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

New Lancia Stratos – the Video

The old and the new - Lancia Stratos, that is. We had lots of internet hoo-haa and speculation this summer that we were about to get the rebirth of the iconic Lancia Stratos, which we struggled to swallow. Even when we managed to grab a photo of the new Lancia Stratos out testing, we weren’t convinced this was a secret Fiat plan to revive the Stratos.

Ford Focus Zetec S launches in the UK

The new for 2012 Ford Focus Zetec S Ford has unveiled the fastest version yet of the new Focus – the Focus Zetec S – with a 1.6 litre 178bhp Ecoboost engine. It’s probably sensible that the Ford Focus Zetec S gets added to the Ford range now. Leave it until 2012 and it’s going to seem a bit tame compared to the new Focus ST.

Official: Aston Martin gets its hands on Mercedes AMG engines & Electronic Architecture

Aston Martin & AMG confirm they’re getting in bed together Back in December we reported that Aston Martin had new investment from Investindustrial and wondered if that would mean – thanks to an existing relationship between Investindustrial and AMG – if we’d see Aston Martin finally getting access to AMG’s engines and platforms. By May, things had moved on and it was clear that Aston Martin and AMG were in talks for Aston Martin to get access to their engines for the next generation of AML’s cars. Now those talks have borne fruit and AMG and AML have signed a letter of intent for Aston Martin to “access significant Mercedes-AMG GmbH and Mercedes-Benz Cars’ resources, allowing the development of bespoke V8 powertrains and the use of certain components of electric/electronic (e/e) architecture.” Interestingly, there’s no talk of V12 engines – which could mean Aston Martin are going to move from the current Ford V12 for the DB9 and Vanquish to a powerful V8 from AMG – and nor is there talk of sharing platforms.