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

Beijing Auto Show 2014 – Trends and Overview

With the New York auto show just one week earlier, many carmakers took the decision to use the Beijing show as their preferred choice of launch event. While the NYC expo holds decent sway on the US East coast, it could never hope to compete with the lure of the world's biggest – and fastest expanding – car market. With over 1,300 cars on display from scores of brands – both domestic and foreign – it's a fascinating bazaar of automotive hardware across the entire bandwidth of the industry.

Red Bull race in L.A. draws 111,000

No one really knows the precise makeup of the stuff that fills those ubiquitous Red Bull energy drink cans, but the compelling mixture seems to make people accomplish extraordinary things. For instance, on Saturday in Los Angeles, it got the city to shut down a long stretch of Grand Avenue and part of 5th Street for the wacky and spectacular Red Bull Soapbox Race Los Angeles. These events have been held regularly since the inaugural race in Belgium in 2000.

IFR Aspid

The Aspid is a new sports car from a new car company that has just made its international debut at the British Motor Show. The UK is the biggest single European market for small sports cars, and the Aspid also has British genes in its typology that clearly stems from the Lotus Super Seven. Technical highlights of the car include an extruded aluminum chassis weighing a mere 75kg clothed in carbon fiber, a two-liter supercharged engine with 400PS, an overall weight of 700kg, and headline performance figures of 0-100mph in 5.9 seconds.