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

CAR's review of 2009: photos of the year

CAR designers Andy Franklin and Alex Tapley have pored over our photographers' output from 2009 and announced their favourite pictures of the year. We've set up a slideshow in the player below and you can flick back and forwards through CAR Magazine's best photos. CAR's famous for the quality of its photography and it's a tradition we're happy to uphold.

Tomorrow's world: the touchscreen steering wheel

You might think the steering wheel has done a pretty good job of directing cars for the past century. But now a team of researchers from the University of Stuttgart is attempting to reinvent the wheel. The scientists have come up with a touchscreen steering wheel, which they reckon could replace the humble wheel with stereo and cruise controls.

London underpass to hold flood water

A PEDESTRIAN UNDERPASS is to be turned into an emergency pond to hold hundreds of thousands of litres of floodwater threatening homes and businesses in south London. The Purley Cross underpass will be used to hold water pumped from around 400 under-threat buildings in parts of Kenley and Purley and to stop a water treatment works which supplies tens of thousands of homes from flooding, Croydon Council said. The authority said the plan to use the underground footway to hold around 600,000 litres of water from tonight was approved after its "primary" pond at Purley Depot overflowed last night.