A partnership between Volkswagen and navigation app Waze is set to offer roads ideally suited to get the most from GTI-badged models.

The ‘Superdrives’ campaign aims to match fun routes with GTI owners, with the tarmac choices specially selected. Volunteer Waze map editors have spent time sorting roads based on a number of criteria and ranking them in order.

Routes have been selected based upon proximity to points of interest, number of engaging corners, the volume of traffic, and even whether any incidents have been reported. Those picked are meant to fit the Volkswagen GTI ethos of driving enjoyment.

While driving, roads optimised for the GTI experience appear on the Waze app once a driver is within 12 miles of them. A special emblem will be shown, letting the driver set the navigation system to head for the ‘Superdrive’ highway.

Both Volkswagen and Waze are keen to stress that the selected routes should not encourage speeding or reckless driving. Thankfully the app doesn’t record fastest times, meaning there should be no competition between the two million Waze users.

You’ll need to be quick to find them though, as the GTI Superdrives campaign is only set to last throughout the summer months.

Although all of the 75 specially curated routes should offer fun, Waze has selected 10 which meet all the GTI criteria. So whether you drive an Up, Polo, or Golf GTI the following roads should prove to be enjoyable.

Top 10 GTI roads according to Waze

1. B3135 from Cheddar to Ashwick
2. A940-A939-A944-A97 (from Forres to Alford)
3. from A701 Moffat to A700 Edinburgh
4. A4069
5. A82
6. A308, B3021, B3026, Old Windsor – Dorney
7. Alcester to Wilmcote
8. Draycote Water to Warwick
9. Hard Knot Pass: Skelwith Bridge to Gosforth
10. A675 Bolton to Blackburn

If you think getting your car serviced at your local dealership is a struggle at times, spare a thought for those living on the Torres Strait Islands.

Located between the northern tip of Queensland, Australia, and the mainland of Papua New Guinea, the Torres Strait Islands are not the most accessible of places. So when your nearest Nissan garage is over 155 miles (250 km) away, things become complicated when it comes to important recall work. Forget the Flying Doctor, airborne mechanics are what you need.

The Takata airbag recall has affected millions of cars across the globe, and been attributed to numerous deaths and serious injuries. It also resulted in the Takata Corporation declaring bankruptcy due to the level of compensation and costs from the recall.

Design flaws in the propellant system used to rapidly inflate the airbag is the cause of problem. In accidents the airbag can deploy too quickly, showering drivers with lethal shards of metal and plastic.  

Since 2013, numerous manufacturers have undertaken exercises to replace the defective airbags. But this year, the Australian Federal Government mandated a nationwide recall for all cars affected, requiring some 2.7 million cars to be repaired by the end of 2020.

Hot and humid conditions make the unstable airbags even more prone to explosion, meaning northern areas of Australia are particularly at risk.

The Australian authorities also insisted that those in remote areas should not be disadvantaged by the recall process. This resulted in Nissan Australia’s drastic action to ensure even customers in locations like the Torres Strait Islands were treated fairly. 

Two Nissan-approved mechanics spent the day island hopping around the northernmost tip of Australian territory. Nissan vehicles used by the local police force were top of the list to get the vital recall work.

Although an impressive display of customer service, don’t expect your local dealership to be flying in mechanics next time your Qashqai needs an oil change.

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Tesla has surprised investors and analysts with its latest quarterly set of results, sending shares up more than 10 percent in after-hours trading.

But Elon Musk’s electric car company still lost a record-breaking amount of cash, with losses of $717 million more than doubling compared to the same quarter in 2017.

Tesla burned through $430 million of its cash reserves – but because this was less than investors expected, the results were seen positively, which is why shares rose so sharply.

The firm still has $2.2 billion of cash in reserve, easing concerns that it might run out of money.

CEO Musk, pictured above with Canadian musician girlfriend Grimes called the results “really kind of a mind-blowing leap forward” in a call to analysts – particularly as the firm met its goal of producing 5,000 Model 3 cars “multiple” times last month. The new goal is to make more than 50,000 of them in the next quarter.

Model 3 now outsells all other premium mid-sized sedans in the US…..combined pic.twitter.com/FhjKUGK58N

— Tesla (@Tesla) August 1, 2018

Musk also said Tesla aims to make a profit in the second half of the year, for the first time in its 15-year history. “Our goal is to be profitable and cash flow positive for every quarter going forward.”

Overall, Tesla delivered 18,000 Model 3 in the previous quarter, and a total of more than 40,000 cars overall, once Model S and Model X are factored in.

Musk also apologised for his erratic performance on the firm’s previous quarterly investor call, and for controversial comments about the rescuer of boys trapped in a cave in Thailand.

Related Tesla car news: 

• Tesla UK Superchargers reach 50-location landmark
• New Tesla Model S Shooting Brake unveiled in London
• Tesla one-make EV racing series announces dates

To mark being part of Groupe PSA for one year – in which it has returned to profitability after years of posting losses – Vauxhall has given a first early tease of the forward-looking GT X Experimental concept car it’s going to uncover later in 2018.

Previewing the Vauxhall of 2025, it will be the first car to wear Vauxhall’s new ‘face’. This is, we’re told, based around the ‘Vauxhall Compass’, where two axes intersect the Griffin badge; that’s the centre crease of the bonnet, and the wing-shaped LED daytime running light signature.

But there’s more. The headlights and running lights, plus the various cameras and sensors needed for driver assistance systems, are all packed into a central frame that Vauxhall reckons looks like the eye slot of a motorcycle helmet.

It’s thus dubbed this styling cue the ‘Vizor’. Future new Vauxhalls will all get their own take on the ‘Vizor’, which the firm hopes will make them bolder, more pure and distinctive-looking.

Vauxhall: ‘inspired by Apple’

Vauxhall’s vice president of design is a Brit called Mark Adams. “Design will be at the heart of everything that we do in future,” he said.

“It will truly differentiate the Vauxhall brand, and make it sharper and more relevant to our core values. We are a proud British brand and design inspiration is all around us in the UK – from the bold ingenuity of James Dyson to the pure designs of [Apple chief designer] Jonathan Ive – and this concept will embody that.’

Adam has even drawn up a set of characteristics that all future Vauxhalls will showcase: British, Ingenious, Progressive and Approachable.

Whether this means Vauxhall designs will now deviate a little more from their European Opel counterparts, which presumably will have their own characteristics, remains to be seen.

Around 4,000 hotel and B&B owners are being offered the opportunity to have electric vehicle charging points for free as part of a strategic partnership between the AA and Chargemaster.

The UK’s leading provider of EV charging infrastructure will work with any AA-inspected establishments interested in taking up the offer to determine the best charging points for their location.

A rapid charger would be most suitable for hotels along busy routes, while destination chargers are ideal for electric car-owning visitors looking to charge overnight.

4,000 AA hotels and B&Bs offered EV charging points by Chargemasterhttps://t.co/gR3d40S8Qe pic.twitter.com/HA1Fs1nFM7

— bp pulse (@bppulseuk) July 31, 2018

The Sandford Springs Hotel in Hampshire is the first establishment to benefit from the offer, with guests and visitors able to call upon a 50kW rapid charger, which is available for any EV driver to use on the Polar network.

Edmund King OBE, president of the AA, said: “Alongside our automotive heritage, the AA has been involved in the hospitality industry since 1908. We know that when EV drivers are looking for hotels, they will actively seek out those with charging points.

“We have witnessed enormous changes in both the automotive and hotel sectors over the last 110 years, and we are delighted that our AA recognised hospitality businesses can benefit from this tremendous offer.”

‘Competitive advantage’

David Martell, chief executive of Chargemaster, added: “We believe that within the next five years, all hotels will offer EV charging, just like they provide wifi today.

“Our offer for AA hotels is a great opportunity for hotel owners and operators to get a competitive advantage with a facility that could attract hundreds of thousands of customers in the coming years.”

Chargemaster, which is now part of BP, operates Polar, the largest electric vehicle charging network in the UK, with more than 6,500 public charge points.

Oil giant BP bought Chargemaster in a deal described as “an important step to scaling up and deploying fast and ultra-fast charging on BP’s UK forecourts”. Luton-based Chargemaster will be renamed BP Chargemaster as part of the deal.

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