What Car have photos of the new Ford Mondeo. Apparently the car is being used in the new James Bond film and will be in production next year.

The Scotsman has a pretty good review of the Nissan Note. Worth a read if you are considering buying a people carrier.

New Range Rover prices have been released with the baseline TDV8 HSE model starting at GBP £53,995.

With the new UK car seat laws now in place, a car seat that will do a child from 9 months to 12 years without having to go and buy another one ever seems pretty spectacular.

Doesn’t look like it’s got much in the way of either comfort or side impact protection though.

The seat costs a grand but does fit 3 or 4 kids in a sort of bench-seat design. They say overall if you have 3 or 4 kids you will save money. Given that the car seat does not fit all cars though, what do you do when you change cars in 2 years? Base your next car purchase on whether or not the car seat fits? Also, what happens when you’ve got an 8 year old, a 9 year old and a tall 13 year old (who doesn’t need a car seat any more). Leave the teenager at home I guess.

Brendan posted a poll on PetrolPrices.com asking should Top Gear be axed after the unfortunate accident with Richard Hammond. A day after it was posted it has raised over 3000 comments. That’s something to stir up debate.

I’ve never completely understood the reasoning behind owning a convertible car in the UK. More cabin noise and they spend 99% of the time with the roof up thanks to the weather. Oh well. Kia are releasing two new Kia Convertibles anyway.

This is a scary development in car insurance. Changing your premium depending on the mileage you do is one thing, but monitoring driving speed and habits then charging more if you drive fast etc is too intrusive. Next the insurance companies will be fitting GPS activated limiters and other controls to get you to drive exactly the way they want you to. Just say no!

Auto Express Magazine has got a scoop on the new Renault Laguna. Their photos show it disguised under what looks like a white sheet! Genius. Here’s what they say:

"The sharp-edged styling of the old model is expected to give way to a smarter, smoother shape. It will borrow heavily from the 2004 Fluence concept, and previews a new design direction for the French firm. As you can see, the brand’s famous diamond logo will dominate the front of the car, set between flush-fitting headlamps. " more…

Top Gear writes on Lexus bringing the new Lexus LS460 to the British Motor Show:

"Packing a 4.6-litre V8 engine with 375bhp, the LS460 puts this power down through the world’s first eight-speed automatic gearbox. "

Lexus owners club has more info on the Lexus LS460 and more pictures, though it reads more like a press release than a review. Quite a car though.

Auto Express have a review of the new Fiat Panda Cross. It appears to be an improvement on the standard Panda 4×4 by including a differential in the 4×4 allowing it to handle better off-road.

Aside from the chunky body panels and lurid colours, the biggest difference between the Cross and the standard 4×4 is underneath the car and takes the form of an ingenious differential unit.

I used to have a standard Fiat Panda many years ago and it was quite possibly the worst car I’ve ever owned. At that time my mate had the 4×4 Panda and it was on exactly the same level. Handling, performance, spec, build quality, reliability were all utterly dreadful. I’m sure FIAT have improved things a bit since the 80’s but you won’t catch me buying one ever again. I remember a description that was very apt at the time - "A loose collection of parts all travelling in roughly the same direction". I hope owners of the new Panda don’t have to resort to similar descriptions.