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

Frankfurt 2011: VW Nils EV Go-Kart Video

VW Nils revealed at Frankfurt There have been quite a few of these very small, go-kart-style urban commuter cars cropping up of late, but perhaps the Volkswagen Nils is the most promising. The most promising because if – and it’s a very big if – commuters take to the idea of a grown-up version of a soap-box Kart with an engine for getting to work, the VW Nils will possibly offer the best combination of practicality, refinement and cost. Yes, there’s the Audi Urban Concept to consider, but that will be more expensive (there’s a reason Audi makes VW 40% of its profits), so if commuters do actually find appeal in this route then the Nils is probably the front-runner.

Range Rover Hybrid completes Silk Trail Expedition to India (video)

Range Rover Hybrid completes Silk Trail Expedition to India Land Rover has been busy for the last 53 days taking a trio of Range Rover Hybrids down the Silk Trail from Land Rover’s home in the Midlands to Tata’s home in India. In the process, the three Range Rover Hybrids, and their Land Rover support vehicles, have covered 10,472 miles in 53 days covering every terrain imaginable – and averaged 36mpg in the process. The whole point of the outing was to give the hybrid Range Rover a proper workout ahead of its customer launch, and the trek to India certainly provided that with everything from sea level to 5500 metres and temperatures from -10 to 43C along the way, not to mention the vast array of terrain from tarmac to non-existent byways.

BMW-Toyota partnership may yield hybrid Z4, new Supra

The BMW-Toyota sports-car lash-up has been reported on for a couple of years now, but new information from a report in the U.K.'s Autocar sheds more light on the future of the BMW Z4 and what this year's Toyota FT-1 concept will ultimately herald. Like the current Z4, its predecessor and the Z3 before it, as well as every generation of Supra, the new platform will feature a front-mounted gasoline engine. From there, things look to be diverging wildly as technology marches forward.