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

Porsche 911 GT3 R Hybrid (2011) first official pictures

Porsche has released details of its updated 911 GT3 R Hybrid – the 2010 original nearly won last year's Nurburgring 24hr race before (ironically) it retired with petrol engine failure.  The 2011 Porsche 911 GT3 R Hybrid – the lowdown Before this report disappears in a chorus of ‘it looks the same as last year’s one’, let's outline where Porsche’s engineers have been busy. At the unfashionable end of the car remains a 4.0-litre flat-six engine producing approximately 470bhp. Up front are twin electric motors, now producing 75kW of power each (up from 60kW) and combined these give the GT3 R Hybrid a 197bhp electric boost, which can be programmed to activate automatically via the throttle pedal, or manually selected during overtaking. F1-derived hybrid tech for the 911 GT3 R Hybrid Power for the two electric motors doesn't come from batteries, but flywheel accumulator technology from Williams Hybrid Power, an offshoot of the Williams Formula 1 team. The flywheel, encased in a carbonfibre safety cell in the space where the passenger seat would be, spins at up to 40,000rpm and acts as a mechanical energy store for the electric motors. Regenerative braking feeds energy back into the flywheel system – no surprises there, as the technology is derived from Williams' exeprience with Kinetic Energy Recovery Systems (KERS) in F1.

CarFest North & CarFest South 2013: Dates & Venues

Chris Evans’ CarFest North and CarFest South are back on again in 2013 with much motoring madness and a great day out for all the family. So much success in 2012 meant CarFest for 2013 was a given, and now we know that both outings are back once again this year with even more on offer than in 2012, and running over 3 days instead of two. Just like last year, CarFest South will take place at Laverstoke Park Farm - Jody Scheckter’s home – with an even bigger hillclimb and three evenings of live music, masses of food choices and, of course, cars galore.

BMW 135is for the US only. But you can have much the same in the UK.

BMW 135is - US only BMW is not taking the new M135i to the US but has instead announced the BMW 135is Coupe and Convertible for the US only. There must be logic to BMW’s decision to badge a new 1 Series M135i for the UK and Europe and then add a new model in the US – the 135is Coupe – that actually has more power but no ‘M’ moniker. But that logic does escape us.