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

Audi S1 at Paris

The Audi S1 will have a Paris Launch (A1 Wörthersee Concept pictured) It’s getting on for a year since we reported that – despite some saying it wouldn’t happen – Audi were planning at least a warm version of the A1 and had on the drawing board the Audi S1 to take on the MINI Cooper. So it’s not a shock that we hear Audi are planning on bring the S1 along to Paris for a reveal before getting the S1 on the roads by the second quarter of 2011. Expect the usual Audi S bits in the mix  - bigger wheels, fettled suspension, beefed-up brakes, body kit – and power in the S1 to come from the S/C turbo 1.4 TSI found in the VW Polo GTI, although the S1 may just get a tweaked version of the engine as befits its higher standing in the VW hierarchy with a bit more than the 178 horses the Polo GTI manages.

Volkswagen Passat TDI Clean Diesel sets fuel economy record

Volkswagen set a new Guinness World Record last week for lowest fuel consumption during an 8,122-mile tour of the lower 48 states in a Volkswagen Passat TDI Clean Diesel, achieving 77.99 mpg during the trip. This new record bested the previous one by about 10 mpg. During this record-setting trip the Passat TDI Clean Diesel also beat the hybrid record by more than 13 miles per gallon.

Venchurs Vehicles takes CNG pickup to Moab

Venchurs Vehicle Systems took its new bifuel Ford F-250 Park Ranger pickup to the rocks of Moab, Utah, for the Easter Jeep Safari. The truck won't climb the most difficult trails, but it did do everything a park ranger's truck might need to. “It's the only CNG in Moab,” said Pat Muldoon, vice president of product development engineering for Venchurs, though he couldn't possibly know that.