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

Vauxhall heads off-road with Insignia Country Tourer

VAUXHALL'S new Insignia Country Tourer will cost from £25,349 when it arrives in the UK in January hot on the heels of the revised Insignia hatch and estate models. The Country Tourer is a soft-roader version of the Insignia Sports Tourer estate model and has an added 30mm of ground clearance, as well as front and rear underbody protection to help on rough tracks. Vauxhall has also fitted the car with extra protective covers for the wheelarches and body sides.

Audi A1 Quattro models ‘on the way’

Audi has confirmed it is testing four-wheel drive Quattro versions of the A1 – indicating an imminent expansion of Audi’s supermini range. Although showcased as this one-off at a Quattro publicity event in Montreal, Canada, to celebrate 30 years of the all-corner drive system, Ingolstadt acknowledged at last autumn’s 2010 Paris motor show that Quattro versions of the A1 were in the pipeline. The production A1 Quattro will use the Haldex differential to split drive to both axles; it’s a similar technology to that found in A3 and TT Quattros, as opposed to the mechanical Torsen diff found in larger Quattro models.

Tesla to work with others, Roadster priced at £92k

By Ben Oliver Motor Industry 19 August 2008 09:21 Tesla has confirmed that it is working with several major car makers to develop affordable, fully-electric city cars, with the first going on sale as early as 2010. The established car makers will use the experience Tesla has gained developing the high-performance, £92,000 Roadster as a short cut to  getting their own electric cars on sale. 'Smaller Teslas in the pipeline' Tesla plans to have its Model S five-seat electric hatchback on sale by 2010 in both the United States and Europe.