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

Ford Focus goes SEMA mad

A total of seven Ford Focus at the 2011 SEMA Show There’s nothing American petrolheads (perhaps we should say gearheads) like more than tarting up a car. Which explains why the relatively sensible Ford Focus is being pimped to within an inch of its life for this year’s SEMA show. The SEMA Motor Show is a trade-only gathering – despite which it gets around 50k visitors – which the organisers call the “premier automotive specialty products trade event – in the world.” It attracts trade visitors from across the globe to see parts, tools and components and the ‘SEMA’ special cars brought along by car makers and car modifiers.

Porsche engineer Rolf Frech named engineering chief at Bentley

The Porsche-ization of luxury-car maker Bentley moved another step forward on Wednesday as Rolf Frech was named as its engineering chief. Frech, who has been Porsche's director of the complete vehicle engineering group for the past decade, replaces Ulrich Eichhorn, who is set to become head of the VDA, the German auto-industry association. Eichhorn, 50, joined Bentley as engineering chief in 2003 from Volkswagen, where he had been in charge of research and development.

Where are Britain's biggest car buyers?

Jaguar If nothing else, the recent Used Car Market report – published by British Car Auctions (BCA) – reveals that when it comes to Great Britain and statistics, it's unwise to categorise us all into one great mass. How often do we read 'on average, a British driver does X', or 'a typical British driver will buy Y'? Well BCA's report suggests there's a real north/south divide and some of the results may surprise you.