The good oil

If you'll be driving in Europe soon there's a few extra things to keep in mind when you hire a car.

A survey of motorists leaving Dover for France found that 70 per cent were ill-prepared.

A third didn't carry a spare set of bulbs - a basic requirement in most European Union countries. Nearly 20 per cent left without a breakdown warning triangle, 19 per cent forgot a first-aid kit, and 61 per cent had no fire extinguisher, all of which carry fines of up to $600 and the confiscation of your licence in France, Spain and Germany.

In Germany and Spain it's an offence to run out of fuel and in Luxembourg it is compulsory to flash your headlights before overtaking.

In Cyprus, it's illegal to use the horn at night. In Spain drivers who need glasses must carry a spare pair.

And don't speed in Finland, where fines are based on income. A millionaire was fined a record $170,000 for driving at 76km/h in a 50km/h limit.

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TOO FAST FOR WORDS

In the time it takes to read this sentence, a Top Fuel dragster will have gone from zero to 490km/h (300mph) . . . From a different perspective, a flying start over a quarter-mile (400m): You're on a Honda MotoGP bike doing 320km/h (200mph). The dragster blasts off the line the instant you draw level with it. In three seconds it has passed you.

Something else: a Top Fuel Hemi dragster engine swallows an American gallon (3.8 litres) of nitro-methane fuel a second; a fully loaded 747 airliner on take-off consumes fuel at the same rate but produces 25 per cent less energy.

That's what an American website reckons.

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DRIVEN BY LOVE

A report from Britain says that Sean and Beth Howard are driving from Dublin to New Zealand in the same Volkswagen Beetle in which they did the 10,000-mile journey as newlyweds 38 years ago. Anyone know of them?

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RIPPED OFF FOR RACERS

The most-stolen car in the United States last year was the 1999 Honda Integra coupe, badged as the Acura, Honda's top-end nameplate.

A Chicago insurance firm survey ranked the Integra above the 2002 BMW Z3-based M-Roadster, with the 1998 Integra in third place.

Thieves target the Integra for its high-revving engine, which can be put it into smaller Hondas for street racing. The insurers said the average age of a stolen vehicle last year was 6.6 years.

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WE ARE THE WORLD

An 82-year-old United States man who locked himself out of his still-running car was burned after attempting to siphon petrol from the tank with a vacuum-cleaner.

He told police he wanted to force the engine to stop by removing the petrol but a spark from the vacuum-cleaner ignited fumes.