Briannen’s Beetle: Engine stripping, the taste of petrol, and homework

The last time we caught up with Briannen and her Beetle restoration project was before Christmas, so it's time to see how much she has progressed. The 16-year old is restoring her first car, a 1969 Volkswagen Beetle, with her VW mechanic dad, Mark, who is teaching her all the tricks along the way, and we will be following her every step. Catch up: Briannen’s Beetle: Meet the 16-year-old restoring her first car

Rolls-Royce auctioning one-off 2020 Phantom

Rolls-Royce will celebrate its 115th birthday with a one-off 2020 Phantom, set to be auctioned in New York by RM Sotheby's. Details about the car are hard to come by, but the teaser image you see here likely provides a hint. It'll be red, and the cabin will feature a "hand-crafted leather work of art". What that will look like remains to be seen.

Alfa Romeo Stelvio Quadrifoglio sets three UK lap records

The Alfa Romeo Stelvio Quadrifoglio has set the first SUV lap records around three of the UK's top race tracks – Brands Hatch, Donington Park, and Silverstone. Following its triumph at the iconic Nurburgring Nordschleife, where it recorded a 7 minute 51.7 second lap (fastest SUV), the production-spec Stelvio Quadrifoglio set down the first proper timed lap times for an SUV at the three British circuits.

For me, for so many, the road toll is not just a number

Every year an average of 1220 people die on Australian roads, with around 35,000 injured. While every year we should be seeing the road toll shrink, this year it has gone up. Alarmingly. In Victoria, lives lost have increased 48.7 per cent from the same time last year. That is not okay. That number no doubt has emergency services simply shaking their heads.

2016 Volvo XC90 recalled

Volvo has recalled the petrol 2016 XC90 SUV, over concerns about a short bleeder hose in the engine bay. According to the company, the hose could degrade and crack, causing coolant leakage. If coolant accumulates on the catalytic converter, there's a risk the catalytic converter's heat insulation could act like a wick, potentially resulting in a fire. A total of 571 units are included – a VIN list is attached here.

CarAdvice Community Approved Tester Program: Finalists selected, stay tuned for more!

UPDATE: CAT's out of the bag! A big thank you to everybody who took the time to submit an application to our Community Approved Tester program. With hundreds of awesome applications it was a tough job for our judges, but we now have our finalists. We’ll introduce them to you very soon. Stay tuned! If you missed your chance, stay tuned for the launch of our second phase! We'll announce the timing of that round in due course.

2020 BMW M3 spied

BMW's next-generation M3, performance flagship of the new 3 Series range, has been snapped on the back of a truck, revealing more about its hunkered-down looks and underbody secrets. Up front, the car will get an aggressive bumper and splitter, complete with gaping air intakes to feed the twin-turbocharged inline-six engine we're expecting to feature. As with the regular 3 Series, we're expecting larger kidney grilles to dominate the front end, likely with vertical struts running through them.