Maier 49206-20 Fender Flare Yfm660 on 2040-parts.com

2012 Ford Focus ST gets 297bhp

Those clever chaps at SuperChips have given the 2012 Ford Focus ST a bit of an ECU tweak to deliver 297bhp and an extra 85lb/ft of torque. When we reported last week that WTC outfit Arena had in roped Ford’s tuner of choice, Mountune, to give the new Ford Focus a makeover, we were a tad disappointed to discover that they were tweaking the rather journeyman Focus Zetec S. That meant the Zetec S got 200bhp – a handy jump – but we bemoaned the fact that they hadn’t fiddled with the Focus ST to give us a car to fill the void left by the absence of a Focus RS in the current iteration of the Focus.

New Volvo V40 gets record-breaking Euro NCAP score

The new Volvo V40 has been given a 5 Star rating by Euro NCAP, in the process getting the best result ever recorded. If a Volvo can’t get a 5 Star rating in the Euro NCAP tests then Volvo’s USP is in trouble. So the news that the new V40 got a 5 Star rating in the latest round of tests comes as no surprise.

Audi RS7 Sportback refreshed with 190 mph top speed

Audi has fitted the RS7 Sportback with a series of mild styling changes only 18 months after its reveal at the 2013 Detroit auto show. Among the subtle visual modifications brought to the plush performance liftback is a lightly reworked front end. It features a restyled single-frame grille set within a slightly more structured bumper, bringing its appearance in line with less-powerful versions of the A7 Sportback revealed last week.