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

Vauxhall Meriva (2010): first news and pictures

By Tim Pollard First Official Pictures 05 January 2010 00:01 The new Vauxhall Meriva is opening up entry to the suicide door club – previously the preserve of Rolls-Royces and Mazda sports cars. Unveiled today, the new Meriva mini-MPV premieres GM’s FlexDoor technology, designed to make it easier to climb in and out. Or just show off in the car park (delete according to your personal scepticism).Although available on one side of the Mini Clubman, the Meriva promises to democratise the suicide door, with prices from around £14,000 when UK sales start in June 2010.The rear-hinged back doors open to nearly 90deg and are claimed to help ease access to the Meriva – a promise we’ll check out when we sit in it at the 2010 Geneva motor show.

Ford KA sells 500,000 in the UK

Ford has racked up total sales of 500,000 KAs in the UK And despite a few reservations when we did our Ford KA Review a couple of months ago, it looks set to continue racking up the sales with the new KA, which has already racked up 11,000 sales in the UK since it was introduced. To be honest, our only real reservations on the new KA were a couple of subjective styling issues and the somewhat hard seats. But it is undoubtedly a funky and capable little car that will serve Ford well.

EU cuts Co2 Targets to help Euro car makers

In an astonishing outbreak of common sense, EU negotiators last night agreed a deal to ease the draconian Co2 targets for EU car manufacturers. Originally, EU car makers had to meet the new regulations by 2012, but have now won a concession to hit 65% of target by 2012, 75% by 2013, 80% by 2014 and 100% by 2015. This scaling back of the targets was achieved after Germany objected to the original proposals.