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Weekly round-up: new Audi A3, Focus RS UK drive, manic March for new car market & crazy cyclist hits M25 at rush hour

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Author: | Updated: 08 Apr 2016 12:04

An uncomfortable week for David Cameron who spent most of his time dodging questions over his late father’s tax affairs, sparked by the Panama Papers leak, and how much the UK PM had profited from the sale of shares in the tax haven funds.

There was plenty going on in the global car industry too with record car sales and our first drive of the new Focus RS on UK roads. Here are the highlights…

w rup 4 april 2016

Audi A3 facelifted: It’s refresh time for Audi’s mega-selling premium hatchback. It’ll come with new engines, more safety kit, a lightly revised exterior, and the brilliant Virtual Cockpit from this summer.

Best month for new car sales this century: 16-reg plates flooded on to UK roads in March with a whopping 518k new cars registered in the UK during March. Apart from August 1997’s 525k units, that’s more than in any month on record.

Cut-price petrol is no more: It was good while it lasted but the days of 99.9p pump prices are over and more bad news may be on the horizon, the RAC reckons. More reason to lease a more fuel efficient vehicle then (nudge, nudge, wink, wink).

Ford Focus RS tested in the UK: James Fossdyke’s pulse was still racing from his time with the drop-top Mustang when he took to the wheel of the new Focus RS. He gives it six stars (out of five).

VIDEO: Deathwish cyclist hits M25 at rush hour: A cyclist was fined £50 after biking the wrong way round the M25 – one of Europe’s busiest motorways – in a bid to get to Heathrow Airport. “It is extremely fortunate that there was not a more serious outcome to his trip,” said a Surrey Police spokesman.

£50m to tackle 943k potholes: With a third of Britain’s vehicles damaged by potholes, the Government will give councils £50m every year for the next five years to patch up around 943,000 potholes, and this is the first round of funding.

Could Tesla’s Model 3 really be the ultimate business lease car?: This C-Class-sized electric car promises a 215-mile range and five-star safety. With pre-orders have now exceeding 325k for a car that no-one has driven, other premium car makers must be shaking in their boots.

VW’s most powerful GTI celebrates 40 years of the iconic hot hatch: The Clubsport Edition 40 has 44bhp more than the standard Golf GTI with an ‘overboost’ dishing out up to 286bhp. It will be available in limited numbers this summer.

New VW Tiguan priced: Also due this summer is the second generation Tiguan. Volkswagen’s mid-sized SUV is bigger and looks slicker than before; time will tell if it’s a Qashqai killer.

Seat’s long-awaited Ateca priced: Not long now until Seat’s first ever SUV is finally here…

How should we educate young drivers?: Remember that electric car for five year olds from last week? Al Suttie reckons there are better ways to instil good driving habits at an early age…

Volvo V60 Polestar gets power upgrade: The fastest Volvo ever has just got more powerful. The Polestar now has 362bhp, up from 345bhp, which shaves a fifth of a second from its 0-62mph dash, now 4.8s. It’ll be here by the end of the year.

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