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

Nissan X-Trail gets a facelift for 2011

The Nissan X-Trail gets a facelift for 2011 You could be forgiven for thinking that Nissan has lost interest in it’s ‘proper’ SUV/4x4s, being interested only in its crossovers – the Nissan Qashqai and soon to be launched Nissan Juke. Nissan’s refusal to bring it’s desert-crushing Patrol to the UK would seem to reinforce the thought, but despite perceptions Nissan are about to launch the 2011 Nissan X-Trail facelift. The X-Trail is an on-road offroader in the old fashioned sense; not a crossover.

Audi S1 at Paris

The Audi S1 will have a Paris Launch (A1 Wörthersee Concept pictured) It’s getting on for a year since we reported that – despite some saying it wouldn’t happen – Audi were planning at least a warm version of the A1 and had on the drawing board the Audi S1 to take on the MINI Cooper. So it’s not a shock that we hear Audi are planning on bring the S1 along to Paris for a reveal before getting the S1 on the roads by the second quarter of 2011. Expect the usual Audi S bits in the mix  - bigger wheels, fettled suspension, beefed-up brakes, body kit – and power in the S1 to come from the S/C turbo 1.4 TSI found in the VW Polo GTI, although the S1 may just get a tweaked version of the engine as befits its higher standing in the VW hierarchy with a bit more than the 178 horses the Polo GTI manages.

General Motors board recommends selling Opel to Magna-led group

General Motors Co.'s board has decided to support selling a majority stake in Opel to a group led by Canadian auto parts giant Magna. The move caps weeks of high-stakes maneuvering on both sides of the Atlantic that saw nationalism, labor issues and--perhaps most critical to GM, the use of its technology--all come into play. Magna and Russian lender Sberbank will get a 55 percent interest in Opel, the linchpin of GM's European operations for 80 years, as well as its British sister brand Vauxhall.