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

Honda CR-Z at Detroit motor show 2010

Honda has today debuted the production version of its CR-Z hybrid sports coupe at the 2010 Detroit motor show. The styling is inspired by the old CRX, but under the skin the CR-Z is pure 21st century hybrid. Featuring a 1.5-litre petrol engine with 108bhp and 71lb ft torque, the CR-Z produces 122bhp and 128lb ft in total thanks to the boost provided by its IMA parallel hybrid system.

Infiniti making noise about its new M35 hybrid

Infiniti has just announced that its new M35h will be the world's first hybrid with a standard audible pedestrian warning system to alert pedestrians when the car is running silently on EV mode. Infiniti calls the system VSP, or 'Approaching vehicle sound for pedestrians'. It uses a range of distinctive sounds to alert pedestrians via a speaker built in to the front bumper.    Instead of reproducing the sound of an internal combustion engine, the Infiniti produces a range of beeps.

New Mercedes A45 AMG has 105 years of 4WD on its side

With the new Mercedes A45 AMG on the horizon – complete with 4WD – Mercedes chart the history of all wheel drive on their vehicles. We tend to think of 4WD road cars as a modern innovation, and certainly very few 4WD road cars hit the road in a mainstream way much before the 1980s (the Jensen FF was hardly mainstream before someone points out that was in the 1960s). But the history of 4WD goes back, certainly in the case of Mercedes, a surprising 105 years when Daimler built the Dernburg-Wagen, a 4WD vehicle that not only got all-wheel drive but all wheel steering too.