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

Lexus IS 250 Advance & 200d Advance announced

The Lexus IS 200d Advance We should cherish the Lexus IS. No, not because it’s a Lexus – although the Lexus fixtures, fittings and build quality do make it score highly on many a car buyer’s radar – but because it’s NOT got Hobson’s choice on the engine front. You can actually opt for a real ICE engine and – shock, horror – a proper gearbox.

Toyota to close Australian design studio

Toyota designers at its Technical Center Asia Pacific Australia (TTCAP-AU) are to lose their jobs as part of Toyota's decision to scale back the facility's activities as well as halting all manufacturing within the country by 2017. The TTCAP-AU, which carries out all its Australian design and evaluation operations, employs 150 designers and modelers and it's possible that its activities with the Camry, Camry Hybrid and Aurion models could be scrapped, raising doubts over its future. Around 2,500 employees at Toyota's Altona manufacturing plant are expected to lose their jobs, although the effects are likely to be wider ranging.

The Mitsubishi Evo is dead

As Mitsubishi shifts its global lineup toward utility vehicles and electrified cars, it will pull the plug on the Lancer Evolution at the end of the nameplate's current generation. “Mitsubishi Motors does not have any plans to design a successor with the current concept, as a high-performance four-wheel drive gasoline-powered sedan,” spokeswoman Namie Koketsu said, describing the car as having “icon” status. “Mitsubishi Motors will explore the possibilities of high-performance models that incorporate electric vehicle technology.” Dropping the Evo was foreshadowed last fall when President Osamu Masuko unveiled a new mid-term business plan that would deprioritize in-house sedans and explore sourcing them through joint projects with the Renault-Nissan Alliance.