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

2013 Maserati Quattroporte night testing (video)

Maserati has released a video of the 2013 Quattroporte out night testing ahead of a Detroit Auto Show public debut. The new Quattroporte is bigger and more powerful than the current model and leaves Maserati room to introduce a smaller version – the new Maserati Ghibli – to take on the sports saloons from BMW, Mercedes and Jaguar. To be honest, the video tells us little we don’t already know about the new Quattroporte (except perhaps that it has frameless glass in the side windows), but it does indicate how keen Maserati are to keep the new Quattroporte’s PR momentum on the move ahead of its debut.

Mercedes A 180 CDI ECO SE & B 180 CDI ECO SE launched

Mercedes A 180 CDI ECO SE & B 180 CDI ECO SE launched The key to the wallets of many car buyers – especially those who have to pay BIK on their company provided cars – is frugal official economy, which means low CO2 emissions and lower tax bills. So Mercedes has decided to drop the current A 180 CDI SE and the B 180 CDI SE and replace them with new versions offering better economy credentials- the A 180 CDI ECO SE & B 180 CDI ECO SE. Available from January 2014, both the new eco A and B Class have been subjected to weight saving measures and tweaks to the aerodynamics and powertrain to yield emissions of 92g/km for the A Class and 98g/km for the B Class.

Audi planning their own version of the electric VW e-Up

Perhaps the most promising EVs from Audi so far have been the A2 EV (pictured above) and the A1 range extender with a small Wankel engine in the boot to charge the battery. But even they were dropped from Audi’s production plans last year. But now it seems Audi are back in the production EV game with plans to produce an Audi e-tron using the underpinnings of the electric VW e-Up, but with Audi styling and an upmarket Audi interior and high-end Infotainment.