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

CAR tech: who's to blame for your car's terrible fuel economy?

In early 2013 Audi lost a case brought by the Advertising Standard Agency (ASA) because of ‘misleading’ fuel economy figures used in an advert, after a customer complained they couldn’t get anywhere near the 68mpg quoted. The court case once more exposes the yawning gap between officially sanctioned mpg figures and those experienced by owners. A recent study by the Independent Council on Clean Transportation (ICCT) looked at cars sold in the UK and Europe, and discovered the difference between official mpg figures and real-world driving had grown from 8% in 2001 to a barely believable 21% in 2011.

Ariel Atom V8 (2010) first official pictures

This is the really rather mad Ariel Atom V8. That’s right, this tiny little track-biased car has an eight-cylinder engine driving its rear wheels. And it’s a 3.0-litre V8 that produces 500bhp at 10,600rpm, to give the new Ariel Atom V8 a Bugatti-beating 909bhp/tonne.

Subaru BRZ: Increased supply for UK market

There will be more Subaru BRZs (pictured) in the UK The Toyota GT86, and it’s Subaru BRZ sibling, have been a big hit in the UK, and around the world, with lovers of (almost affordable) sports cars that aren’t overloaded by tech and weight. But until now the BRZ version of the Japanese sports car has been in reactively short supply as Toyota takes the vast majority of production to fill its customers needs, but for those who’d prefer to take the slightly left-field BRZ route, there’s good news. Subaru has announced that they are increasing the supply of BRZs in to the UK market which means car buyers with a hankering should now be able to get a new BRZ in 2-6 weeks (depending on spec and colour).