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

End of the road for Mercury

Mercury has stood for hot-rodding, performance, style and even feminine appeal during various points in its 72-year history. But ultimately, the failure to stand alone in the Ford Motor Co.'s family of brands spelled its demise. Mercury, a brand founded by company scion Edsel Ford, will be shuttered as Ford concentrates its efforts on the core Ford brand and luxury-level Lincolns.

KTM X-Bow – want a drive?

KTM X-Bow 'Drive Orange' track days at Brands Hatch and Silverstone KTM is an Austrian Motor Cycle manufacturer which has woken up to the possibilities of making a four-wheeled creation, and has been busy building and refining the X-Bow in collaboration with Dallara and Audi. Featuring a 237bhp, 2.0 litre Audi  TFSi unit – and coming in at a bit under £50,000 for the street version – its low weight (790kg) gives it supercar acceleration of around 3.7 second 0-60mph. There is even talk of a 380bhp version, which will put it up there with the Ariel Atom V8 we reported on recently.

Vauxhall Astra VXR EXTREME heading for Geneva as the quickest Astra yet

The Vauxhall Astra VXR EXTREME (pictured) is heading for a Geneva debut. The VXR range of Vauxhall’s – the sportiest of Vauxhall’s car range – is ten years old this year, so what better way to celebrate than with an even more extreme version of the Astra VXR. Vauxhall obviously agree as they’ve revealed the Vauxhall Astra VXR EXTREME as the new top of the range Astra VXR and it’s heading for a debut at the Geneva Motor Show in March before going in to limited production.