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

VW Polo R confirmed for 2013

VW Polo WRC makes the case for the 4WD VW Polo R We speculated a year ago that the Polo GTI wouldn’t be the top of the Polo tree, and that Volkswagon would roll out the VW Polo R in 2012, but perhaps with FWD instead of the 4WD its big brother, the Golf R, enjoys. But just a few months later it seemed clear that we would end up getting a 4WD Polo R at some point after Audi lost its bottle at the last minute and pulled the Audi S1 badge off a FWD A1, instead calling it the Audi A1 1.4 TFSI. That change of heart by Audi – saving the S1 badge for a quattro S1 – meant that a quattro platform would be developed for the S1, and as the A1 uses the Polo platform it meant a 4WD platform would be available for the Polo too.

Peugeot 508 leaks early

The Peugeot 508 Estate - turns up a day early It seems like a very long time (it was November last year) since we first reported that Peugeot are dropping the 407 and the 607 and replace them with a new car – the Peugeot 508. Which makes sense, with the 407 getting a bit long on the tooth and the 607 selling nowhere but Paris. We got the first official view of the 508 in the 5 by Peugeot concept at the Geneva Motor Show at the start of the year, and a good looking and elegant Peugeot it looked.

Mercedes S63 gets new 5.5 litre V8

The Mercedes S63 AMG is the firts to get the new AMG 5.5 litre V8 Bi-Turbo Mercedes’ top end AMG engine has changed over the last few years. It’s gone from a 5.5 litre supercharged lump to the now ubiquitous 6.2 litre normally aspirated engine, which anomalously gets badged ’63′ throughout the cars that sit at the top of each of Mercedes big-engined ranges. But now we go back to the future with the return of a 5.5 litre V8 – admittedly a completely new engine (M571) – which this time round sports a pair of turbochargers and delivers 554 hp and 590lbs/ft of torque.