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

Interior Motives Design Awards 2010

As the doors closed to the press at the Mondial de L'Automobile in Paris, the world's top designers and automotive journalists gathered at the nearby Palais des Congrès d'Issy to watch a new generation of designers celebrate success at the 2010 Interior Motives Design Awards. Never before has the automotive industry been in greater need of fresh perspectives and innovation, and the students gathered here tonight provided both in spades - perhaps none more so than Kosin Voravattayagon of Sweden's Umeå Institute of Design, who walked away from the event with the Interior Motives Student Designer of the Year 2010 title and prize money totalling $5,000. Themed ‘Driving the Interior Revolution', this year's contest attracted entries from an incredibly diverse range of schools and nationalities - from Israel and Iran, to Slovakia and South America.

Most smokers want ban in cars

NINE OUT of 10 (89%) of smokers say lighting up a cigarette or any form of tobacco should be banned in cars. Following on from the Welsh government’s announcement that it would outlaw smoking in cars where there are children as passengers, a study shows evens smokers think puffing on a cigarette in a car is not acceptable. Research carried out by Flexed shows 89% of smokers support a complete ban and 96% of non-smokers believe smoking in cars should be outlawed.

The fall and rise of the budget car

Twenty years ago, the classic bargain brands like Lada seemed to be going the same way as the Soviet empire that spawned them. Woefully dated and badly made, only a weirdo would have bought a new Lada rather than a second-hand model from Ford, Vauxhall or VW. However, one of the big trends in the car industry today is the re-emergence of bargain cars.