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

2011 Vauxhall VXR8 revealed

2011 Vauxhall VXR8 will cost £50k The world is woefully short of old-fashioned, rear-wheel drive, hairy-chested saloon cars that actually handle. True, there are still some Yank-Tanks around at less than stellar money that do a good impersonation, but for the real deal you need to buy a Vauxhall. Or at least a Vauxhall from Oz – the 2011 Vauxhall VXR8 (which we saw at Goodwood in the summer in Holden clothes).

Pioneer App Radio officially unveiled

Pioneer has officially unveiled the App Radio that AutoWeek told you about earlier this month. Now that it's willing to talk, Pioneer claims that the radio and audio system is "the first in-vehicle product designed to utilize the processing power, storage capacity, network connectivity and apps of the iPhone and iPod Touch as the primary source for its information and entertainment capabilities." That does sound a lot like what Mini Connected and, in a more platform-agnostic sense, Ford Sync are doing. Pioneer said it couldn't speak to the similarity of those systems, but Ted Cardenas, director of marketing for Pioneer's car-electronics division, briefed us on installation of the device and what Pioneer is doing to minimize driver distraction.

Spied: The 2012 Volkswagen New Beetle looks a bit squished

Volkswagen's upcoming onslaught of new products includes a redesign for the New Beetle. The new New Beetle is expected to arrive in 2011 as a 2012 model, with a convertible version set to arrive a year after the coupe. Recent spy photographs of a prototype being tested on public roads in Europe show that the 2012 New Beetle has a roofline that has less arch than the current model.