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

BMW reveals ferocious new M3 and M4

IF YOU’RE no fan of Top Gear-style wheel-spinning, tyre-smoking oversteer, then it’s probably best to look away now, because BMW has unveiled the new M3 and M4. Essentially the same car underneath, the main differences come in the number of doors and the suspension settings, with the M3 built as a four-door, slightly more forgiving saloon and the M4 as a harder-edged two-door coupe. But both will go very sideways, if that’s the sort of thing that revs your engine, thanks to a shared 425bhp six-cylinder engine that sends all that juicy power to the rear wheels.

BMW M8 (2016) supercar

BMW’s plans to unleash a new mid-engined supercar are firming up. Previously known as M1, the 600bhp supercar is now called M8 internally, and is being lined up as the flagship car to mark BMW’s 100th birthday in 2016. M division boss Friedrich Nitschke has proposed that the M8 shares the exotic carbonfibre and aluminium underpinnings of the i8 plug-in hybrid due in 2014.

Volvo Emissions Equality Campaign – Great move

The Volvo V70 - less polluting than a Fiat 500 Whenever we get the opportunity – as regular readers will know – we complain about the current obsession with CO2 emissions on cars and call for car makers and Governments to act on the emissions which actually matter – NOx, hydrocarbons and particulates (and here, and here, and here and…). And it looks like Volvo agrees. Volvo are launching the ‘Emissions Equality Campaign to get car buyers to consider the whole picture when it comes to car emissions and not just look at the figure for CO2, which buyers have been brainwashed in to thinking matters (our view of CO2 – not Volvo’s).