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

Volkswagen mulls new Phaeton for the US market

Volkswagen is giving some serious thought to bringing back the Phaeton sedan to the U.S., Automotive News reports. We haven't seen the Phaeton since 2006, when it was withdrawn from the North American market after lackluster sales. Built at the same factory as the much more expensive Bentley Continental GT and sharing much of the underlying mechanicals, the Volkswagen Phaeton managed to be a slower seller in the U.S.

Electric Porsche Boxster being developed

Porsche are developing and electric Porsche Boxster It’s not exactly a surprise that Porsche has announced its intention to develop an electric roadster based on the Porsche Boxster, after all – as part of VW – they have access to an awful lot of technology and they’d be foolish to let car makers like Tesla or Fisker potentially steal some future Porsche glory. So starting early next year – as part of a programme Porsche call Modellregion Elektromobilität – three electric Boxsters will be out and about with their electric powertrains in the real world to give Porsche feedback. Porsche are making it absolutely clear that this rolling lab for an electric Boxster is entirely complimentary to – and in no way undermines – their hybrid programme, which includes the Panamera and Cayenne Hybrid and the Hybrid Hypercar that should soon become the production Porsche 918 Spyder.

Hyundai will launch Veloster Turbo in 2012

Hyundai has confirmed it will bring a 1.6 turbo version of the Veloster coupe to the UK in the second half of 2012, as first revealed by CAR. It should make an interesting alternative to the VW Golf GTI brigade. The new blown four-cylinder engine is called the Gamma 1.6 T-GDI by Hyundai - and it develops an unusually high specific output of 201bhp at 6000rpm and 196lb ft at just 1750rpm.