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

Top Marques 2014: preview guide to the playboys’ motor show

The self-billed “anti-austerity show” is back for another year, with Top Marques 2014 - otherwise known as “the most exclusive supercar show in the world” - returning to the decadent surroundings of Monaco. Nothing has changed for 2014, with the show retaining its glamorous mix of supercars, superboats, watches, handbags and the most expensive facial in the world. No, really, the Gold Mask Treatment - by Margy’s of Monte Carlo - could be yours for a cool $4,900.

MIT researchers rethink electric-car batteries

Researchers at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology say a new battery design for electric vehicles could be a lightweight and inexpensive alternative. The goal for the team's three-year project, launched in September 2010, is to have a functioning prototype ready to be engineered as a replacement for existing electric-car batteries. At this point in the project, the prototype uses a “semi-solid flow” to separate the two functions of a battery--storing energy and discharging it when needed--into separate physical structures.

Audi shows S3 Sportback (2013) – but is a used S3 a better buy?

Here’s Audi’s S3 Sportback, the five-door version of the 296bhp Quattro hot hatch unveiled last year. The S3 Sportback takes 5sec flat to accelerate from 0 to 62mph, that’s one-tenth of a second quicker than Audi’s official figure for its three-door stablemate. That’s because the initial 5.1sec S3 time was only an estimate, and Audi’s subsequent tests have shown the three-door S3 actually dipping below five seconds in the 0-62mph sprint.