Autoblog UK

Details of the new Audi Q5 Hybrid have appeared on the internet ahead of the car's likely debut at next week's Los Angeles auto show.

The new model appears to share the same hybrid powertrain that Audi has already premiered in the A8 hybrid design study. Like the flagship saloon, the Q5 will utilise both a 2.0 TFSI petrol engine and an electric motor to offer a combined output of around 241bhp and 354lb ft of torque.

Formula One teams are continually on the lookout for vital tenths of a second. In almost every race, new wings and aerodynamic updates are tested. And yet, without a powerful, reliable engine, nothing would move at all in F1.

Red Bull racing driver Sebastian Vettel took a big knock in the hunt for the world championship: a sparkplug gremlin in Bahrain and engine failure in Korea on his V8 Renault cost him 38 championship points. Had he secured those points, he would now be only two points adrift of clinching the world championship title at the finale in Abu Dhabi.

On 31st October 2010, DTM driver Alexandre Prémat experienced a moment of horror during the penultimate race of the season at the Adria International Raceway. The Frenchman's car hit the crash barrier, flew several metres into the air, somersaulted, and then landed at the side of the track, a complete write-off. After his accident, the Audi driver was able to climb out of his car unaided and uninjured.

This much was apparent straightaway: the DTM safety concept works well and is in no way inferior to systems common in Formula One. The DTM safety concept is basically comprised of a carbon-fibre outer skin, a safety cell, carbon-fibre crash boxes and a seat box for the driver that resembles the monocoque of a Formula One car.

Audi is drawing direct inspiration from Hollywood blockbusters in its pursuit of a suitable 'engine' sound for its forthcoming e-tron electric cars.

The manufacturer has decided that the new models – which are virtually silent up to speeds of 15mph – must emit a noise to alert pedestrians of their presence.

Apparently the firm's acousticians are paying particular attention to the engine note used in the Audi RSQ, a fictional electric model driven by Will Smith in the 2004 film, 'I, Robot'.

Click below to get a brief indication of what the 2012 e-tron might sound like.

Mercedes has confirmed that the Shooting Brake concept it revealed in Beijing earlier this year will become the estate version of the CLS.

The elegantly styled wagon will be badged as the CLS Shooting Brake, and is due to go in production in 2012.

Nasty shock for Jenson Button: The reigning world champion was threatened by a group of locals armed with baseball bats and guns on the way back from the circuit to his hotel. His driver managed to speed away and no-one was harmed. Dangerous place, Sao Paulo!

Sometimes, Formula One seems to inhabit a sort of cocoon. Following the attempted carjacking on Jenson Button as he travelled between the circuit and his hotel, the 2009 champion was asked whether it might not have been better to use a less high-profile vehicle. "It's not possible to have more of an understatement than a Mercedes 200B," he replied. "It would be hard to sink any lower." In view of all the poverty in Brazil, not exactly the most tactful of statements...

A doctor who was caught speeding in his Porsche told the camera operator he would make sure that he died if he ever became his patient.

David Heal admitted making the extraordinary outburst before a General Medical Council misconduct hearing yesterday.

Black cabs are to go on sale in Paris as part of the newly named London Taxi Company's gradual expansion onto the international market.

Since instigating a joint venture with the Chinese car maker Geely, Manganese Bronze Holdings – the Coventry based engineering firm which operates the London Taxi Company – has begun supplying the iconic cabs to markets as far afield as Beirut and Bahrain.

A Hyundai dealer from the US, who clearly understands the value of free advertising, has finally sold enough cars to have sex again following his vow of celibacy last year.

Brad Benson, a former American football player with the New York Giants, pledged in May that in would refrain from rocking the casbah until his dealership topped all the other Hyundai outlets in the country.

Jason Plato is set to join three-time World Touring Car Champion Andy Priaulx in representing Team GB at this year's Race of Champions in Germany.

The star of TV's Fifth Gear added the 2010 British Touring Car Championship to the one he won back in 2001 and is now set to compete in the annual competition that has been running since 1988.