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

2012 Volvo S60 & XC60 R-Design get more oomph

Volvo V60 R-Design - finally, more get up and go We’re quite partial to the Volvo S60 (actually, we’re even more partial to the Volvo V60) and we like how Volvo’s R-Design pack makes a real impact without making the car look like a boy racer’s wet dream. What’s also nice – in this age of parsimony – is that even if you opt for a lowly diesel version you can still have a Volvo that looks like it gets there in a hurry, even if it doesn’t. But our preference is always for a bit more power, especially if all the visual cues make you smile in anticipation, so we have been know to bemoan the lack of any sort of power boost – even as an add-on option – on Volvo’s R-Design cars.

Special BMW M3 Competition Edition coupe gets Frozen Silver matte paint

Directly on the heels of SEMA, the matte capital of the world, BMW announced a special run of the 2012 BMW M3 Competition Edition coupe in Frozen Silver matte paint. And we mean extremely limited: just 40 cars celebrating 40 years of BMW racing in North America will be made. Each car will have the Frozen Silver paint, black hood intakes and dark chrome exterior trim.

Best of British: top 10 cars built in Britain during 2013

British car factories are booming, building more than 1.5 million cars during 2013. This is not only great news for the manufacturers, but it’s great news for the country too – because the vast majority of these cars were exported abroad. This brings money into the UK, strengthens our economy and also maintains jobs for hundreds of thousands of British workers – a real win-win story.