Honda Nx Sr 50 Handlebars, on 2040-parts.com

Ford builds it, you test it

Only a select few usually get the opportunity to test out upcoming vehicles. Ford is bucking that trend by allowing customers to sign up at BuiltToughTest.com, and get the chance to explain how they would put the aluminum reinforced 2015 Ford F-150 to the test. Product development does extensive testing to the extremes, going as far as disguising the F-150 and running it through the 2013 Baja 1000.

Audi RS6 Avant heads for EJAF with a little help from Gwyneth Paltrow

Gwyneth Paltrow signing an Audi RS6 Avant heading for Elton John’s White Tie & Tiara Auction Audi UK has a bit of a history of donating cars for auction at Elton John’s annual White Tie & Tiara Ball in aid of the Elton John Aids Foundation, and 2013′s no different. In the past we’ve had the appealing R8 Spyder as an EJAF auction lot and an A1 painted by Damien Hirst, but this year the EJAF is getting the super-estate Audi RS6 Avant, scribbled on by the delectable Gwyneth Paltrow. Audi roped in Gwyneth to turn up at the UK launch of the new RS6 Avant at Audi City in London and got her scribbling her moniker  on the interior of the RS6, a task Audi says would make their uber-shed worth £88k if they sold it – but if previous EJAF auctions of Audi’s cars is anything to go by it’ll fetch a lot more than that when the hammer goes down.

Toyota Auris Touring Sports goes in to production

The Toyota Auris Touring Sports has gone in to production   We’ve had the debut of the Toyota Auris Sports Touring, we know the specs, and we know how much the Auris Estate will cost. And now Toyota has started production of the first full hybrid estate car in its sector. The first Auris Touring Sports rolled off the production line at Toyota’s Burnaston Plant on Thursday – a white car, predictably – with the Transport Secretary, Patrick McLoughlin, and Toyota’s European CEO, Didier Leroy, on hand to welcome the Touring Sports to European roads.