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

New Vauxhall Astra (2010) – the Tease

The new Vauxhall Astra - teased ahead of a launch at the Frankfurt Motor Show [ad#ad-1] You’d think Vauxhall would have better things to do with the current GM mess than torment buyers with teaser shots of the new Vauxhall Astra. But, just like every other car maker lately, they seem to think that this is the way to lead-in to a launch. This time we’ve got a variation on a theme, with the New Astra being ‘Disguised’ by getting the car’s designers to drape themselves (and their paperwork) strategically over the car.

Toyota to build Corollas at revived Mississippi plant starting in late 2011

Toyota will resume construction on its mothballed plant in Mississippi and begin producing the Corolla there late next year. “We first needed to fully utilize our existing facilities as the economy slowed,” Yoshimi Inaba, president of Toyota Motor North America, said in a statement Thursday. “Now it's time to fulfill Toyota's promise in Mississippi.” The automaker said it will hire 2,000 workers “soon.” Corolla output would mark another shift for the project.

John Hennessey unwinds modified Chevy SS

Perhaps it's not as impressive as John Hennessey's recent 200mph blast down Houston's new Grand Parkway in a warmed-up Stingray, but we figured we'd show you his latest run down the same road in a Chevrolet SS equipped with his company's HPE600 Supercharged package. Thanks to GM's engineers, the four-door hits its top speed of 163 in 5th, rather than 6th, but what impressed us the most was watching the numbers climb on the VBOX — the car pulls John-Bonham-hard all the way up to its top speed. Hennessey hasn't released details of the mods performed on the SS yet, but we're anxious to see what this anodyne-looking monster will do on the top end once the gearing nag's sent off to the glue factory.