claims showed that out of 2,529 FR-V owners, 466 made claims on their car insurance in the last five years. That's 18.4 per cent.

Almost as unfortunate were the Volvo XC90, the Lexus RX and the Mazda5. Over 15 percent of people who drive those cars made a claim in the same time period.

This does not, of course, mean that the Honda FR-V or the other ill-fated cars are in any way unreliable or...

MINI has issued the first official pictures of its new Coupé.

It will be the fifth model in the company's ever-expanding line-up and a strict two-seater.

MINI's existing cars have traded on their cheeky, retro looks and the Coupé will be no exception.

It's got the edge in the desirability stakes though, thanks to its steep rear hatch (described by MINI as a 'helmet' roof) and an active rear spoiler.

The Coupé should have the clout to match its looks, too, as it will be available with ...

British performance car maker Trident is about to reveal its latest model - the Iceni - billed as the most economical supercar on sale.

It's powered by a 6.6-litre turbodiesel V8 engine, which makes it capable of 200mph and 0-62mph in less than four seconds.

That might not sound like the last word in economy, but low weight and unique engineering render the Iceni one of the most frugal performance cars around.

It runs on bio-diesel, but the really clever bit is the Trident's rear-mount...

A driver from the US mainland dished out a series of bizarre responses when he was pulled over by police in Hawaii.

The 54-year-old unnamed man from Indianapolis claimed that he was "trying to reset the future, but was not able to go fast enough to do that," when quizzed by cops.

He alerted the attention of the local constabulary while driving recklessly in Kihei town on the island of Maui.

The authorities received several calls from distressed pedestrians, claiming that the man damage...

New statistics from the Office of National Statistics (ONS) have revealed that 76 percent of commuters still drive to work.

The number rises to a staggering 91 percent outside London, whose controversial Congestion Charge seems to be having the desired affect; only six in ten commuters drive to work in London.

The non-London statistic shows that people are eschewing public transport in droves, even though three out of four travel less than half an hour to get to work. Six out of ten g...

Skoda blew the roof off the 2011 Worthersee festival with the most outrageous car it has ever made: the vRS 2000 roadster.

Officially called the vRS 2000 design study, it is essentially a Fabia rally car with the roof chopped off. But unlike the rally car, it's fully road legal.

Amazingly, Skoda has managed to keep the four-door layout of the Fabia intact, giving it the sort of practicality rarely seen in a car so focused on speed.

But before you rush to your local Skoda dealer, howev...

Seven of the UK's biggest supermarket chains have officially backed a Government scheme to prevent the misuse of disabled badges.

The Blue Badge is issued by the Department for Transport (DfT) to disabled drivers, allowing holders to use disabled parking bays situated close to shops and services.

More than 2.5 million official badges have been issued, although the number of fraudulent ones is on the rise.

So far, Aldi, Marks and Spencer, Morrisons, Sainsbury's, Tesco, Waitrose and Lid...

A video showing a head-on car crash in the US reveals just how close the driver came to serious injury as a result of texting at the wheel.

Footage taken by Sean Symons, a motorist travelling in the car behind, shows the car swerving erratically before clipping a barrier and ploughing into oncoming traffic.

Amazingly, no-one was harmed, and the whole incident was captured on camera. Click here to watch it.

Symons reported the driver to the police before filming the incident on his pho...

More than 40 high performance cars including Aston Martins, Bentleys and Porsches have been found on the streets of New Delhi, India, after owners abandoned them due to fears of tax evasion charges.

It's thought that the high-end vehicles were ditched after police arrested a local car dealer known for importing luxury motors.

Sunit 'Sunny' Walia, was charged with selling stolen goods and tax evasion last month. It is alleged that he acquired cars stolen elsewhere in Asia, only to sel...

BMW has registered the name 'M2', leading to speculation that it is already planning a replacement for the new 1 Series M Coupé.

Only 450 1 Series M Coupés (pictured) will be made for the UK, and already one third of them have been snapped up, at a cost of £40,020 each.

The junior M car's rarity and astonishing acceleration mean it's already being tipped as a future classic - so BMW is already planning a lucrative replacement, now likely to be called the M2.

It's thought that the t...

Residents in a Shropshire street were shocked and relieved when a birthday party they'd organised was gate crashed by the council.

That's because they were 'celebrating' the seventh year since an enormous pothole had appeared in their street, when the council finally came and fixed it.

The remarkable farce happened on Urban Way in Wellington, Shropshire. Homeowners there were so fed up of asking the council to fix the 30-inch wide pothole, and being rebuffed, that they decided to hav...

Mercedes-Benz has officially unveiled a new Roadster version of its SLS AMG supercar for sun-lovers in a hurry. The 6.2-litre V8-engined machine rockets to 62mph in just 3.8 seconds and onto a 197mph maximum speed - matching the performance of the coupé.

In its transformation from coupé to Roadster the SLS has lost its trademark 'gullwing' doors, though it's no less of a looker for that. Instead, you can enjoy the SLS's V8 soundtrack better with the roof stowed neatly behind you: i...

The Vehicle and Operator Services Agency (VOSA) has set up a new MOT text reminder service for customers. By registering, you'll get text messages telling you when your MOT is due.

How the MOT text reminder service works
To benefit from the MOT text reminder service you will need to register your details with VOSA. Once registered, three text reminders will be sent to your mobile phone to remind you of your MOT date.

They will be sent:

• five weeks before
• two weeks before ...

Bob Dowd isn't your average 90-year-old driver. He never passed his ordinary driving test because they were suspended during World War II, but he's just passed his advanced driving test - for the second time.

The test, undertaken by the Institute of Advanced Motorists (IAM), requires a re-test to ensure your driving skills remain up to the organisation's high standards. And Bob passed his re-test at the age of 90.

Bob gained his licence via regulations of the time that allowed a lice...

Ford has developed a car seat that uses electrode-sensing technology to monitor the driver's heart rate.

It's not just about sensing whether its latest cars are thrilling enough to drive either, as the seat can actually monitor the condition of the driver's heart.

Jointly developed between Ford and Rheinisch-Westfalische Technische Hochschule (RWTH) Aachen University, the seat operates via six sensors embedded into its backrest.

Dr Achmi Lindner, a medical officer at Ford's European R...

The age-old analogue dashboard dials we are all used to in cars are soon to become a thing of the past. BMW has admitted that it is working on replacing the instruments with configurable LCD screens.

Mercedes-Benz has used this design in its top-of-the range S-Class saloon for a few years, while the latest Range Rovers and the Jaguar XJ also employ this technique.

Until now, the closest BMW has come is the design found in the 5 Series and 7 Series, which still uses analogue needles, but...