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

Six questions for the creator of Gran Turismo

When you are granted an audience with Kazunori Yamauchi, godfather of Gran Turismo, you take it. We spoke with his excellency in a suite overlooking downtown Los Angeles, where traffic on the twisted freeways below looked nothing at all like the thrilling tracks of that iconic game. AW: When did you make the first Gran Turismo?

Lexus Hybrid sales top half a million

Lexus has revealed that they’ve sold more than 500,000 hybrid cars, with the Rx 450h the top seller and the CT 200h catching fast. Unsurprisingly, as it was the first Lexus hybrid to be introduced in 2005, the biggest seller - accounting for half of all Lexus hybrid sales to date (259,000) – has been the RX 400h / RX 450h, but the CT 200h, which was only introduced in 2011, is catching up fast with sales to date of 122,000 to date. During the last seven years Lexus hybrid sales have risen from 26,000 to 113,000 a year and 25 per cent of those Lexus hybrid sales now happen in Europe, even though we don’t get cars like the HS 250h (56,000 sales) and the ES 300h (8,000 sales).

2011 SEMA show: Day one highlights

-- Lexus revealed the 306-hp GS 350 F Sport, which will go on sale in February. It uses a direct-injection 3.5-liter V6, paired with the same paddle-shifting six-speed automatic transmission used in the IS-F. It has four driving modes, an upgraded suspension and four-wheel steering.