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

Child car smoking ban moves closer

A BAN ON SMOKING in cars with children present has moved a step closer after peers inflicted a defeat on the Government in the House of Lords. Campaigners welcomed the result of the Lords vote, claiming a ban would protect half-a-million children who were exposed to second-hand smoke in cars every week. Although the successful Labour amendment to the Children and Families Bill does not directly ban smoking in cars with children in them, it backs the principle of making it an offence.

Volkswagen Golf GTE plug-in hybrid revealed ahead of Geneva debut

The VW Golf GTE Plug-in (pictured) debuts at Geneva If you like a quite warm VW Golf with a petrol engine, VW has that covered with the Golf GTI, and if you’d rather burn oil you can do that too with the Golf GTD. But now there’s a third way – the Volkswagen Golf GTE plug-in hybrid. Combining a 1.4 litre TSI turbo petrol with 148bhp and a 101bhp electric motor, the Golf GTE manages a combined output of 201bhp, enough to get to 62mph in 7.6 seconds and return official economy figures of 157mpg and emissions of a paltry 35g/km.

Audi RS6 Avant Plus outed by Audi UK

Audi RS6 Avant Plus outed by Audi UK The Audi RS6 Avant is, in many way, the pick of the ‘Uber’ estate cars from Germany. True, it’s eschewed its monster V10 for a 4.0 litre V8 turbo in its latest iteration, but in the process it’s become a more complete car which offers great dynamics as well as a mountain of power and torque, judiciously employed through Audi’s quattro 4WD. But as Stephan Reil, Audi Quattro Division boss, said back in January, Audi are planning an even more powerful ‘Plus’ version of the RS6 Avant with around 600bhp to take on cars like the Mercedes E63 AMG S which also offers 4WD (at least in LHD markets) and 577bhp.