Panasonic Toyota Racing yesterday completed its preparations for the 2009 Formula 1 season at the last day of this week's test in Barcelona. Fog delayed proceedings for an hour this morning but after that the sun came out at the Catalan circuit. Timo Glock reaped the benefits, putting in yet another full session of work on set-up. He finished with 128 laps, pushing the teams total for the week past the 500 mark. On his very last lap he stopped on the circuit with a mechanical problem that the team will now investigate. This ends Toyota's winter program. The team's next action will be in Melbourne for the first grand prix of 2009 on March 29.

Timo Glock
"This was another useful day to round off our good winter of testing. We did more work on set-up and long runs and everything went well until the very last lap! Still, overall the car feels strong and we seem to have good pace so we can look forward to Australia. Of course we'll only see the real results on Saturday in Melbourne but everyone at Toyota can be happy with our work so far. We've made fine progress so roll on the first race."

The "Dakar” winner will compete in the Orient: Volkswagen will take part in the inaugural Silk Way Rally through Russia, Kazakhstan and Turkmenistan. The event organised by "Dakar” organiser A.S.O. (Amaury Sport Organisation) along the "Silk Road”, the historic trade route between Europe and Asia, will start in Kazan, the capital of the Republic of Tatarstan, and will end in Ashgabat, the capital of Turkmenistan, on 13 September.

"This new rally in the Orient is practically a small ‘Dakar’ across a distance of some 4,500 kilometres and a new challenge for us where we want to compete for victory,” said Volkswagen Motorsport Director Kris Nissen. "We’re expecting a varied terrain that definitely reflects the demands of the ‘Dakar’. In addition, the worldwide marketing effort and professional organisation by the A.S.O. stands for optimum presentation of the event and its participants.”

In today's world, where cars are a quintessential part of everyday life, especially for those living in an urban society, the automotive industry's contribution to the “greenhouse effect” is becoming increasingly serious.

Responding to environmental concerns, the automotive industry is making an all-out effort to introduce advanced technological innovations that make vehicles more environmentally friendly, improving the quality of life for people in years to come.

Achieving a clean, sustainable transportation system, therefore, is the ultimate goal of the automotive industry with engineering teams hard at work on research and development to produce less environmental hazardous, energy-saving vehicles.

The process aims to improve the efficiency of today's diesel and benzene engines, using the latest technology to meet goals for conserving the environment..

The BMW X6 can't make up its mind whether it is a sport coupé or an off-roader. Called a sports activity vehicle by BMW, it hopes to appeal to those who like the BMW X5's commanding driving position, but want something sportier.

BMW has given the BMW X6 the xdrive 4WD system to give it some muscle for the rough stuff. Interiors of the BMW X6 accentuates an active lifestyle, with functional detail solutions crafted to the very highest standards. A wide choice of materials (like the Leather Alcantara option) and interior trim offers a broad range of high-quality combinations. The leather on the exclusive optional leather cladding for the dashboard and door panels even has special padding for enhanced haptic quality.

The Nissan X-Trail is an SUV for the urban jungle, and is a competent product with a strong all-round appeal. Stylistically, the new Nissan X-Trail is more evolutionary than revolutionary, but it is a design that works well; the Nissan X-Trail has real presence. On the inside, it reverts to a more conventional placement for the instruments, unlike the previous generation where they were located in the center of the dashboard.

The Nissan X-Trail’s 4WD system is electronically activated and comes with differential locks, but then the car may not necessarily be subjected to serious mud plugging. The calling card of the new Nissan X-Trail will be its 2.5-liter common-rail diesel engine.

The traditional SUV has strong road presence, loads of space and a diesel engine. However, there is a niche market for smaller petrol-engine SUV’s whose easy-to-drive nature and car-like feel is what attracts buyers.

These small SUV’s are required to roam city streets and climb the occasional park hill while keeping their owners comfortable. Refinement and loaded interiors to tackle the urban grind also helps.

The Honda CR-V has dominated this niche segment but what about Mitsubishi? Mitsubishi positions the Mitsubishi Outlander in the same segment as the Honda CR-V. A look at the spec sheet reveals that the Mitsubishi Outlander and Honda CR-V have a lot in common. 2.4-liter petrol engines with almost –identical power outputs, four-wheel drive, five seats with high driving positions, lots of equipment and price-tags that are not much different.

What can we expect from Audi for 2009, the Audi A6 has gone under the knife but the changes are subtle. It features a revised grille, bumper, headlamps and tail lamps. There are more changes under the skin.

The suspension has been retuned for better ride and handling characteristics and the Quattro models will get a 40:60 front/rear split for better rear-wheel-drive characteristics. On the interiors, you get a tweaked Multi Media interface (MMI) system among other things.

Engine options remain the same as before with the 4.2 FSI petrol and 3.0-liter TDI diesel. Because most changes are under the skin, the new Audi A6 will be better than ever before.

The Audi Q7 has always been a big car – now it’s really quick too. Lurking under the bonnet is a turbocharged V12 diesel engine, which thumps out 493 horsepower and 102 kgm of torque, more than double of what the V6 TDI-powered Audi Q7 has. Expectedly, performance is electric – the Audi Q7 takes a mere 5.5 seconds to get to 100km/h. And it has all the toys you could ever wish for. But you also get a big price. The Audi Q7 V12 TDI will retail higher then the Audi R8 supercar.

The world economy is in a spin. Cheap air tickets are history. But all is not lost. There’s good news ahead. The 30th Bangkok Motorshow is coming up. From 26 March to 6 April, one of Southeast Asia’s motor shows will be opening its doors at Bangkok International Trade& Exhibition Centre (Bitec).

There’s only one true reason to come to the Bangkok Motorshow – you are an auto addict. You eat, sleep, dream, cars and or bikes. So here’s a quick trailer of what to expect.

BMW recently updated the 3 Series and 7 Series. The BMW 3 Series has a new face. We where told that they did 2,500 changes in the new BMW 3 Series even thought it is just a face-lift. Up front, there is a new interpretation of the classic kidney grille, along with bold new headlamps that include LED indicators and BMW’s signature corona rings as well as an edgy new bumper. Each of the steel body panels on the new 3 Series, apart from the newly contoured bonnet, has been carried over unchanged.

It's a car that has everything. Space, practicality, comfort, great build and affordability too. And then, just to show you that the impossible is attainable, it also offers performance. Bags ad bags of it.. That has been the essence of the VW Golf GTI over the years – the car that has almost everything.

And it's the reason almost two million of these VW Golf GTI editions have been sold to date. VW has now taken the game even further. The engine used is a 2-liter TSI unit that pushes out 210 horsepower. 0-100km is expected to take 7.2 seconds only and the GTI can manage a top speed of 240km/h, heady performance for a hatchback.

The Golf GTI's suspension has been lowered and stiffened considerably, you can get adjustable shock absorbers and an electronic, limited slip differential, to help put all those horses to the road. Visually the VW Golf GTI is clean and 'add-on' – free.

Dealers are reporting that it has now become much more difficult for prospective buyers to get finance to purchase cars. Banks and finance companies have also been taking longer to process car loans. Compared to a few weeks ago where you could finance your car within a couple of days, it now takes up to 14 days and very often results in a refusal to fund the purchase.

This is having a negative effect on car sales with buyers being forced to postpone their purchases.