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

Mercedes SLS AMG Gullwing – official photos

Mercedes has now sent us a big photo gallery of the SLS AMG Gullwing But Mercedes has now released all the official images, so we thought you ought to get to judge the whole deal for yourself. The leaked images we had looked much better than we’d expected, and the SLS does look good – a sort of Z4 on steroids mixed with design cues from the original 300SL Gullwing. But even though the SLS will be at Frankfurt next week it won’t be launched until 2011.

New Land Rover Freelander will actually be a Discovery

It seems – as we expected – that Land Rover are looking to make more sense of their range of off-roaders as new models are launched, and are going to concentrate on three core brands – Range Rover, Discovery and Defender – instead of the current mish-mash where many models really overlap with others (the top end Discoverys are really a cheaper Range Rover). So the next Freelander will become an entry-level Discovery with underpinnings borrowed from the Evoque (which is itself based on the current Freelander platform, a development of the Ford Galaxy’s platform), and arrive in both 5-seat and 7-seat guise, with the new Discovery ’5′ getting a platform based on the new Range Rover and perhaps spawning two models. The new Discovery range will be targeted as a ‘Lifestyle’ core range for Land Rover (much as the original Disco was) and the Range Rover range will be both sporty and luxurious, with a 7-seat Grand Evoque XL joining the current Evoque, Range Rover Sport and Range Rover.

Ford Design Center set to expand

Symbolic of the importance it plays in Ford's small car strategy, the automakers Design Center in Cologne, Germany, is about to receive a €11.6m redevelopment. Construction is already underway on the facility's new wing, which will include design studios and 100 workplaces. The 3,000 square-meter extension is set to be completed by the end of the year.