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

Volkswagen Passat Alltrack: The VW Allroad arrives

The VW Passat Alltrack - debuts in Tokyo Volkswagen has jumped on to the Allroad bandwagon with its own take on Audi’s faux off-roader, with the reveal of the 2012 VW Passat Alltrack. As you would expect, the Passat Alltrack is a butched-up Passat Estate with a raised ride height, extra bits of plastic round the bumpers, skid plates, flared side sills and 4WD – VW’s 4MOTION – for more traction in boot sale car parks. But when you don’t need the 4WD, around 90 poer cent of the drive is through the front wheels – saving fuel – with the rear wheel drive only coming in to play when you start to slip and slide.

Rolls Royce Wraith Convertible planned & the Wraith hits Harrods

That means the Wraith gets a stiffened suspension setup to stop it rolling too much and more weight to the steering so you have a chance of knowing where the front wheels are at any given moment. It’s a promising offering from Rolls Royce, but it looks as though the Wraith won’t be a stand-alone model but will be joined, in due course, by a convertible version for those who find the Wraith Coupe not quite ostentatious enough. Who’d have guessed?

2015 Audi TT drops its top – TT & TTS Roadster for Paris debut

The Audi TTS Roadster (pictured) debuts at Paris 2014 It’s only six months since the new Audi TT arrived at the Geneva Motor Show, but now Audi is ready to show its drop-top version with a debut of the Audi TT Roadster scheduled for the Paris Motor Show next week. As you’d expect, to all intents and purposes, the TT (and TT S) Roadster are pretty much the same as the TT Coupe, with the top chopped off and replaced by a retractable fabric roof – a roof that opens and closes in just 10 seconds – and a bump in price of around £2,000. That means the Audi TT Roadster with the 2.0 litre TFSI engine with 182bhp, manual ‘box and Sport trim will come in at a bit under £32,000 and the 306bhp TTS Roadster at a bit under £38,000.