CHILD SEAT DANGERS

Child seat fitting dangers are alarming.

The AA has warned parents and child minders to make sure that children are safely secured in the car. The problem is most parents, or minders, don’t know they’re putting the car seat in wrong. Under EU child safety protection laws, drivers must ensure that all passengers under the age of 17 use the correct seatbelt, or booster seat and that they are appropriate to the child’s age.

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New Golf record

The Volkswagen Golf TDI BlueMotion has proved it’s 3.0-litre car on a recent supervised European test trip from Nantes, France, to Copenhagen. The Golf with the 110 PS TDI engine used only 2.92 litres of diesel per 100 kilometres (equivalent to 97 mpg). The distance between the two cities, 1,602 kilometres (995 miles), was completed on a single 50 litre tank of fuel. The TDI BlueMotion is one of the highlights of the Golf family.

Audi A8 on the way

Audi in Ireland has announced pricing for the new flagship A8 model, which is expected to come to Ireland in 2014. The new car retains the mainly aluminium body structure of the previous version and includes new features, such as LED headlights and an upgraded line-up of EU6-compliant engines. The entry price is €94,080 OTR for the new 3.0TDI 260bhp model, so it’s firmly at the top end of the market for Irish car buyers.

Spain offers incentives to boost car sales

The Spanish government has offered its fourth car incentive programme to boost sales. The €70 million programme consists of a €1,000 subsidy on new cars bought for less than €25,000. The deal must be matched by a dealer discount and buyers must trade in a seven-to 10-year-old car in exchange for a more fuel efficient model. The three previous plans resulted in 300,000 car sales.

Suzuki S-Cross

Engine 1.6-litre diesel

Engine power 120bhp

0-100km/hr 13 seconds

Economy 21.7km/litre

Fuel tank capacity 50 litres

CO2 emissions 120g/km

Road tax band A4 (€200)

Main service 20,000km

Euro NCAP rating Five stars

Towing rating 1,500 Warranty Three years Reliability rating NA

Entry price €19,995

NI price £14,999