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

Vauxhall Astra VXR Extreme (2014) first official pictures

By Ollie Kew First Official Pictures 30 January 2014 12:50 Meet the Vauxhall Astra VXR Extreme – the most hard-core hot hatch ever to wear the Astra badge. Inspired by the Astra Cup racing car, it’s essentially an Astra with ‘Speciale’ or ‘GT3’ treatment applied to it, in the vein of Ferrari and Porsche’s fire-breathing specials. Expect less weight, less refinement – and a lot more on-track performance.

BMW M3 Lime Rock Park Edition set for fall

The current generation of the BMW M3 has been with us since 2007. As it nears a refresh, the company built a limited run of 200 special M3 coupe Lime Rock Park Edition cars to celebrate the racetrack in Connecticut. Skip Barber, owner of Lime Rock, and BMW collaborated on the vehicle, which will only come in what BMW calls fire orange.

Best new car sales in six years

RECORD new car sales achieved a six-year high in 2013, the motor industry has announced. A total of 2,264,737 new cars were registered in 2013 - a 10.8% rise on the 2012 figure and the best annual total since the pre-recession year of 2007, the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT) said. The 2013 total was boosted by a 23.76% rise, to nearly 153,000, in sales in December - the 22nd successive month of increases.