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

Mercedes A45 AMG – with Lewis Hamilton & Nico Rosberg (video)

That lump is a 2.0 litre turbo 4-cylinder that produces a not insignificant 355bhp and 332lb/ft of torque, which is enough to get the pocket rocket A45 to 62mph in a competition busting 4.6 seconds. And with the A45 AMG heading towards Mercedes showrooms soon, MB are bust promoting their new hot hatch, and what better way to do that than rope in your own highly paid F1 drivers to add a bit of performance gloss? So Mercedes has put Lewis Hamilton behind the wheel of an A45, Nico Rosberg in the passenger seat and a ‘Good Fairy’ in the road to sort out arguments about who should get to drive.

VW Design Vision Golf GTI (2013) 493bhp Golf revealed

As CAR reported in our scoop last week, VW will unveil a higher-performance Golf GTI hot hatch at the 2013 Wörthersee show, and here we have the first sketches of the super-Golf. Called the VW Design Vision Golf GTI, the concept packs close to 500bhp and can outrun a Porsche 911. It's by far the most extreme Golf hot hatch since the Bentley-engined GTI W12 concept of 2007.

Mitsubishi Outlander Plug-in Hybrid Electric Vehicle (PHEV) starts European sales

The Mitsubishi Outlander PHEV (pictured) now on sale in Europe The Mitsubishi Outlander PHEV landed officially at the Paris Motor Show in 2012 – preceded by a number of concepts before Mistubishi was happy – as a plug-in hybrid from Mitsubishi. Mitsubishi had promised the Outlander PHEV would go on sale in 2013 so, by the skin of their teeth, they’re starting to roll it out in European markets with the Netherlands up first followed by the Nordic countries – and the UK somewhere down the list. With 12,000 orders for the Outlander PHEV in Europe already, Mitsubishi are assured of a decent level of sales for their PHEV SUV, although those sales are driven by the daft tax breaks on offer for ‘green’ cars more than anything else.