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

VW Group planning 10-speed DSG, new powerful diesel engine & more plug-in hybrids

The end of the internal combustion engine is nigh, they say, as the world tries to clean up its environmental act and works towards a goal of electric motors to power our personal transport. But car makers are fighting that belief by extracting more power for less fuel from ICE engines, and there’s still a very long way to go before the ICE engine is consigned to the history books. Volkswagen has already reduced the fuel consumption of both their diesel and petrol engines by 30 per cent since 2000 and plan a further reduction of 15 per cent by 2020.

Mercedes S400 Hybrid – and a facelift as well

Mercedes S400 Hybrid launched - and a facelift for the S Class Range [ad#ad-1] Mercedes has long held the ‘Best Luxury Car’ mantle, despite build quality issues in the early part of this century, but the competition, particularly from Audi and BMW has got stronger with each model change, so they have to keep upping their game (and the new Jaguar XJ may make them up it even further before long). So we knew it time for a facelift for the current S Class, but Mercedes has decided to link that with the launch of the first S Class Hybrid – the S400 Hybrid. The S400 Hybrid gets a 3.5 litre V6 petrol engine, which on its own delivers 279bhp, but linked to an electric motor it gets a 20bhp boost and a big jump in torque.

BMW i3 LWB and i8 Roadster planned; BMW i4 & i5 mooted

BMW are already planning more of the BMW-i Range You didn’t really think that BMW would stop with just the BMW i3 City car and the BMW i8 supercar, did you? Surely not, especially after we told you last year that BMW had trademarked all the i-numbers – i1 through to i9. Those BMW i trademarks would suggest that BMW are planning on having at least a pair of cars that sit below the compact i3 – a bit hard to really figure out what they will be – and perhaps a halo grand saloon at the top in the i9.