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

503-hp Volkswagen GTI concept headed to Worthersee?

Volkswagen has issued a series of official design sketches hinting at the appearance of a radical open-top concept car to be unveiled at the Worthersee fan meet in Austria on May 29. Called the GTI Roadster, the new two-seater was originally conceived as a virtual three-dimensional image in a joint cooperation between Volkswagen and Sony for inclusion in the PlayStation “Gran Turismo” video game series. But with enthusiasm for the low-slung roadster running high among its design team, Volkswagen has decided to turn it into a full-size concept in homage to a long history of GTI models.

Brabus kit improves diesel Mercedes power

German tuner Brabus does most of its work with big-displacement, big-power engines, mostly for Mercedes-Benz (though Smart products get the Brabus treatment from time to time as well). On Monday, it proved that it can do the same with the company’s oil burners. It’ll also sell you a Mercedes diesel with Brabus upgrades already installed.

VW Beetle GSR: Price from £24,900

The Beetle GSR is a homage to the Yellow-Black Racer Beetle from the 1970s (GSR stands for Gelb Schwarzer Renner – which means Yellow-Black Racer) which featured a similar paint job, boosted power (a whole 49bhp) and was also limited to 3,500 units. But the 2013 version of the Beetle GSR does at least offer much more get up and go than the 1970s GSR managed. That means the GSR comes with VW’s 2.0 litre turbo with 207bhp which is enough to get the yellow Bug to 62mph in 7.3 seconds on its way top 142mph, and is the same power output all Beetles with the 2.0 litre TSI will get from May 1st (up from 197bhp).