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

MINI gives the London Philharmonic the patriotic horn

MINI has teamed up the 2012 MINI London Edition with the London Philharmonic to create a MINI horn National Anthem. The London Philharmonic Orchestra has just finished the mammoth task of recording 205 National Anthems for the 2012 London Olympics, but this is one National Anthem that won’t be wafting across East London in the next month. The London 2012 Olympics are MINI’s marketing method of choice at the moment, so they took nine MINI London 2012 Editions – in a mix of Red, White and Blue – tuned their horns and roped in nine musicians from the Philharmonic’s horn section to toot in time.

Porsche Battery – a mere £1200

The rather expensive Porsche Lithium Ion Battery Car batteries have been roughly the same shape and size – and utilised basically the same lead-acid technology – for years. They’ve got better, as you no longer need to top them up with distilled water at regular intervals (I’m showing my age now), and they are less prone to going flat. But that probably has more to do with alternators replacing dynamos than the batteries themselves.

Vauxhall at Geneva: Vauxhall Meriva 2010 UK Prices

Vauxhall Meriva at Geneva - UK prices revealed Vauxhall has given the 2010 Meriva its first public outing at Geneva (and for that matter Opel has done the same) and seeing it on the floor at Geneva confirms ours suspicions that the New Meriva is almost a cool car (come on, we can’t actually say a mini mpv is really cool). No frumpiness, lots of stylish detail, well conceived and well executed. We still have some doubts about the practicalities of the suicide doors in the real world, but it all looks very good.