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

Vauxhall Astra VXR Extreme (2014) first official pictures

By Ollie Kew First Official Pictures 30 January 2014 12:50 Meet the Vauxhall Astra VXR Extreme – the most hard-core hot hatch ever to wear the Astra badge. Inspired by the Astra Cup racing car, it’s essentially an Astra with ‘Speciale’ or ‘GT3’ treatment applied to it, in the vein of Ferrari and Porsche’s fire-breathing specials. Expect less weight, less refinement – and a lot more on-track performance.

MIT develops self-transforming materials that behave 'like robots without robots'

A cross-disciplinary research lab at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) has developed a suite of programmable materials, including carbon fiber, printed wood grain, textile composites, rubbers and plastics, that self-transform when exposed to an external stimulus. Director of the Self-Assembly Lab, Skylar Tibbits, presented a TED talk on 4D printing in 2013, where he demonstrated how a flat sheet of material could effectively build itself when exposed to water, like a robot without a robot. Following positive feedback from industries including aviation, automotive and manufacturing, his lab has been working on developing materials that change according to different activation sources, including heat, light, and air pressure, in addition to water – all of which have automotive relevance.

Ferrari Superamerica 45: One-off 599 created for wealthy American customer

Ferrari has revealed a one-off version of the 599 commissioned by New York-based art collector and property developer Peter Kalikow. Called the Superamerica 45, the new open-top car was created to commemorate the 45th anniversary of Kalikow's first Ferrari purchase, a secondhand 400 Superamerica convertible. It will go on public display for the first time at this weekend's Concorso d'Eleganza Villa D'Este on the shores of Lake Como in Italy.