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BMW

Luxury finishes on mainstream...

Luxury finishes on mainstream cars are a step closer, as boffins have worked out how to add a touch of class to budget trim. They"ve discovered an easy way to stick a veneer of good-quality materials to standard cabin components, so that even basic models can feel like range-toppers. The scientists - of Battelle, a technology company in Ohio, US - say the technique is carried out as the parts come out of the moulding machines.



The curved styling is...

The curved styling is also important, as the firm"s design boss Patrick Le Qu탩ment explained that future Renault cars are likely to have similar flowing lines and simple interiors. Although it doesn"t look as though the Wind will be blowing into a showroom soon, Le Qu탩ment told Auto Express: "I love this type of car and have proposed building one before. But even though it"s a realistic proposition, the Wind isn"t the start of a production model."


News of the day
At first glance, the...

At first glance, the car in our spy shot looks like a Honda Accord Tourer on tiptoes. But on closer inspection, tell-tale signs show itò€™s designed for the rough stuff.

New Technologies

Motorists really will...

Motorists really will have nowhere to hide, as it"s fitted with four lenses - three digital still cameras, plus a video capture system. These enable it to patrol up to four lanes of traffic at a time - current camera systems can only monitor part of a wide carriageway.

The new Multi-Camera System (MCS) can also be used at traffic lights and box junctions. And there will be no disputes as to who was behind the wheel, as the device has an infra-red flash, which means it can be forward facing to take pictures of drivers" faces.

The MCS is made by Dutch firm Gatsometer, which builds the infamous Gatso, the most common speed camera in the UK. The hi-tech new machine can hold up to 60,000 images of speeders on its encrypted hard drive, while the photos can be downloaded any time via a phone link. This, plus the fact it comes with defence spikes to deter vandals, means the MCS is almost maintenance-free - something which will appeal to safety camera partnerships.

A spokesman for Serco, Gatsometer"s UK distributor, agreed that the MCS was "the daddy of speed cameras". He added: "It"s not available in Britain at the moment, but we could introduce it in the future. The local camera partnerships need to decide if they want it.

"If they do, the unit would be operational within 12 months." However, Gatsometer"s more expensive four-lane Automatic Number Plate Recognition system - revealed by Auto Express in Issue 818 - will arrive first. The Serco spokesman confirmed that the set-up, which times drivers between two points, will undergo Home Office trials soon and could be in use by early 2007.




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