Dashcam giant Nextbase has launched its own car insurance service – and claims it can offer motorists big discounts if they drive with a dashcam.
According to the firm, half of its customers will be able to save 30 percent or more for fully comprehensive cover.
The firm said cover will start at under £200, with a third of customers expected to pay less than £250 for fully comprehensive cover. Motorists will be required to install aNextbase dashcam in order to take advantage of the savings compared with a traditional policy.
The company is able to pass on savings to customers as it believes motorists will drive better, while the amount of time it takes to administer pay-out claims in the event of an accident will be reduced.
Nextbase claimed that just under seven out of 10 drivers (68 percent) experienced an improvement in their driving score (calculated using telematics) when a dashcam was fitted to their vehicle.
Another study found 58 percent of motorists to less likely totailgate and 54 percent were less likely tospeed when their car was equipped with a device.
The company added having a dashcam installed will help speed up insurance claims, as the footage will enable police and insurers to determine who was at fault more easily.
Rewarding safe drivers
“Purchasing a dashcam can be extremely beneficial for drivers when it comes to incident cover, safety, and emergency help,” said Richard Browning, sales and marketing director at Nextbase
“But we want to go that step further and make sure customers are rewarded for being sensible, safe drivers.
“Nextbase Insurance is the next step in making sure every customer is a responsible driver and that we are doing everything we can to keep Britain’s roads safe.”
Volkswagen has unveiled a facelifted version of its Polo small hatchback ahead of its arrival in the UK in the third quarter of 2021.
The enhanced version of the model incorporates styling changes that bring it in line with the rest of the Volkswagen range, including new front and rear bumpers, LED headlights, a redesigned tailgate and new LED tail light clusters.
According to Volkswagen’s head of exterior design, Marvo Pavone, the design tweaks “create a relationship with theGolf design language”. He said the new frontal design “makes the car clearly wider and more easily recognisable”.
Inside, the revised Polo adds the latest version of VW’s infotainment system with a 6.5-inch touchscreen offered as standard, while a larger, 9.2-inch unit, is available as an optional extra, while the model has adopted an 8.0-inch digital cockpit display from the larger Golf model.
Like the Golf, the facelifted Polo will adopt a three trim-level system, with Life, Style and R-Line grades being offered, replacing the existing Match, SEL and R-Line specifications.
Volkswagen’s Travel Assist is to be offered as an option on the Polo for the first time. First debuted on thePassat, the level-two autonomous driving feature offers semi-autonomous adaptive cruise control and lane-keeping assistance at speeds of up to 130mph, while a regular lane-keeping assistance feature is fitted as standard.
As before, one engine – a three-cylinder, 1.0-litre petrol engine – will be offered in 80hp, 95hp and 110hp guises, with manual and automatic transmission options offered.
Responding to a question posed by Motoring Research at a virtual press briefing, Hendrik Muth, head of product marketing at Volkswagen, said there are no plans to add a pure EV powertrain to the Polo “as we have our own electric platform and the ID family is hitting the market. We are planning a model below the ID3 to be launched”.
However, he didn’t rule out the addition of hybrid or plug-in hybrid options down the line: “Depending on the market situation, we can look at offering hybrids market-by-market, but we will start with the TSI [petrol] engine.”
In the UK, the car will be sold by Jardine Motors Group under the Automobili Pininfarina London banner. Neil Williamson, CEO for Jardine, said he “anticipates significant demand as clients seek to get up close and personal with a unique and sustainable motoring innovation from a prestigious luxury car maker.” Quite.
Pininfarina says its hyper-EV blasts to 60mph quicker than a current Formula 1 car. Its four electric motors – one for each wheel – develop a combined 1,900hp. The Battista can also travel more than 310 miles between recharges.
Just 150 examples will be made, all hand-built, with a price tag of around £2 million.
The Battista shares its powertrain with the Rimac C_Two hypercar, although Pininfarina has previously said that acceleration and drive mode characteristics differ from what the Croatian start-up offers.
Keeping the family name alive
The Battista is named after Pininfarina’s founder, who set up his company more than 90 years ago. In 2019, Paolo Pininfarina, his grandson, said the car’s launch was “a dream come true… my grandfather always had the vision that one day there would be a standalone range of Pininfarina-branded cars”.
Indeed, this is the first of many Automobili Pininfarina cars, vows the firm – all of them ‘purely electric, zero-emissions, luxury cars solely branded Pininfarina’.
At the car’s launch in 2019, the-then Automobili Pininfarina CEO Michael Perschke claimed the firm “this is the most authentic and exciting automotive story imaginable” for those who like brands with heritage. “We aim for Battista to be a future classic and automotive icon, writing its own page in automotive history books,” he said.
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A 1981 Ford Capri built for Henry Ford II is to be auctioned later this week.
For sale with Car & Classic, the Capri 2.8 injection was kept for Ford’s use when he travelled to the UK, and is one of three vehicles that were modified especially for him.
It started life being hand-picked off the Cologne production line, before undergoing a transformation that included additional layers of paint, stricter quality control and comfort features such as a C3 automatic transmission and wider, leather trimmed seats and door cards.
Henry Ford II was the grandson of company founder, Henry Ford. He was also president of the company from 1945 to 1960, chief executive officer from 1945 to 1979, and chairman of the board of directors from 1960 to 1980. Plus he was responsible for projects including the GT40 and Mustang.
The bespoke car was used by the Ford family until 1983 before being sold to Ron Mellor, then head of Ford product development, who kept it for three years before selling it to Alan Jarman, a designer at Ford. Jarman used the car to commute from Torquay to Dunton, Essex.
The Capri’s odometer now shows 68,958 miles, only 6,800 of which were covered in the last 28 years. The vehicle is ‘fresh from a comprehensive refresh in February 2021, restoring it to its full glory,’ says Car & Classic.
Its value is estimated to be between £25,000 and £35,000 and it goes onto the virtual auction block with a vast array of history, including old invoices and MOTs.
A renowned part of the Ford story
“Fast Fords are always highly sought after, but this Capri is much more than that,” said Chris Pollitt, head of editorial at Car & Classic.
“Specifically prepared by the legendary SVE department for one of the most influential people in the history of Ford, then subsequently enjoyed by other key members of the company, it is a widely appreciated, documented and renowned part of the Ford story.”
The government has halted the introduction of smart motorways that do not include measures to detect stopped vehicles. The decision is an attempt to improve road safety.
Transport secretary Grant Shapps said no further all-lane-running motorways will be allowed to open without radar technology to spot stopped vehicles. He added that Highways England will roll out the technology to existing smart motorways by September 2022, six months earlier than originally planned.
Shapps also announced that Highways England will upgrade smart motorway cameras so they can detect when vehicles are driving in closed lanes.
Smart motorways aim to improve journey times by increasing traffic capacity, with the hard shoulder used as a normal lane. However, the government has repeatedly come under fire for rolling out the controversial schemes, as many believe the removal of hard shoulders hinders road safety.
Earlier this month,road safety charity IAM RoadSmart claimed the majority of motorists have ‘no trust’ in smart motorways.
Shapps said: “This government takes the safety of our roads very seriously. We are determined to do all we can to help drivers feel safer and be safer on our roads – all our roads.”
Responding to the ministerial statement, Huw Merriman MP, chair of the Transport Select Committee, said: “The Transport Committee is currently in the midst of an inquiry to determine if smart motorways are safe… We will look closely at today’s announcement from government that smart motorway construction will continue.”
AA and RAC respond
RAC head of roads policy Nicholas Lyes said: “While it appears good progress is being made on implementing some of the changes the government promised last year, we are concerned that drivers will still need to wait up to 18 months before all cameras are enforcing ‘red X’ lane closed signs.
“Enforcement is vital in getting all drivers to obey these signs, as anyone who disregards them is at a much greater risk of being in a collision with a stranded vehicle.”
Edmund King, president of the AA, said more needs to be done to improve safety: “The number one improvement advocated by the AA and our members is to increase the number of emergency refuge areas and retrofit them to older schemes to ensure they are placed at approximately 0.75 miles apart.
“More ERAs, together with improving the accuracy of stopped vehicle detection radar, should be the urgent priorities.”
More than three-fifths of young people plan to use money stockpiled during the Covid-19 lockdowns to buy a new car.
That’s according to Auto Trader, which says 17–24-year-olds have saved an average £2,000 as a result of restrictions over the past year.
The new and used car marketplace said one of ‘Generation Z’s’ priorities is ensuring their chosen car brand plays its part in protecting against the climate crisis. Twenty-seven percent of the 500 people surveyed cited this as a top consideration.
A fifth revealed they would consider buying an electric vehicle or an alternatively powered car, while 23 percent said their car must have a good navigation system. Also, 22 percent said it must have an adequate sound system.
Reflecting their personality
A quarter of ‘Gen Zers’ said they wanted a car that will ‘reflect their personality’ and 11 percent said the potential for their car to be ‘Instagramable’ is important.
Auto Trader also found that a third of 17-20-year-olds had missed out on their driving test due to the pandemic. And half of 17-24-year-olds admitted that the pandemic had impacted their car buying plans. This comes as learner drivers face an eight-month wait to take their test.
“Despite the challenges felt around lockdowns, it is great to see that Gen Z are overcoming financial concerns to reap the benefits they will get from owning a car,” said Erin Baker, editorial director at Auto Trader.
“It’s a marked change from their usual trend of waiting until older years to buy.”
The number of motorists suffering from pothole-related breakdowns increased by a record number in the first quarter of 2021. That’s according to a new report by the RAC.
The breakdown giant said 4,694 drivers phoned for assistance after hitting a pothole in the first three months of 2021 – the equivalent of 52 drivers every day.
This figure represented a three-fold increase in the number of pothole-related breakdowns from the last quarter of 2020 to the first quarter of 2021 (up 3,233 from 1,461 in Q4 2020) and is the largest rise between quarters the RAC has ever seen, it said.
This is despite the UK spending much of the first quarter of this year in lockdown with lighter than normal traffic volumes. The RAC added that, had traffic been at pre-lockdown levels, the figures would have been even worse.
The RAC said its figures ‘highlight the parlous state of many roads which have been ravaged by the colder winter weather that affected much of the UK between January and March’ and claimed many councils are ‘unable to properly repair the hundreds, if not thousands, of miles of roads they are responsible for.’
“Pots of funding announced annually may help fill some potholes, but they don’t cure the problem over the long-term by dealing with underlying major surface defects. Nor do they allow local authorities to plan routine maintenance. Figures as bad as the ones we are publishing today should herald a watershed moment where authorities finally acknowledge the perilous state many roads are currently in and take decisive action to bring them up to a reasonable standard,” said Nicholas Lyes, RAC head of roads policy.
He continued: “We appeal to the Transport Secretary and the Treasury to take a fresh look at road funding, given the data we are publishing today. Potholes are a sign of broken roads, but they are also a sign of the broken nature of how the roads are looked after and paid for.
“The UK Government and local authorities must break the cycle and commit to doing something differently – if they don’t, all road users will continue to suffer unnecessarily.”
The Hennessey Venom F5 hypercar has passed its initial phase of real-world testing – and already set an impressive performance milestone.
Despite the Venom F5 operating with just 900 hp in testing, high-speed runs saw the car pass through the 200 mph barrier.
It means there is still some way to go to achieve the planned 311 mph top speed. But, early success suggests the Texas company is on the right track.
Quick, even with half the power
Initial testing of the Venom F5 has taken place at Hennessey’s own Lone Star Motorsports Park. However, high-speed aerodynamic evaluation saw a move to the 2.2-mile runway of a former U.S. Air Force base in Arkansas.
With Hennessey keen to focus on real-world aerodynamic validation, the dramatic ‘Fury’ 6.6-l twin-turbocharged V8 engine was operating at only half its potential output. This meant having 900 hp to work with, instead of the faintly ridiculous 1,817 hp available.
Driving the Venom F5 during testing is Hennessey’s chief engineer, John Heinricy.
The former director of GM High Performance Vehicles, Heinricy holds multiple land speed records. It makes him well-suited to evaluating the Venom F5 as it evolves.
The ‘decathlete of the road’
Despite the intense level of performance, Hennessey is keen for the Venom F5 to be more than just a straight-line dragster.
The next phase of testing will see a focus on driving dynamics and handling. Plans include taking the F5 to famous race circuits such as Laguna Seca and the Circuit of The Americas.
Speaking about the upcoming development work, John Heinriciy said: “Our next phase is the most intense, concentrating on the car’s driving characteristics. We’ll split our testing between racetracks and Texas roads as we harvest data, refine every element and perfect this monster of hypercars.”
Going fast, selling faster
Getting the Venom F5 ready is made more important by the hypercar having its official launch next month. A grand unveiling will be part of the Amelia Island Concours d’Elegance event, set to be held on May 22-23.
Prices for the Texas-built hypercar begin at $2.1 million (£1.54 million) before taxes are added. However, early testing shows that the F5 is on course to deliver serious performance for the money.
Ninety-three international automotive journalists have spent the past few months voting for the world’s finest cars. The long-established World Car Awards programme is the largest car awards initiative in the world.
Things were trickier than usual this year due to the pandemic, but the awards did still go ahead. And Motoring Research’sRichard Aucock was one of the jurors.
2020 World Car of the Year
Last year, the acclaimed Kia Telluride won the overall 2020 World Car of the Year prize, while other victors included two gongs for the Porsche Taycan in both World Performance Car and World Luxury Car, another prize for Kia with the Soul EV crowned World Urban Car, and triumph for the Mazda3 in World Car Design of the Year.
2021 World Car of the Year finalists
So which car will follow the Kia Telluride and win the big one: the 2021 World Car of the Year? The finalists this year are the 2021 World Urban Car, the electric Honda e, plus the hybrid Toyota Yaris, itself an Urban Car finalist, plus the new, all-electric Volkswagen ID.4 SUV.
And the winner is, drum roll…
2021 World Car of the Year: Volkswagen ID.4
The Volkswagen ID.4 wins! Volkswagen’s first pure EV for global markets, it is set to become a key driver of Volkswagen’s switch to electric power in Europe, North America and China.
A very significant car indeed, the ID.4 is now also another World Car of the Year winner for Volkswagen – its fifth since the competition was founded.
Other Volkswagen World Car of the Year winners are:
2013 Volkswagen Golf
2012 Volkswagen Up
2010 Volkswagen Polo
2009 Volkswagen Golf VI
Volkswagen Cars CEO Ralf Brandstatter said: “We are particularly pleased about our ID.4 being named World Car of the Year. Not only because it is one of the most important car awards in the world – but because the jury also honored a great idea and a great team.
“A convincing car, a great idea – and the World Car of the Year award? That goes well together for us!”
2021 World Car Design finalists
Let’s move onto this year’s World Car Award category winners, the finalists for which were announced last month. First up is the World Car Design of the Year, with the finalists including the Honda e, Land Rover Defender and Mazda MX-30.
2021 World Car Design of the Year: Land Rover Defender
A delighted Jaguar Land Rover chief Gerry McGovern proudly accepted the award for the fantastic Land Rover Defender. Unanimously considered an extremely successful reinvention of the classic Land Rover, this is a well-deserved award indeed.
2021 World Urban Car finalists
Three Japanese cars were finalists for the 2021 World Urban Car prize: the electric Honda e, plus the Honda Jazz and Toyota Yaris – both hybrids.
2021 World Urban Car of the Year: Honda e
Could it be anything but the Honda e? Made for the city, with a right-sized, zero-emission EV powertrain, this brilliant city car is the most perfect and delightful urban car on sale. It’s a delight to see Honda’s bold innovation rewarded.
2021 World Performance Car finalists
Three diverse cars make up the World Performance Car finalists: the Audi RS Q8, Porsche 911 Turbo and Toyota GR Yaris. We at Motoring Research adore the latter two, but which got the nod from the 93 judges?
2021 World Performance Car of the Year: Porsche 911
The 911 Turbo scoops Porsche its eight World Performance Car gong – a remarkable run of success. The car’s magnificent performance, superb handling and classic heritage, combined with Porsche moving the needle once again, scooped it the prize.
2021 World Luxury Car finalists
Another delightfully diverse mix of finalists here, with the Land Rover Defender SUV going up against the Mercedes-Benz S-Class sedan and pure electric Polestar 2.
2021 World Luxury Car of the Year: Mercedes-Benz S-Class
If Porsche defines performance, Mercedes-Benz defines luxury, so it’s fitting that its top-line car, the famous S-Class, wins the 2021 World Luxury Car title. Another step on for Mercedes-Benz’ flagship, it embraces electrification as well as taking automotive indulgence to another new high.
A rare limited-edition Subaru Impreza has sold for an incredible $312,555 (£223,500) on auction website, Bring a Trailer.
The special 22B STI version of the Impreza was built in 1998 to commemorate the 40th anniversary of Subaru.
It was also intended to celebrate Subaru’s World Rally Championship success, with the company having taken three success constructors titles.
Sold in deliberately low numbers, the 22B has become a serious collector’s item for fans of rallying and 1990’s Japanese performance cars.
Rapidly Imprez-ing your friends
While the 22B STI may appear similar to a regular two-door Impreza, major changes were made for the limited edition car.
Styling inspiration was taken from the World Rally Championship (WRC) car, with the bodywork widened and an adjustable rear wing added. A larger hood scoop, new front bumper, and 17-inch BBS alloy wheels were also installed.
All examples of the 22B STI were finished in World Rally Blue paintwork, replicating their motorsport brethren.
The interior makeover for the 22B was less dramatic. A special plaque, indicating which of the 400 examples the car is, contributed the biggest change.
Boxing clever
Beneath the lightweight hood is where Subaru made bigger alterations. A unique 2.2-l version of the famous turbocharged flat-four ‘boxer’ engine was installed for the 22B.
The engine was officially rated as producing 276 hp, with 260 lb-ft of torque. Enthusiasts believe the real power output was in excess of 300 hp.
A five-speed manual transmission, connected to Subaru’s all-wheel drive system, was standard.
Upgraded Bilstein suspension, and a driver-controlled locking differential, were also fitted at the factory.
No smoke and mirrors here
Subaru produced 400 examples of the 22B STI for the Japanese market, with 16 more sold in the United Kingdom. A final eight examples were split amongst the rest of the world, but none were officially imported to the United States.
It means all 22B models, including this one, have to be imported through the NHTSA’s ‘Show or Display’ exemption. For the new owner, this will mean sticking to a limit of 2,500 miles each year.
Bidding on Bring a Trailer for the 22B was fierce, with some 76 bids placed during the auction. Such a huge selling price easily turns the 22B into the most-expensive Impreza sold by the auction site.
The winning bid of $312,555 is a subtle nod to the ‘State Express 555’ tobacco brand, who sponsored Subaru’s WRC efforts in the 1990s.
