The fastest speed going backwards, pulling cars with your teeth and even kissing them. There seems to be no end to the lengths people will go to in order to get their name in lights with Guinness World Records.
After American Scott Burner recently grabbed the record for the fastest ever drive in reverse, we thought we’d hunt down some of the weirdest world records involving cars.
You might have heard of synthetic fuel. It’s a way to power regular combustion engine cars in a less polluting way.
If we’re learning one thing, the planet does need to clean up its act. Burning fossil fuels to get around isn’t great for anyone’s future. But neither is it possible to immediately change all our cars to zero emissions electric vehicles (EV). And that’s where synthetic fuel comes in.
Having your own driving licence really can offer a new sense of freedom. You no longer have to hear friends, siblings, or parents refer to themselves as “Your taxi driver”, you don’t have to wait for public transport to most likely not even arrive on time — it’s all great.
However, first things first, you need to learn to drive. And driving lessons can bring up a lot of questions like:
Continue reading
The government is trialling noise cameras in a bid to cut down on anti-social drivers with overly loud exhausts.
The cameras have been tested throughout the UK and the scheme’s £300,000 second phase is now being rolled out in areas that have a problem with noise.
Cameras will be installed in Bradford, Birmingham, Bristol and Great Yarmouth over the next two months. Boy racers driving cars with aftermarket and often illegally loud exhausts blight all the areas.
You may have heard the Ford Fiesta is coming to the end of its long and successful life. Interest in the Fiesta is at an all-time high with internet searches for the model booming.
So to celebrate this great little car’s demise, we thought we’d do a special quiz all about it. See how much information about Britain’s favourite car you’ve picked up.
Continue reading
For as long as we’ve been driving, the internal combustion engine has been our principal source of power. Battery electric motors are slowly replacing them now but even so, the vast majority of us still drive cars with engines in them.
These lumps of metal live under our bonnet, drink petrol or diesel and have cylinders and valves that go about their business of speeding us along. But how much do you actually know about them? Take our fiendish quiz to find out.
Continue reading
Parking fines are one of the hazards of modern-day motoring life. And even if you’re perfect at parking, local authorities enforce all sorts of things, from driving in bus lanes, using a vehicle that’s too polluting in clean air zones, to littering from vehicles.
But what happens if you receive a traffic penalty that you don’t agree with? Is it worth protesting? And if so, how do you appeal traffic penalties? We explain all.
You might think you have a relatively new, reliable car and don’t need breakdown cover. You probably won’t be surprised when I reveal we attend thousands of calls every year from drivers who have broken down in relatively new, apparently reliable cars.
Here’s a classic example. It’s been a cold night, you go to start your car in the morning and when you turn the key you just get a click and nothing else. Flat battery.
Continue reading
It’s no secret that there’s a shortage of used cars. And those that are available are being sold for inflated prices. Hardly surprising then that the trade in dodgy motors is picking up.
Research by TV show Dispatches found that up to 40,000 possible death traps sold every year could be insurance write-offs going to unsuspecting buyers.
The move to electric cars is well underway. By 2030 – less than eight years away – you won’t be able to buy a new petrol or diesel car. Electric vehicles (EVs) are often said to be great for short journeys, not so brilliant when you need to charge on the go. So what will it be like to take an electric car on holiday?
For a glimpse at the future of long journeys, we took an all-electric BMW iX3 on an 1,100-mile round trip to the French Alps this summer.
If you’ve taken your car in for mending or a service recently, you might have noticed that like most things in life, we’re seeing repair costs going up. That’s because four out of five garages (79 per cent) say they’re experiencing increases in the cost of doing business.
A survey conducted by dispute resolution body The Motor Ombudsman (TMO) asked independent garages and dealer workshops what their biggest challenges were. Their answers make illuminating (and slightly depressing) reading for us as drivers.
Struggling to see the benefit of switching to an electric vehicle? Look no further. Electric car MOT passes are higher than regular combustion engine models according to a new study.
And hybrid cars – which combine petrol engines with electric motors – are even better at passing their MOT test than EVs. We try to explain this unexpected bonus to battery-powered motoring.
It’s time for the 72-reg plate change. Traditionally, September has been one of the two months (along with March) when car sales peak. And the more new cars sold, the more used models are freed up for buyers to get their hands on.
But since the dark days of the pandemic, the supply of new cars has slowed dramatically. The knock-on is a shortage of used cars with the models that are available costing more. We look at how to get a good buy for the 72-reg plate change.
If you’ve been hit with an unexpected fine for speeding, driving in a bus lane, parking or not paying a congestion or emissions zone charge you may have unwittingly become a victim of car cloning.
New research shows an alarming increase in fines issued by Transport for London (TfL) to cars with altered identities. The number overturned because they were given to cloned cars was up nearly nine times between April 2021 and April 2022.
We look at what cloning is and what to do if you suspect your car has been a victim of it.
It’s something we do in our cars on a daily basis but do you know your PCNs from your FPNs and your wardens from attendants? Our quiz is designed to give your parking knowledge a good workout.
Continue reading
We’re seeing a seismic shift in motoring with the wholesale switch to electric vehicles (EVs). Not only are some EVs a bit different to look at, there’s a whole new language around them. I thought it would be helpful to explain some of the electric vehicle terms we’ll need to use.
From the beginning of July 2022, all new cars sold in the UK will have to be fitted with a speed limiter. We investigate what this means for car owners and how it will change driving.
We all know the price of fuel is going up. But do you know how much you really spend filling your car up? And if you don’t, how do you know if any steps you’re taking to make savings are working?
What you need is an app on your phone that records what you’re spending on petrol or diesel. But which one? We’ve tried five of best-rated fuel tracking apps so we can tell you the ones that are worth looking at.
We regularly fill our cars with petrol but how much do we actually know about the golden liquid that keeps them going? If you’re anything like us (when we compiled this quiz), probably not very much! Even so, petrol is a truly global phenomenon with plenty of history. Take our quiz to find out how much you know about it.
Continue reading
Catalytic converter theft continues to be a problem around the UK. The Centre for Infrastructure and Asset Protection (CIAP) claims thieves stole 2,254 catalytic converters – also known as cats ‑ in March 2022, up by 11 per cent from February.
The CIAP, with backing from the police, now wants to roll out its SmartWater marking for cats nationwide so that more drivers can benefit from it. We look at how drivers can stop crooks making off with this valuable part of their car’s exhaust system.