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

Luxury cars still in demand

DEMAND remains strong for upper executive, sports and luxury cars says British Car Auctions (BCA), as buyers continue to support the company’s programme of Top Car and Executive sales. In the first half of the year, BCA sold 8,356 cars valued in excess of £20,000, worth a combined £231.4 million. Across the board BCA has averaged 102.57% of CAP Clean for cars sold for £20,000 or more in 2012.

2013 VW Golf TDI BlueMotion Mk 7 costs from £20,335

Starting at £20,335 for the 3-door BlueMotion and rising to £20,990 for the 5-door, the new Golf also emits just 85g/km CO2 (which would have been enough for free London Congestion charging, but not any more) which is 15 per cent better than the previous Mk 6 TDI BlueMotion managed. VW has managed to tweak the Golf BlueMotion’s economy figures still further by reducing weight, fitting super low rolling resistance tyres (that run with higher pressure), longer gear ratios, stop-start and aerodynamic tweaks. Thos aerodynamic tweaks includes modifications to the front of the Golf to reduce drag by nearly 10 per cent, adding a roof spoiler, air guide elements on the back window, a masked front grill, smoother underfloor and a reduction of ride height by 15mm.

VW BlueSport Concept moves nearer to reality

We reported last week on the VW BlueSport Concept, a relatively economical 2 seat roadster, which VW unveiled at the Detroit Motor Show. We said then that if we were VW we’d be pressing the start button as soon as possible, and reports seem to indicate that that is exactly what VW are hoping to do. The secret to the success of the BlueSport will be the ability of the VW Group as a whole to find three platforms within its setup that can produce viable models based on the BlueSport Concept.