Good oil: Audi 4W drive popular

German carmaker Audi says it has received around 10,000 advance orders in Europe for its Q7 four-wheel-drive. The international launch of the Q7is in Arizona in a couple of weeks. It rolls out first to dealers in Germany, Austria, Luxembourg and Italy and goes on sale in New Zealand later this year. The basic version of the Q7 - which will compete against the BMW X5 and Mercedes-Benz M-Class - is priced in Europe at NZ$84,000.

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Italian motorcycle-maker Piaggio is considering an offer to buy DaimlerChrysler's troubled Smart unit. The IMMSI group, Piaggio's controlling shareholder, confirmed it was approached by investment bank Goldman Sachs, hired by DaimlerChrysler to filter unsolicited offers for Smart. Piaggio is not the only potential buyer. India's Tata group and Japan's Suzuki are said to be interested. Analysts estimate the small-car unit lost €600 million ($1.05 billion) last year and has a cumulative NZ$7.05 billion loss since its 1998 launch.

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In a supermarket car park, do you reverse into a parking space and drive out, or drive in and reverse out? A study in Britain finds that most people drive in and reverse out. It is quicker, less inconvenient to others looking for a parking space, and easier to load the boot. But taking time to reverse in has its advantages, too. It is safer backing into a space rather than backing out into traffic.

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Parents could be breeding a new generation of "road ragers" by setting a bad example in front of their children. Research shows that 87 per cent of motorists in Britain admit to being victims of road rage at least once. It also shows that more parents regularly lose their temper and swear at other motorists when their children are in the car. Psychologists say children can copy their parents behaviour and become road ragers themselves when they grow up.

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Fifty-year-old Tu Jin-Sheng, a "grandmaster" in the Chinese art of Qigong, pulled a rental truck several metres using only a piece of fabric tied to his genitals, reports California's Oakland Tribune. Jin-Sheng is supposedly a leader of the branch of Qigong known as "Iron Crotch," whose 60,000 adherents worldwide believe that strengthening the genitals increases energy. To warm up for the task, Jin-Sheng had an assistant kick him hard between the legs.