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

Biker attempts to beat London marathon record... in traffic

AS BRITISH favourite Mo Farah prepares to challenge the British record at the London Marathon this weekend, an enterprising biker has decided to try it himself – in the thick of London traffic. On closed roads a man vs machine race would be a bit one-sided, but with the average speed of a fast marathon runner being 12.43mph and the average speed of a motorbike in London traffic being 12.5mph, the result turned out not to be so clear-cut – the biker missing out on the record by a full five minutes. Using the same BMW F800GS Adventure as is loaned to the marathon organisers, Michael Mann of online community Bike Social followed the route as closely as possible, albeit with a few extra loops where the runners will take advantage of closed one-way streets.

VW Golf GTD (2013) first pictures of diesel hot hatch

VW's Golf GTD - a performance diesel brother to the GTI hot hatch - is here. Rated at 182bhp and 280lb ft, it boasts more punch than the old GTD (an extra 12bhp and 14lb ft), and scores better fuel economy too: up 14mpg to 67.3mpg, if you opt for the six-speed manual gearbox. Could this be the Holy Grail of hot hatches, with punch and economy? Here's the lowdown.

BMW i8 stars at the 2013 Frankfurt Motor Show

Four years after it first appeared at Frankfurt as the Vision EfficientDynamics concept, the BMW i8 super-hybrid has finally been revealed in full production at the 2013 show. Is it enough to spoil the Porsche 918 Spyder’s debut? Er, no.