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

Porsche big up the Panamera S E-Hybrid (video)

The Porsche Panamera S E-Hybrid (pictured) is a performance Porsche too We’ve long seen hybrids, and plug-in hybrids, as the perfect performance weapon for high-end cars, where the addition of an electric motor offers an unbeatable combination of power and economy. That’s the line that Porsche are taking with the new Panamera S E-Hybrid, and they demonstrated that recently by revealing that the new E-Hybrid managed to average 62mpg in the hands of a bunch of motoring journalists on a test day. Which is an impressive number for any car in the hands of a group of people with lead-lined right feet and clearly demonstrates that the Panamera Hybrid really can do silly mpg even in the real world.

The UK’s best-selling car is… a toy car

Forget the Ford Fiesta. With 2012 sales of a ‘mere’ 109,625, it has to relinquish its best-selling status to this young gun – the Cozy Coupe. The ever-popular children's toy, littering many a hallway across the land, sold around 143,000 in 2012.

Honda cutting production in Swindon again – 500 jobs at risk

Honda is cutting another 500 jobs in Swindon It’s only a year since Honda announced 800 job cuts at Swindon (which eventually was 550) and now they’re about to cut a further 500 as weak demand – particularly in Europe – sees the Swindon plant producing just half the cars it could. The plan is to cut shifts from 3 to 2 a day, which will result in the loss of 340 permanent jobs and 160 temporary ones, and production will be centred on just one production line to increase efficiency and flexibility. The Swindon Plant – which builds the Civic, Civic Tourer, CR-V and Jazz (and the Civic Type-R from next year) – has been hard hit by the slump in European sales in the last five years and, despite still strong UK sales, production levels of 120,000 cars a year – just half of the Swindon capacity – are not enough to sustain the current staffing levels.