Topgear News

Research by a top insurance company has found that women are more likely to tell the truth when making an insurance claim. The results show that men are twice as likely as women to lie when it comes to claiming.

Given the scenario that their car had been stolen and that they had forgotten to lock the car, only 18% of all the people asked as part of the survey said that they would actually be honest about the details. 41% of people asked said they would own up to their mistake if they were asked and 26% of people said they would tell a lie until the pressure got too great. Finally, 8% of people said that they would not diverge the truth – 7% of people said they were unsure what they would do in that situation

Bridgestone have confirmed that tyre markings that they will be using for their F1 tyres. The softer of the two tyre types for each race will be marked with a white circle which is 3cm in diameter.

Some of the teams are not happy about the time it has taken to release this information regarding the tyre markings, with the Australian Grand Prix only a few days away. The two types of Bridgestone tyres that will be used at this week’s Australian Grand Prix will be the Soft and Medium tyres.

New crash tests carried out in America have shown that car bumpers are not protecting the important engine parts of the car in accidents.

Seventeen different cars, including Ford’s, Nissan’s, Toyota’s and Mitsubishi’s were put through a series of four crash tests. These included four mph and six mph front and rear impact tests to recreate accidents which occur normally in car parks or in traffic jams for example. The tests were designed to see how well bumpers protect the car by limiting the damage to headlights and bonnet but this was only the case in 2 of the 68 tests carried out.

BP has sold its last remaining refinery in the UK for $1.4 billion (£736 million), marking another break with the group’s illustrious past.

The Coryton refinery in Essex, which supplies petrol to forecourts across the South East of England, was bought today by the Swiss-based refiner Petroplus.

All 540 BP staff at the site will transfer to the new owner.

A spokeswoman insisted that motorists would not be affected by the decision. “This will not have any impact on the end user,” she said.

In a statement, John Manzoni, chief executive of BP’s refining and marketing business, added that BP remained committed to the UK.

DRAMATIC footage of the high-speed crash which nearly claimed the life of Top Gear presenter Richard Hammond was screened for the first time last night.
The 36-year-old had a remarkable escape when he crashed a jet-powered dragster travelling at 288mph while filming a stunt for the programme at Elvington airfield, near York, in September. Hammond suffered brain injuries as he attempted to break the British land speed record.

The footage showed the moment a tyre burst on the Vampire jet car. It skidded and flipped over and was still travelling at 230mph as it careered upside down over a grass verge bordering the runway.

Nissan’s new UK designed, engineered and built QASHQAI crossover is now available for test drive and ordering at the company’s dealers with deliveries due to start March 1. Business should be brisk if early interest from press and customers is anything to go by.

Talking of press, the Nissan QASHQAI has already picked up its first commendation: ‘Best Small Family Car Buy’ in the £13,000 – £14,500 category of the What Car? Car of the Year 2007 awards. Not surprising, considering the vehicle combines the best attributes of an SUV – a high driving position and solid build – with those of a conventional hatchback – great driving dynamics, good fuel economy and low insurance ratings.

The beaching on the Devon coast at the weekend of the ship Napoli holed in gales off Cornwall on Friday - leading to a spectacular and dangerous rescue of the crew from a liferaft - has provided a bonanza for beach scavengers of automotive items.

Around 105 containers have come off the ship and the 40 or so that reached the beach either split open or were forced open by hundreds of scavengers. Media reports said 15-50 brand-new BMW motorcycles had been removed from the beach along with BMW car parts such as gearboxes, steering wheels and rear windows. One report said the bikes, packed in cardboard shipping packages, and liberated from a locked container by scavengers with bolt cutters, all had keys, paperwork and some fuel in their tanks.