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

Volvo confirms big production increase for V60 Plug-in Hybrid

Volvo has been building around 150 V60 Plug-ins a week at its facility in Torslanda – alongside the regular V60, V70, S80 and XC90 – but that is now set to be upped to 282 cars a week for the rest of 2013, with plans to build at least 10,000 in 2014. The fact is that the V60 is a very appealing estate car already, and bolting a plug-in hybrid setup has turned it in to a big hit in showrooms because the barking mad official economy and emissions system bestows the V60 plug-in with emissions of just 48g/km, making it a real no-brainer in countries where governments blindly tax cars based on their official emissions. That means countries like Holland, where Volvo has received more than 3,000 orders for the V60 Plug-in, and the UK are lapping up the hybrid offering from Volvo as a way to escape big taxes and still have a swift (0-62mph in 6.1 seconds), appealing and stylish car.

Nissan Resonance [w/Gallery]

Nissan's Resonance concept has made its world debut at the 2013 North American International Auto Show (NAIAS). The Resonance concept, created by Nissan Design America under the direction of senior vice president and chief creative officer Shiro Nakamura, features the ‘V-Motion', which starts from the tinted acrylic front grille with Satin Chrome accents and moves through the hood, framed by the boomerang-shaped headlamps. A sharp character line feeds from the headlamps above the pronounced wheelarches before dipping and then flicking upwards into the rear lamps.

The Hamster needs a garage!

Poor old Richard Hammond. First he gets nearly killed playing silly-buggers with a mad rocket car, and now the poor man has nowhere to keep his own cars. Like Clarkson, Top Gear presenter Hammond lives in the sticks, in his case in rural Herefordshire close to the Welsh border, and about 50 miles from his co-presenter.