Arias Pistons 12.5:1 Compression 82mm Bore Honda B-series on 2040-parts.com

Vauxhall Insignia Ecoflex (2009) first pictures

By Ben Barry First Official Pictures 21 April 2009 13:20 Vauxhall has announced its answer to the planet-conscious Volkswagen Passat Bluemotion – the Insignia Ecoflex. Essentially the Ecoflex is a 158bhp 2.0-litre CDTi Insignia, but an army of now-familiar C02-slashing improvements have been swung into action. These improvements include under-car panelling and a lower ride height to help the Insignia cut through air more cleanly (the drag factor falls from 0.27Cd to 0.26), plus lower rolling resistance Michelin tyres.

2014 Volkswagen Polo now on sale – price from £11,100 to £19,715

The facelifted 2014 VW Polo (pictured) is now on sale The 2014 facelift for the VW Polo was revealed back in January and, although the cosmetic tweaks were the usual facelift fodder – tweaked bumpers and grill, new lights, new alloys and interior updates – the big changes came under the bonnet. New 3-cylinder engines arrive for the Polo with two new 1.0 litre petrols with 60PS or 75 PS, two 1.2 litre petrols with 90 or 110PS and and extra 10-PS for the 1.4 litre, which also gets cylinder deactivation. The diesel BlueMotion also gets dropped in favour of a petrol BlueMotion offering 68.9mpg from its 1.0 litre 3-pot and there’s a pair of 1.4 litre diesels with 75 or 90PS replacing the old 1.2 and 1.6 litre diesels.

Electric cars can become electricity banks

Ever try to store electricity? It won't stay in a bottle, and you can't keep it in your sock drawer. So when you have a lot of it--say, when it's windy and your wind turbines are really spinning, or when it's sunny and your gallium arsenide photovoltaics are lighting up, or at night when the utility's generators can run unhindered--you have to store it somewhere.