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

Lowie Vermeersch resigns from Pininfarina

CDN has learned that Lowie Vermeersch has resigned from Pininfarina, where he was Design Director. According to our sources, the Belgian designer has left to pursue other as yet unnamed ventures in the design industry. Vermeersch has been at Pininfarina for the last 12 years, leading the design team that created the new Ferrari 458 as well as the Duettottanta and Sintesi concept cars.

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.

Scalded-cheetah Nissan GT-R runs a 7.98 quarter-mile

Eight-second cars are often funny-looking and monstrous-sounding. To get into the eights in the mid-1960s, Dick Landy hacked up his Dodges, altering the wheelbase for better weight transfer. Within a couple of years, the full-on nitro-sucking flopper would come to be the quickest thing with four wheels and a body with some resemblance to a production automobile, ushering the Funny Car era.