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

Euro Car Parts sold for £225 million

Euro Car Parts Sold for £225 million There was a time, a very long time ago, where Euro Car Parts was an almost hidden secret, supplying manufacturer standard parts for higher end cars at prices that were much more affordable. The key to Euro Car Parts success was supplying parts which seemed to be sourced from the same suppliers as the car maker itself, but sold without the same huge margins. This writer was an avid fan of Euro Car Parts as a struggling young dad with a penchant for cars he couldn’t really afford; Euro Car Parts – and weekends with a toolbox and oily hands – kept a succession of luxury and performance cars on the road on a shoestring, but without compromising quality.

What's New - January 2006

Volvo S80     Volvo has released pictures of the second-generation S80, a model series which when first launched in 1998 revived the Swedish brand with less slab-like, more expressive styling. This new model evolves those themes, and with it now carries Volvo's compact V8 that first appeared in the XC90 SUV last year. With 315PS put to the road through all four wheels, it will be Volvo's spearhead for penetrating the crucial American market and luring 35,000 new owners each year.

MIT develops self-transforming materials that behave 'like robots without robots'

A cross-disciplinary research lab at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) has developed a suite of programmable materials, including carbon fiber, printed wood grain, textile composites, rubbers and plastics, that self-transform when exposed to an external stimulus. Director of the Self-Assembly Lab, Skylar Tibbits, presented a TED talk on 4D printing in 2013, where he demonstrated how a flat sheet of material could effectively build itself when exposed to water, like a robot without a robot. Following positive feedback from industries including aviation, automotive and manufacturing, his lab has been working on developing materials that change according to different activation sources, including heat, light, and air pressure, in addition to water – all of which have automotive relevance.