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

Jaguar F-Type lands in the lap of the 2013 Playboy Playmate of the Year

It does seem like Jaguar have decided that association of the F-Type with high-profile public faces is a good way to get the F-Type a few headlines, so we’ve had Lana del Rey singing her heart out in the F-Type cause, Damian Lewis acting his socks off for the F-Type’s Desire film and a plethora of faces associated with Jaguar’s Mille Miglia outing this year, where they’ve managed to get the F-Type front and centre and firmly bolted on to Jaguar’s Heritage outing. Now it’s the turn of Raquel Pomplun to raise the profile of the new F-Type a little higher, as Hugh Hefner has gifted her $100k and the use of an F-Type for a year as part of her prize for being crowned Playmate of the Year. Ms Pomplun may have preferred the F-Type as an outright gift – rather than a year long lease – but at least she’ll have the chance to parade round sunny California with the top down for 12 months.

New Audi S3 Sportback arrives ahead of Geneva 2013 debut

The new Audi S3 Sportback - the five-door S3 – has been revealed ahead of a debut at the 2013 Geneva Motor Show. The new S3 Sportback gets the same 2.0 litre turbocharged engine as the S3, which means 296bhp on tap to be delivered to all four wheels through the standard six-speed gearbox or the optional six-speed dual-clutch S tronic. If you want to unleash the best performance from your S3 Sportback you will need to dig a bit deeper for the S tronic ‘box, with the self-shifter taking just 5 seconds to 62mph it’s a full half second quicker than the manual.

Mazda Tribute recalled for same fix as Ford Escape

Mazda is recalling 217,500 copies of the Tribute SUV--from the 2001 through 2008 model years--to fix a sticking throttle. The same problem prompted Ford to recall the mechanically similar Escape SUV on July 26. Ford built the Tribute for Mazda, as well as the Escape.