Articles by Staff Writers

Porsche will be unveiling the new Macan at the Los Angeles motor show in three weeks, but has already been vigorously teasing it. The latest preview is footage of the little crossover undergoing heat and all-wheel drive testing in the United Arab Emirates. Filmed in the scorching desert outside the UAE capital, Dubai, the Macans tackle the dunes and happily slide around on the shifting slopes.We'll have to wait until closer to the show to get official confirmation of the Macan's performance and economy, but leaked presentation slides have already revealed it will be launched with a choice of 3.0-litre and 3.6-litre turbocharged petrol V6 engines, with Macan S hero likely to have the twin-turbo 3.6-litre. Other variants will follow later: an entry-level petrol four-cylinder and a turbodiesel V6.Watch the 2014 Porsche Macan desert video here. 

Maserati has teamed up with Sky lifestyle show 'The Face', as part of which the program's teams of would-be supermodels led by real ones -- Naomi Campbell, Caroline Winberg and Erin O’Connor -- competing to make an ad for the Quattroporte.Campbell's team won the challenge, with her fledgling models in a race to reach the car -- although their bigger triumph actually managing to maintain any sort of pace in skyscraper heels.Watch the models face off for Maserati Quattroporte video on the desktop site here. 

Dashcam footage from China shows a crowd of men crammed onto a single motortrike. The news report from a Chinese TV station says there were 18 on the trike and compared the commuters to skilled acrobats who balance on bicycles in the world's top circuses. We could only count 15 -- but that's a feat in itself -- but may have missed a couple in the mobile dashcam film. If we've miscounted, let us know. Watch the 18 men on a single trike video here. Also watch: 16 Women break Smart car stuffing record.  

After more than a decade as the world's favourite car colour, silver is falling in popularity to white. PPG Industries, the leading supplier of automotive paints, says 25 percent of the vehicles it supplied in the 2013 model year were white, up 3 percent from the prior year. Silver and black tied for second, with 18 percent each.White dominates in Europe, North America and Asia. Only in South America is silver still king. Apple Inc., with its all-white stores and gadgets, made white a high-tech colour. The variety of whites - from flat shades to creamy pearls - is also contributing, says Jane Harrington, PPG's manager of automotive colour styling.But if you don't relish a whiteout on the highway, never fear. Carmakers are currently scouting colours for the 2016 and 2017 model years, and Harrington is showing them some eye-popping options, from a pink-tinged bright red developed in Asia to a rich dark gray with faint green highlights.Eleven different browns - from light copper to dark chocolate - and an equal number of grays are part of PPG's annual colour show for automakers at its automotive centre in the Detroit suburb of Troy. There are six yellows and seven greens, from seafoam to dark olive. One notable absence: Powder blue, which is increasingly confined to electric cars or hybrids.Harrington and her international team determine colour trends by watching fashion, architectural paint colours and other predictors. She thinks we'll see more deep jewel tones like teal and more earthy metallics, like reddish orange, in the coming years. With the end of the recession, drivers don't mind being showy again, she saysCar buyers could also see taxi-like yellows and other flat, bright colours, which are growing in popularity thanks to small, funky entries like the Kia Soul. Pastel tones, like mint green and very light pink, are also in the mix.PPG will take its colour tour on the road to Los Angeles, Europe and Asia and will then start working with individual automakers on their choices. Companies typically choose eight to 10 colours for every model. PPG won't say how many cars it supplies paint for each year, but it works with every major car company. "They think about the vehicle and how that colour will translate," Harrington said. "That colour, sparkle and finish helps define the car's character." 

Vehicle giant Tata has rolled out the Xenon ute with pricing of $22,990 driveway as the starting point for its six models

You would think the warning signs would be enough to deter people, but this bridge keeps clocking up fails for drivers of trucks, buses and caravans. Durham North Carolina resident Jurgen Henn painstakingly collected all these mishaps for his 11foot8.com site using an array of automatic monitoring cameras after seeing successive crashes from his office window.  "I set up the cameras in April 2008 and I have recorded 65 crashes so far," he says. "The bridge is right outside my office, so I hear the crashes every time. Many of the drivers that end up "decapitating" their trucks do not have much experience driving trucks. Most of the trucks are rentals or leased vehicles. "I am most surprised by the drivers of full-size tractor trailers that approach the bridge carefully and then still hit it. Clearly, they saw the signs and the flashing light and they thought they'd try it anyway. But earlier this year, the city installed signage on the crash beam to make it more visible, and it looks like the frequency of crashes has been reduced." Henn will keep us posted. Watch the bridge crash compilation here.  

The RS Q3 is the first RS model in Audi's SUV line-up, and is intended to package performance and practicality into a sporty and compact design when it arrives in February next year. Priced from $81,900, it's powered by a five-cylinder 2.5-litre TFSI engine that develops 228kW of power and 420Nm of torque. The engine also lives under the bonnet of Audi's TTRS sports car. Drive is via quattro technology through a seven-speed S-tronic dual clutch transmission allowing the RS Q3 to put away a 0-100kmh sprint in 5.5 seconds. The pint-size powerhouse comes equipped with a high level of standard equipment -- RS specific styling, front and rear, RS high-performance brake system, wave disc design at the front, Xenon plus headlights with LED daytime running lights and LED tail lights. MMI Navigation plus is included with 20 GB of hard drive storage and 2 SD card readers. Also included are Audi parking system plus with rear view camera,  music interface, Bluetooth interface with audio streaming, sports seats with Nappa leather, dual zone climate control and more.   Watch the RS Q3 SUV video here.  

Special on-track speed comparison at Mount Panorama sees three HRT drivers -- Garth Tander, Greg Murphy and James Courtney -- pit their skills against each other in a HSV Gen-F, HSV VX 300 GTS and an Holden Racing Team V8 Supercar.Murphy pilots the 2002 VX -- the most powerful Australian car of its time. Tander takes the wheel of the new HSV Gen-F GTS, and Courtney helms the HRT V8 Supercar.Watch HSV Gen-F GTS v HSV VX GTS 300 v HRT V8 Supercar video here. 

Watch the Danish bus ad here. 

His father famously stopped during the 1976 German Grand Prix to pull another driver to safety from the burning wreck. But yesterday, nobody was able to save British driver Sean Edwards - the son of Formula 1 driver Guy - when the Porsche he was a passenger in hit the wall at Queensland Raceway, bursting into flames. Edwards, 26, was killed instantly when the 996 series Porsche GT3 car ploughed into a tyre wall at about 210km/h. The professional Porsche driver, who was based in Monaco, was in Australia on a coaching trip and was due to fly home just hours later. On his Facebook page he wrote: "First time to Aus, have heard great thing so looking forward to my two days there!" He had been coaching 20-year-old driver Will Holzheimer when they crashed. Holzheimer, whose family own Dellow Racing, was trapped in the wreck for three hours while emergency services workers cut him free. Edwards drove his father's F1 car as he portrayed him in the Hollywood blockbuster Rush, a Ron Howard-directed movie about the rivalry between England's James Hunt and German Niki Lauda in the '70s. Guy Edwards won the Gallantry Medal for saving Lauda's life. Queensland Raceway chief executive officer John Tetley said his general manager Keith Lewis and senior official Mike Dyson deserved "hero status" for their efforts in trying to save the men. "(They) got into Fearless, our fire truck, and managed to pull the car from the burning tyres," he said. "We have a trauma paramedic on site and he was one of the first people to rush to the accident. "We probably used about 35 to 40 fire extinguishers and a 50kg fire bomb to put out the tyres." Mr Tetley said the crash happened on the final turn. He said the Porsche went straight through the bend, crashing through tyres and into a cement barrier behind. "They had to cut the car in half and pull it apart piece by piece to get to the driver. Emergency services saved his life." Mr Tetley said Holzheimer's family were at the track when he crashed. Ipswich police Inspector David Preston said police needed to hear from anyone who had video footage of the crash. He said Will had suffered extensive injuries, including severe burns. "He is awake and is aware of what's going on around him, but has extensive injuries to deal with." The Forensic Crash Unit and Workplace Health and Safety are investigating. - Reporting by Kate Kyriacou, Naomi Lim, Kate McKenna www.news.com.au