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

Design Services: Car Menu launched

Within almost every automotive design department throughout the world, their comes a time when a junior designer is dispatched to find a picture of some new model's tail lamp, the side view of a particular class leading competitor or examples of several new cars' colour and trim packages. Whilst looking at the competition is not necessarily a healthy way of finding ideas, it is often essential to demonstrate what is feasible, check in-house proposals are not too derivative, or show how advanced a design theme is relative to the same type of cars on the market. But even if the particular aspect of a car can be found, press packs and magazines typically show cars in the flattering light of an exotic location or being drifted around a corner on opposite lock; rarely are these images particularly useful.

Audi A8 & S8 get a facelift to stand up to the new Mercedes S Class

The Audi A8 (pictured) and S8 get a facelift for 2014 The Mercedes S Class has always been the benchmark against which all luxury saloons are measured, so with a new S-Class now heading for a Mercedes showroom near you, Audi are giving the A8 and S8 a facelift in the hope their sales will hold up. On the cosmetic front, the A8/S8 facelift is pretty much what you’d expect with a nip and tuck for the bumpers and grill, the odd new contour, bits of extra chrome and LED headlights. There’s also the option of Matrix LED headlights that light up to 25 individual LEDs to suit need.

Peter Schreyer introduces Kia's new Sportage

It's a sign of just how significant the new Sportage is for Kia that rather than flying UK journalists to an international launch location the company instead rented a boutique hotel in London's Notting Hill, created a sketch gallery in the basement and flew in key members of the car's development team to meet the press — who were then lent some the first new Sportage's in the UK to test for a month. One executive present at the event was Kia's Senior Executive Vice President and Chief Design Officer, Peter Schreyer. Car Design News was invited to meet with Peter to talk about his role at Kia and for him to talk us through a vehicle Kia is billing as the first to be designed entirely under his tenure.