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

Grab a ‘VAT Free’ Skoda Octavia

In yet another ‘Sign of the times’ Skoda has announced that they are now offering ‘VAT Free Octavias’ until the end of the year. No, this is not a tie-up between Alistair Darling and VW, it’s just Skoda’s way of offering a headline price decrease of a bit over 13% (less expensive to Skoda than last week for the same headline, to be fair, and there is a new model due in January!). Grab a VAT free Skoda Octavia I’m pretty sure that there will be a raft of these ‘VAT Free’ offers floating around on everything from cars to washing machines, capitalising on the fact the VAT is in the headlines.

Good fun at Goodwood

The 2010 Goodwood Festival of Speed started with a bang--and a bent Jaguar E-Type. But by the end of the weekend, the festival was being acclaimed by both fans and participants as one of the most successful runnings of the annual event so far. As always, the festival took place at the house and grounds of Lord March's sizeable estate in West Sussex, England, being extended to four days this year by the addition of a new “Moving Motorshow.” This is clearly intended to become a regular fixture and a replacement for Britain's cancelled “International” motor show.

Lotus Exige S (2011) at Frankfurt motor show

This is the new Lotus Exige S, just unveiled by CEO Dany Bahar at the 2011 Frankfurt motor show. And it might not be the sort of Lotus Exige you were expecting: this new S model now runs the supercharged 3.5-litre V6 from the Evora S, meaning it not only boasts 35% more power than before, but it is also 191kg heavier. Lotus Exige S: the spec Lotus’s long-held mantra has been ‘add lightness’, but Bahar’s future plans call for models to rival the 458, the California and the Rapide, essentially bigger cars with bigger engines.