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

Aston Martin drops Cygnet city car

Autocar is reporting that the diminutive Aston Martin Cygnet has been dropped from the company’s portfolio. The automaker, now owned by Prodrive and private equity firm Invenstindustrial, will focus on its “core product range,” also known as “good cars.” Autocar posits that the justification for the Cygnet was to continue producing V8 and V12 cars, while keeping its average CO2 emissions down. The Cygnet shared bones with the Toyota iQ city car and used a 97-hp, 1.3-liter engine and got 58.9 mpg using the U.S.

Honda Civic (2011) at Frankfurt motor show

This is the ninth generation of Honda’s small car star, which has gestated from trend setting (Civic Mk1 of 1972) to stylistically dull if technically advanced (most) to sci-fi-style wacko but technically mainstream (Civic Mk8). New Civics, over the years, have been about as easy to forecast as David Beckham’s next hairstyle as Honda engineers – never the most predictable bunch – veer from brave to bashful. The new Civic, unveiled at the 2011 Frankfurt motor show, is eye-catching although less off-centre than generation eight, and is closed basely mechanically on its predecessor.

Range Rover Evoque Autobiography Dynamic gets 281bhp. Debuts at Geneva

Range Rover Evoque Autobiography Dynamic (pictured) gets 281bhp We’ve been expecting Land Rover to deliver a proper performance version of the Range Rover Evoque, even more so with the arrival of the impressively performing Porsche Macan. But if this new Evoque – the Range Rover Evoque Autobiography Dynamic – is the ultimate  performance version of the Evoque it’s not going to stand up on-road to the new Macan, even if it does look a lot better. Still, extra power and more goodies is never a bad thing, so an Evoque with 281bhp and more equipment is not to be sniffed at, even if it’s likely to cost £50k or more.